Spurs to ‘negotiate’ over landmark €80m midfielder transfer as Crystal Palace plot double Liverpool swoop

It’s time for another edition of 3 Added Minutes’ daily round-up of all the latest and often craziest Premier League transfer rumours. Today, we’re going to kick today’s digest off with news from a team that certainly need to do some work in the summer transfer market – Tottenham Hotspur.

Ange Postecoglou has been pushing for a new midfielder for a while now and it looks like he might finally gets his way, at least if a report from Portugal which has been picked up by Sport Witness can be believed.

The player in question is Sporting’s dynamic midfielder Morten Hjulmand, who was on the club’s radar last summer but remained in Portugal, perhaps in part due to a hefty €80m (£66.3m) release clause in his contract, which runs until 2028. There may now be “room to negotiate” now, however, with Sporting seemingly resigned to losing the 25-year-old Denmark international.

Hjulmand isn’t the only name linked with Spurs today, either – Caught Offside allege that the North London outfit are also set to throw their hat into the ring for Matheus Cunha, along with just about every professional football team in the northern hemisphere, judging by their report.

The 3AM Verdict: Hjulmand seems like the kind of midfielder Postecoglou needs – good on and off the ball and able to cover large swathes of ground, he’d likely prove to be a natural fit for the Australian’s system (if he’s still there after the summer, anyway). Given historic links, we suspect he’s genuinely on their shortlist. The club will no doubt do due diligence on Cunha, too, but that race could develop in any number of ways, so we wouldn’t get excited just yet.

City debating sensational swap deal

Manchester City could use attacking midfielder James McAtee as leverage in a deal to sign Germany international Florian Wirtz, according to The Daily Mail, with the champions considering capitalising on Bayer Leverkusen’s interest in the 22-year-old.

Wirtz, 21, has established himself as one of European football’s brightest attacking talents and City have been linked with him for a good year now – apparently, they remain “among the front runners” for the nimble number ten, and although McAtee is “well regarded” by Pep Guardiola, he could become a makeweight in what would end up being one of the summer’s biggest deals. Leverkusen reportedly have a bid for McAtee rejected over the winter transfer window.

The 3AM Verdict: This sounds entirely plausible – McAtee is at that awkward point in his career when he needs minutes but just isn’t getting enough of them, and while City are probably wary of dropping another Cole Palmer-shaped clanger, there would be even less chance of McAtee getting starts if they signed Wirtz. The German would likely fill a Kevin De Bruyne-shaped hole should the Belgian leave this summer.

Eagles eye double Liverpool swoop

We’ll end today’s digest with a story from Sun journalist Alan Nixon, who claims on his Patreon (paywalled) that Crystal Palace are interested in not just one but two players from Liverpool – specifically winger Ben Doak, who was the subject of a bid at the end of last summer, and 19-year-old forward Lewis Koumas.

The youthful pair are currently on loan at Middlesbrough and Stoke City respectively but the Reds could find themselves receiving enquiries from the Eagles at the end of the season. Palace previously had a £15m bid for Doak rejected, with the Anfield outfit holding out for around twice that. It isn’t clear how much Koumas might cost, if Liverpool will allow him to leave at all.

The 3AM Verdict: Both players have been broadly impressive in the Championship this season, although Doak has arguably made more headlines at international level for Scotland. Koumas, meanwhile, has six goals for Stoke, mostly playing as a winger, and is a full Wales international in his own right. Palace are unlikely to play £30m for Doak, so we’ll see if there proves to be any wriggle room, and Koumas would likely be considerably cheaper.