West Ham set to beat Chelsea to £25m star striker deal as Liverpool ready raid for in-demand defender
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Welcome to Wednesday’s round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours – let’s start off in the capital, where there’s a report suggesting that the queue for Lille striker Jonathan David continues to grow, with West Ham United now “confident” that they can beat Chelsea to the Canadian’s signature.
That’s according to Caught Offside (via Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg, who also notes that he’s on the shortlist of Manchester United) in a report which doesn’t even mention the alleged interest of Tottenham Hotspur, who some outlets claim are also in the hunt for a player who scored 25 goals in all competitions last season.
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Hide AdApparently David will be available for around €20-25m (£17-21m) as he only has one year left on his contract at Lille, hence the rapidly-expanding feeding frenzy. It’s unlikely this one will be sorted out imminently, as Lille’s record signing is currently on international duty at the Copa America.
The 3AM Verdict: At that kind of price range, signing David is about as close to a guarantee of a good pounds-to-goals ratio as you’ll get – so the question is where he goes rather than if he does. We’d assume that West Ham don’t have the financial largesse to be able to beat their cross-city rivals for wages, so this may come down to how determined David is to be an undisputed first choice striker.
Forest starlet set for imminent move
Nottingham Forest defender Murillo, the young Brazilian who impressed over the course of his first season at the City Ground, could be set for an abrupt exit from the club – at least per Football Insider, who claim that Forest’s financial situation will force a sale by the end of June.
Apparently Forest need to raise up to another £25m within the next week to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (for a change) and Murillo is at the front of the queue for a fire sale. Liverpool are the possible beneficiaries, apparently, and are “keeping tabs” on the situation although we’ve seen him linked with Atlético Madrid more frequently in the past.
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Hide AdThe 3AM Verdict: Forest have made a real mess of their transfer dealings in the last few years and now may lose one of their best signings for less than he’s worth just to dodge a second points deduction – a self-inflicted wound if ever there was one. But if it’s a choice between docked points and losing a few quid on Murillo, it’s not that hard of a decision to make. Let’s just hope that they learn their lesson going forward and spend a little more sensibly, because they’ve wasted an astonishing amount of money in the past couple of seasons.
Ipswich identify number one target
Finally for today, we’ll head out east to Suffolk to find out how newly-promoted Ipswich Town are getting on. According to HITC, they’re in the market for a new goalkeeper and have identified Brighton & Hove Albion’s Carl Rushworth as their number one target for the number one jersey.
Rushworth spent last season on loan at Swansea City and become their first-choice goalkeeper, impressing in the second tier – and that seems to have persuaded the Tractor Boys to part with some cash for the 22-year-old, potentially as early as this week. No word on whether it would be a permanent deal or a loan, although we suspect it’s the former.
The 3AM Verdict: Rushworth is a sweeper-keeper who’s comfortable with the ball at his feet and who shows signs of developing into a fine shot-stopper – the talent is there, it really just comes down to the price, and we’ve yet to see a strong source on that front. If it’s not too much, however, we like this as a long-term piece of business, but it’s certainly a gamble to hand the number one shirt to a young stopper for what will likely be a very tough season at Portman Road.
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