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The latest Premier League transfer rumours, featuring news from Tottenham, West Ham, Brighton and more.
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Welcome to Thursday morning’s round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours – and we’re kicking things off with a story from Tottenham Hotspur which suggests that club legend Son Heung-Min could be on his way out of the starting line-up.
TBR Football reports that not only are the North London outfit “ready to part ways” with a player who has defined their football for much of the last decade, but that they are eyeing up a direct replacement, with a summer bid for Eberechi Eze on the cards.
The Crystal Palace and England man “remains a player of huge interest” to Spurs, and the Eagles “expect” him to leave with the player feeling ready to move on to a larger club. The 26-year-old apparently has a release clause in his contract which is valued “in excess of £60m”. Spurs may not have a clear run at Eze, however – Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool are all “watching his situation closely”, the report claims.
The 3AM Verdict: It does seem likely that Eze leaves Selhurst Park this summer and there’s no real argument that Son’s performances have declined this season, although whether that’s a sign of a permanent drop-off or just a blip remains to be seen. Spurs have been routinely linked with Eze over the past two seasons, and we do expect them to be one of the clubs looking at signing him come the summer – and £60m sounds about right.
West Ham ready to battle for Paquetá replacement
News from the East End now, courtesy of Caught Offside – they claim that West Ham are “preparing” for the potential departure of Lucas Paquetá, who supposedly wants to go back to Brazil, by “considering” a move for Atalanta midfielder Charles de Ketelaere, a 23-year-old Belgian midfielder who we reported had been linked to Manchester City not two days ago.
This report claims that City are only interested in De Ketelaere if they can’t get their hands on Florian Wirtz, but also that Liverpool, Spurs, Aston Villa and Newcastle are all keeping tabs on him too, which could make it an uphill battle for the Hammers. Nevertheless, Graham Potter’s side are the only one to “register a concrete interest” in him so far…
The 3AM Verdict: Still no word on what De Ketelaere might cost, although the article says it would be “not extravagant” even though Atalanta only signed him permanently in the summer from AC Milan, where his promising career had seemed to stall out. He was linked with a move to the Premier League a couple of years ago (Villa being the main team to come up in connection with him then), so we suspect he is still on a few shopping lists without being a major priority. In other words, West Ham signing him may not be all that implausible.
Brighton target ‘must be sold’ this summer
Finally, some news from Potter’s old charges down on the Sussex coast – Brighton & Hove Albion have been “presented with the chance” to get their hands on one of their summer targets, Hertha Berlin forward Ibrahim Maza, because Hertha “will be forced” to sell him on, according to Sport Witness.
Apparently, the 2.Bundesliga club’s financial situation will push them into moving the 19-year-old on and Brighton, always keen on snapping up a young signing, have been “chasing Maza for some time”. The report notes likely competition from across the continent for the teenager, who has scored eight goals in 40 games for his club and been capped at senior international level by Algeria, but doesn’t specify who else could be keen.
The 3AM Verdict: We haven’t seen much of Maza, in truth, but trust Brighton’s judgement in these matters, and we’ve certainly seen them come up in connection with the youngster before in German gossip columns. Not a massive story, perhaps, but one to watch if you’re a Seagulls fan.