With just over a week’s worth of unedifying wrangling left to go in the current transfer window, the coming days promise to be punctuated with no end of rumours and counter-rumours as the last-ditch horse-trading ramps up. Now in Saudi Arabia for warm weather training, team bonding and other quite specific football reasons, Newcastle’s already long shopping list got a little longer during Saturday’s hard-fought win over Leeds, as first Joelinton, then Jamaal Lascelles and finally Paul Dummett limped off with various injuries that could keep them sidelined for the coming weeks.
Unwanted by Tottenham, where his decline over the past two seasons has been little short of remarkable, Dele Alli’s “people” are reported to have opened talks with Newcastle on the subject of a loan or permanent move to St James‘ Park. The Magpies remain confident of securing central defender Diego Carlos from Sevilla, who are all too aware of the Premier League club’s desperation for new recruits and are holding out for far more than the £30m currently being offered presumably in the hope of getting far more when the inevitable panic sets in.
Having already bought Chris Wood from Burnley, Newcastle are now giving James Tarkowski the glad eye and also hope to measure up Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma for a club blazer in the coming days. Unsettled Arsenal reserve goalkeeper Bernd Leno remains on their radar but may prefer a move to Inter, who are also interested in securing his services. And in the last of today’s news pertaining to Newcastle, the names of Bayer Leverkusen left-back Mitchel Bakker and Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata continue to be mentioned in conjunction with potential moves to the north east.
West Ham are rumoured to be lining up a “shock” £60m bid for England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, in a prospective deal that seems unlikely considering it would further enrage already extremely disgruntled Everton fans and almost certainly lead to scenes of outright mutiny in the stands of Goodison Park. The Hammers had been keen on signing Adama Traoré from Wolves but have cooled their interest now he looks certain to sign for Spurs.
Meanwhile at the Emirates, Arsenal have upped their bid for Dusan Vlahovic to just shy of £60m but the Fiorentina striker is reported to be holding out for a move to Manchester City, even though Juventus are also interested in getting him on board.
Chelsea’s ongoing search for a left-back to fill in for the injured Ben Chilwell continues and Stuttgart’s Borna Sosa is the latest to be linked with a move to Stamford Bridge. No relation to Kaiser from The Usual Suspects, the 24-year-old Croatian would cost them £25m. Currently deputising for Chilwell, Marcos Alonso is wanted by Atlético Madrid and may fancy playing out his twilight years in the Spanish capital – where he grew up – in the unlikely event that Chelsea are willing to let him go.
Connor Goldson looks set to leave Ibrox when he becomes a free agent next summer, with Nottingham Forest and West Brom both interested in taking him south of the border. The Rangers defender is free to discuss his future with interested parties outside Scotland this month and has shown no inclination to sign a new deal with his current employers.
And finally, Everton have interviewed Vítor Pereira for their vacant manager’s job, with the Portuguese a free agent following his dismissal from Fenerbahce last month. A winner of league titles in Portugal, Greece and China, the 53-year-old is reported to have previously rejected overtures from the Goodison Park hierarchy back in 2019 while managing Shanghai.