EVERTON EYE BIZARRE £33M MIDFIELD TRANSFER SWOOP AS NOTTINGHAM FOREST CHASE SERIE A TALENT

Our verdict on the latest Premier League transfer rumours, featuring news from Chelsea, Southampton, Everton and Nottingham Forest.

Welcome back to our daily round-up of the biggest, boldest and sometimes strangest Premier League transfer rumours that we’ve caught doing the media rounds in the past 24 hours – and we’ll start today by mulling over a story from Caught Offside which has Chelsea eyeing up another new signing.

According to Caught Offside’s chum Fabrizio Romano, the Blues are keeping tabs on Benfica centre-half Tomás Araújo although the Italian transfer hound doesn’t think that Chelsea will make a move for the talented 22-year-old unless one of their current crop of defenders leaves.

That’s hardly implausible, however, with rumours elsewhere strongly suggesting that Enzo Maresca has no further use for either Trevoh Chalobah or Benoît Badiashile. They may have competition if they do decide to make a bid for the former Portugal Under-21 international, however - Paris Saint-Germain are keeping tabs on Araújo and see him as a potential replacement for Milan Škriniar, who is transfer listed at the Parc des Princes.

The 3AM Verdict: This is slightly out of leftfield, even by Chelsea’s standards. Araújo looks like a hugely promising ball-playing defender with an excellent passing range but he’s only recently broken into the Benfica first team and has just nine league starts for them. What’s missing from any assessment is a price tag, which Romano doesn’t seem to have, but this would be a long-term investment and not a player added for immediate squad depth, despite the fact that he’s already 22. If he were a few years younger, it would all look very logical...

Everton’s bizarre £33m deal

An intriguing rumour now concerning Everton – HITC claim that Everton could agree a deal to sign Lyon (and former Nottingham Forest) defensive midfielder Orel Mangala on loan with a future purchase set at a hefty £33m, which sounds normal enough until you recall that Mangala only just signed for the French club this summer, and for less money.

The key is prospective new owner John Textor, who is negotiating to buy the Toffees and also owns Lyon. This would, in other words, be a favour for himself while Lyon look to sell some players as quickly as they can. It’s all very strange, and makes one wonder why Lyon spent a reported £25m to loan and then buy Mangala from Forest in the first place…

The 3AM Verdict: This is a convoluted and potentially controversial transfer which could see a player who was decent at Forest (but not exceptional) effectively bought by and then sold to the same person for a profit using different entities. Lyon would make money but lose a player while Everton would get stiffed if he isn’t worth £33m… A very strange deal all round, and perhaps one contingent on the progress made between Textor and current chairman Farhad Moshiri.

Forest’s red hot Italian deal

Speaking of Forest, a rather more normal transfer rumour from Italian outlet Calciomercato has the Tricky Trees making a bid for AS Roma’s 22-year-old midfielder Edoardo Bove, who established himself as a regular at the Stadio Olimpico towards the end of José Mourinho’s reign but who is now surplus to requirements under new head coach Daniele De Rossi.

Apparently, Bove moves “ever closer to a farewell and a change of shirt” but it isn’t made clear whether Forest are prepared to meet Roma’s demands in full – they’re after €12m (£10.1m) for the Italy Under-21 international’s signature. The report describes the negotiations as “hot”, whatever that means...

The 3AM Verdict: Bove is a playmaking midfielder in theory but in practice has perhaps had more impact off the ball – he’s a hard-pressing box-to-box player who forces a lot of turnovers and works hard, which probably explains why Mourinho was so keen on him. The fee feels about right, but we’ve no clear idea on whether the report has much truth in it.

2024-08-29T06:12:32Z dg43tfdfdgfd