UNITED TARGET EVERTON STRIKER
Manchester United have made sure everyone has heard their version of events surrounding their fruitless pursuit of Erling Haaland but the new Borussia Dortmund striker’s decision still leaves them a striker light ahead of the transfer window.
Monday’s whispers suggested United would just double down on another of their targets despite being a completely different type of player, but Tuesday sees a new name being pulled from Ed Woodward’s hat.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has had a decent month or so in Everton’s attack, scoring five in his last five matches since Marco Silva was given the boot. Just the type of form that would catch Ed’s eye.
The Everton centre-forward possesses two other credentials which seem to have become weirdly important at Old Trafford these days: he’s young and English.
The Sun reckons Calvert-Lewin has gone from ‘back-up plan to THE plan’ at United who would have to fork out around £50million for the 22-year-old. Apparently, he’s been on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s radar ‘for months’ given his potential to replace Romelu Lukaku as ‘a physical presence’.
FERNANDES ON RED DEVILS’ RADAR
Gedson Fernandes ticks the young box but being Portuguese is seemingly not putting United off the Benfica midfielder, if Sky Sports are to be believed.
The 20-year-old is ‘one of a number of targets for the club ahead of the January window’ and it is claimed Fernandes’ representatives have been in England trying to get a head start on finding their client a Premier League club.
Benfica seem quite content with that since Fernandes can’t get into their team at the moment. They would be willing to let the Portugal international go on a try-before-you-buy-for-£34million deal. So what they need now is to create a buzz around the player and if there is one thing United are good for these days, it is certainly that.
CHELSEA PROBING WERNER CLAUSE AMID ABRAHAM STALL
If United really are after a centre-forward, then Timo Werner seems to fit the bill. The RB Leipzig striker has notched 23 goals in 24 games this season and he could be available on the cheap.
According to The Telegraph, Chelsea are trying to clarify exactly how much it would cost to get Germany international out of the new contract he signed with Leipzig in the summer. Some reports say Werner could be available for as little as £25.6million, while others suggest his buy-out clause is around double that sum.
Chelsea are also struggling to keep the strikers they have. Olivier Giroud looks set to leave next month while Goal suggests contract talks with Tammy Abraham are not going as smoothly as they might like.
Apparently, Abraham feels he is entitled to a similar salary as Callum Hudson-Odoi who signed a deal recently that could see him pocket £180,000 a week. You can hardly blame him for asking. Abraham, though, still has two and a half years remaining on his current contract which means Chelsea are not in the same hurry to bow to his demands as they were with Hudson-Odoi.
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AND THE REST
Swansea have approached Liverpool over a loan deal for Rhian Brewster… Arsenal could move for RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano with Mikel Arteta focused on reinforcing his defence… Marcos Rojo is preparing to leave Man Utd next month… Liverpool are in talks with Sevilla over defender Diego Carlos… The Reds are also monitoring Vitesse Arnhem left-back Max Clark… Thierry Henry will be in the frame to manage Barcelona should Ernesto Valverde leave the club… Everton are frontrunners to sign Real Madrid star James Rodriguez… Everton have also joined Norwich and QPR as contenders for Dundee United striker Lawrence Shankland… Aston Villa are keen to sign Danny Drinkwater on loan from Chelsea.