Chelsea plot stunning £70m Man Utd raid as Spurs bid for two thrilling strikers

There are now just five days to go until the January transfer window closes, and teams up and down the Premier League are suddenly springing into action as they look to get last-minute deals over the line – and to help you keep up to date, we’re here with our daily digest of all the biggest and boldest new transfer rumours circulating around the top flight.

We’re going to start with a potentially seismic story from TeamTalk, who claim that Chelsea are set on signing a new midfielder before the window closes – and hold a “firm interest” in Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo. To say that such a move would not go down well with the Old Trafford faithful would probably be an understatement.

Apparently TeamTalk’s sources “maintain” that a bid of £70m would force United to seriously consider a sale as the club are looking to offload home-grown players in order to bolster their position in relation to the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules.

It’s clear from the report that Chelsea have yet to make an offer and are at present on standby “should the opportunity to present itself” – and plenty of reports elsewhere had suggested that Chelsea were actually in the market for Alejandro Garnacho instead. Still, apparently United are “not closed” to the idea of a deal being struck.

The 3AM Verdict: This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this story crop up but the fact that it isn’t showing up elsewhere makes us very sceptical indeed. United may need to fix their PSR position but this would be a desperate – selling the talented but inconsistent Garnacho is one thing, but Mainoo is the kind of player most teams build around for the next generation. We suspect this one will come to nothing, at least prior to the summer.

Spurs make two shock striker bids

Over to Tottenham Hotspur now, who are very likely to be busy before the window slams shut and are particularly keen on adding some firepower up front – which may explain why Sport Witness are carrying not one, but two stories separately linking them with moves for some very in-demand forwards.

The first cites media sources in Italy in claiming that Spurs have “opened talks” with Brentford over Yoane Wissa, who had already been the subject of a £22m bid from Nottingham Forest which was firmly rejected. Apparently, Daniel Levy’s transfer team have spoken to both club and player as they try to broker a deal, but there’s no word on whether Brentford have changed their mind about selling him.

The second story suggests that Spurs are “very interested” in Bayern Munich’s French wonderkid Mathys Tel, who has been linked with a move to the Premier League after he grew frustrated with a lack of game time under Vincent Kompany. Spurs are now “in direct talks” with Tel’s agent, apparently, and will be hoping to gazump local rivals Arsenal to make a deal happen – the Gunners had appeared to be in pole position earlier in the day.

The 3AM Verdict: The Tel story is developing very quickly and his decision to try and push for an exit – likely on an initial loan – has clearly got a lot of teams moving very quickly. Spurs’ interest seems to be real, but that’s true of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United’s interest, too. It will be a tense battle to sign him, but we suspect he will be in the Premier League before long. As for the Wissa story, we have a suspicion that the ‘talks’ consisted of Spurs opening their mouths and Brentford saying ‘no’ before they’d finished a sentence, but as Wissa only has 18 months left on his contract there will be an amount of money that makes it happen.

Three teams in for Man City starlet

Let’s wrap it all up today with a story from Give Me Sport, who reckon that no fewer than three Premier League clubs are lining up a bid for Manchester City youngster James McAtee after Bayer Leverkusen pulled out of a possible move for the 22-year-old.

Apparently, Crystal Palace are “contemplating” making an offer, while West Ham and Nottingham Forest are also interested, with the trio on “red alert” after Xabi Alonso’s side opted for a loan move for Emiliano Buendía instead. City, it seems, want around £25m to make a deal happen.

The 3AM Verdict: We’ll stop short of making the obvious Cole Palmer comparison, but McAtee’s goalscoring record when given his occasional run-outs and when he’s played for England Under-21s suggest that he could be a very handy player. We suspect an initial loan move is more likely, but all of the clubs mention seem like entirely plausible destinations as it stands – no bids yet, mind you.