Man United plot £25m move for Serie A star as Newcastle eye double transfer raid

Welcome to Saturday’s round-up of the biggest and boldest Premier League transfer rumours currently doing the rounds in the global media – and we’ve got a bit of a theme running through today’s stories, with Manchester United tying things together with a series of possible incomings and outgoings, at least one of them involving a rival Premier League side.

First up, we have a story from TeamTalk which claims that Erik ten Hag has become “obsessed” with Juventus full-back Juan Cabal, and has “demanded” that the club attempt to sign him, something which may be complicated by the fact that the 23-year-old Colombian only signed from Hellas Verona back in July.

That fact means that he would allegedly cost around £25m – a mark-up of around £15m on what Juve just paid for him – but this doesn’t seem to have deterred the Dutch coach, who sees him as “perfect” for his playing style and as the heir apparent to Patrice Evra.

The 3AM Verdict: This is a strange story, regardless of how good you think Cabal is – if he’s so perfect, why is the push to sign him coming now, rather than before he signed? Was he not on the club’s radar until he made a big move? It seems unlikely that Juventus would sell a brand new signing so quickly unless they were offered silly money, in any case, and after the signing of Manuel Ugarte all signings are that United won’t have that kind of spending power until next summer.

United’s ‘unexpected target’

Sticking with stories about Manchester United attempting to sign defenders, Spanish rumourmongers Fichajes reckon that the Old Trafford outlet are also after Brighton & Hove Albion and England centre-back Lewis Dunk, who is their “unexpected target” thanks to his “experience and leadership.”

They are hoping to sign him for an unspecified “affordable price” next year thanks to the fact that his contract ends in 2026. Happily for Brighton, Dunk is apparently focused on his work at the Amex Stadium even as “negotiations progress,” something we very much doubt they are doing at all even if United are genuinely interested.

The 3AM Verdict: Fichajes have what we’ll politely describe as a questionable reputation, and that combined a completely unsourced story with a chin-scratching claim that there are active negotiations leads us to believe that there probably isn’t much in that one. But hey, the law of averages dictates that Fichajes will be right occasionally, even if not on purpose.

Newcastle eyeing two big moves

Let’s head due north of Old Trafford for our final rumour of the day and check in with Newcastle United, who have two transfers in the works if Football Insider have their facts straight – both of which, as it happens, are connected right back to United.

For starters, the Magpies are apparently planning a January move for Nottingham Forest winger Anthony Elanga, who came up through United’s academy. There were reports of a failed deadline-day bid, and apparently Eddie Howe wants to return to the well with a new offer come the new year. Elsewhere, Newcastle are competing directly with United and Turkish side Galatasaray to land free agent Adrien Rabiot, who is currently without a club despite being a mainstay of Didier Deschamps’ France side. He has already turned down a move to AC Milan due to the wages on offer, it is claimed.

The 3AM Verdict: Any report suggesting that Newcastle will splash the cash is inherently more believable than a similar story about United because Newcastle tried and failed to spend their transfer budget this summer – so they could well be the big noise in January. Both of these stories pass the common sense check, as well.