Man Utd target former Chelsea star as two Premier League sides plot Pogba bid

It’s time for Tuesday’s rundown of the biggest, boldest and strangest Premier League transfer stories currently trickling through the rumour mill – and before we get onto news for Arsenal, Newcastle and West Ham fans, we’ll start with a story which could raise some eyebrows at Old Trafford.

The Daily Briefing (paywalled) claims that Manchester United are lining up an improbable move for former Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic, with the American winger firmly “in the club’s sights ahead of January.”

The 26-year-old’s currently club aren’t keen to sell Pulisic, but apparently a €65m (£54.3m) bid would be enough. Despite that steepling price tag, Arsenal and Liverpool are also keeping an eye on his progress in Italy after an excellent first campaign in Milan.

The 3AM Verdict: Pulisic has looked like a much improved player since signing from Chelsea last year but we’re not convinced that Premier League clubs are queuing up to buy him at that price – and while the article hints at a January move, that seems wildly unlikely given that United have spent much of their transfer budget for the year already. We don’t expect winter fireworks from the Red Devils, no matter how overexcited the rumour merchants get.

Two sides consider Pogba bid

Former United star Paul Pogba will be back in the game soon after he had his four-year suspension for breaking doping rules reduced to 18 months – which means he will be eligible to play again come January. That doesn’t mean it will be with Juventus, however.

The 31-year-old former France international has parted ways with the Turin giants and is now a free agent, and Tutto Juve claim that both Newcastle and West Ham are exploring a bid for him, with both believing that he remains “a player of great class and quality”. No word on what kind of wages he’d be after.

The 3AM Verdict: We’re not sure how reliable the sourcing on this one is, but presumably a few big-name teams will be prepared to at least give him a trial once he’s allowed to train again next year. As for whether that’s Newcastle or West Ham, we’re not going to stick or neck out.

Gunners ‘to hold talks’ over new number nine

Finally, some news for Arsenal fans - according to TeamTalk, the Gunners are “set to hold talks” with the representatives of Serbia and Juvetus striker Dušan Vlahović ahead of a prospective January transfer bid.

Vlahović’s contract will soon move into its last 18 months and Arsenal may believe that they can snag a relative bargain, with the report reckoning that they can get the price tag down from around €70m (£58.6m) to something more like €60m (£50.2m). Apparently those holding the purse strings are prepared to sanction another big-money move, and Vlahović is firmly “on their radar”.

The 3AM Verdict: There’s nothing new in links between Arsenal and Vlahović, although nothing concrete has ever come from the rumours. Our main issue with this story is that we’re simply not sure that Arsenal have £50m left to spend unless they sell somebody, something which doesn’t seem very likely as it stands. Perhaps we’ll eat our words come January, but we suspect any such move would be more likely to come about in the summer.