Man United and Chelsea battle for huge £70m transfer as Liverpool brace for bids on star midfielder

Welcome to the weekend, at long last, and with it our regular morning round-up and review of the latest Premier League transfer rumours – starting with a massive story which could affect Manchester United, Chelsea and Newcastle United.

Caught Offside allege that those three teams “are all interested” in Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga, with a deal potentially costing as much as €80m (£70m).

The Frenchman’s future is “in some doubt,” according to the report, and while it’s not certain that he’ll leave the Bernabeu, the chances are increasing and that has alerted the interest of several Premier League teams – with Chelsea “particularly” keen on the 22-year-old.

Manchester United, meanwhile, see Camavinga as an alternative to preferred midfield target Carlos Baleba, and not necessarily as their first choice. There’s no detail on Newcastle’s alleged interest, and their inclusion in the story feels rather speculative. There’s also no word on the player’s thoughts.

The 3AM Verdict: There’s no suggestion that any talks have taken place and this all feels a bit like guesswork rather than a story based on anything especially substantial, but all three teams are likely to be in the market for a new midfielder next summer and Camavinga’s future is indeed up in the air – so we wouldn’t be surprised if this all ends up looking like a good guess in a year’s time.

Liverpool star becomes Real Madrid’s big ‘wish’

A story suggesting that Real Madrid want to poach one of Liverpool’s key starters isn’t exactly news by this point – but this isn’t Ibrahima Konaté for once. Spanish outlet Fichajes are claiming that Xabi Alonso has set his sights on Ryan Gravenberch as well.

Real have “set their sights” on the Dutchman who has apparently become their manager’s “wish” after an impressive season in which the 23-year-old was central to Liverpool’s title success – and it’s said that he matches the profile of the kind of midfielder Alonso wants to buy (presumably once they’ve sold Camavinga to one of Liverpool’s rivals).

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The Reds apparently value Gravenberch at €75m (£65m), an amount which would make a deal “difficult” to strike, but it’s still seen as a “high but affordable” figure for a club who aren’t exactly short of a euro or two.

The 3AM Verdict: Gravenberch is under contract until 2028 and Fichajes isn’t, in this writer’s opinion, a particularly reliable source for English transfer news, so Liverpool fans probably shouldn’t worry themselves too much. That said, Real Madrid usually get what they want, as we found out with Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Spurs given ‘huge’ asking price for midfield target

Let’s wrap today’s column up with what is, frankly, yet another story about a highly expensive midfielder – because according to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur have now been told that they’ll have to shell out a hefty £50m if they want to sign Conor Gallagher.

The Atlético Madrid man was linked with a move back to the Premier League this summer and apparently Diego Simeone’s side want to take advantage of that “growing interest” by pushing the price tag up.

Atléti also don’t really want to sell, which is why it would take “a huge offer” to convince them to part with the former Chelsea star. Manchester United and Crystal Palace are also said to have a “strong interest” in the 25-year-old.

The 3AM Verdict: Whenever an English player moves abroad, there is ceaseless speculation that they will come back – just look at how often we’ve been told Fikayo Tomori is on the brink of a transfer. But Gallagher is indeed on a few shortlists, so don’t be surprised if someone decided to test Atléti’s resolve soon enough.