Spurs & Liverpool face struggle to sign Brazilian as elite sides line up bid for £60m Crystal Palace star

It’s time for Friday’s round-up of the biggest new Premier League transfer rumours, as we continue our daily quest to keep you up to date with all of the spiciest stories rolling off the rumour mill – and we’re going to start today’s column off with a story of a transfer battle which Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur all seem set to lose.

This report comes courtesy of TBR Football, who allege that the three teams are all in the hunt for Wolves’ Brazilian international midfielder João Gomes, a transfer quest that will prove “tricky”.

Gomes has recently penned a new contract at Molineux and Vitor Pereira is reportedly “keen to keep” him around next season despite the interest. Furthermore, Gomes’ contract doesn’t include a release clause like his team-mates Matheus Cunha’s does, and Wolves “believe the Brazilian international is up there with the best in Europe.”

As such, there’s no asking price and – by the sound of it – little chance that Villa, Spurs or Liverpool come away with the player they want. Not that the likely outcome will prevent Wolves’ Premier League rivals from sending the scouts out.

The 3AM Verdict: It’s been all over three days since Gomes committed to five more years at Molineux and while contracts don’t always mean much these days, it seems highly unlikely that he’ll leave. Probably a non-starter this summer.

Arsenal & Liverpool eye £60m Crystal Palace man

Over to Caught Offside for today’s second story – they claim that Arsenal and Liverpool are “among the main teams” in the chase for Crystal Palace and England attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze over the summer, but the league’s top two faces stiff competition.

Both Manchester clubs and Spurs (who have been linked with Eze for a good while now) are also casting an eye over him, and it seems that a £60m release clause in the international’s contract won’t dissuade his many suitors.

No word on whether the price is negotiable or on whether there could be any interest from abroad, but it certainly sounds as though Eze is drawing plenty of attention following his fine recent form.

The 3AM Verdict: Having lost Michael Olise last summer we would be surprised if Eze doesn’t leave Selhurst Park too in the near future, but there’s not much substantial detail in this article, if we’re honest, and it isn’t made clear why Arsenal and Liverpool might be at the front of the queue. Still, the report of widespread interest is likely entirely true.

Manchester City still want £85m West Ham man

We’ll wrap up a relatively quiet day for rumours with another report from TBR Football, who make the slightly surprising suggestion that Manchester City are still interested in West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá – despite the possibility that he could receive a lifetime ban from football.

City were reportedly launching a huge £85m bid for Paquetá when news that he could be banned for alleged breaches of football’s gambling rules, but they still “retain an interest” nearly two years later, while West Ham, for their part, are “quietly confident” that he won’t get banned.

If he is found not to have breached betting rules, then City “could well firm up their interest”, especially with Kevin De Bruyne likely to depart this summer – while the report goes on to suggest that Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and James McAtee could leave the Etihad as well.

The 3AM Verdict: Clearly, any interest will be irrelevant if the tribunal that’s currently in progress finds Paquetá guilty – but we’d be interested to see whether he was still worth £85m if he is available to play. Paquetá’s production in the final third isn’t especially impressive, even if he is a fine technical player.