Real Madrid ready to deal Spurs transfer blow as Arsenal prepare to lose £25m fan favourite

Welcome to our daily round-up of all the latest Premier League transfer rumours that have being doing the media round over the past 24 hours – and today, we may have bad news for fans of both Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. It’s a sort of negativity North London derby.

Let’s start with Spurs. Caught Offside are one of several outlets reporting that Real Madrid have made key centre-half Cristian Romero a possible transfer target as they look to strengthen their back line in 2025. Spurs don’t seem interested in letting him go without a fight, however, and it looks like Fabrizio Romano has some good news.

He told Caught Offside that “nothing is happening now” and that there was nothing concrete in the rumours as yet, and he also speculates that the club could open contract talks with the Argentine international in the near future. As it stands, the Italian transfer hound reckons that there isn’t too much for Spurs fans to be worried about after all. Well, apart from their performances and results, of course.

The 3AM Verdict: We’re at a point where media outlets are speculating wildly about which defenders Real Madrid might try to sign next summer, and they simply can’t all be true. William Saliba is another name which has come up a fair few times, but at this point it’s pretty clear that nobody in the rumour game actually knows who’s at the top of Carlo Ancelotti’s list. That doesn’t mean that Romero isn’t being looked at to some degree, of course…

Arsenal favourite preparing for departure

Let’s move over to the bad news for Arsenal fans, now – according to TeamTalk, full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu has been made Inter Milan’s “number one target” for the January transfer window, and Mikel Arteta has “reluctantly” accepted that he could lose a highly popular and versatile player.

Watch the latest episode of The Premier League Panel right here as our experts look at Liverpool’s new regime.

The report comes off the back of an article in The Sun which suggested that Juventus and Napoli would be after the Japan international as well, but this report reckons that it’s Inter who are clear favourites to make a move. Apparently Arsenal will demand a healthy fee, at least – they want at least £25m before accepting a bid for a player who is primarily a back-up at this point.

The 3AM Verdict: Tomiyasu only signed a new contract recently but the arrival of Riccardo Calafiori and the return to fitness of Jurriën Timber has knocked him back down the pecking order and Arsenal would probably be well advised to sell a depth piece if the money is that good. He’s a real grafter and has played very well when called upon, though, so it may hurt a little to say goodbye. Doesn’t mean it would be wrong.

Man Utd’s Austrian adventure

Finally, we have an interesting story from Sport Witness, who cite local sources when they claim that Manchester United sent a scouting delegation over to Red Bull Salzburg, with three of their young stars on their radar for future moves.

20-year-old Israeli attacking midfielder Oscar Gloukh is perhaps the most eye-catching name, a Football Manager wonderkid who has been linked with a number of top clubs, but they’re also keeping tabs on 20-year-old defender Samson Baidoo, who has one cap for the Austria national team, and teenage winger Adam Daghim. Apparently the precocious Dane could be a “replacement for Antony”, which feels a little premature.

The 3AM Verdict: Whether this is a case of United showing a special interest in these prospects or just a scout or two doing attending games as part of their usual rounds isn’t clear, but there are some very talented players on that short list and the Old Trafford outfit do seem to be pushing towards signing them young these days. Gloukh, especially, seems set to go far.