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Liverpool are interested in signing Newcastle’s Alexander Isak for a whopping £120m, but it’s always good to have a backup because the world of transfers is never a straightforward place. Plan B comes in the form of Ollie Watkins and a call has been made from Anfield to Aston Villa to check on the England forward’s availability and price tag. Plans C, D and E are also known; Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, Brentford’s Yoane Wissa and Real Madrid’s Rodrygo are of some degree of interest to Arne Slot.
Amid all the shenanigans relating to Morgan Gibbs-White and Tottenham, Nottingham Forest are in the market for a replacement. Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey is a candidate to replace him and his current employer would consider selling him to help satisfy those pesky profitability and sustainability rules because any fee would be pure moolah in the account as he is an academy graduate.
Staying in the Premier League for a club promoted from the Championship gets more difficult as each year passes. Sunderland, however, have a cunning plan and it involves signing a shed-load of players. The Bologna centre-back Jhon Lucumí is another to have been placed on what is starting to seem like many shortlists dotted around the Stadium of Light. The Black Cats are doing what all clubs do at this stage of the window – monitoring some situations, including that of Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss, who was one of few players to come out of any credit from last season’s misery at the King Power.
Koni De Winter is supposedly the “new Vincent Kompany” and not solely because he is Belgian. Having such a moniker will naturally draw interest and Inter are willing to battle it out with Tottenham for the Genoa centre-back’s signature.
Juventus are eager to get rid of Douglas Luiz and a return to the Premier League seems a sensible solution for the former Aston Villa man. Manchester United and Everton are the keenest to do a deal for the 27-year-old Brazilian, who would could even be available on loan.
Brentford are usually pretty savvy in the transfer market so when it is whispered that they want the Sassuolo striker Andrea Pinamonti, then everyone immediately starts to think he must be good. A team with an utterly dreadful recruitment record in recent times, West Ham, are also contemplating making an offer, which makes one wonder.
Sometimes a decent Club World Cup campaign is not enough to kickstart a player’s career. Gonzalo García looked half-decent in a tournament played at a snail’s pace, but Real Madrid still might be happy to let him go in the short term and Leeds are waiting in the wings for the striker.
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And it has always felt somewhat inevitable that João Félix’s second nondescript spell at Chelsea would end with a quiet exit to Benfica. Mercifully the Portuguese forward’s first club might be happy to take him back, if they can sort out suitable finances, but it sounds as if a deal can be done.
