Newcastle look to beat Man United to £25m ex-PL star as Arsenal storm ahead in wonderkid chase

Our round-up of the latest Premier League transfer rumours – with news from Newcastle, Arsenal, West Ham and more…
Welcome to Thursday’s digest of the biggest and boldest new Premier League transfer rumours – today, we’ve got news on West Ham’s search for a striker and on the multi-way battle developing over one of England’s brightest young talents, but first up we’ve got news from Newcastle United.

Caught Offside claim that the Magpies have “been in contact” with Barcelona over the potential signing of former Chelsea centre-half Andreas Christensen. The Dane is in the final year of his contract at the perennially cash-strapped Catalan club, and could be available for a fee of €30m (£25m).

The 28-year-old could be a cheaper alternative to Marc Guéhi, who Newcastle pursued vigorously over the summer but failed to strike a deal for. Christensen isn’t the only player on the shortlist, apparently, but some form of negotiations seem to be underway regardless. The article also notes that Manchester United are “long-term admirers” of Christensen, but doesn’t suggest that they’re making a bid imminently.

The 3AM Verdict: Barcelona need to raise some funds (yet again) so we wonder if Christensen, an undeniably solid defender, might be available for even less then £25m, but it wouldn’t be an outrageous fee – and would leave Newcastle with some spare cash to spend if they did make a move in January. An intriguing and eminently plausible story.