Newcastle’s powerbrokers have reportedly changed their mind on summer spending plans while a Premier League heavyweight has stepped up its efforts to snatch West Ham United’s talismanic skipper.
A London rival is threatening to derail Chelsea’s pursuit of a new manager while Liverpool have wasted little time in turning their attention on the next target after ending their Jude Bellingham pursuit.
Catch up on the biggest whispers doing the rounds in the latest edition of the Rumour Mill!
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TOON MAKE BIG CALL ON SUMMER SPENDING AMID ‘ELITE PLAYER’ PLAN
Going into the summer window, Newcastle were prepared to operate with a $AUD36 million budget with any money made from player sales topping up that figure.
However, the Magpies’ incredible season under Eddie Howe has reportedly convinced Newcastle powerbrokers to loosen up the pursestrings.
According to The Telegraph, Howe and Newcastle director of football Dan Ashworth persuaded the club’s top brass to strike while the iron is hot to fully capitalise on the club’s success.
The spending plans have since been brought forward in anticipation of the prize money they will receive for their league position and potential European qualification as well as new sponsors coming on board.
Player sales will also help generate revenue for the club to play with in the summer.
So, onto the fun stuff: which players will the club look to snap up?
Well, The Telegraph claims Newcastle want to bring in four “elite players” who will immediately contend for a spot in the starting line-up.
The report mentions names such as James Maddison, Conor Gallagher, Kaoru Mitoma and Kalvin Phillips to name a few.
No firm targets have been locked into the crosshairs just yet, but if Newcastle really are targeting players of that calibre, Toon fans are in for yet another exciting summer.
FRONTRUNNER EMERGES IN $184M RACE FOR HAMMERS TALISMAN
No matter where West Ham United end up on the Premier League ladder at the season’s end, it seems almost inevitable Hammers skipper Declan Rice is on the move.
Rice has been linked with just about every one of the Premier League’s big dogs and will continue to be throughout the summer.
Although West Ham are reportedly holding out for a transfer fee of $AUD184m, an official deal could be struck for a figure just shy of that.
As to which team Rice could end up at, talkSPORT reports it is Arsenal that appear the likeliest landing destination for the England international.
The Gunners certainly match the Hammers skipper’s ambitions and can offer him the guaranteed European football he craves.
It’s now a question of how much Arsenal will be willing to fork out for the star midfielder.
COULD SPURS CATCH LONDON RIVALS NAPPING IN MANAGERIAL RACE?
Tottenham might very well catch Chelsea napping as they are both set to compete for a similar pool of managers.
The two London rivals are on the lookout for a new man in the dugout after Antonio Conte and Graham Potter were relieved of their duties at Spurs and Chelsea respectively.
The Blues opted to bring back Frank Lampard on an interim basis until the end of the season, although the club legend has failed to offer any form of new manager bounce.
Cristian Stellini, Conte’s assistant, was tasked with holding down the fort in North London but has also failed to offer any form of optimism at the club.
One man Chelsea has reportedly interviewed is former Spain and Barcelona boss Luis Enrique, but talks haven’t got to an advanced stage.
Now, according to The Telegraph, Spurs could be ready to swoop in and try to impress Enrique in an attempt to bring him to the club.
The report claims Enrique isn’t necessarily Spurs’ number one target, but he is one of a number of admired candidates.
Recently-sacked Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann is also another potential contender as he too has fans at Chelsea and Spurs.
Although Nagelsmann and Enrique are both out of work, they could opt to wait until the summer before taking over should they receive offers to work for either club.
REDS WASTE NO TIME AFTER FAILED BELLINGHAM PURSUIT AS DUTCH DYNAMO LINKED
It appears Liverpool have wasted little time in moving on from the failed Jude Bellingham pursuit.
According to Sky Sports, the Reds have made “a strong pitch” to the camp of Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch about what life at Anfield could look like.
Funnily enough, the Dutch youngster was on Liverpool’s shortlist of midfielders last summer which included the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Enzo Fernandez and Nicolo Barella.
However, the Reds missed out on Tchouameni who opted to go to Real Madrid while Fernandez moved to Chelsea in the winter.
But it seems Liverpool are keen to revisit a deal for Gravenberch as his Bayern journey hit a snag.
The 20-year-old shot to prominence with several impressive performances at Ajax before moving to the Bundesliga giants in the summer last year.
Since then, Gravenberch has logged just 711 minutes of action.
The report also claims Bayern could be open to a sale but would want to recoup as much of the $36 million fee as possible, as the club looks set to sign Konrad Laimer from RB Leipzig.
Although the potential arrival of Gravenberch wouldn’t solve all of Liverpool’s midfield issues in an instant, it’d certainly be a step on the right path.
