Man Utd ready landmark transfer raid for £80m-rated star as Chelsea eye first summer signing

Welcome to Thursday’s digest of all the biggest and often strangest transfer rumours doing the rounds in the Premier League from the last day or so – and we start this time at Stamford Bridge, where new Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca is quickly warming to his task by finding some transfer targets for his side.

Or, more realistically given the way Chelsea have done business recently, he’s being told who he might be buying – but he’s unlikely to complain too much about the prospect of a new goalkeeper, and TeamTalk believe that the Blues have identified two potential targets from La Liga.

The first is Villarreal’s 22-year-old stopper Filip Jörgensen, who established himself as first choice for the Yellow Submarine last season and who has a release clause which would allow him to leave for “around £35m”, which we presume translates as €40m (£34m). The other is a name we’ve seen a fair few times before – Valencia’s Giorgi Mamardashvili, whose release clause is a much heftier €100m but who has been reported elsewhere as being available for something closer to £30m.

The 3AM Verdict: Neither of last summer’s new signings, Robert Sánchez and Đorđe Petrović, have really convinced entirely since arriving at Stamford Bridge and it’s no shock to see Chelsea lining up a replacement. Jörgensen is young and talented but wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive in his first season as a first-choice, while Mamardashvili is establishing himself as one of the best in Europe while just 23 years old. We know who we’d take a chance on…

United readying first Branthwaite bid

News now from Old Trafford, where Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his litter-averse friends are putting together the first bid – probably of many – for Everton’s star centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite, long rumoured to be one of Manchester United’s top targets for this summer.

According to Caught Offside, the first package to be proposed will end up in the region of €55-60m (£47-51m) and will almost certainly be rejected, given that Everton value the towering defender at closer to £80m. Apparently “clubs are not willing to pay” that amount – and with the Toffees in a tricky financial position, they may be forced to settle for less.

The 3AM Verdict: This one seems likely to run and run for a while, because the two sides are a very long way apart to start with. Branthwaite was brilliant for Everton, but their valuation is staggeringly high even for such a young and proven player, and we suspect they will come down eventually – but this first bid is, surely, just an attempt to get the ball rolling rather than anything United seriously expect to have accepted.

Villa ‘seduced’ by Frenchman

Finally, a quick word from Villa Park – where Sport Witness (via FootMercato) believe that Aston Villa may well be interested in signing Rennes youngster Mathis Lambourde, an 18-year-old striker who has nine goals in 16 games for France’s Under-17s but who has only played 18 minutes of senior football in his career.

Apparently, Villa have been “seduced by his athletic qualities”, which makes it sounds as though any proposal may be an indecent one, and his “leadership and winning mentality.” Several un-named Bundesliga sides are also reputedly interested by the young striker, who has a burgeoning reputation in scouting circles. No word on a fee or anything concrete yet.

The 3AM Verdict: Rennes have a strong track record with producing talented youngsters and there’s growing hype around Lambourde, but it’s far too early in his career to say what he might be able to do in the Premier League. He was in the France sides that finished runners-up at both the Under-17 Euros and World Cup in recent years, so he has some pedigree in the junior ranks, but this is very much a “wait and see” sort of deal, if indeed it come to fruition.