Liverpool ready bold £40m bid to land first summer signing as Man City eye £100m pay day

Welcome to Wednesday’s round-up of the most startling new Premier League transfer rumours that have been floating about the global sports media in the past 24 hours – and we start at the Etihad, where it’s claimed that Manchester City fans may have seen the last of one of the heroes of the Pep Guardiola era.

According to Caught Offside, there is interest in Kevin de Bruyne from an unspecified Saudi club (or two or three, judging by the way this worked last summer) and Manchester City could be offered as much as £100m for the 32-year-old playmaker. The article notes that the Belgian has given no indication that he wants to move on, but apparently Saudi Arabia will be “patient” if necessary.

“They will try for De Bruyne in 2025 if they feel it’s a lost cause this summer,” the claim continues, also suggesting that Saudi representatives have held meetings with De Bruyne’s. The article stops short of suggesting that he is necessarily likely to leave, but it’s clear that they believe the interest to be both genuine and serious.

The 3AM Verdict: The notion of selling De Bruyne may seem heretical but Manchester City have form with moving players on at their peak rather than waiting until they’re past it – think of Raheem Sterling, Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez, all moved on when it might have been quite reasonably said that they could still do a job. And £100m is a lot of money, even for City. If the offer comes in, it would be according to their own script for them to say yes…

Liverpool ready for £40m Leeds swoop

News now for fans of Liverpool and Leeds United alike – according to TeamTalk, Leeds’ defeat in the Championship play-off final on Sunday will necessitate a £150m clear-out this summer, and one of the players who could be sold to balance the books is winger Crysencio Summerville, who is valued at £35-40m.

The Reds have been touted as a possible destination for the Dutchman, who won the Championship Player of the Season Award this year (much to the bafflement of everyone who assumed Sammie Szmodcis would get it, admittedly) but apparently the need to raise some cash means that Leeds “will not stand in his way.”

The 3AM Verdict: Liverpool is the name that keeps coming up but clubs like Aston Villa and Newcastle United have been linked too, so there is likely to be competition. The £40m asking price is steep and could well be revised downwards once negotiations begin, but it looks overwhelmingly likely that one of the best players in the second tier will be on his way this summer. Leeds’ defeat looks more costly by the day.

Spurs staying put up front

A double update now for supporters of Tottenham Hotspur, as two separate stories suggest that there may be less movement up front than fans might have expected. For starters, TeamTalk claim that although there is fresh interest in Richarlison from Brazilian side Vasco da Gama, it is looking more and more likely that he will stay in North London – with his agent claiming that the player will “remain” at Spurs next season.

Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur News claim to have word from the inside that the club could face a battle to keep hold of Micky van de Ven, with a “big-money offer” potentially on the way - apparently multiple (un-named) clubs could be interested in signing the Dutch centre-half, who arrived last summer in a deal worth up to £43m. There doesn’t seem to be much more information here, so we’d advise Spurs fans not to panic too much.

The 3AM Verdict: Richarlison is a strange player – outstanding on his day, patchy when not, and with a bit of head-scratching going around about how to get the best out of him. Plenty of reports have suggested that Ange Postecoglou wants shot of him, but it depends on who is willing to stump up. Saudi clubs have been suggested, but we don’t believe for a minute that he’ll go back to Brazil at 27, or that Vasco can put together an offer big enough to be worth Spurs’ while. As for the Van de Ven story? We’re shrugging that one off until we hear more corroboration.