£35m Newcastle target in ‘advanced talks’ as Wolves handed £9m defender boost

Another Friday, another busy week of Premier League transfer rumours. Even without the prospect of a window, gossip moves at rapid speed, and today is no exception.

We’ve heard that Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur are in ‘advanced’ talks, that Arsenal is scouting a player previously targeted by Chelsea, and that Wolves could be in line for a bargain.

According to the player’s management, Newcastle United target Radu Dragusin is in ‘advanced talks’ about a possible move to the Premier League. The Genoa defender, who is also thought to be garnering interest from Tottenham and Crystal Palace, is valued at roughly £35 million by his current club, but he could be on his way to England if this latest update is correct.

Florin Manea, his representative, told Eurosport: “There are already advanced talks with several Premier League clubs.” Genoa is looking for between 35 and 40 million euros. We’ll see what happens in the winter. We may reach an agreement on a transfer [in January] but stay with Genoa until the summer. After the 45 matches he started last year, Radu now needs to play match after match in Genoa, in Serie A.”

The 3AM Opinion: Of the teams linked to Dragusin, Newcastle appears to be the most likely destination. Not only do the Magpies have the funds to outbid their rivals if they so desire, but it was a genuine surprise that they did not make more of an effort to reinforce their position.

Arsenal is keeping tabs on Nusa Premier League title contenders. Arsenal will allegedly deploy scouts to Belgium to watch Club Brugge forward Antonio Nusa play against Besiktas in the Europa Conference League on Thursday evening. According to The Express, the Gunners will have personnel on hand to monitor the 18-year-old, who has five goals and five assists in 11 games in all competitions this season.

Nusa is a senior Norwegian international who was allegedly the target of a rejected £23 million bid from Chelsea in August.

The 3AM Verdict: Nusa appears to be a viable option. To be his age and already be demonstrating such quality would suggest that he has a bright future ahead of him, and if he continues on his current trajectory, he will only become more in-demand – and pricey – in the coming years. With that in mind, if Arsenal could sign him now, they would not only be acquiring a big talent, but they would also be saving a significant amount of money.

Finally, according to Bild, Wolves could be given the opportunity to sign rumoured transfer target Nico Elvedi for a cut-price cost of roughly £8.7 million. Over the summer, Borussia Monchengladbach came within a hair of joining Wanderers, only for Gary O’Neil’s side to bow out owing to financial concerns.

Elvedi has since signed a new contract with his current employers, and it is believed that his contract now includes a reasonably priced release clause. Monchengladbach are still open to selling the Swiss centre-back, but they do not want to lose him on a free transfer next year, so they have tied him down for their own financial stability.