Today’s rumours have a striking familiarity
As each hour ticks by following the bongs of Big Ben, Liverpool fans are ruminating. Their soon-to-be-out-of-contract trio, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk (listed here in order of wantaway-ness according to straw polls/pub chats on Merseyside), are allowed to talk to other clubs. But who and how many? Real Madrid are sniffing around the former – although a July deal looks far more likely – while no news could well be good news on Salah and Van Dijk?
The Egyptian and the Dutchman aren’t giving much away but the same can’t be said of Darwin Núñez. The Uruguayan striker is the subject of strong rumours linking him to Milan and it looks as if the silly sausage has only gone and fuelled them via that classic faux pas: liking a post on social media. Yep, Núñez, it appears, has given the thumbs up emoji to an image of him wearing a Milan shirt; not a mock-up but a real one after he swapped jerseys at the end of Liverpool’s win in San Siro earlier this season. Naturally, internet wags have been quick to suggest that he went to like a different post but missed.
Núñez remains a fan favourite at Anfield for his energy and endeavour but his haphazard finishing and inability to stay onside has tested patience. A haul of 22 goals in 79 games for the Reds is a modest return for the striker who netted better than one in two for Benfica. Whether Milan can afford his wages is another matter and perhaps this is one to revisit in the summer given that Liverpool are attacking trophies on all fronts.
Liverpool play Manchester United on Sunday and the Red Devils are in need of a striker, although no player has moved directly between the two bitter rivals since 1964 so it doubtlessly won’t be Núñez. The stories linking United boss Ruben Amorim with a move for his former Sporting striker, Viktor Gyökeres (as reported in yesterday’s Mill), won’t go away. The Swede’s price tag of around £80m looks beyond United given Jim Ratcliffe continuing his loose-change-down-the-back-of-sofas approach to finding money, although some sources suggest a move could happen if funds are raised by loaning out three players. Presumably some on loads of wonga, such as Casemiro.
Despite Gabriel Jesus having remembered where the goal is again, Arsenal are another side being linked with a forward. First up is close to home with a potential move for Brighton’s Evan Ferguson, a player once hailed as the new Alan Shearer but, unfortunately, now more like the Gabby Jesus of a few weeks ago: he gets injured a lot and rarely scores (one goal for Brighton since November 2023). The talent is there, though, if he can get a run of games and West Ham and Fulham are also linked.
The second rumour surrounding the Gunners, as they seek to plug the gaping gap opened up by the loss of Bukayo Saka to injury, is a bid for Nico Williams. The Athletic Bilbao attacker was a standout for winners Spain at Euro 2024 and Mikel Arteta is a huge fan of the 22-year-old. A release clause of nearly £50m is within Arsenal’s budget, according to transfer sages.
What about top-four hopefuls Manchester City, you ask? Central defence seems to be their focus and dots have been joined that lead to Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi. The England defender was a target for Newcastle in the summer. Pep Guardiola’s side need bolstering in all areas and further tittle-tattle has them linked to Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich to strengthen a Rodri-less midfield and Eintracht Frankfurt’s prolific Omar Marmoush to give Erling Haaland a hand in attack.
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Elsewhere, Newcastle are tracking Southampton wunderkind Tyler Dibling and Manchester City’s James McAtee, Everton have had a £7m bid rejected for Norwich midfielder Marcelino Núñez and here’s one to end on: Real Madrid could make a shock move for Bournemouth’s teenager defender Dean Huijsen.

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