Aston Villa fans have enjoyed a season that has surpassed all expectations. The flip side of all this though is that richer clubs sniff around your players with a little extra zeal. And so it is that Newcastle, Tottenham and Bayern Munich are all keen on adding Jacob Ramsey to their midfield ranks. The Athletic reports that, with Villa cognisant of the need to comply with financial fair play regulations, they might be tempted to sell the 22-year-old academy graduate, whom they value at £50m.
Bayern are, of course, in a title race for a change this year and the Bundesliga leaders, Bayer Leverkusen, are apparently contemplating a swoop for Paris Saint-Germain’s Marco Asensio to bolster their challenge. The Spain winger has made only seven league appearances for the perennial French champions since joining from Real Madrid and could be tempted by a move to Xabi Alonso’s side, according to Sky Sports Germany.
Manchester United fancy another striker, perhaps with a view to bringing their naughty existing ones into line, and Erik ten Hag is reportedly mulling a move for the Danish forward Martin Braithwaite. They would have to meet Espanyol’s release clause of £6m but Marca reckons United are tempted, even though, at 32, Braithwaite doesn’t particularly meet their apparent transfer policy criteria. They may also face competition from Chelsea, who are rarely shy at this stage of a window.
Staying with Chelsea, rumours suggest the Blues are keen on an audacious bid for Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies. They’d probably be looking at a fee of around £60m for the Canada left-back mind, and Manchester City and Real Madrid are reportedly circling too. There are also suggestions afoot that Chelsea would be prepared to listen to offers for Armando Broja in this window as they prepare to bring in a big-name striker in the summer, in a movie we may have seen before. Mauricio Pochettino is an admirer of Broja though, so may fight to keep him.
The Portuguese winger Jota has received plenty of mentions in this month’s gossip columns and here’s another one: West Ham are apparently ramping up their interest in the former Celtic playmaker, who left Parkhead for Al-Ittihad last summer but might be tempted to join the winter Saudi exodus. According to London’s Evening Standard, West Ham are minded to step up their interest in light of their struggles to get a deal for FC Nordsjælland’s Ibrahim Osman over the line. The Danish club seemingly want more than the £16m that’s currently on the table so Jota could be David Moyes’s Plan B.
And down at the bottom of the Premier League, Everton and Luton are tussling over a possible loan deal for Ajax’s Chuba Akpom. The striker banged them in for fun when at Middlesbrough and has scored a respectable five in 13 Eredivisie matches since his summer move to Amsterdam in a turbulent season for Ajax. But the Dutch club may take some persuading.
