Sports Mole rounds up the latest transfer news and rumours, including Diego Carlos to Fulham, Deniz Undav to Stuttgart and Morgan Gibbs-White’s future.
Fulham have reportedly shown an interest in Aston Villa‘s Diego Carlos as they seek a successor to Tosin Adarabioyo.
The Cottagers were unable to come to an agreement with Adarabioyo over a new contract, and the ex-Manchester City product subsequently joined Chelsea on a free transfer.
Marco Silva can still rely upon Issa Diop, Tim Ream and Calvin Bassey at the back, and they are also working to sign Villarreal’s Jorge Cuenca, but according to the Daily Mail, the Fulham boss is also keen to bring Carlos to the English capital.
The 31-year-old excelled in the Sevilla backline before joining Aston Villa in the summer of 2022, but injuries have restricted him to just 41 appearances for Unai Emery‘s side.
However, 38 of those games came in the 2023-24 campaign as Carlos helped the Lions reach the Champions League league phase, but he is supposedly open to an exit in search of more regular starts.
Carlos is under contract at Villa Park for another two seasons, and the 31-year-old is also believed to be on the radar of some unnamed foreign clubs.
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Down on the South Coast, Deniz Undav’s proposed switch from Brighton & Hove Albion to Bundesliga upstarts Stuttgart is apparently in danger of collapsing.
The Germany international has not quite made the grade at the Amex, but he shone on loan at Stuttgart last season with a staggering 18 goals and 10 assists in 30 Bundesliga matches.
Undav’s contributions were pivotal in Stuttgart’s surprise second-placed finish, as the Reds condemned Bayern Munich to the bronze medal position, and they are unsurprisingly determined to sign him on a permanent deal.
However, German outlet Kicker reports that a transfer is at risk of falling through, as Brighton have rebuffed an offer of €25m (£21.3m), which could hit €30m (£25.6m) with performance-related add-ons.
It is unclear what price would satisfy Brighton’s financial demands, but if Stuttgart cannot strike a deal with the Seagulls over the weekend, they are prepared to turn their attention to other targets, namely Rennes’ Arnaud Kalimuendo.
Undav also has two years left to run on his deal with Brighton, whom he has scored eight goals for in 30 appearances since his €7m (£6m) arrival in January 2022.
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Another Premier League attacker who will reportedly be going nowhere this summer is Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, whom the Tricky Trees have no plans to sell.
Even after his former attacking partner Brennan Johnson left for Tottenham Hotspur, Gibbs-White continued to impress at Forest and came up with five goals and 10 assists in 37 Premier League matches last term.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side survived a four-point deduction to stay afloat in the Premier League thanks to Gibbs-White’s efforts, and he has inevitably been linked with a move to a European-chasing or competing club.
Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle United are all believed to have shown an interest in the former Wolverhampton Wanderers man, but HITC reports that Forest do not want to part ways with him.
While the Garibaldi could realistically bank around £40m or even up to £50m through the attacker’s sale, they have boosted their Profit and Sustainability position through other transfers and are in no desperate need to offload more big names.
Gibbs-White is also believed to be content at the City Ground, where his contract runs for another three years until the end of the 2026-27 campaign.
Man City teenager ‘agrees’ loan exit
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However, one English top-flight player on the verge of a departure is Man City’s Jacob Wright, who is reportedly poised to join League One side Peterborough United on loan.
The 18-year-old defensive midfielder broke into Pep Guardiola‘s first team last season and made his senior debut in a 5-0 FA Cup third-round crushing of Huddersfield Town in January.
Wright also came off the bench in the second leg of Man City’s Champions League last-16 win over FC Copenhagen, and he has been involved in their pre-season tour of the USA.
It has been decided that the 2005-born starlet is now in need of regular first-team football, though, and Football Insider reports that he has given the green light to a move to Peterborough.
The Posh have supposedly fended off competition from several clubs to land Wright, who has been on the books at Man City since 2013 and has represented England from Under-17 to Under-19 level.
