Transfer rumours ranked: Elliot Anderson to Manchester United? Crystal Palace in for Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande?

In today’s football transfer rumours ranked, we look at the latest speculation surrounding Elliot Anderson, the possibility that Crystal Palace are lining up a replacement for Marc Guéhi, and a potential Premier League return for Scott McTominay.

Man United want to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest

Transfer rumours ranked rating: 4

Claims that Elliot Anderson occupies a place on Manchester United’s shortlist of candidates to replace Casemiro should come as no surprise. 

It is an open secret that United spent the final weeks of the summer transfer window sniffing around Brighton disruptor Carlos Baleba, and they have since been credited with interest in a bewildering array of midfield talent. Last month alone, United were linked with Angelo Stiller of Stuttgart and Atlético Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, not to mention João Gomes of Wolves and Sporting CP’s Morten Hjulmand, to name only a few.

But unless Ruben Amorim has decided to realise Pep Guardiola’s most cherished dream by creating a first XI composed purely of midfielders, much of that speculation seems questionable. So is Anderson merely the latest flavour of the month among the game’s gossip-mongers, or should we seriously entertain the possibility that he might up sticks for Old Trafford next summer?

Much depends on how far money is a factor; the indications are that it very much is. Club accounts up to the end of June, published in September, showed that United are almost £1.1bn in debt, £105m of which was accrued as a result of the summer spending spree that brought Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko to Old Trafford. United’s revolving credit facilities mean there is scope for further ventures into the transfer market, while player departures – including that of Casemiro, whose contract, worth more than £18m a year, expires next summer – would create further headroom. 

That is just as well, because Anderson’s standout performances for Forest and England have established the 23-year-old as one of the Premier League’s brightest young prospects – with a price tag to match. It is anticipated the Trentside club, who paid Newcastle £35m for Anderson last summer, would now command a fee north of £100m. Given that United balked at the prospect of paying a similar sum for Baleba only a few months ago, it is legitimate to wonder whether they would sanction a similarly costly move for an alternative target, even if their hesitancy over the Brighton man followed a big-spending summer that left limited scope for further expenditure. 

Nor is it entirely clear why, if they are indeed willing to splash the cash, the focus has switched to Anderson. If Baleba was deemed the ideal choice as recently as August, what has changed? Surely a few weeks of good form from a rival candidate shouldn’t alter the club’s transfer strategy – assuming there is one?

A lot of clubs would want Anderson right now (although probably not Liverpool, as has been claimed, given that they already have one of the league’s finest defensive midfielders in Ryan Gravenberch), and it is easy to believe United might be among them. But let’s not overlook the midfielder’s own wishes in all this. Born on Tyneside and schooled at Newcastle from the age of eight, Anderson left St James’ Park only because the club needed to sell him to comply with Profitability and Sustainability Rules. Newcastle didn’t want to lose him, and he said he was “very sad” to go. 

With that in mind, a return to Newcastle would make more sense, and it is probably no coincidence that it is routinely floated as a possibility when stories emerge linking Anderson with other clubs. If he decides to leave Forest next summer – which he may well do if Sean Dyche is unable to steer the club to safety – and Newcastle want him back, the outcome seems a foregone conclusion.

Crystal Palace want Sporting defender Ousmane Diomande

Transfer rumours ranked rating: 8

Given Thursday’s musings about the potential likelihood of Liverpool making a fresh attempt to sign Crystal Palace defender Marc Guéhi in January, reports in Portugal that the Selhurst Park club have Ousmane Diomande in their sights would seem to make sense.

The 21-year-old Sporting defender was first linked with Palace in the summer, as the club sought to bolster their back line in anticipation of Guéhi’s departure. Talk of a £45m deal for the highly-rated centre-back came to nothing, however, and the Premier League club’s inability to secure a replacement for their captain infamously prevented Guéhi, whose contract expires in June, from completing the move to Merseyside.

Any move for Diomande, who has been the focus of reported interest from many leading European clubs for some time, is unlikely to be straightforward. Portuguese press reports suggest Sporting are determined to retain their best players as they bid for a domestic treble. Recent reports that Chelsea are determined to gazump Palace with a £50m bid represent an additional layer of complication. 

But Oliver Glasner’s admiration for the player seems real enough, and Palace need to replace Guéhi sooner rather than later, regardless of whether he leaves in January or June. One to watch. 

Arsenal poised to bid for Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay

Transfer rumours ranked rating: 3

When Scott McTominay left Manchester United for Antonio Conte’s Napoli last summer in a deal worth a reported £25m, he had nothing more to show for his 22 years at Old Trafford than a pair of domestic cup winners’ medals.

Twelve months later, the 28-year-old had won a Scudetto and become an instant club icon after compiling the finest season of his career. Reinvented as an attacking midfielder, he scored an unprecedented 13 goals – not far off his total of 19 from 178 league outings for United. McTominay was a player reborn. 

Rumoured interest from Arsenal, for whom Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi have in any case become a settled and highly effective midfield pairing, should therefore be taken with a pinch of salt. Having altered his career trajectory so spectacularly, why would McTominay up sticks simply to warm the bench at the Emirates Stadium? Come to that, why would he return to United, sacrificing the likelihood of more silverware in Italy, purely for the sake of renewing old acquaintances? Why join Tottenham, yet to re-establish themselves as a Champions League team, let alone prove they can challenge for major honours?

It is said McTominay misses the Premier League. Trophies surely outweigh nostalgia, however, and with Napoli just two points off the top of Serie A, success could once be beckoning at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. It’s hard to see much substance in this one.