Transfer Clock: Arsenal chase three wonderkids, Chelsea want Rooney

Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona all feature.

Nine days down, 21 to go until the Transfer Window opens. Here is our daily midnight news round-up.
1) Arsenal have been linked with two of the top young talents in European football, both compared to star players at the club past and present. The first is Hamburg attacker Hakan Çalhanoğlu, 19, who has been hailed as the next Mesut Ozil due to his Turkish background. He has four goals and two assists this season, costing Hamburg just €2.5 million in the summer. Turkish-Football report Liverpool are interested along with the Gunners.
The second wonderkid with an exciting comparison to weigh him down is Dutch sensation Davy Klaassen - dubbed the 'next Bergkamp'. The 18-year-old bagged a hat-trick for Ajax at the weekend and now has six in eight Eredivisie games this season. Tipped to break into the Dutch international squad next summer, The Mail write that Arsenal scouts were at the Ajax Arena to see his sensational performance at the weekend.


The third player concerned is striker Antonio Sanabria who has been on the radar of Arsenal for several weeks. Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo write that the teenager has decided to leave Barcelona and has agreed a deal with an unnamed club. The paper state Roma and Arsenal have made the strongest approaches to date. He has a release clause of €3 million, which has not yet been met.

2) Manchester United target Everton Ribeiro has commented on his future, and seems he would definitely be up for a move to Manchester United. SkySports report that he says he is letting his agents and Cruzeiro deal with United's interest, and in the mean time has even been playing with United in video games, name-checking Wayne Rooney and Shinji Kagawa. Perhaps the playmaker is just checking out which of his potential future teammates he is likely to dislodge from the side.

3) Chelsea striker Samuel Eto'o is already looking at leaving the club. The Guardian report that the striker will head to Major League Soccer and is already weighing up potential offers. LA Galaxy and DC United are said to be frontrunners for the player who was formerly the highest paid footballer in the world.
4) The same report states that Chelsea have not given up on signing Wayne Rooney. The Guardian write that Chelsea continue to monitor Rooney's contract situation, with the Manchester United striker's contract set to expire in June 2015. They add that Falcao is an alternative but believe Chelsea will be priced out by Monaco. The more United slip behind in the Premier League, the more supporters will worry about Rooney trying to force a move next summer.

5) As we reported earlier this evening, Barcelona have opened talks to sign Ilkay Gundogan from Borussia Dortmund. Their bitter rivals Real Madrid lead the chase to sign the midfielder, who has 18 months left on his current contract, but Barcelona are said to have spoken on numerous occasions with the player's father, report newspaper El Confidencial. Arsenal and Manchester United have both been previously linked but it increasingly appears the German is La Liga bound.