Football transfer rumours: Manchester United on edge of Heaven? | Transfer window

Having “burst on to the scene” (© Micah Richards) two seasons ago, Evan Ferguson is currently finding game time hard to come by at Brighton and has yet to play this year. Following a breakthrough campaign in which he scored 11 goals, the 20-year-old Irishman has not been helped by a series of morale-sapping injuries and the fact that Danny Welbeck, João Pedro and Georginio Rutter are ahead of him in the pecking order at the Amex Stadium.

Aware that his fledgling career needs a reboot, Brighton have agreed to let Ferguson go on loan and it’s no surprise a stampede of clubs including Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, West Ham, Everton, Tottenham and Bournemouth are rumoured to be interested in turning him off and then on again. The Athletic reports that Brighton could even be open to selling Ferguson but given his contract still has more than four years left to run, the boy from Bettystown is unlikely to come cheap.

Speaking of Irishmen at south coast Premier League clubs struggling with injuries, Ferguson’s compatriot Gavin Bazunu could be off to the Serie A side Udinese on loan. The 22-year-old goalkeeper is back to full fitness after returning from a 10-month spell on the sidelines with a ruptured achilles tendon and his manager has announced Southampton’s intention to ship him out elsewhere. “I think that the idea of the club is to give him a loan after his injury,” said Ivan Juric. “I think he’s a great goalkeeper and now we will see in these seven days what will happen.” Bazunu’s fellow Irish goalkeeper Mark Travers is expected to sign for Middlesbrough on loan from Bournemouth on Wednesday after travelling north to run on a treadmill and cough for the doctors at the Riverside Stadium.

Angel Gomes is wanted by Tottenham but any move may have to wait until the summer, when the diminutive England and Lille midfielder will be available on a free. In other celestial news, Manchester United are close to securing the signature of the Arsenal youngster Ayden Heaven. The subject of interest from Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt, the 18-year-old centre-back has rejected the offer of a new deal from his current club and looks nailed on to head to Old Trafford instead. United are also reported to be closing in on their well-documented pursuit of the Danish left wing-back Patrick Dorgu, who is expected to arrive from the Italian Serie A strugglers Lecce in a deal worth up to £31m.

Surplus to the requirements of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United, Casemiro has let it be known he is willing to go to Roma on loan but reports from Italy state that any deal hinges on the Italian side offloading Leandro Paredes, who could be in line for a return to his boyhood club Boca Juniors. Don’t be surprised if the United stakeholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe offers to lay on a private jet to fly the midfielder to Buenos Aires if it helps get Casemiro, who trousers £350,000 a week at Old Trafford, off the books.

Wolves are in the market for a central defender and have set their sights on Kevin Danso of Lens. The Ligue 1 side rejected an offer of £18.5m for the Austria defender on Monday and while Wolves are prepared to increase their bid, any move could be stymied by the small problem that Danso wants to stay put for the time being after picking up an injury. “Danso doesn’t want to leave,” said the Lens manager, Will Still. “He is not sabotaging us. He hurt himself in training. He took the ball on his ankle, which twisted and it pulled on his knee.”