Three clubs chasing a 20-year-old centre-back nobody outside Germany was talking about a year ago. That is where Wednesday's papers start, and Liverpool are one of the three.
Stuttgart's Finn Jeltsch has Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid watching him, according to Spanish outlet Sport. He is German, he is 20, and he plays in the middle of a back four for a club that has become very good at selling defenders for a lot of money.
None of those three has been reported as making an offer. Interest at this stage means scouts in the stand.
Chelsea go back in for Alex Scott
The one that feels closest to a real deal is Chelsea and Alex Scott. Florian Plettenberg reports that Chelsea are now fully focused on signing the Bournemouth midfielder after a move collapsed in the summer. Scott is 23 and an England international. Liverpool are said to have him on their shortlist too, which is a sentence that appears twice in this round-up and tells you something about how both clubs are shopping.
Club Brugge's Nicolo Tresoldi is the other name doing the rounds. Teamtalk says Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle have all sent scouts to watch the Germany youth international. Het Nieuwsblad, via Metro, reports that Brugge have already ruled out selling the 22-year-old striker in January, which usually means a price rather than a refusal.
What the papers say about Carrick
The I reports that Manchester United had planned to sack Michael Carrick this week and did not go through with it because they could not agree on who should replace him. That is a different story from the one United told on Tuesday. The Guardian adds a number to the succession talk: roughly £3m in compensation owed to Newcastle if United decide they want Eddie Howe.
Elsewhere, Football Insider says Brighton are relaxed about keeping Diego Gomez despite AC Milan and Atletico Madrid looking at the 23-year-old Paraguay midfielder. The Guardian reports that Pierre Sage could lose the Crystal Palace job if his side lose at home to Tottenham on Saturday.
January targets already taking shape
Two more worth filing away. Football Insider says Liverpool will move for Valencia's David Otorbi in January if the La Liga club trigger an option to push the 19-year-old Spanish winger's release clause from £30m to £50m, which is an odd way round to pursue someone but there it is. And Tuttosport reports that Juventus have made Folarin Balogun their main January target. The 25-year-old American striker was supposed to join Everton on deadline day before that deal fell apart.
Most of this will not happen. That is the nature of a gossip column in late October, when nothing can actually be signed for another nine weeks and every agent in Europe has an interest in his client's name appearing in print.
Transfer context: All items above are press reports collected by BBC Sport on 28 October 2026, each attributed to its original outlet. Sources named: Sport, Florian Plettenberg, Teamtalk, Het Nieuwsblad via Metro, The I, the Guardian, Football Insider and Tuttosport. No club has confirmed any of these approaches. The January window opens on 1 January 2027.
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