Philippe Coutinho scored a hat-trick for Bayern Munich at the weekend, so it will come as a surprise to nobody that he is being linked to a permanent deal with the German club. “It was outstanding how he did that today, we need this kind of player” said Robert Lewandowski, while David Alaba asked: “If you watched the game today, we have to buy him, right?” David! If only things were so simple! Coutinho has a release clause of £100m, and whilst there are cheaper alternatives on the market like Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz, a permanent switch seems unlikely in January.

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The next big thing at Wolves, Owen Otasowie, is wanted by Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid. Never heard of him? That’s why you’re not a scout at one of Europe’s finest clubs. The American 18-year-old is also wanted by Arsenal, who will probably find that playing in north London is a tough sell at the moment.

Managing Arsenal is also looking an increasingly unpleasant prospect, with both Brendan Rodgers and Roberto ‘Bobby’ Martínez recently turning their noses up at the job, mainly because they don’t believe they would be given the proper backing to overhaul the squad. Which, of course, they wouldn’t.

One man that could be shuffling out of Arsenal’s dressing room with an oversized hoodie pulled over his head is Lucas Torreira, who has been linked with a £2.5m January loan to Napoli, with an option for a permanent £22m deal come the summer. The midfielder, who made his name in Italy with Sampdoria, could do a lot worse than listen to Gennaro Gattuso. A similar deal for Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso is also being considered at Inter, with Antonio Conte keen to reunite with the Spanish left back.

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Another temporary move in the offing involves Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster, who could be on the move to Swansea to see old mucker Steve Cooper, who managed the forward to U-17 World Cup glory with England in 2017. Brewster’s immediate future could be affected by the potential arrival of Takumi Minamino from RB Salzburg – the Japanese forward has a £7.25m release clause in his contract.

Sheffield United will meet with John Egan, Enda Stevens and John Lundstram in the coming weeks to avoid a January ‘raid’ from other clubs in the market for players that can run, kick and negotiate a tactical formation.

Leicester are favourites to sign Hull City’s Jarrod Bowen and could reportedly get him for as little as £10m, the cheeky little Foxes.