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BBC
Manchester United and Chelsea are considering moves for Southampton's 25-year-old England defender Kyle Walker-Peters. (Talksport)
West Ham have spoken to Amiens about signing 22-year-old Senegal defender Formose Mendy. (The Athletic - subscription)
Leeds are making progress in a deal for Hoffenheim's France Under-21 striker Georginio Rutter, 20. (The Athletic - subscription)
Tottenham have decided not to trigger an option in the contract of Brazilian forward Lucas Moura, 30, to extend his stay beyond this season. (Telegraph)
Aston Villa have had a bid rejected for Marseille's 23-year-old France midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, who played under Villa manager Unai Emery at Arsenal. (Mail)
Wolves are stepping up talks over a £10m deal for 29-year-old Nice and Gabon midfielder Mario Lemina, who played for Southampton and Fulham. (Sun)
Wolves want to sign Brazilian defender Felipe, 33, from Atletico Madrid. (Reuters)
Atletico could move for Leicester and Turkey defender Caglar Soyuncu, 26, as Felipe's replacement. (Matteo Morretto on Twitter - in Italian)
West Ham will block any move for 32-year-old Jamaica striker Michail Antonio, who is of interest to Wolves. (Express & Star)
Fulham are planning to offer manager Marco Silva a new contract following their impressive Premier League return. (Mail)
Championship side Watford want to sign 21-year-old Uruguay winger Facundo Pellistri from Manchester United. (Telegraph - subscription)
Chelsea's former Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 33, wants to return to Barcelona. (AS - in Spanish)
Aston Villa are willing to listen to offers for 29-year-old France defender Lucas Digne only a year after his move from Everton. (Football Insider)
Chelsea's 31-year-old Italy midfielder Jorginho is set to leave on a free transfer this summer. He favours a return to Serie A rather than extending his contract. (Telegraph - subscription)
Portugal forward Joao Felix, 23, is likely to return to Atletico Madrid after his loan spell with Chelsea expires this summer, which could suggest the departure of Atletico manager Diego Simeone after their relationship soured. (Mirror)
Chelsea will continue negotiations with Borussia Monchengladbach for 25-year-old France forward Marcus Thuram. (Fabrizio Romano)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Tom Davies
Southampton win an actual game and suddenly the rumourmongers are abuzz with chat about their players. Chelsea and Manchester United are reported to be tussling over the Saints right-back Kyle Walker-Peters. Chelsea see him as reinforcement for the injury-prone Reece James while Erik ten Hag apparently wants an upgrade on Aaron Wan-Bissaka. But while Walker-Peters is stalling on a new contract and thought to be keen on a move, he’d cost a cool £40m if he went this month.
Saints’ League Cup semi-final opponents, Newcastle, have reignited their interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby. The 23-year-old winger has had a patchy season in the Bundesliga but Eddie Howe is thought to like the cut of his jib, though German media suggest a deal will have to wait until the summer.
Chelsea and Barcelona have two of the most chaotic transfer policies in Europe, into which maelstrom leaps Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who seemingly wants to jump ship back to the Camp Nou from Stamford Bridge. AS reports that the striker is “unhappy” at Chelsea, where he has struggled to impress, and has contacted Xavi Hernández, the Barça manager, to flutter the necessary eyelashes. Much will depend on whether Memphis Depay stays, with the Dutch striker attracting interest from Atlético Madrid and the Premier League.
Liverpool have been pretty coy about transfer activity this month but that hasn’t stopped them being linked with oodles of players, the latest being the Napoli midfielder Piotr Zielinski. Those with a particular memory for transfer blether may recall that the 28-year-old was heavily linked with an Anfield move seven years ago when at Udinese, even being pictured in a Liverpool shirt. Could he finally be wearing one on the pitch? We shall see, though the likes of Jude Bellingham and Moisés Caicedo remain likelier targets.
Another thus-far underwhelming big-club signing, Manchester United’s Facundo Pellistri, is wanted on loan by Watford to turbo-boost their Championship promotion campaign. Pellistri made his full debut for United only this week, against Charlton, and Slaven Bilic reckons he could be just the man to pep up the Hornets in the second half of the season.
With only Premier League survival now to focus on, Wolves are scribbling more names on their shopping list. Atlético Brazilian centre-back Felipe is one such name, and a deal is thought to be imminent for the 33-year-old. Another 30-something target for Julen Lopetegui, West Ham’s Michail Antonio, could prove harder to get, with the Hammers unwilling to sell to relegation dogfight rivals.
West Ham, for their part, are bothering Amiens about a possible swoop for the French club’s 22-year-old Senegal defender Formose Mendy, though the east London club will have to offer more than the £7m tabled by Lens, which Amiens rejected.
If Felipe does complete a move to Molineux, Atlético could well replace him with Leicester’s Caglar Soyuncu. The Turkish central defender’s contract at the King Power Stadium runs out in the summer but Diego Simeone is keen on a deal in this window.
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Manchester United have reportedly set their sights on Goncalo Ramos and Mohammed Kudus as striker targets for the summer transfer window.
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho is reportedly set to leave the club for free at the end of the season.
Europe's top celebrity golf circuit would welcome Gareth Bale "with open arms" - allowing him to compete against fellow sporting legends such as Gianfranco Zola, Robbie Fowler, Andrew Strauss and Damon Hill.
Leicester City have contacted Fiorentina to discuss a potential £25m move for their Argentine winger Nicolas Gonzalez.
Manchester United starlet Zidane Iqbal is reportedly keen on leaving the club on loan this month.
Wolves are stepping up talks with Nice over a £10m move for former Fulham and Southampton midfielder Mario Lemina.
West Ham are exploring a move for Lorient's £25m-rated striker Terem Moffi after being snubbed by Sevilla forward Youssef En-Nesyri.
Unai Emery is targeting a reunion with Matteo Guendouzi - after making Alex Moreno his first signing at Aston Villa.
DAILY MAIL
Fulham plan to offer manager Marco Silva a new contract as they look to secure his long-term future following the club's impressive Premier League return.
Nottingham Forest are set to approach Atletico Madrid to discuss a potential loan move for central defender Mario Hermoso.
Wolves want to sign Brazilian centre-back Felipe from Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window.
Manchester City are considering recalling Liam Delap from his loan at Stoke City amid interest from other clubs.
DAILY MIRROR
Old Trafford chiefs have acknowledged Manchester United paid over the odds to sign Antony from Ajax last summer, according to reports.
Former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi is reportedly on his way back to the Premier League and could earn his old side some money in the process.
THE ATHLETIC
Paris Saint-Germain have recorded the highest-ever wage bill for a professional football club at €728m (£645m) a year, according to Football Benchmark's European Champions Report 2023.
Jason Wilcox has handed in his resignation as Manchester City's academy director ahead of a proposed move to Southampton.
Barcelona have been ordered by a court to pay €7.7m to their former player Matheus Fernandes, whose contract they terminated in June 2021.
Barcelona Women face being kicked out of the Copa de la Reina after the Liga F leaders fielded an ineligible player in their 9-0 victory over Osasuna.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Tiemoue Bakayoko is in talks with AC Milan to end his loan with the Italian club and make him available for a move elsewhere.
Leeds are focused on bringing a striker to Elland Road as a priority, with a move for Morocco midfielder Azzedine Ounahi not ruled out for later in the window.
Watford are hoping to take Manchester United's Facundo Pellistri on loan for the rest of the season.
Chelsea are braced for the possibility of midfielder Jorginho leaving on a free transfer at the end of the season when his contract expires.
DAILY EXPRESS
Arsenal could have a second chance to sign Barcelona forward Raphinha after missing out on the Brazil star during the summer transfer window.
Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly earmarked Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha for a potential summer swoop.
DAILY STAR
PSG have banned Lionel Messi from parading the World Cup around the Parc des Princes - after Argentina beat France in a thrilling final last month.
Mauricio Pochettino reportedly has his eyes on the Chelsea job should the Blues relieve Graham Potter of his duties in the near future.
Tickets for Fulham's Premier League clash with Chelsea have not sold out - and fans are raging at the extortionate cost.
THE TIMES
Poland want to make a decision by the end of the month on who their next manager will be, with Steven Gerrard one of the favoured candidates.
Football's lawmakers will discuss measures to increase playing time and reduce time-wasting.
DAILY RECORD
Motherwell are set to become the latest SPFL club to go shopping in the Asian market as they have launched an ambitious bid to land Japan midfielder Riku Danzaki.
Kevin Nisbet's contract will be a top priority for Hibs' incoming director of football - to avoid the striker running down his deal like Ryan Porteous.
SCOTTISH SUN
Blackburn are the English Championship club who have had a bid rejected for Rangers target Todd Cantwell.
St Mirren have posted a concerning loss of £1.6m as part of their latest annual financial report.
Filip Helander could be set to leave Rangers at the end of the season.
Football Insider
Sources: Significant update on HMRC investigation into West Ham
The civil compliance investigation into the tax affairs of West Ham is still ongoing, Football Insider has learned.
A criminal probe which began in 2017 and saw HMRC officers raid offices at the London Stadium has been terminated, although later than was erroneously reported in early May 2021.
Documents seen by this site show that the civil investigation remains active, and Football Insider understands that West Ham do not believe that the matter will be resolved within the current financial year.
HMRC’s lines of enquiry are originally believed to have centred around payments made to agents for the purpose of evading income tax and national insurance.
Although it can be confirmed that the ongoing investigation does relate to intermediary fees, the exact thrust of the civil probe is not known.
A criminal investigation into Newcastle United began around the same time in 2017 but was officially dropped in May 2021.
It was widely reported in October last year that HMRC’s pursuit of football clubs yielded an additional £59m in tax compared to the previous annum.
Civil powers entitle HMRC to apply a maximum penalty of 200 per cent of the tax due, as well as interest on the original amount owed.
Former Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini was fined £344,000 last year for deliberately defaulting on tax, although the offences took place between 2014 and 2017, before the Chilean entered the dugout at the London Stadium.
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