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BBC
Tottenham are not willing to sell England striker Harry Kane in the summer even if the 29-year-old, whose contract with Spurs runs out in summer 2024, does not sign a new deal. (Sky Sports)
Former Spain and Barcelona head coach Luis Enrique would be interested in taking over as Tottenham boss if Spurs parted company with Antonio Conte. (Times - subscription required)
Mohamed Salah, 30, is strongly considering leaving Anfield despite signing a new contract last summer. Liverpool stand to make a big profit on the Egypt forward, with Paris St-Germain chasing his signing. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister, 24, is attracting interest from a number of clubs, including Liverpool and Newcastle, and he is ready to leave Brighton in the summer. (90 Min)
Inter Milan chief executive Beppe Marotta says Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku, 29, will return to Chelsea when his season-long loan spell at the Serie A side comes to an end. (Sky Sport Italia)
Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, 31, has held contract talks with Chelsea but the two parties are not close to reaching an agreement. (Times - subscription required)
Barcelona are looking to raise £70m with the sale of Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The 25-year-old is Chelsea's number-one transfer target this summer, but they will have to battle it out with Manchester United for his signing. (Football Insider)
Manchester United are going to offer Uruguay midfielder Facundo Pellistri, 21, a new contract before loaning him out next season. (Fabrizio Romano)
Leeds United have agreed to sign Barcelona and Spain forward Ilias Akhomach, 18, at the end of the season. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)
Wolves' Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, 26, is no longer a target for Barcelona, who had been tracking him for more than a year. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Argentina and Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez, 23, has agreed a new five-and-a-half-year deal with the Premier League club. (Football Insider)
Newcastle United are interested in Arsenal left-back Kieran Tierney but the Gunners would be looking for between £35m to £40m for the 25-year-old Scotland international. (Caught Offside)
Liverpool and Newcastle are racing one another to sign Argentine midfielder Alan Varela, 21, from Boca Juniors. (Football Insider)
Paris St-Germain are considering offering former Spain defender Sergio Ramos, 37, a new contract, with his current two-year deal ending in the summer. The ex-Real Madrid centre-back has also been linked with a move to the MLS or Saudi Arabia. (Sport - in Spanish)
After six years with Paris St-Germain, Canada international Ashley Lawrence has decided not to renew her contract. The 27-year-old will leave the club at the end of the season. (Le Parisien - in French)
Leeds United duo Wilfried Gnonto and Weston McKennie could be involved in a swap deal with Juventus in the summer. American midfielder McKennie, 24, is currently on loan to Leeds but Juventus are open to making it a permanent deal with Italian forward Gnoto, 19, going the other way. (Calciomercatoweb.it - in Italian)
Lee Carsley could leave his post as England Under-21 manager after this summer's European Championships and former England players Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Scott Parker could be considered to replace him. (Mirror)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Lee Carsley is set to consider his future as England U21 manager this summer, which could open the door for the Football Association to approach Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard about the post and potentially start grooming one of the former midfielders for the top job.
The R&A and US Golf Association have been warned by the game's predominant ball-maker Titleist that they will be turning back the game 30 years if they go through with their proposals to curtail the extreme length the modern pros are hitting it.
Jack Willis is close to extending his stay at Toulouse beyond the end of this season after receiving an improved offer from the French club.
DAILY EXPRESS
Arsenal are reportedly 'ready to take action' to sign Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic.
DAILY MAIL
Arsenal sporting director Edu has admitted plans are already being put in place for this summer's transfer window.
Tottenham are among the clubs monitoring Watford teenager Adrian Blake.
Barcelona's hierarchy have privately expressed relief at the fact that they didn't lose Frenkie de Jong to Manchester United last summer.
Former Spain and title-winning Barcelona boss Luis Enrique is reportedly interested in becoming head coach at Tottenham at the end of the season.
Gerard Pique has defended Barcelona against accusations of corruption.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was seen taking free throws in a sign that he is on the mend from a foot injury.
DAILY MIRROR
Manchester United will not risk a long pursuit of Tottenham striker Harry Kane with the club aware of the difficulties of negotiating with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, is exploring the possibility of buying a controlling stake in Spanish club Malaga.
Liverpool are exploring the possibility of signing teenage Barcelona midfielder Gavi after the club were unable to register his new professional contract.
Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos has confessed he wanted to leave Arsenal soon after joining the Gunners on loan during Unai Emery's reign as manager.
THE SUN
Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad al Thani has enlisted US financial giant Bank of America to help decide his final valuation for buying Manchester United.
Manchester United and Chelsea are interested in signing Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, according to reports.
Arsenal are ready to trigger a 12-month extension clause in Granit Xhaka's contract to keep him at the Emirates until 2025.
Marc Cucurella hopes his Chelsea revival will be rewarded with a 90-minute test against goal machine Erling Haaland.
Chelsea are in line for a massive £50m cash boost - after FIFA confirmed the Blues have qualified for the first expanded version of the Club World Cup.
Manchester United are set to take Danish wonderkid Lasse Abildgaard on trial.
Aston Villa and Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez has raised £37,000 by auctioning off his World Cup final gloves.
THE TIMES
Edouard Mendy has returned to full training at Chelsea after a two-month injury absence but the goalkeeper's future at Stamford Bridge is clouded in uncertainty.
Steve Clarke has revealed he is prepared to wait for players to give up on representing England if they are eligible and willing to switch their allegiance to Scotland.
THE INDEPENDENT
Russia have been invited to compete in the Central Asian Football Association (CAFA) Championship in June, amid speculation over a switch to the Asian confederation (AFC) as the country seeks a return to international competition.
DAILY STAR
Legendary Arsenal manager George Graham admitted he did not know about the Gunners' boozy 'Tuesday Club'.
Barcelona have been warned they could be relegated or stripped of titles over charges of corruption.
THE ATHLETIC
The Premier League has announced kit changes for next season, with larger numbers and a new font for player names.
DAILY RECORD
Gheorghe Hagi reckons his son Ianis could make the grade in England when he leaves Rangers as he opened up on his own Premier League transfer regrets.
Dundee and Partick Thistle both want to sign defender George Stanger.
Nicolas Raskin has urged Ibrox main man Ryan Kent to stay and lead Rangers' resurgence next year.
Vicente Besuijen has left the door open for a return to Aberdeen in the summer.
Yokohama F. Marinos boss Kevin Muscat insists he will not block Ange Postecoglou's calls if the Celtic boss comes ringing for more of his stars.
SCOTTISH SUN
Yosuke Ideguchi's injury curse continued after he was ruled out for three months with a broken ankle.
THE SCOTSMAN
Rangers youngster Bailey Rice is reportedly attracting interest from some of the top clubs in Europe, including Real Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.
The Athletic
Gianluca Scamacca has fallen down West Ham’s pecking order – here’s why
By Roshane Thomas
Early this season, coaches at West Ham United became concerned with Gianluca Scamacca’s fitness.
The forward was being eased into David Moyes’ starting XI, having missed a full pre-season after his £35million ($42.6m) move from Sassuolo of Serie A less than two weeks before their opening league fixture on August 7. But even then, it became apparent the Italy international struggled with playing a full match.
In his first four league games in a West Ham shirt, against Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa, Scamacca played 33, 22, 28 and 65 minutes respectively. Only against Villa did he start.
Since then, the 24-year-old has completed 90 minutes in just three of his 20 appearances for the club in all competitions. He hasn’t featured in the Premier League since coming on for the final quarter-hour of the January 14 loss away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
So why has such a promising, expensive signing been reduced to a bit-part player?
When he joined West Ham in late July, Scamacca initially lived in a hotel, which did not help him settle in. And, although he spoke good English, countryman Angelo Ogbonna had to help translate for him so he could communicate better with his new team-mates and the coaching staff.
Another — more damaging — off-field issue occurred at the end of last month, when he was dropped as a client by the World Soccer Agency as “there was no longer the trust necessary for a healthy professional relationship”.
Ultimately though, it has been his fitness and lack of presence in the opposition penalty area that have hurt the 6ft 5in (196cm) Scamacca the most.
He has had ankle and knee injuries, and also suffered from a throat infection near the start of the season.
After the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday, Moyes said Scamacca needs to improve his performance data.
“We know that his physical data has got to be much better than it is — Gianluca has got to get himself back,” the Scotsman said. “No manager wants to put out a bad team — you want to put out the players who you think are going to win for you. His application is there, we just want the output to be bigger and more; that’s one of things we are looking for.”
With West Ham in search of a late winner at the weekend, Scamacca was twice instructed to warm up. But Moyes changed his mind and brought on Maxwel Cornet for Danny Ings instead. The thinking behind the substitution was that Cornet would make more runs in behind Villa’s defence. It was another reminder of Moyes’ lack of trust in the nine-cap Italy international.
It was also the second time in a matter of days that Scamacca had been overlooked, after Michail Antonio started ahead of him in the Europa Conference League last-16 first-leg 2-0 victory away to AEK Larnaca. Antonio vindicated Moyes’ decision by scoring both the game’s goals.
Scamacca did replace Antonio on the hour mark in Cyprus, but failed to have an impact. Indeed, despite his regular appearances off the bench this season, the only goal he has scored for West Ham as a substitute was against Anderlecht in October.
It should also be noted that it was largely due to the continued issues surrounding Scamacca’s conditioning that Ings was signed from Villa in January.
Scamacca’s lack of involvement in the opposition penalty area is also an issue.
He has attempted 30 shots from inside the 18-yard box in the Premier League, averaging 2.1 per 90 minutes, and made 59 touches in the area, an average of four per 90. Both these figures are lower than the numbers produced by Antonio and Ings: Antonio averages 2.5 shots per 90 and Ings is at 2.3. In terms of touches in the box, they both average six per 90.
However, it should be pointed out that Scamacca is West Ham’s fourth-highest scorer in all competitions this season with seven goals. Antonio leads the way with nine, while Ings has scored twice in seven appearances.
Other areas of Scamacca’s game the coaches would like to see improvement in are his hold-up play and winning aerial duels.
Moyes said: “The general part of his play, his hold-up play, we like him for it. He’s really good at it and we’ve not seen it as much in the work we’ve been doing.”
So, although Antonio can be a wasteful finisher, his hold-up play and aerial prowess have helped give him the edge over Scamacca.
Ings further hurt Scamacca’s chances of sustained minutes by scoring twice from close range against Nottingham Forest on February 25, with Ogbonna describing the Englishman as a fox in a box.
All of this leaves Scamacca as the club’s third-choice striker.
Moyes is acutely aware of the difficulty in keeping three strikers happy. But he is reluctant to switch to a 4-4-2 formation because it would result in the loss of a midfielder. If West Ham play that system, either Lucas Paqueta or Tomas Soucek would partner Declan Rice in central midfield. But playing a lone striker allows Moyes to get that trio on the pitch together, with Paqueta in a No 10 role.
It is unlikely Scamacca will get the opportunity to add to those nine caps when Italy coach Roberto Mancini names his squad for this month’s 2024 European Championship qualifying double-header against England and Malta. In which case, the upcoming international break will give him two weeks to work on both his fitness and the areas of his game that Moyes wants improved before the season resumes at home to Southampton on April 2.
Scamacca is one of the highest earners at the club and the contract he signed last summer doesn’t expire until 2027, with an option to extend for a further year. However, as with all players, his status will be reviewed at the end of the season — though it is worth mentioning that no club has approached West Ham to enquire about his availability.
His debut year at West Ham has not gone as he and the club hoped, but his response over the final two months of it will go a long way to determining if he has a future at the London Stadium.
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