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BBC
Newcastle United could reignite their interest in Manchester City and England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, 27, if they decide to bring in a short-term signing to cover the expected absence of Italy international Sandro Tonali. (The I)
Other midfielders on Newcastle's radar to replace Tonali, who is facing a ban for breaking betting rules, include Manchester United and Scotland's Scott McTominay, 26, Everton and Belgium's Amadou Onana, 22, and Fulham and Portugal's Joao Palhinha, 28. (Athletic)
Newcastle's Tonali, 23, is facing a 10-month ban, which would cause him to miss the rest of the season and Euro 2024 - should Italy qualify - after investigations into alleged betting offences. (Sky Italy)
Chelsea are ready to test Arsenal's resolve over England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, 25, who has lost his place to Spain international David Raya, 28, in Mikel Arteta's side this season. (Mail)
Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are interested in Athletic Bilbao's Spanish winger Nico Williams. Aston Villa tried to sign the 21-year-old and remain keen. (90min)
Bayern Munich's Germany winger Jamal Musiala, 20, would consider a move to Manchester City or Real Madrid if he feels his goals of winning the Champions League and the Ballon d'Or are no longer realistic at Bayern. (Sky Sports Deutschland - in German)
Manchester United have abandoned proposed big-money deals in January for Sporting Lisbon and Portugal centre-back Goncalo Inacio, 22, and Nice's France defender Jean-Clair Todibo, 23. (Football Insider)
Jadon Sancho, 23, may be allowed to leave Manchester United on a "long-term loan" in January with the England winger's former club Borussia Dortmund leading the chase. (90min)
However, Sancho is unlikely to return to Dortmund in January and instead it is Italian side Juventus who could offer an escape route. (Sky Sports Deutschland)
Fulham want to sign Stuttgart's Guinea forward Serhou Guirassy, 27, who has scored 14 times in the Bundesliga this season, including two hat-tricks. Guirassy has a release clause of just over £15m. (Standard)
Juventus are planning a loan deal for Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in January, with the option of signing the 28-year-old Denmark midfielder permanently next summer. (Calciomercato - in Italian)
Manchester United assistant boss Mitchell van der Gaag is expected to stay at the club despite the managerial vacancy at his former club Ajax. (Athletic - subscription required)
Fulham boss Marco Silva received assurances that he will be able to spend significantly in the transfer market before signing his new contract. (Times - subscription required)
Aston Villa are tracking Sporting Lisbon's Mozambique winger Geny Catamo, 22. (Birmingham Live)
Aston Villa and West Ham have been told by Real Madrid they must pay about 20m euros (£17.8m) if they want to sign Spain-born Moroccan attacking midfielder Brahim Diaz, 24. (Birmingham Mail)
Sunderland are keen to tie English winger Jack Clarke, 22, down to a new contract and ward off any further interest from Burnley, who had several bids for the former Leeds United player rejected in the summer. (Sunderland Echo)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Brentford have set a shockingly low asking price for Ivan Toney despite a high level of interest in the striker, a report claims.
Ex-Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren's home was the target of an attempted robbery while he was on the pitch. The Croatian now plays for Lyon in France, who shockingly sit bottom of Ligue 1 after nine games.
Ben Stokes has turned down a long-term England contract as he tries to maximise his earnings for the rest of his career.
The Glazer family allegedly considered giving Manchester United fans voice meters to wear in order to award free tickets to the loudest-singing supporters.
Matty Longstaff has opened up about rejecting a "weird" transfer offer from Serie A side Udinese before being released by Newcastle.
DAILY MAIL
Jadon Sancho is reportedly expected to leave Man Utd in January with the winger's career at the club considered to be '90 per cent over'.
Kalvin Phillips is reportedly expected to depart Man City in the January transfer window.
Napoli striker Victor Osimhen lashed out at fans clamouring for his signature as he left the club's training ground on Monday.
Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has come under an extraordinary attack from the deputy spokesperson for the Barcelona Board of Directors.
Tyson Fury says his love handles will help him beat ripped Francis Ngannou - and has sent a message to Oleksandr Usyk by warning him not to steal the show on Saturday night by getting into the ring after his fight with Francis Ngannou.
DAILY MIRROR
Jenni Hermoso has trained with her Spain team-mates for the first time since the World Cup final.
Darren Fletcher's son Tyler has switched his international allegiance back to Scotland after representing England.
Mesut Ozil risked Arsenal fans' wrath with praise for Man Utd duo Harry Maguire and Andre Onana - who were playing at the same time as his old club - after "silencing their haters".
Mikel Arteta has revealed that Thomas Partey could be set for a spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury on the eve of Arsenal's trip to Sevilla.
THE TIMES
Marco Silva will spend with gusto, having sought assurances over transfers, now he is staying at Fulham.
Pep Guardiola said it defied common sense that Manchester City's Champions League match against Young Boys is being played on an artificial surface.
Khiara Keating, Manchester City's teenage star, is hoping to become England Women's first senior mixed-race goalkeeper.
TELEGRAPH SPORT
The Rugby Football Union has confirmed it is to take part in talks to explore the possibility of establishing a British and Irish league.
The Football Association has distanced itself from Black Lives Matter amid concerns the governing body was continuing to support the movement despite backing within the campaign group for Hamas terrorists.
THE ATHLETIC
Mitchell van der Gaag is expected to stay at Man Utd despite the managerial vacancy at former club Ajax.
The Jamaica women's national team have announced their withdrawal from the CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup Qualifiers.
Rory McIlroy would love to invest in Manchester United - but admitted he has not had the opportunity to do so.
EVENING STANDARD
Fulham target Serhou Guirassy has a release clause of just over £15m in his contract at Stuttgart.
Beth England hit an important milestone in her injury recovery two weeks ago. For the first time since having hip surgery last month, the Tottenham and Lionesses striker was able to take her two dogs for a walk on her own.
DAILY RECORD
Young Sunderland prospect Mason Cotcher is reportedly on Rangers' radar.
Bruised Brendan Rodgers hopes to settle a score stretching back nearly 50 years with Atletico Madrid - and cement his newly rediscovered love in with the Celtic support.
The Athletic
David Moyes’ contract situation leaves West Ham at a crossroads again
By Roshane Thomas
It is not easy making a sales pitch for something that many people see as unexciting.
But that will be the position West Ham manager David Moyes finds himself in when he aims to convince the club’s board that he warrants a contract extension.
Moyes, who was reappointed in December 2019, is in the final year of his current deal. David Sullivan, West Ham’s majority shareholder, and Karren Brady, the vice-chairman, will review Moyes’ future near the end of the season. The Scotsman stands apart from his predecessors having won the club’s first major trophy in 43 years, the Europa Conference League.
Earlier this month, Moyes masterminded West Ham setting a new English record of 17 consecutive European matches unbeaten. But despite achieving that feat, West Ham’s heroics in Prague and their encouraging start to the campaign, the 60-year-old divides opinion among supporters. Some criticise his cautious style of play, his in-game management or the slow integration of new signings into the starting XI.
Moyes’ side often sit back and press teams on the counter, while the calls for Mohammed Kudus’ inclusion grow louder by the week. The introduction of Danny Ings, for example, in the 86th minute in the 4-1 loss against Aston Villa was perplexing. Surely youngster Divin Mubama, 19, would have benefited more given his scarcity of minutes in the Premier League this season?
In February, Moyes admitted “there is an element of truth” to claims his approach was sometimes overly cautious, but also pointed to his longevity in management. He has no plans to retire and believes he is the right man to take the club forward.
“I’m young enough,” he said last week. “I’m looking forward to working as long as I can, but I’ll also make a decision when I think it’s right to hang up my stopwatch and whistle. At the moment I’m fine. I’m only focused on the team doing well, keeping us going and keeping the focus on that. I’m sure there’ll be a time when we’ll discuss it, but I’m happy to go along just now and see what happens.
“I always believe the best is still to come. I had to believe that when we had difficult times and I’m actually now saying: ‘Wow, look how good I’ve got the team at the moment’. I genuinely think we are going to keep going along that line. I always think the best part of me is I can build football clubs and I think I can give them a level of stability. I think West Ham probably needed that when I came in and there are signs of that on the field and off the field and I hope we can continue to grow it.”
In the 10 years from 2009 to 2019, West Ham had six different managers (Gianfranco Zola, Avram Grant, Sam Allardyce, Slaven Bilic, Moyes and Manuel Pellegrini). Of those, only Allardyce lasted longer than two and a half years. Moyes is now the ninth-longest serving manager across the top four divisions in English football. Of the starting XI from the 4-1 loss away to Aston Villa, only Michail Antonio was signed by a previous manager (Bilic, in September 2015).
In 2022-23, Moyes stood by Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek steadfastly when the duo struggled with form. Bowen has since rediscovered his best form, with six league goals in nine appearances, and deservedly earned an England recall. His Czech team-mate, meanwhile, has shown flashes of the Soucek of old with offensive contributions in the No 10 role.
Although a section of the fanbase believes things have gone stale under Moyes, the manager has shown he is open to fresh ideas. Following the departures of Paul Nevin and Mark Warburton, Moyes recruited John Heitinga (who he managed at Everton); Henry Newman, previously an analyst; and Mark Robson, formerly the under-21s manager, to his backroom staff. Robson in particular has proven popular with members of the first team with his involvement in training sessions.
Has Moyes taken West Ham as far as he can? He will say he is capable of fulfilling his prophecy and taking West Ham to the next level; he has proven doubters wrong in his second spell, so the forthcoming months will be no different. Although the desire for a change might continue to linger in the background, we have seen previously that a sexy, big-name appointment does not always guarantee success. Manuel Pellegrini, who lasted 18 months, is a case in point.
The day after West Ham’s finest hour, as the team paraded the Conference League trophy, with supporters lining up the streets of east London in their thousands and among a cacophony of tooting horns, Moyes could not help but think the club are capable of more moments like this. The whole experience proved salutary.
“There’s an inner goal about me because I know getting that victory (against Fiorentina) meant so much,” he said. “I’m pleased to carry that with me and I hope to do it again, I really do. The magic feeling of the moment and the aftermath of the celebrations. It was magical (to win in front of my family), there’s been hundreds of games where I’ve probably been miserable not wanting to speak or go out for dinner. The job has an awful lot of lows, so it’s great that they’ve supported me as well.”
The question now is whether that support will extend into 2024-25 and beyond.
TeamTalk
West Ham to stun Man City with blockbuster move for Juventus ace, as enticing fee emerges
Manchester City could miss out on the signing of Juventus star Manuel Locatelli, as West Ham United have been named as a prime suitor for him by an Italian report.
Locatelli played an important role in Italy winning Euro 2020, during which the Azzurri beat England in the final at Wembley. In the aftermath of that victory, the central midfielder was heavily linked with a Premier League switch.
Arsenal pursued Locatelli in an attempt to make him their new midfield star, but he instead went to Juve on loan. The deal included the obligation for Juve to make it permanent for €35million (£30m).
Despite Locatelli rejecting the opportunity to move to England in the summer of 2021, he could complete such a transfer next year.
On Tuesday, the 25-year-old was linked with City, as one of his former managers urged him to make the switch in order to become a ‘stellar’ player.
Locatelli was also a target for Brighton over the summer, though his agent has stated that he was not interested in joining Roberto de Zerbi’s team.
Italian source Calciomercato have now provided a rather intriguing update on the player’s future. They reveal that there are ‘Premier League sirens’ surrounding Locatelli amid his top displays for the Bianconeri.
Locatelli registered his first goal of the season at the weekend, as his deflected long-range effort helped Juve beat Milan 1-0 away from home.
Juventus told to ‘watch out’ for West Ham
In particular, it seems West Ham have been impressed by that goal and Locatelli’s recent form. Juve have been urged to ‘watch out’ for the Irons as they are gunning to make Locatelli a statement signing in 2024.
West Ham have been searching for yet more midfield recruits amid rumours Tomas Soucek could head to Italy, with Inter among the clubs eyeing him up. This fresh report names Locatelli as an ‘ideal successor’ to Soucek at the London Stadium, should the latter depart.
Despite Locatelli’s great pedigree at club and international level, West Ham will not have to break the bank to sign him either. It is suggested that Juve will be willing to do business at the €40m (£35m) mark.
The only potential stumbling block for West Ham is that they must convince Locatelli on the move. As he has already rejected Brighton, it looks like he is hoping to join one of the Champions League’s primary competitors next.
Due to this, West Ham boss David Moyes will have to put on a serious charm offensive in order to get the 26-cap international to agree on a contract in east London. Moyes will have to outline his plan for eventually getting West Ham into the Champions League, with the Irons currently participating in the Europa League.
Caught Offside
Asking price for Real Madrid ace that’s interesting West Ham and Aston Villa revealed
by Jason Pettigrove
Although the January transfer window isn’t open for a couple of months, clubs across Europe with certain needs, including the likes of West Ham and Aston Villa, will likely be laying the groundwork for transfers now.
The purpose that the window serves is to provide a frame work for when deals are completed but given the complexity of some, it makes perfect sense for all parties to be involved in ongoing discussions in the lead up to a window.
From a player’s perspective too, particularly if they are out of favour at their current club, it offers comfort that interest from elsewhere remains, with only pen needing to be put to paper at the appropriate time in order for the deal to go through.
Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz, who has only recently extended his contract with Los Blancos, is once again out of favour at the Santiago Bernabeu, and to that end, Sport (h/t Birmingham Mail) are reporting the interest of Aston Villa and West Ham.
The Villains might well have the edge should a deal be constructed, simply because of Unai Emery’s knowledge of the Spanish market, but the Hammers shouldn’t be discounted.
At £17.4m, the 24-year-old would represent something of a bargain in today’s market and is certainly not beyond the reach of either club should they firm up their initial interest.
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