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BBC
Chelsea are prepared to consider offers for England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 23, when the transfer window opens next month to raise funds for Mauricio Pochettino, who could make a move for Brentford's England striker Ivan Toney, 27, or Napoli's 24-year-old Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen. (Mail)
France centre-back Axel Disasi and Spanish left-back Marc Cucurella are among seven players Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is willing to sell in January, despite Disasi, 25, only joining the Blues last summer and Cucurella, also 25, costing more than £60m in August 2022. (Teamtalk)
Chelsea are continuing to track Palmeiras' Brazilian midfielder Luis Guilherme but Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United are also keeping tabs on the 17-year-old. (90Min)
Manchester United want to swap England winger Jadon Sancho, 23, with Barcelona's Brazil winger Raphinha, 26. (Sport - in Spanish)
Manchester United do not intend to activate the option to extend the contract of France forward Anthony Martial, 28, when it expires at the end of this season. (Athletic)
Manchester United are open to offers for Brazil midfielder Casemiro, 31, former France defender Raphael Varane, 30, and Netherlands midfielder Donny van de Beek, 26, in January, as well as Martial and Sancho. (Guardian)
If Sancho leaves Manchester United in January, Ivory Coast forward Amad Diallo, 21, could replace him in their first-team squad having just returned from injury. (Football Insider)
West Ham United remain "100%" behind David Moyes, 60, despite the crushing 5-0 defeat away at Fulham. (Telegraph)
England midfielder Kalvin Phillips is seeking a January exit from Manchester City, with Tottenham and Newcastle keen on the 28-year-old. (Football Insider)
Liverpool are considering recalling English centre-back Rhys Williams, 22, from his loan spell at Aberdeen as Jurgen Klopp looks solve his defensive injury crisis. (Mail)
Bayern Munich representatives were at Sunday's game to watch Fulham's Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha, 28, who they almost signed in the summer. (90min)
Tottenham have agreed a new long-term deal for Italian full-back Destiny Udogie, 21. (Fabrizio Romano)
Everton want to recall English defender Mason Holgate, 27, from his loan spell at Southampton because of a lack of game time. (Sun)
Bournemouth have offered Lloyd Kelly, 25, a club-record deal in a bid to persuade him to sign a new contract, with AC Milan and Juventus keen for the English defender to agree a pre-contract deal. (Teamtalk)
Brentford are in the market for a striker in January even if Toney stays at the club, with FC Cincinnati's USA international Brandon Vazquez, 25, among the forwards on their radar. (Telegraph - subscription required)
Red Bull Salzburg's Israel midfielder Oscar Gloukh, 19, is on Aston Villa's radar before the January transfer window. (Football Insider)
Feyenoord's 22-year-old Dutch midfielder Quinten Timber, twin brother of Arsenal defender Jurrien, is emerging as a transfer target for Fulham. (Teamtalk)
Stoke City have approached former Aston Villa and Leicester boss Dean Smith over the Championship side's managerial vacancy. (Football Insider)
Arsenal have held contract talks with English defender Reuell Walters as they bid to fend off interest in the 18-year-old from clubs in the Premier League and in Europe. (Standard)
Sky Paper Talk
THE GUARDIAN
Chelsea are likely to target a high-profile striker in January, with Ivan Toney, Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres all on their shortlist, but they will probably have to sell players first because of FFP concerns.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Chelsea's "annus horribilis" is being recognised as a "disaster" inside Stamford Bridge with the club now facing a big decision over whether to stand by their 2023 transfer policy of focusing on younger signings.
Dean Smith appears to have beaten off competition from Frank Lampard and is expected to be confirmed as Charlotte FC manager in the next few days.
Aston Villa have finally received new shirts from kit manufacturer Castore some three months after their men's and women's teams complained they were becoming too heavy with sweat and risked performances being impaired.
Football Supporters Association chief Malcolm Clarke says PGMOL head Howard Webb has not done enough to speed up VAR decisions, which was the biggest frustration from fans polled during the summer.
West Ham remain 100 per cent behind David Moyes as manager after the 5-0 thrashing by Fulham but remain in no rush to offer the Scot a new contract.
Teams in the Gallagher Premiership will have maximum squad sizes imposed on them as part of the new Professional Game Partnership with the Rugby Football Union. The likely proposal will be 35 senior players and a further 12 in a "transition" group.
Strategic Sports Group - a consortium of American financiers led by Liverpool owners John Henry and Tom Werner - have been chosen as the investors the PGA Tour policy board will deal with as they look for private equity investment.
DAILY EXPRESS
Chelsea are set to place seven players on the transfer list in January, with summer signing Axel Disasi - a fairly regular starter in his first season at Stamford Bridge - potentially among them.
Faruk Koca, president of Turkish club Ankaragucu, ran on to the pitch and punched referee Halil Umut Meler in the face after his side conceded a late equaliser against Caykur Risespor on Monday evening. The referee was also kicked while lying on the ground in unsavoury scenes broadcast on live television.
Dwight Yorke says he would love to be considered as Sunderland's next manager but felt it was a "bit of a slap in the face" to not even get a response from the club when he applied for the role eventually given to Tony Mowbray.
DAILY MAIL
Liverpool are set to open the top tier of their new-look Anfield Road Stand when Manchester United visit this weekend, taking their capacity to 57,000.
Mauricio Pochettino will focus on adding height to his Chelsea squad in January and could also bring in another goalkeeper to challenge Robert Sanchez for the No 1 jersey.
Everton duo Jarrad Branthwaite and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are under serious consideration by England boss Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2024.
Tottenham striker Richarlison has revealed the extent of a groin injury which forced him to go as far as not shooting during pre-match sessions and also admitted it had a huge impact on his mental health.
Chelsea may have to consider cashing in on England midfielder Conor Gallagher in January as they struggle to comply with Premier League spending rules.
Mary Earps fever continued on Monday morning as the much-anticipated launch of the latest batch of her England goalkeeper shirt saw them sell out within five minutes.
Liverpool will consider bringing Rhys Williams back to the club from his loan spell at Aberdeen, first to provide cover for an injury-hit defence and possibly then to send him to another team as he has been unable to force his way into the Dons squad.
James Milner has revealed he might have carried on playing for England had Gareth Southgate been appointed before his decision to retire had been made public.
Former Eintracht Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner, who is currently without a job, has emerged as a leading contender to take over at Nottingham Forest if they move on from Steve Cooper.
THE SUN
Manchester United will allow forward Anthony Martial to leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the season, his ninth at Old Trafford.
Graham Potter is on a "highly ambitious" shortlist to take over as Stoke City manager according to reports in the Potteries media.
Manchester City will not host their traditional big Christmas party this year, in part due to their commitments at the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Jadon Sancho has been offered to Barcelona, according to reports in Spain which claim Manchester United want Raphinha in a swap deal.
Real Madrid's £60m deal to sign Brazil talent Endrick only happened after Chelsea mysteriously pulled the plug on a move the player's father Douglas thought had been agreed.
Everton want to recall Mason Holgate from his loan spell at Southampton because of a lack of playing time with Middlesbrough, Watford and Rangers all keen on taking him in January.
EVENING STANDARD
Reuell Walters, Lino Sousa and Ethan Nwaneri have all travelled with Arsenal for their final Champions League group game against PSV Eindhoven on Tuesday evening.
DAILY EXPRESS
Stefanos Tsitsipas has revealed he was struggling to get out of bed because of the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the ATP Finals in Turin. The Greek star's condition is improving and still hopes to play in the United Cup in early January.
DAILY RECORD
Scott Brown has emerged as the favourite to take over as manager of Queen's Park with former Celtic team-mate Charlie Mulgrew as his main competition.
St Johnstone owner Geoff Brown says no party is anywhere near making an offer to buy the club from him despite interest from the USA.
The Athletic
Which West Ham will turn up today? Oh, this one…
By Roshane Thomas
Three days.
Three days is all it took for West Ham United to go from jubilation to despair.
Three days is all it took for that heroic second-half performance against Tottenham Hotspur to be in vain.
Three days is all it took to go from fans voicing their support for David Moyes to “MoyesOut” trending on social media during the 5-0 loss away to Fulham.
Three days.
What has lasted longer than three days, however, is West Ham’s inconsistency. From scraping a narrow win against Burnley to earning a frustrating point against Crystal Palace to sealing a morale-boosting win against Tottenham to suffering the ignominy of a heavy loss against Fulham, one place below them in the league.
The home crowd thrived on schadenfreude at full time: “Champions of Europe, you’re having a laugh.” Fulham played like a team West Ham should aspire to be: fun to watch, well-drilled, good offensively and defensively with players capable of impacting the game from the bench, with second-half substitutes Harry Wilson and Carlos Vinicius scoring.
It was West Ham’s heaviest defeat under Moyes since he returned to the helm in December 2019. Despite being in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup, ninth in the Premier League and top of their Europa League group, games like these are cited by supporters who call for a more progressive manager, someone who can maximise the squad and yield consistency. Moyes acknowledged he is finding it hard to rotate his squad. There is a huge drop in quality between the starting XI and fringe players.
Moyes’ position as manager is not under threat following Sunday’s loss. He still retains full support from the board, but his stock among fans will nosedive if he struggles to make the most of the talent at his disposal. Similar to their form, Moyes’ relationship with supporters remains hot and cold. It is like being in a difficult marriage as you try to salvage it for the sake of the kids.
A sickness bug made things more difficult against Fulham, impacting several West Ham players and staff members. Pablo Fornals, who started the game, was one of those most affected. Moyes was also unwell, along with other members of the first-team squad. This included Edson Alvarez, who did not travel to Craven Cottage, and Emerson Palmieri, who came on as a substitute. Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola remained sidelined with a wrist injury, which he sustained in training.
The absence of Alvarez was noticeable, with midfielders Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse failing to provide the back four with similar protection. Before kick-off, a boat full of West Ham fans en route to west London crashed into Hammersmith Bridge. The boat seemed to withstand the damage. The same could not be said for West Ham’s defence.
It was bad defending that led to them being 3-0 down at half-time. The last time that occurred in the league was in October 2020 against Tottenham, which led to an inspired comeback. But the attacking trio of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus struggled to replicate that herculean effort.
On the eve of the game, fans were frustrated with Moyes downplaying West Ham’s chances of securing a top-six spot. There was more anger for his comments post-match.
“It’s the carry-over from the game (against Tottenham), we used up too much energy in midweek,” said Moyes. “We couldn’t get ourselves back. No excuse for the result but it played a part in it. We’ve had two difficult away games this week, three points from the two games is not a bad return.”
West Ham should aspire to win back-to-back games against Tottenham and Fulham. Being grateful for three points from two games could be the difference between finishing sixth and securing European football, or an underwhelming mid-table finish. The manner of performances remain a talking point. So do the contributions of Aaron Cresswell and Pablo Fornals, both of whom started but continue to be ineffective.
Thanks to their involvement in Europe, West Ham have played a Thursday-then-Sunday schedule for three consecutive seasons. The players have adjusted to this, as have Moyes and his backroom staff. The lack of energy did not feel like a valid argument, considering West Ham were only marginally better for 45 minutes against Tottenham.
“Today was a really bad day,” said Zouma, West Ham’s captain. “There was nothing today. Our performance was really bad. Losing 5-0, there is nothing to say, just sorry to the fans who came to support us. It’s a day to forget and we have to bounce back really quick.
“They were better than us everywhere on the pitch. They were just better than us, they ran more than us, they wanted to win more than us and physically they were maybe sharper than us.
“It was one of the worst games I’ve played since I came here, but now it’s behind us, it’s done and there is nothing we can do about it, but we can react and try to make it gone for good in the next one or two games.”
The only solace from the loss against Fulham is that it wasn’t a home game. The boos would have been louder than the ones that emanated after the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.
In April, West Ham suffered a 5-1 loss against Newcastle United and Moyes had a message for his players. “I hope you’re all ready to play again,” he said. “If I was you, I’d be wanting to go and play tomorrow.”
The players responded by going unbeaten in their next five games. Thursday’s Europa League group-stage game against Freiburg is an opportunity to begin to make amends.
Sport Witness
Boost for West Ham as player is ‘allowed to leave’ next month – Club preparing for exit, identify replacement
On December 6th, we covered claims from Germany that West Ham United have joined the race to sign VfB Stuttgart star Serhou Guirassy. It was also stated the Hammers are ‘intensively’ thinking of making an offer for the striker.
West Ham’s interest and the Bundesliga side’s stance on selling the 27-year-old is now discussed by Bild.
It’s claimed David Moyes’ side are among the teams that are keen on signing the player in January.
The Europa Conference League winners have received a boost as the report says Guirassy will be ‘allowed to leave’ the German club next month, taking advantage of his release clause of around €20m.
In addition to this, Stuttgart, behind the scenes, are preparing for his potential exit next month. They have even identified Augsburg’s Dion Drena Beljo as a candidate to replace him.
Bild add the negotiations between West Ham and the Guinea international’s camp are not yet concrete. If they were to take the necessary steps, there is a deal to be done in the winter market, for a ‘bargain price’ of around €20m.
Guirassy has scored 18 goals and registered two assists from 14 games this season.
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