Happy Christmas to all you luvverly WHOersBBC
Manchester City are advancing talks over a deal for 17-year-old River Plate attacking midfielder Claudio Echeverri, with Chelsea also interested in the Argentina youth international. (Fabrizio Romano)
Echeverri has a £21.4m release clause in his contract with City planning to immediately loan him back to River. (Times - subscription required)
Barcelona face competition from Manchester City for the signature of Fluminense midfielder Andre, 22, with Pep Guardiola having identified the Brazilian, also been linked with Liverpool and Fulham, as a potential signing for the future. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)
Premier League clubs are set to face a fresh wave of interest in their top players from the Saudi Pro League with the number of foreign players clubs are permitted in their squads set to increase from eight to 10. (Daily Telegraph - subscription required)
Manchester United have joined Manchester City and Liverpool in the race to sign Germany midfielder Joshua Kimmich, 28, from Bayern Munich. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Arsenal are willing to part with England striker Eddie Nketiah, 24, for a fee of around £40m amid interest from West Ham, Brentford and Crystal Palace. (Football Insider)
AC Milan will stick with boss Stefano Pioli for the time being, despite former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Antonio Conte viewed as a potential replacement in the summer. (Gazetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Manchester United have put Lyon attacking midfielder Rayan Cherki, 20, on their list of transfer targets with boss Erik ten Hag also keen to sign a striker in addition to the Frenchman. (Football Transfers)
Manchester City have told Barcelona to pay in excess of £26m to make 29-year-old Portugal defender Joao Cancelo's loan move permanent. (Sport - in Spanish)
The agent of Napoli striker Victor Osimhen has shut down rumours the Nigeria international will leave next summer despite a buyout clause in the 24-year-old's new contract in excess of £100m. (Corriere dello Sport via Football Italia)
Manchester United are willing to let Ivory Coast winger Amad Diallo leave Old Trafford on loan in January, with Southampton keen on the 21-year-old. (Football Insider)
Paris St-Germain have agreed a fee of £17.5m (20m euros) with Sao Paulo for their 20-year-old Brazilian centre-back Lucas Beraldo, who was also on Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp's radar. (L'Equipe - in French)
Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is closing in on a return to management, with the Norwegian favourite to take over at Turkish club Besiktas. (Mirror)
Under pressure Al-Ettifaq manager Steven Gerrard has called on the club's board to make "significant changes" in the January transfer window following a winless run of eight matches. (Mail)
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe will hold talks imminently with director of football Dan Ashworth over the club's January transfer targets. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Ashworth has personally scouted Italian centre-back Lorenzo Pirola, 21, Mali midfielder Lassana Coulibaly, 27, and Senegal forward Boulaye Dia, 27, who are all on the books of Serie A club Salernitana and of interest to Newcastle. (Teamtalk)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Manchester United are tracking Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri as a possible January signing after learning Stuttgart's Serhou Guirassy would prefer a move to Tottenham.
Cristiano Ronaldo's plans for a luxury £27m hotel in Manchester have been left in ruins after his planning permission was allowed to expire, leaving the Grade II listed building derelict.
Eric Bailly could be handed an escape route from his Besiktas nightmare as he is being linked with a return to Villarreal.
Man Utd side are tracking Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri, as target Serhou Guirassy has his eye on a move to rivals Tottenham.
Chloe Kelly showed off her glittering diamond ring after getting engaged under Northern Lights.
Gareth Southgate has also shown great management off the pitch - with his property company adding £2.5million of assets in a year.
EVENING STANDARD
Chelsea have contacted Sporting Lisbon about signing defender Ousmane Diomande and striker Viktor Gyokeres but have been told a double deal will cost them £156m.
DAILY MIRROR
Napoli are close to agreeing a 12-month contract extension with striker Victor Osimhen which will include a £112m buyout clause to try and fend off Premier League interest.
Injured Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven has revealed he will be back in training early in the New Year after a hamstring issue curtailed a promising first season in the Premier League.
Liverpool have PSV winger Johan Bakayoko on their list of transfer targets ahead of the January window.
Luton could be about to cut short Albert Sambi Lokonga's loan.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe is prepared to sanction Jean-Clair Todibo's move from Nice to Tottenham, despite interest from Man Utd in the defender.
Roma have enquired about the possibility of signing Trevoh Chalobah from Chelsea in January.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Lasse Lempainen, the surgeon who operated on Chelsea defender Reece James' hamstring, is convinced he will be in top shape by the time Euro 2024 gets under way in Germany this summer.
Saudi Arabia is set to rule out a LIV Golf-style financial backing for any European Super League despite monitoring the project closely when it was first mooted in 2021.
Justin Kluivert has admitted he had flashbacks to what happened to close friend Abdelhak Nouri, who was left in a coma for a year and emerged with limited cognitive ability after waking up, when Luton skipper Tom Lockyer collapsed during their game with Bournemouth last weekend.
England are set to bring in West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard as a consultant coach for the Twenty20 World Cup, which is being co-hosted in the Caribbean and United States.
Clubs in rugby union's Championship have firmly rejected RFU plans for a "Premiership 2" competition saying they are not interested in a league which "follows a franchise or selection-based model".
DAILY MAIL
Games in the FA Cup third round being played at Premier League grounds will have a third VAR official - a Support VAR - joining the officiating team rather than the usual two.
Crystal Palace's head of sports medicine Zafar Iqbal is leaving the club at the end of the season to join Premier League rivals Arsenal.
TALKSPORT
Bournemouth are remaining strong in their stance striker Dominic Solanke will stay at the club in the long-term.
THE ATHLETIC
Scouts working for then Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer valued winger Antony at only £25m months before his arrival at the club for £85m.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United are willing to pay Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo more than seven times what he is earning in Spain to secure his signature in January.
DAILY RECORD
Celtic are reported to have an interest in Ipswich Town's former St Mirren goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky but his agent says their focus is firmly on helping his club into the Premier League.
Lee McCulloch has urged Rangers to go all out in January for Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland to boost their Scottish Premiership title bid.
Express
Harry Maguire backed for Man Utd exit in January as West Ham ‘encouraged’ about transfer
EXCLUSIVE: Manchester United could look to cash in on Harry Maguire next month despite his recent renaissance.
By Alex Turk
West Ham United have been handed encouragement over a potential move for Manchester United defender Harry Maguire, according to reports. And former Red Devils winger Lee Sharpe believes switching to West Ham next month would be a wise career move for Maguire.
The 30-year-old was expected to leave for east London in the summer after United accepted a £30million bid for his signature.
But a breakdown in talks over personal terms saw Maguire remain at Old Trafford, where he has enjoyed a personal renaissance this season.
Maguire leapfrogged Raphael Varane in Erik ten Hag's pecking order before suffering an injury - expected to be short-term - against Bayern Munich earlier this month.
Varane produced a solid display against Bayern and was United's Player of the Match in the 0-0 draw at Liverpool a few days later.
In October, ESPN reported that West Ham had been handed encouragement over a potential winter deal for Maguire amid Ten Hag's plans to fund new signings through player sales.
And Sharpe believes that the London Stadium would be an ideal destination if Maguire's improved form ultimately means little regarding the likelihood of his exit.
"It's a difficult one to call. The media circus was way out of proportion and pretty brutal at times for someone who was just playing football," Lee Sharpe told Express Sport.
"I don't know Harry Maguire, I don't know what the manager talks to him about, I don't know if he's sort of thinking behind what's going on.
"But I look at a West Ham move on the surface and think what a great move it would be. I know West Ham struggled a bit last year, but that was probably due to being in Europe for the first time in a while.
"They've come back again and looked decent this year. They'll always have a decent team. David Moyes is a really good manager, and he [Maguire] would benefit from playing under David Moyes in a team like West Ham."
United have reportedly made a new centre-back a priority in 2024, and reinforcements in the position were shortlisted before Maguire's West Ham switch collapsed last summer.
And Sharpe considers the failed transfer a shame despite the England international's welcome increase in minutes this term.
He added: "On the surface, it would've been a really good move for him [in the summer]. It would've been regular football; no one could've complained when Gareth Southgate carried on picking him for England.
"And he probably would've been able to disappear a bit around London away from games. He won't be able to do that around Manchester. Maybe in January, he goes somewhere."
