|
BBC
Manchester City are close to signing Argentine midfielder Claudio Echeverri from River Plate in a deal likely to result in them loaning the 17-year-old back to his current club until the end of the Premier League season. (ESPN)
Arsenal are best positioned to sign 22-year-old Sporting Lisbon defender Goncalo Inacio in January, with the Portugal international, who has a 60m euro release clause, also interesting Liverpool. (A Bola - in Portuguese)
Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres has been linked with Arsenal and Chelsea in January but the 25-year-old Sweden international, formerly with Coventry City, says he wants to stay with the Portuguese club for the rest of the season. (Record, via 90 Min)
Tottenham are ready to pay £25m to prise 18-year-old Belgium midfielder Arthur Vermeeren from Royal Antwerp - with the deal including a large up-front fee and an agreement to loan the player back to the Pro League champions for the remainder of the season. (Sun)
Former England and Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard, 31, has been offered as a free agent to Ligue 1 side Lille. However, Brexit could ruin his chances of a move as French clubs are limited to signing four players from non-EU states or countries. (Mirror)
Manchester United are considering a move for £26m-rated Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee, 22, who has scored seven goals in 17 games this season for Serie A side Bologna. (Sport1 via Metro)
Inter Milan are keen to bring in Iran international Mehdi Taremi, 31, from Porto in January but could look at Manchester United's French forward Anthony Martial, 28, and Chelsea's Albania international Armando Broja, 22, as alternatives. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Atletico Madrid have knocked back an approach by Juventus for Argentina midfielder Rodrigo de Paul, 29. (Mundo Deportivo - in Spanish)
Paris St-Germain have agreed a deal worth 20m euros (£17.34m) with Corinthians for 18-year-old Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Moscardo. (Fabrizio Romano)
Former France defender Raphael Varane, 30, is open to leaving Manchester United to return to Lens, where he started his career. (L'Equipe - in French)
But Bayern Munich are also keen on making a move for Varane while another of his former clubs, Real Madrid, also remain in the race. (Sport - in Spanish)
Brazil and former Athletico Paranaense forward Vitor Roque, 18, has flown to Spain to begin his contract at Barcelona - the 18-year-old signed a seven-year deal with the La Liga champions in July. (Fabrizio Romano)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Manchester United are interested in signing Joshua Kimmich from Bayern Munich, according to reports.
Chelsea and Fulham have reportedly sent scouts to watch AZ Alkmaar star Vangelis Pavlidis.
Billie Jean King has called on tennis authorities to compensate British player Tara Moore to be given financial and ranking points compensation after her doping ban was lifted after 19 months following an independent tribunal.
Sponsored Links
What is Outbrain
DAILY MAIL
Sir Dave Brailsford, the director of sport for Jim Ratcliffe's INEOS group, was spotted at Old Trafford during Manchester United's clash with Aston Villa.
Nuno Espirito Santo has revealed that PGMOL chief Howard Webb has issued an apology to Nottingham Forest after Willy Boly's controversial sending off against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno appeared to push a ball boy as his team were beaten 3-0 by Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Manchester United shares jumped about four per cent on Tuesday after a stake purchase by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe cleared up months of uncertainty over a deal that fans and investors hoped would revitalise the club.
Pep Guardiola's biographer has all but ruled out a return for the Manchester City manager to coaching in Spain after his time at the Etihad wraps up in a new interview.
Barcelona are reportedly prepared to let Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto leave the club at the end of the season.
Final approval of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Manchester United share purchase is expected to take between four and six weeks, and he will have to be consulted if any decision is made on the future of boss Erik ten Hag in the meantime.
THE TIMES
Amazon Prime will not show a second series of their behind-the-scenes documentary about the Gallagher Premiership because of low viewing numbers.
DAILY STAR
Edwin van der Sar was fit enough to be able to make his first return to Manchester United for their Old Trafford date with Aston Villa on Boxing Day less that six months after suffering a life-threatening brain haemorrhage.
Former Liverpool midfielder Fabinho suffered VAR disappointment on Boxing Day when he was sent off during Al-Ittihad's 5-2 defeat by Al-Nassr for appearing to hit Otavio in the face.
DAILY MIRROR
Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson showed his remarkable generosity by paying for 150 Christmas Day meals for the homeless and emergency service workers in his home town of Nottingham.
Millwall face the prospect of an FA probe after assistant referee Matthew Wilkes appeared to be hit by an object thrown by home fans.
The neighbour of Lionel Messi's house surged $25m (£20m) in value following the Argentine's move to Inter Miami.
Arsenal are the latest club to be linked with a move for Valencia's impressive teenage defender Yarek Gasiorowski according to reports in Spain.
DAILY EXPRESS
The Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno could face retrospective action from the Football Association after shoving a ballboy in the defeat at Bournemouth.
Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly ready to commit £52m on 16-year-old Brazilian wonderkid Estevao Willian from Palmeiras.
Reports coming out of Spain suggest that Real Madrid's board are not looking at re-signing Raphael Varane in the January transfer window despite Carlo Ancelotti's keenness to be reunited with the Frenchman.
Ralf Schumacher has offered a rare, and somewhat saddening, update on the health of his brother Michael almost 10 years to the day since the seven-time F1 world champion's life-changing skiing accident, admitting he "misses the Michael of old" and that "nothing is like it used to be."
DAILY RECORD
Midfielder Jung Ho-Yeon has had "advanced" talks with Celtic over a January move according to Gwangju FC boss Lee Jung-Hyo.
FC Groningen will want a large percentage of Kevin van Veen's salary to be paid by whichever club tries to sign the former Motherwell striker on loan in January,
Southampton transfer chief Darren Mowbray wants the Championship club to be at the front of the queue for Aberdeen's in-form striker Bojan Miovski, a player he brought to Pittodrie in the first place.
SCOTTISH SUN
Cameron Carter-Vickers has dealt Celtic a fresh injury concern just four days before the Old Firm clash with Rangers.
C&H
Hammers winter signing priorities change
West Ham‘s winter signing priorities have changed following the astonishing levels and performances of Mohammad Kudos and Jarrod Bowen. Assisted by Lucas Paqueta the pair have scored 23 goals between them making the Hammers need for a striker a lower requirement and one that may even wait until the summer.
And one thing that is certain to be on David Sullivan, Tim Steidten and David Moyes‘ mind is the need to attract top British players to the club as the winter and next summer windows open. The current squad of 24 contains various young Brits from the academy who rarely get games and this is solely to ensure the rules for homegrown players are observed.
The club has made it clear to Claret and Hugh that this will be a priority so it may be a good idea to ignore the rumours associated with various overseas players being linked with the club. It is becoming increasingly clear that the likes of Kehrer, Cornet and Fornals will be on their way and this will ensure slots are available for homegrown players from around the English leagues.
Meanwhile Danny Ings has interest from some clubs and both Bristol clubs are believed to be keen on Conor Coventry with the Hammers looking at defenders rather than strikers – notably at left back where Aaron Cresswell looks set to move on.
Stories that David Moyes has told friends he will not be West Ham‘s manager next season can be safely ignored as neither he or the club have come close to making their minds up.
The Hammers board always make a decision on such issues at the end of a manager’s contract – if of course he hasn’t been sacked in the meantime – and the club has told Claret and Hugh that is the protocol they will be following with the Scot.
Thus far they are delighted with the situation at the club after winning a trophy and finding themselves in seventh place ahead of the game against Arsenal and Moyes looks to have patched up any differences between himself and technical director Tim Steidten that may have existed.
Throughout the season the pair have been conversing and smiling on the touchline before games as the squad has warmed up which hardly suggest there is much tension between them.
Football Insider claims to have learned from his “friends” that Moyes doesn’t believe he will be at the club next season which is much the same as other sites were saying when he was under pressure in the summer.
But the key Claret and Hugh source told us exclusively: “He is entirely safe in the job as things stand. There is much of the season left and as has always been the case no decision will be made until May or June.”
Moyes himself has regularly made it clear that he loves the club and wants to remain so it seems that unless the wheels fall off entirely over the next four months he and the club will agree a rolling one year deal.
|
