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BBC
Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal are set to renew their interest in Manchester United and Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes, 29, in the summer after failing to sign him in January. (Mail)
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino is in serious danger of being sacked after the 4-2 defeat by Wolves on Sunday. (Teamtalk)
Manchester United have contacted former Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui and ex-Chelsea and Tottenham boss Antonio Conte should they decide to replace Erik ten Hag at the end of the season. (Caught Offside)
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish strongly contemplated dismissing Roy Hodgson after Saturday's loss to Brighton but is struggling to find a replacement willing to take over at this stage of the season. (Guardian)
Arsenal will rival Chelsea for the signing of Napoli's 25-year-old Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen at the end of the season. He is reported to have a release clause of £111m. (Soccernet)
Liverpool are interested in Barcelona's Brazil winger Raphinha, 27, and Spain forward Ansu Fati, 21, to replace Egypt forward Mohamed Salah. (Teamtalk)
Liverpool are planning to hold contract talks with 25-year-old England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold. (Football Insider)
Former England midfielder Jesse Lingard, 31, is set to have a medical before signing a two-year contract with FC Seoul.(Mail)
Chelsea target and Slovenia forward Benjamin Sesko, 20, could leave RB Leipzig in the summer. (Football Transfers)
Eintracht Frankfurt have not registered 26-year-old Netherlands midfielder Donny van de Beek, who is on loan from Manchester United, for their Europa Conference League squad. (Sky Germany)
Napoli director Mauro Meluso says Poland midfielder Piotr Zielinski, 29, was left out of their Champions League squad for football reasons rather than revenge for his reported move to Inter Milan this summer. (Football Italia)
Sky Paper Talk
THE GUARDIAN
Steve Parish, the Crystal Palace chairman, has strongly contemplated sacking Roy Hodgson after the record defeat against Brighton on Saturday but is struggling to find a replacement who is willing to take over at this stage of the season.
Mauricio Pochettino apologised to the fans, said his team were not good enough and admitted his job is not safe after Chelsea plunged to an embarrassing 4-2 defeat at home against Wolves.
New Jersey's MetLife Stadium will host the final of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across North America in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Hong Kong's government have spoken of their 'extreme disappointment' after an injured Lionel Messi failed to appear in a sold-out game on Inter Miami's pre-season tour. The MLS side beat a Hong Kong XI 4-1.
The former Barcelona and Brazil footballer Dani Alves will appear in court on Monday charged with the rape of a 23-year-old woman in a Barcelona nightclub.
DAILY EXPRESS
The owner of AC Milan is said to have considered bringing Novak Djokovic on board as the Serie A club's mental coach. The record-breaking Grand Slam holder is a self-confessed Rossoneri fanatic - but an approach eventually did not transpire.
Red Bull technical advisor Helmut Marko insists Toto Wolff will be unsuccessful if he tries to sign Max Verstappen for Mercedes. Wolff is searching for a replacement for Lewis Hamilton after the seven-time world champion decided to join Ferrari in 2025.
DAILY MAIL
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has challenged Real Madrid to make an offer for Erling Haaland if they really want him.
Birmingham's Andre Dozzell has called for stronger penalties for fans who racially abuse players after his team-mate Juninho Bacuna was targeted for the second time this season.
A man has drowned in the lake outside SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the second death to occur in the man-made water feature since the venue opened in 2020.
Agents have been left frustrated by the lack of activity in the January transfer window, with some wondering if a knock-on effect of Premier League profit and sustainability rules will be to reduce the standard of the competition because clubs are unable to invest heavily in their squads.
THE SUN
Donny van de Beek has been left out of Frankfurt's squad for the Europa League knockout stages, to continue his disappointing start to his loan spell from Manchester United.
Al Hilal are not giving up on signing Bruno Fernandes. The Saudi Pro League side are reportedly desperate to bring the Portugal midfielder to link up with Neymar.
Pep Guardiola will fight Erik ten Hag all the way in the chase for Crystal Palace sensation Michael Olise.
Chris Wilder faces an FA charge over his astonishing Sandwichgate rant at "biased" referees.
PSG have lined up AC Milan's Rafael Leao to replace Kylian Mbappe who has agreed to a deal with Real Madrid.
The wife of Chelsea defender Thiago Silva appears to have called on manager Mauricio Pochettino to be sacked.
Jordon Ibe has made his National League debut four years after playing in the Premier League. The 28-year-old winger came off the bench for Ebbsfleet in their 0-0 draw against Oldham on Saturday.
THE ATHLETIC
Manchester City are interested in Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich. Pep Guardiola could also be keen to reunite with Kimmich who he managed during his stint at the German side.
Nottingham Forest captain Joe Worrall is set to undergo a medical before joining Besiktas on loan.
DAILY MIRROR
Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey is 'expected' to leave the club at the end of term when he will have just one year left on his contract. Partey has made just five appearances this season after suffering from a hamstring issue back in October.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Manchester City are "in love" with Erling Haaland and want him to remain at the club for the next decade, according to manager Pep Guardiola.
England head coach Steve Borthwick has promised to shield Immanuel Feyi-Waboso from the eye of the storm as the winger prepares to face Wales, the country of his birth, at Twickenham on Saturday.
Referee Rebecca Welch was booed off the pitch by fans after sending off Philip Billing in controversial circumstances in just her second Premier League game in charge.
Paris Saint-Germain will turn their attentions to Victor Osimhen if Kylian Mbappe decides to join Real Madrid.
Thiago Silva's wife appeared to call for Mauricio Pochettino's sacking on another day of chaos at Stamford Bridge when Chelsea were beaten 4-2 by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
SCOTTISH SUN
Aberdeen look set to name Neil Warnock as their interim boss in the next 48 hours.
Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland began to get 'sick' of hearing his own name during the transfer window amid reports of a move to Rangers.
DAILY RECORD
Aberdeen will hand Neil Warnock their manager's job - more than two decades after he was snubbed for the Pittodrie post.
Exiled Ryan Kent is reportedly escalating his feud with Fenerbahce with the winger going to FIFA over unpaid wages.
Guardian
Alejandro Garnacho doubles up to lift Manchester United above West Ham
Jamie Jackson at Old Trafford
This joyful Manchester United victory was graced by a blistering Rasmus Højlund strike and the comical celebration of Alejandro Garnacho’s first goal as he, Højlund and Kobbie Mainoo sat atop a Stretford End advertising hoarding.
It was that type of afternoon for Erik ten Hag’s work in progress. On his 21st birthday, Højlund greeted his finish with a hopping air-guitar mime and a raucous cheer was provoked when, after Garnacho doubled the lead, Diogo Dalot skidded along the grass to block Jarrod Bowen’s shot.
The low note was the sight of Lisandro Martínez, four games into returning from a foot injury, being forced off on 71 minutes with what appeared to be a knee problem. The Argentinian had played on after the clash with Tomas Soucek that seemed to cause the injury.
Ten Hag said: “It is a personal disaster [for him]. It seems bad. We have to wait, make the right diagnosis in the coming days and we will see. Hopefully it is not too bad, we can only pray.”
Victory lifts United into sixth, eight points behind Aston Villa in fourth. Ten Hag said: “We can achieve a lot because everyone is killing everyone [in the league]. The three youngsters celebrating together – before the season we saw the potential but they need games, experience.”
Even at 2-0 up United were too open until Garnacho’s second sealed victory and claimed two consecutive Premier League wins for only a third time this season.
West Ham had preyed on this shakiness early on by strolling about and nearly profiting from their first corner. James Ward-Prowse lifted the ball in, Soucek’s header was flicked on by Edson Álvarez before André Onana, nose-to-nose with him in a crammed six-yard box, dived left to save.
United upped gear. Harry Maguire, in for Raphaël Varane, intercepted Soucek’s pass near halfway. Marcus Rashford took over and drove through the area before Kurt Zouma cleared. The corner, taken short by a combination of Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford, was worked to Bruno Fernandes: he thumped a shot, it dipped under the bar, and Alphonse Areola palmed away.
Next, Soucek’s 20-yard effort went for a corner and when the ball broke to Mohammed Kudus, Martínez fouled the winger.
Ward-Prowse smashed the free‑kick low and Casemiro repelled the strike with his head.
The Brazilian was then pivotal in Højlund’s fifth strike in six outings as he stabbed a Zouma clearance to the Dane. In a flash Højlund dropped a shoulder, shifted the ball from his left to right, and a dead-eye finish beat Areola. The rest of the half featured United’s tempo slowing and the Hammers threatening them at several Ward-Prowse set pieces. From one corner Højlund nearly turned culprit by grappling Zouma in the area. He escaped sanction and, as the interval neared, missed a Garnacho tee-up, spraying wide from an acute angle.
Areola, who had taken an inadvertent knock from Zouma, was replaced by Lukasz Fabianski for the second half. Ten Hag’s men emerged needing to be quicker, and slicker – which Maguire was not when dawdling and Emerson Palmieri mugged him. Suddenly the left-back was in but he scooped over and, instantly, regretted his miss, as West Ham conceded.
It was simple: Fernandes floated the ball right to Garnacho who chopped on to his left and unloaded, the shot ricocheting off Nayef Aguerd beyond Fabianski. The Garnacho‑Højlund-Mainoo celebration followed and United had a two‑goal lead. It should have been 3-0 when the ball bobbled to Rashford but he skied the attempt, showing a rare smile which, given his recent Belfast‑located travails, was heartening to see.
Encouraging, too, for United was the manner of the third. Scott McTominay, on for Mainoo, stripped Kalvin Phillips of possession and curved the ball right to Garnacho, who trotted forward and made no mistake.
David Moyes said: “We played better than when we beat them [2-0 at home] in December. I enjoyed my team’s performance but not the result.”
This game was two days before the anniversary of the Munich air disaster in 6 February 1958 that caused 23 fatalities including eight United players and three staff. A United win inspired by young players seemed a fitting tribute to those who died in that tragedy.
The Athletic
West Ham’s lack of attacking depth has been exposed – should Moyes try something new?
By Roshane Thomas
There were only 46 seconds between Emerson’s wasteful shot and Alejandro Garnacho’s strike at the other end, but that brief passage of play early in the second half shifted the momentum as West Ham succumbed away to Manchester United.
The visitors trailed to Rasmus Hojlund’s opener at the time and, had Emerson converted, belief would have been renewed among David Moyes’ players that a league double over these opponents was within reach. As it was, they ended up ruing the full-back’s miss, together with another opportunity spurned by Jarrod Bowen.
This was a case of fine margins, with the away side failing to be clinical at key moments.
West Ham side attempted 22 shots at Old Trafford. Their hosts only managed 12, yet ran out 3-0 winners.
It all contrasted markedly with the composure and quality demonstrated by Hojlund and Garnacho. The frustration is that the Londoners know they can be much better than this. Only on December 23, they won the reverse fixture 2-0 with Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta combining in breathtaking fashion. The trio showed great understanding that day, and Moyes’ front three were the envy of the Premier League.
Their chances of a similar result on Sunday were dented by Paqueta’s absence with a calf injury.
Bowen and Kudus were West Ham’s only natural attacking options in the starting XI, following the departures of Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma to Real Betis and Lyon respectively in the final hours of the winter transfer window. For all that versatile defender Ben Johnson impressed in a more advanced role on the right, James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek struggled to create opportunities for the front pairing.
Moyes was still encouraged by his team’s performance.
“I look at our last couple of performances and I didn’t enjoy the performances against Bournemouth and Sheffield United, but I probably enjoyed my team’s performance better today,” he said. “That’s why when you’re not doing well, you grind out a point, take it and move on. But hopefully we can build on the performance today.
“We made quite a few opportunities, but we just didn’t have our shooting boots on. We beat Manchester United at the London Stadium, but we may have played better today than we did then. The first goal we conceded was disappointing because United hadn’t given us any problem at all. When Emerson went through I thought Jarrod should have kept his run going. If Jarrod had continued, there might have been a chance for Emerson to play him in for a tap-in. It didn’t happen, but we had the opportunities.”
The loss was West Ham’s first in the league since a 5-0 thrashing at Fulham on December 10 and brings to an end a six-game unbeaten run. Despite defender Nayef Aguerd returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty with Morocco following their last-16 exit on Tuesday to play the full match, Moyes’ side conceded as many as goals in one match yesterday as they had in their six league games since that Fulham defeat.
Yet the real concern for the Scot will be how he navigates this period with a lack of attacking options.
During January, the hunt for a left-sided attacker proved fruitless with bids for Nordsjaelland’s Ibrahim Osman, Al Ittihad’s Jota and Emile Smith Rowe of Arsenal all rejected. That has left the manager eager for his casualties to return to fitness — Moyes is hopeful Paqueta will return within the next two weeks, although Michail Antonio remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Maxwel Cornet, who was coveted by Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest last month, was the only winger on the bench at Old Trafford. Forwards Danny Ings and Divin Mubama have been restricted to cameo appearances this season.
Academy graduate Ollie Scarles was also among the substitutes yesterday, as he had been for the two previous league matches, but the 18-year-old has not played for the first team since his debut against Romanian club FSCB in the Europa Conference League 15 months ago.
“We’re struggling with the balance of the team — to get players exactly where we want them,” said Moyes. “We’re looking for a solution and we haven’t been in the best form probably for a month. But our form (was good) at the start of January before we picked up injuries or lost players to the Africa Cup of Nations. This month we’ve been fighting to find the right balance in the team.
“But what we did today was good and we’re hoping that Paqueta is only a week or two away from returning. It just so happens that the offers we got were for those two players (Fornals and Benrahma). They wanted to go badly, so it reaches a point where, as a manager and a football club, you say, ‘Do we keep them just because?’, or do you try and do the correct things for the players?
“If the players don’t want to stay, then it’s very hard to say no.”
Attention now turns to next weekend’s visit of Arsenal, who beat league leaders Liverpool 3-1 later on Sunday.
West Ham have beaten Mikel Arteta’s title challengers twice already this season, and Kudus and Bowen both impressed in the 3-1 Carabao Cup victory at home in November. Moyes has mainly deployed Bowen as a lone striker, but Kudus is capable of operating in the same role.
Might a tweak in tactics, with Bowen reverting to his preferred spot on the right, help the England international return to form?
It is something for the manager to ponder.
Sport Witness
West Ham have ‘stepped up’ for signing after January failure – Moyes’ side already made contact
West Ham United are still in the picture to sign Genoa’s Albert Guðmundsson, according to Il Secolo XIX, relayed by Tutto Juve.
The forward joined the Italian club from AZ Alkmaar in 2022 and was key in helping them return to the top flight. He’s managed 11 goals and three assists from 23 games this season.
On January 10th, Gianluca Di Marzio reported the Serie A side had rejected every attempt made by West Ham to sign the 26-year-old in the winter market. The Hammers were pushing but weren’t able to get the deal over the line.
Apart from David Moyes’ side, Fiorentina also couldn’t acquire the attacker’s signature in the last window. Having played a role in Genoa’s promotion, he now wants to help them [currently 11th] finish in the top 10 this season.
The report states ‘other calculations have to be made’ in the summer, considering other teams, apart from Fiorentina, have asked for information about the Iceland international. The Premier League side are likely to be included in this list.
It’s claimed Juventus remain in the background, while West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen have both ‘stepped up’ to sign him after this season.
Guðmundsson’s contract lasts until 2026 and if he continues to shine until the end of this season, his valuation would increase.
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