BBC
Liverpool are interested in Crystal Palace's 23-year-old England defender Marc Guehi. (Telegraph - subscription required)
Paris St-Germain are targeting Napoli's 25-year-old Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, Manchester United's 26-year-old England forward Marcus Rashford and Barcelona's 19-year-old Spain midfielder Gavi this summer. (i)
Rashford has long been admired by PSG and the club's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. (MEN)
Bayer Leverkusen director of sport Simon Rolfes says he is "sure" manager Xabi Alonso will stay at the club despite interest from Liverpool and Bayern Munich. (Mirror)
Manchester United and Liverpool are among a host of Premier League sides interested in Atalanta defensive midfielder Ederson, with Arsenal, Newcastle and Tottenham also monitoring the 24-year-old Brazilian. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Juventus also like Ederson, but the Serie A giants have decided to make signing his Atalanta team-mate Teun Koopmeiners, 25, their priority and will target a move for the Netherlands midfielder this summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Manchester United are interested in Juventus' 26-year-old Brazil defender Gleison Bremer, who is valued at 70m euros (£59.8m). (Calciomercato - in Italian)
Fulham vice-chairman Tony Khan says the club will consider offers that "make sense" for 28-year-old Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha. (Talksport)
Barcelona will be forced to sell several players this summer in a bid to reduce their salary bill by £57m. (Sun)
Manchester United are considering reigniting their interest in Bayern Munich's 30-year-old England striker Harry Kane and Barcelona's 26-year-old Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong this summer. (Football Transfers)
However, De Jong has rejected reports he could leave Barcelona at the end of the season and says he is "angry" with false rumours. (Evening Standard)
Aston Villa are preparing to open the bidding for Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Oscar Gloukh with an offer of 20m euros (£17m), but the 19-year-old Israeli is also being tracked by Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle United and Barcelona. (Ekrem Konur)
Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United are exploring a move for 31-year-old Jamaica midfielder Ravel Morrison, who is a free agent after leaving MLS side DC United. (Teamtalk)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Manchester United's first summer transfer budget under Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be severely squeezed by financial fair play restrictions - and take an even bigger hit if the club fail to qualify for the Champions League.
INEOS could surrender direct day-to-day involvement at Nice in order to remove the threat of Manchester United or the French club being unable to play European football under Uefa's multi-club ownership rules.
Liverpool are interested in signing central defender Marc Guehi, with new Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner already facing a battle to hold on to the club's leading players this summer.
The Arsenal Supporters' Trust has expressed its "disappointment" after the club announced season ticket price rises in excess of £100 for next season.
Just seven British horses could contest this year's Randox Grand National - a number which would represent a record low for the biggest race in this country.
THE GUARDIAN
James Garner has said Everton's 10-point deduction is playing on his mind as the club anxiously awaits the outcome of an appeal against the biggest sporting sanction in Premier League history.
Rochdale have launched a desperate plea for investment as the club tries to avoid possible liquidation by the end of March.
DAILY MAIL
Chelsea's players will share a modest bonus pot of just £500,000 if they win the first trophy of the Todd Boehly/Clearlake Capital era in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Inter Miami star Lionel Messi will be set to play a full 90-minute match in Major League Soccer's season opener against Real Salt Lake on Wednesday night.
Arsenal will have extra protection from Portuguese police for their game against Porto tonight, amid tensions between club presidential candidate Andre Villas-Boas and Porto Ultras.
Heung-Min Son and Kang-In Lee met at a London hotel to bury the hatchet, after a confrontation between the two ahead of South Korea's Asian Cup semi-final that left Son with a dislocated finger.
THE SUN
Barcelona's crisis situation looks set to go from bad to worse after the club were told by LaLiga they will need to slash their salary bill by £57m.
Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner is set to appoint Emanuel Pogatetz as part of his backroom staff.
THE TIMES
Kylian Mbappe will secure a world-record signing-on fee of about £128m after tax when he joins Real Madrid this summer. Mbappe, 25, is set to sign a five-year contract worth £12.8m a year after tax, according to the Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.
The Saudi Arabian FA has recruited English football's top lawyer, Polly Handford, to take up a lucrative role as its legal chief.
THE ATHLETIC
Carlo Ancelotti has offered Luka Modric the opportunity to join his coaching staff if the midfielder retires at the end of the season.
Frenkie de Jong has criticised the media for publishing 'lies' amid reports Barcelona are open to selling him this summer due to their difficult financial situation.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United could miss out on signing Michael Olise as Juventus are ready to offer highly-rated starlet Matias Soule to Palace in exchange for the Frenchman.
SCOTTISH SUN
Celtic will speak to Liel Abada's agent this week in a bid to resolve his future.
The Athletic
Can Kurt Zouma emulate Declan Rice’s captaincy and inspire a West Ham revival?
By Roshane Thomas
It is almost exactly a year since Declan Rice showed his credentials as West Ham United’s captain.
West Ham were embroiled in a relegation fight and on a three-game winless run. After a 2-0 loss away to Tottenham Hotspur on February 19, Rice, who went on to join Arsenal for £105million ($132.9m at the current exchange rate) in July, arranged a meeting at the training ground.
The England midfielder expressed his concerns about West Ham’s league position. Stalwart defender Angelo Ogbonna also talked, apologising to the group for his performance against Spurs but speaking passionately and positively about his team-mates, stressing that they had the talent to turn their poor form around. The meeting had the desired effect, with West Ham sealing a 4-0 home win against Nottingham Forest in their next fixture.
Manager David Moyes and his backroom staff, meanwhile, were unaware any meeting had taken place.
Rice knew it was important to show responsibility and his leadership was required once more in April.
After a chastening 5-1 home loss against Newcastle United, the dressing room was silent, with only Moyes and Rice addressing the squad. Rice also spoke to club director Albert Tripp Smith and Mark Noble, the sporting director, with the exchange lasting five minutes. West Ham won their next game against Fulham to begin a five-game unbeaten run.
Just as he is now, Moyes was facing considerable pressure then.
A ‘Moyes Out’ banner was raised at that match away to Fulham, and there were chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” from Craven Cottage’s away end. But when Rice addressed his team-mates, he reminded them they had always stepped up whenever their manager’s record had been in the spotlight.
Kurt Zouma, who joined from Chelsea in August 2021, was confirmed as Rice’s successor in September.
The 29-year-old defender had impressed in the role in the opening four Premier League fixtures against Bournemouth, Chelsea, Brighton & Hove Albion and Luton Town, leading West Ham to three wins and a draw. Moyes had supported Zouma amid the scrutiny the player faced in 2022 after video emerged of him kicking his pet cat. Zouma was fined two weeks’ wages and ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service.
“For me personally, he has been helping me in every aspect,” Zouma told BBC Sport last October. “With my game and outside of football, he has been supporting me throughout everything, and I just can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for me and I try to give it back on the pitch. That’s my way — on the pitch. Everything he has helped me through, I have to give it back on the pitch.”
Zouma has had further off-field distractions too, following a burglary at his house in December. It is not yet known if any arrests have been made, but West Ham have provided the player and his family with extra security to ensure their safety.
With frustration brewing among fans, discontent over Moyes’ managerial ability and another grim run of form (no wins in eight games since beating Arsenal on December 28), Zouma is yet to show any signs he can defuse such a situation like Rice did. The 11-cap France international faces a tough battle to lift the group. Compounded by a central defensive partnership with Nayef Aguerd that has become increasingly porous in recent games, it shows that Moyes still misses Rice’s presence behind the scenes.
Rice would front up for the club, win, lose or draw; even when he faced criticism over his body language amid speculation about his impending departure he would defend his actions, as he did here on Instagram last season
The last time Zouma spoke to the club’s in-house media was after the 3-0 away loss against Manchester United. That was 17 days and two matches ago. He spoke about the team needing to improve and the spirit among the players being good. But it was James Ward-Prowse who took more ownership after the 6-0 loss to Arsenal in the next match a week later.
“I can stand here and give a message and try and say something, but I’ve been a football fan myself and no words could rectify the performance today,” Ward-Prowse said. “I don’t feel like we competed anywhere near the level you need to in the Premier League.”
Zouma remains a popular member of the squad but does not have the same leadership traits as some of the club’s previous captains. Noble had a penchant for taking responsibility during his playing career. He arranged for the squad to clear the air following Zouma’s cat-kicking incident.
“They had it out among themselves,” said Moyes. “Mark did the sort of thing an experienced captain would do, which is great for the manager. Mark did it off his own back, took responsibility and showed great leadership.”
At the start of the 2018-19 season, West Ham lost their opening four games against Liverpool, Bournemouth, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers. A post-match inquest was arranged by Noble following the latter, with the midfielder almost coming to blows with forward Marko Arnautovic. But it was followed by West Ham securing a 1-0 away win against Everton in their next match.
“We lost 1-0 in the last minute to Wolves, I started having a go and I dug Marko out,” Noble told the Happy Hour Podcast in 2023. “We’ve ended up having a go at each other. I’m boiling, and everyone else has jumped in, but it’s just the reaction I wanted.”
There are other leaders in the current squad.
Ward-Prowse was captain at previous club Southampton for three years before his summer transfer, Edson Alvarez has been earmarked as a future skipper of Mexico’s national team, Vladimir Coufal never shies away from responsibility, and long-serving duo Ogbonna and Lukasz Fabianski remain important figures despite their lack of game time these days.
But it is Zouma who Moyes will be leaning on in the coming weeks.
West Ham have only rarely seen his leadership credentials this season — now is the time for him to show them again.
