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Paper Talk
DAILY STAR
Arsenal are on the brink of signing Russian striker Alexander Kokorin. The Dynamo Moscow striker has been linked with Paris St Germain, Manchester United and Zenit.
Nicolas Gaitan has rejected a move to Al-Ahli in favour of a transfer to Manchester United. The Argentinian winger has been tipped to be the man to replace Angel Di Maria at Old Trafford.
Chelsea are confident they can complete a £110m double swoop for John Stones and Paul Pogba before the end of the transfer window.
Arsenal and Liverpool are ready to pounce on a deal for Jakub Blaszczykowski after reports claimed he is ready to quit Borussia Dortmund.
Besiktas are close to confirming a deal for Manchester United flop Victor Valdes.
DAILY MAIL
Everton have set their sights on Tottenham defender Federico Fazio, tabling a £5m bid for the Spurs centre-half.
Chelsea have targeted Zenit St Petersburg defender Ezequiel Garay as an alternative to Everton's John Stones. The Argentinian defender has been looking for a move away from Russia with Valencia and Roma among the clubs to have shown an interest.
Lewis Grabban, a reported target for Bournemouth, went AWOL from Norwich's team hotel after Canaries manager Alex Neil told him he was a substitute for their Capital One Cup tie with Rotherham.
Everton are discussing a move for Partick Thistle defender Jack Hendry, 20 and hope to iron out work permit issues with Ramiro Funes Mori from River Plate.
Tottenham will table a third offer for Saido Berahino after their latest bid was rejected on Tuesday.
John Stones has handed in a transfer request at Everton.
Watford have opened talks with Rennes over a possible £8m move for Abdoulaye Doucoure.
David Moyes and Real Sociedad are hopeful of closing a deal for Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi.
THE SUN
Leeds United are looking to sign Leicester City defender Liam Moore with Uwe Rosler watching the centre-back play in Tuesday's 4-1 victory against Bury.
Everton are making plans to sell John Stones despite denials he is set to leave the club with Chelsea set to make a fourth bid of around £33m.
Enner Valencia has blasted West Ham, claiming they have forgotten he is injured.
Mario Balotelli has re-joined AC Milan on a season-long loan.
West Brom have rejected a £22m Tottenham bid for Saido Berahino.
Tottenham are ready to loan out forgotten defender DeAndre Yedin.
Aston Villa are set to swoop for Wolves centre-back Kortney Hause.
Norwich boss Alex Neil is targeting Marseille defender Nicolas Nkoulou.
Charlton could move for former Liverpool and Stoke winger Jermaine Pennant.
Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk is hoping to make his move from Celtic to Southampton by the end of the week.
Dwight Gayle is keen on a move from Crystal Palace to Norwich but the Canaries are baulking at the £10m price tag.
DAILY EXPRESS
Tottenham winger Erik Lamela is in talks with Inter Milan, his father and agent has confirmed.
West Brom are lining up QPR striker Charlie Austin to replace Saido Berahino.
Virgil van Dijk is ready to quit Celtic for the Premier League - but he won't be joining Arsenal.
West Ham are desperately trying to seal a deal for Juventus striker Simone Zaza to stave off a major striker crisis.
DAILY MIRROR
West Ham believe they can get a deal for Juventus' Italy international Simone Zaza done before the weekend. Slaven Bilic wants Zaza, 24, on a season loan with a view to an £11.5m transfer.
Wolves have slapped an incredible £14m price tag on Benik Afobe to try to scare off Norwich.
John Stones and Saido Berehino have been warned they are risking their England futures if they leave for Chelsea and Tottenham.
Louis van Gaal believes he is building a squad at Manchester United capable of winning the Champions League.
Jesus Navas is determined to keep his Manchester City place even if Kevin de Bruyne is signed.
Juan Cuadrado has vowed to help Juventus retain their Serie A title as his loan switch from Chelsea moved closer.
Tottenham are refusing to give up on Southampton's Victor Wanyama.
Aaron Ramsey says Arsenal are not about to throw away their title challenge after a stuttering start.
Aston Villa are in talks to sign Roma's attacking midfielder Adem Ljajic.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Zenit St Petersburg will resist any attempt by Chelsea to sign Ezequiel Garay if they pursue the central defender as an alternative to John Stones.
Guardian Rumour Mill
Scott Murray
So there’s poor Ronny Deila, sitting atop of a pile of rubble, staring at an unspecified point in the middle distance. Again. Celtic had been hopeful of holding on to Virgil van Dijk, but that was before Deila suffered the second Artmediaing of his short career with the Scottish champions at the hands of Malmo. Southampton have long been favourites to make off with the defender, but Everton suddenly have a John Stones-shaped hole to fill, and now they’re getting involved too. Expect a struggle to develop. A big cartoon cloud with fists and boots poking out of it. As if our simple rubble metaphor wasn’t making the place dusty enough.
Everton, with £40m of Chelsea’s money burning a hole in their pocket, are also interested in Tottenham’s Federico Fazio. It won’t be long before Roberto Martínez has built an entire defence all by himself. The David Moyes era suddenly looks like a speck in the rear-view mirror, doesn’t it. Take deep breaths, the separation anxiety will pass.
However much is resting on the Stones transfer. If the big lad’s move to Stamford Bridge somehow doesn’t happen, Chelsea have a contingency plan. They’ll go for Ezequiel Garay of Zenit St Petersburg instead, in which case you can forget about the first two paragraphs of this article. You’ve already put them out of your mind anyway, haven’t you?
But the Mill is sure this Stones business will be sorted out soon enough. In which case we’ll need a new interminable saga to keep the eyes nicely lubricated with blood until the window closes next week. Saido Berahino and Spurs are fielding this one for us. The bid’s £25m plus add-ons now.
The dominoes continue to topple: if Berahino leaves the Hawthorns, West Brom will ask Charlie Austin to take his place. Leicester City and Crystal Palace are also interested in offering the QPR striker another opportunity to make David Sullivan look foolish. Former suitors West Ham, for their part, will make do with a loan of Juventus forward Simone Zaza.
Speaking of interminable ... the Liverpool rumours last year ... Arsenal and Everton in this window ... Dynamo Kyiv winger Andriy Yarmolenko has to make a move soon, you’d think. Barcelona have suddenly shown an interest, so that will probably, finally, thankfully, be that.
Norwich City want Crystal Palace attacker Dwight Gayle and Wolverhampton’s £14m-rated Benik Afobe.
Watford are interested in £8m Rennes midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure.
And no, it’s not been such a bumper crop this morning. But Manchester United can’t make a £240m bid for Neymar every day.
Evening Standard
Enner Valencia criticises West Ham for medical treatment
Vaishali Bhardwaj
Injured West Ham striker Enner Valencia has criticised the club's medical staff for "not supporting" him during his time on the sidelines.
The Hammers confirmed the Ecuadorian forward would be out of action for up to three months after he suffered "significant injury" to his right knee and ankle during the club's 2-2 Europa League qualifying draw with Astra Giurgiu last month.
Valencia visited a consultant to undergo a scan on the injury in early August before West Ham's head of medical and sports science, Stijn Vandenbroucke, revealed there was a "very small chance" the 25-year-old would need surgery.
But Valencia has now criticised the medical staff at Upton Park after telling a radio station in his homeland he still does not know what the extent of his injury is.
"West Ham seem to have forgotten that I'm injured," Valencia told Ecuador radio station La Deportiva. "But they don't let me speak to another doctor. I don't understand why West Ham doctors are doing this to me.
"The truth is that West Ham have not been supporting me.
"I have tried to ask an external doctor but the doctor of West Ham doesn't want me to ask another doctor. It's my health we are talking about here. I have been injured for a month and I still don't know what the name of my injury is."
He added: "I think I will have to ask a doctor to see me behind their backs. I have been thinking about going to an airport and getting out of London."
Valencia signed for the Hammers on a five-year contract from Mexican side Pachuca last July following a World Cup campaign in which the forward scored three goals for his nation.
The forward gave West Ham the lead with his header in the third-round tie against Romanian side Astra at Upton Park, but was taken off on a stretcher soon after when he fell awkwardly in a challenge.
After the game, Hammers boss Slaven Bilic admitted he was "unhappy" and "worried" about the Ecuadorian.
The club then confirmed Valencia could be out for up to 12 weeks and may not require surgery, but the player took to Instagram to say he would not need to go under the knife.
He wrote: "I would like to thank everyone for the support and the affection shown on this difficult moment. Thanks God, today I received great news as I won't need surgery, all the best!"
HITC
Simone Zaza considering West Ham move, decision rests on Fernando Llorente's future
West Ham are hoping to complete a deal for Simone Zaza of Juventus.
Billy Hawkins
According to Gianluca Di Marzio, Simone Zaza is still considering whether to join West Ham on a season-long loan deal, but a new factor is potentially causing him to reject the transfer.
Despite only signing for Juve this summer, Zaza does not look as if he will be guaranteed consistent first-team football this season, and the Serie A giants were willing to loan him out with an option to buy.
Zaza, and Italian international striker, has been holding talks with the Hammers since the beginning of this week concerning the move, and Slaven Bilic wants to ensure he is signed before this weekend’s round of fixtures.
However, a factor is preventing Zaza from making a decision yet, and it could be that he remains at the club as a first-choice player - dependent on other transfers.
Fernando Llorente is being linked in the report with a move back to La Liga, with Sevilla reportedly keen on the towering striker.
If he was to leave Juve, Zaza would move up the pecking order, and the report claims that this is why the 24-year-old is stalling on making a decision.
He is waiting to see how Llorente’s future pans out, and where he then fits in Max Allegri’s plans, and the Hammers may have to move on to other targets with doubts about Zaza now signing for the East London club.
C&H
Hammers sweat it out on Sakho
Diafra Sakho has a “no better than 50-50 chance” of making it into the team for the visit to Liverpool.
And with seemingly Saudi-bound Modobo Maiga the only fit striker at the club it seems he is n line to get the “call to arms.”
Hopefully his confidence will have boosted by the goal against Bournemouth but a worry remains that with a move to Saudi Arabia apparently around the corner he may not be 100 per cent focused.
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All of this assumes that the club don’t swoop on a striker and have him signed by the the Thursday deadline for the game.
Stories earlier that Maiga had completed a £6 million move to the new club were confused by fans close to Al Nassr claiming the figure was 6,000,000 Saudi Arabian Royal.
And we were told: “His move could happen after Saturday’s game. However, it will be a free transfer if it happens. At the moment with Sakho only 50/50, he remains the only fully fit option.”
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