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Paper Talk
Paris Saint-Germain are confident they will beat Manchester United to the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, with a fee of £100m being hinted at.
Jose Mourinho is reportedly feeling vindicated that Chelsea's inability to add to their squad by signing Gareth Bale, Raheem Sterling and John Stones is being shown up by their struggles this season.
Roy Hodgson will risk the wrath of Premier League managers by sticking with his strongest possible line-up for the friendlies with Spain and France this month, most likely meaning a busy month for England players whose clubs are in European competition.
Liverpool have emerged as front-runners to sign Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi, who has previously been linked with Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.
Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus has hinted at a future move to Barcelona in a blow to his former mentor Jurgen Klopp.
Andros Townsend's representatives are furious Tottenham went public about his row with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner, claiming the winger feels "humiliated" by his treatment.
Manchester City's Raheem Sterling was the subject of racist abuse after posting an innocent family photo on Instagram.
Michu is set to be paid off by Swansea City and sign for Spanish fourth division side Union Langreo, who are managed by his brother Hernan Perez. The Spain striker is on £40,000-a-week wages but he is unlikely to be paid the £1m the Swans owe him for the rest of the final year on his contract.
Tottenham representatives watched Gent striker Laurent Depoitre and forward Moses Simon in their Champions League clash with Valencia on Wednesday.
The Edenbridge Bonfire Society will burn an effigy of suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter at its annual November 5 showpiece event. Previous 'honorees' from the sporting world include Mario Balotelli, Wayne Rooney and Lance Armstrong.
Tottenham's Dele Alli looks set to return to the England U21 fold as Roy Hodgson and Gareth Southgate finalise talks on where the young midfielder is best suited to continue his international education.
Andros Townsend is likely to leave Spurs in January for a fraction of the £15m price tag placed on him during the summer transfer window.
David Wagner will reject the chance to work with old boss Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool to become Huddersfield Town's next manager.
BBC
Paris St-Germain are confident they will beat Manchester United to the £100m signing of Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 30. (Sun)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wants to sign Bayer Leverkusen striker Stefan Kiessling, 31. (Express - in German)
And Klopp is prepared to hand former captain Steven Gerrard, 35, a role at Anfield looking at the club's 'long-term strategy'. (Independent)
Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City all want to convince Pep Guardiola, 44, to turn his back on Bayern Munich and be their next manager. (Sun)
Manchester United and Liverpool are both keen to sign 18-year-old Danish forward Emre Mor, who plays for FC Nordsjaelland. (Daily Mail)
Tottenham are monitoring Gent pair Laurent Depoitre and Moses Simon. Depoitre, 26, has scored six goals in 14 games for the Belgian league leaders while 20-year-old Simon is a Nigeria international who can play across the forward line. (Daily Mail)
David Wagner, 44, will reject the chance to again link up with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool and instead succeed Chris Powell as Huddersfield manager. (Daily Telegraph)
Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann says midfielder Steven Gerrard, 35, returning to the club is the "last thing" Klopp needs. (Talksport)
Manchester City have denied speculation they could make a January loan move for Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo, 36, who plays for their sister club New York City. (Manchester Evening News)
Monaco will make a second bid to sign Chelsea midfielder Charly Musonda, 19, following a failed £10m move in the summer. (Daily Mirror)
Despite their lack of goals this season Newcastle may allow striker Ivan Toney, 19, to leave the club on loan. Wolves and Burton Albion are both keen on a move. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, 19, is set to return to the England Under-21 squad when Roy Hodgson names his side to face Spain and France next week. (Daily Telegraph)
Hodgson will use the friendlies to take a look at Leicester winger Marc Albrighton, 25, and Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha, 22. (Daily Star)
And fit-again West Ham forward Andy Carroll, 26, could earn a recall. Carroll - who scored at the Euro 2012 finals - last won a cap in September 2012. (Daily Mirror)
Best of social media
Monaco used Twitter to deny they have made an approach for Jose Mourinho after shareholder Alessandro Proto claimed the Ligue 1 side were interested in appointing the Chelsea boss.
Midfielder Fabian Delph endeared himself to the travelling Manchester City fans by sliding in front of the away end after his side's 3-1 victory at Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Bayern Munich's official Twitter feed revelled in their side's 5-1 win over Arsenal in the Champions League on Wednesday, marking Thomas Muller's opening goal - their second - with a single-word post: "Mullered."
Spurs playmaker Christian Eriksen is challenged to name team-mates from descriptions by fans - and correctly selects himself as the answer to the question of who the best free-kick taker in the Premier League is. (YouTube)
And finally
Chelsea may not have been feeling too confident before their Champions League game with Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday, as a fan took a picture of the scoreboard at Stamford Bridge showing the visitors holding a 2-1 lead - five hours before kick-off. The match did finish 2-1, but in favour of the Blues.
Guardian Rumour Mill
Gregg Bakowski
Who remembers the 1976 sci-fi film Logan’s Run? Ah, OK. Well, here goes anyway: it was a film set in the protected confines of a domed city in 2274, where young people enjoy an idyllic, hedonistic lifestyle. So far, so good. These people were at the peak of their powers until they hit 30. But instead of just having a big old party and embarrassing themselves, they were dressed in dodgy-looking white gowns and whisked off to a room with a spinning wheel where they were told they would be reincarnated into another amazing, hip, young life-cycle. But, of course, it was all a totalitarian ruse and it turns out they just got incinerated like flies in a fish-and-chip-shop zapper by a big glowing orb – let’s call it the ‘death light’ – to keep the population, young, vibrant and free of annoying, questioning middle-age types – a bit like modern-day east London. But anyway, the reason for this tortuous intro is to say that this film always struck a chord with The Mill when it came to football. For as long as The Mill has been circulating idle gossip it can’t remember a time when a footballer hasn’t started to approach the ‘death light’ once they hit 30. Until now.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 30, and in the world of Logan’s Run very much ‘death light’ zappable, is on the verge of a £100m move to PSG, apparently, where he’ll presumably be reincarnated into Cristiano Mark II and live out a second hip, young, glamorous life-cycle as a footballer in Ligue 1. £100m for a 30 year-old? If there’s one man who would make it his life’s ambition to find the elixir of life so that he could have ripped abs and muscular legs that can do lots of goals for the rest of his years, one imagines it would be him, or Him, as he’s known round these parts. So, yeah, we’re having that one. It may well happen.
Anyway, moving on to another player who wouldn’t be here if the year was 2274 and he lived in a fictitious world created by director Michael Anderson, it’s Stefan Kiessling, the 31-year-old Bayer Leverkusen striker whom Jürgen Klopp wants to bring to Liverpool so that he can give him regular man-hugs and possibly tease some steady form out of Roberto Firmino, who he played alongside last season.
Klopp is also casting admiring glances towards the tricky 18-year-old FC Nordsjaelland forward Emre Mor. But so is Louis van Gaal – and the pair may have to go mano a mano like Alan Bates and Oliver Reed in Women in Love for the signature of the young Dane. The Mill can’t remember who won that particular battle but would back Manchester United here, if only because it means we can bold up the club’s name and stick to the Rumour Mill style guide.
Still on the subject of Klopp, David Wagner, the Liverpool manager’s former assistant at Borussia Dortmund, has apparently turned down the chance of a gig at Liverpool in favour of succeeding Chris Powell as Huddersfield Town manager. And before any Liverpool fans get snippy, remember, they were good enough for Bill Shankly.
Andrea Pirlo is not taking his aesthetic beauty to Manchester City on loan from New York City this winter but there may be a chance of him popping up in Internazionale’s midfield and dissecting the San Siro centre-circle with his huge football brain.
Gent’s relative success in the Champions League hasn’t gone unnoticed at Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs scouts have attached monitoring devices to the Belgian club’s forwards Laurent Depoitre and Moses Simon in the hope that they can perhaps bring them in on a Bogof-deal if Harry Kane falls apart sometime in January.
And Monaco may not be knocking on the front door at Stamford Bridge to lure José Mourinho down to the Mediterranean but they do fancy snaffling 19-year-old midfielder Charly Musonda for £8m and giving him regular games at the The Stade Louis II Stadium. Apparently, Arsenal want him too, though.
London24
West Ham give update on Alex Song and Winston Reid ahead of Everton and Spurs clashes
Brad Pinard
West Ham Head of Sport Science Stijn Vandenbroucke confirms Winston Reid should be fit to face Everton on Saturday.
The defender missed the Hammers’ last three games but is now ready to go and should replace the suspended James Collins. Alex Song is also closing in on his second debut for the club, having previously stated he could return in October,
West Ham now hope to have Song back soon and ready for the Christmas period.
“We have positive news about Winston Reid, who has been training with the squad for two weeks now and is getting stronger every day,” Vandenbroucke wrote on the club’s official site.
“He has got a good number of training days under his belt and was also boosted by seeing his fellow New Zealanders win the Rugby World Cup! “Alex Song and Doneil Henry returned to training with the squad at the end of last week and are now ready for the busy winter period.”
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has confirmed Diafra Sakho is out of Saturday’s game with Everton.
The striker missed last weeks’ defeat at Watford and is also set to sit out at Upton Park this weekend. Bilic confirmed Sakho has a small tear in his thigh but is hoping the injury won’t rule him out for too long.
The Hammers face rivals Spurs after the international break and that is the date set for Sakho’s return at present. “Sakho is out. It’s nothing major, he felt something after training last week and he has a small tear in his thigh,” Bilic said. “He’s out on Saturday but the prognosis is that he will be fit for the game after the international break.
“Everton is on one hand yes a special game for me, on another hand not. It’s a big game against a good team. “On the other hand it is special because I played there and enjoyed it there. I played for two clubs here, so it is special, yes.”
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