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Paper Talk
Newcastle are hoping to make a January move for Tottenham outcast Andros Townsend, but they will face competition from Aston Villa, West Brom and Sunderland.
Cristiano Ronaldo feels Manchester United's Memphis Depay is one of the best young players in the world and will bounce back from being dropped by Louis van Gaal.
Real Madrid great Ronaldo also tabbed Jose Mourinho as the best manager in the world despite the pair not enjoying the greatest of relationships when Mourinho was in charge at the Bernabeu.
Roy Hodgson delivered an amazing put-down to Jamie Vardy and told him to forget about playing as a centre-forward for England.
Per Mertesacker has warned that Arsenal's title challenge could fall apart in Sunday's North London derby.
Remi Garde has been promised money to spend in January to keep Aston Villa up and has demanded the final say on all signings.
Eddie Howe says he has no sympathy for Steve McClaren's woes at Newcastle just 24 hours before they meet in a critical relegation battle.
Jermain Defoe believes his partnership with Steven Fletcher can fire Sunderland to safety.
Roy Hodgson has told Jamie Vardy he has no right to demand to play as a central striker for England despite his trailblazing form for Leicester.
Manchester United are plotting a triple raid on Valencia, with Louis van Gaal interested in signing centre-back Shkodran Mustafi, left-back Jose Luis Gaya and midfielder Andre Gomes.
Liverpool could move for Barcelona 'keeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen as competition for Simon Mignolet, with Jurgen Klopp a big fan of the former Borussia Monchengladbach number one.
Jesse Lingard says Louis van Gaal ordered his Manchester United players to ignore the fans' cries of 'attack, attack, attack' against CSKA Moscow.
Jose Mourinho will be able to communicate with his backroom team at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday despite his stadium ban - he will watch the game against Stoke from the Chelsea hotel.
Leighton Baines is set for a run-out for Everton in a behind closed doors friendly next week - the England left-back has not played this season because of an ankle injury.
Everton have put a £45million price tag on Romelu Lukaku in an attempt to ward off potential buyers next summer.
UEFA are expected to move away from charging Manchester City after their supporters booed the Champions League anthem.
Nemanja Matic is sure Chelsea can cope without Jose Mourinho on the touchline against Stoke this weekend and has total faith in the rest of the club's coaching staff.
Southampton boss Ronald Koeman has revealed England keeper Fraser Forster is close to making his comeback after knee surgery in March.
Claudio Ranieri has told Riyad Mahrez to forget about leaving Leicester and carry on 'growing up' before he joins one of the top sides.
Sam Allardyce has warned his Sunderland players that relegation can damage their lives on and off the pitch.
Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny is expected to return to the side to face Tottenham on Sunday despite missing the 5-1 defeat to Bayern Munich through injury.
Jonny Evans has backed Wayne Rooney to return to his best form for Manchester United but hopes it will not happen this weekend when he takes on his former team-mate with West Brom.
BBC
Everton want £45m for 22-year-old striker Romelu Lukaku, who is believed to interest Paris St-Germain and Juventus. (Daily Mail)
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores will not rule out a move for 31-year-old former Tottenham striker Emmanuel Adebayor, who is a free agent. (Guardian)
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren is interested in signing Tottenham winger Andros Townsend. The 24-year-old has been dropped by Spurs after clashing with fitness coach Nathan Gardiner. (Daily Mirror)
Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri has told playmaker Riyad Mahrez, 24, he should carry on "growing up" as a Foxes player before moving on to the "highest level". Mahrez has been linked with a move to Manchester United. (Daily Star)
Arsenal striker Joel Campbell's agent says the 23-year-old Costa Rica international, who was linked with a move away during the summer, wants to stay at Arsenal. (Metro)
England manager Roy Hodgson has told Leicester striker Jamie Vardy, 28, he should be "happy" to be in his squad, let alone demand in which position he wants to play. (Daily Mirror)
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will be able to communicate with his backroom staff from the team hotel while he serves a stadium ban during Saturday's Premier League match against Stoke. (Daily Mail)
New Aston Villa manager Remi Garde, 49, says he rejected an offer from another Premier League club before moving to Villa Park but refused to confirm whether it was Newcastle. (Independent)
Managerless QPR could reappoint former boss Ian Holloway, 52, who has been without a club since being sacked by Millwall in March. (GetWestLondon)
Meanwhile, Hibernian manager Alan Stubbs, 44, is also in the frame to succeed the sacked Chris Ramsey as QPR boss. (Daily Mail)
Brighton boss Chris Hughton says the sackings of fellow Championship managers Ramsey and Huddersfield's Chris Powell were "harsh". (Argus)
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is set to several loan players, including Coventry winger Ryan Kent, 18, for an assessment before the international break. (Coventry Telegraph)
Liam Bridcutt's potential loan move to Leeds United is in the balance after Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce said the deal for the 26-year-old midfielder was "confused - like Leeds". (Yorkshire Evening Post)
Italy Under-21 centre-half Daniele Rugani could leave Juventus on loan in January. The 21-year-old has been linked with Arsenal. (Talksport)
Former England manager Peter Taylor has been sacked by Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The 62-year-old was in charge of Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters, co-owned by Tendulkar. (Sun - subscription required)
Arsenal keeper Petr Cech, 33, says the Gunners need to toughen up following their 5-1 thrashing by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. (Daily Star)
Former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane, 44, has labelled the club's current 30-year-old winger Ashley Young a "disgrace" and claimed "if he's a Manchester United player, I'm a Chinaman". Keane was giving his view as an ITV pundit on an alleged dive by Young in a Champions League game against CSKA Moscow. (ITV Football)
Best of social media
Former England striker Peter Crouch was avidly following the Class of 92 documentary on the BBC, quipping on Twitter: "It's been a problem for me throughout my career. Choosing modelling or football #ClassOf92"
Burnley midfielder Joey Barton has had his say on England rugby union international Sam Burgess's return to rugby league, writing: "Can't blame @SamBurgess8 poorly treated, hung out to dry. Union's loss is League's gain. Good luck."
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo tweeted a short clip from his film, to be released on Monday, showing him dancing at his birthday party in a silver top hat.
And finally
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger donned some smart clothes for an interview with French sports newspaper L'Equipe's magazine Sport and Style as he claimed "my constant battle in this job is to bring out the beauty in man". (Sun - subscription required)
Wojciech Szczesny, the 25-year-old keeper who is on loan at Roma from Arsenal, is an "uncontrollable lunatic", according to former Juventus keeper Stefano Tacconi. (Gazzetta TV)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Gregg Bakowski
It’s a class war! Roberto Martínez, man of the people, manager of the People’s Club, is at it again, holding his pitch fork and jabbing it menacingly towards anyone who looks remotely flush who comes strolling by Goodison Park. This time the Everton manager has attached a £45m price tag to Romelu Lukaku – which works out at just over a million pounds per Everton goal (maths!)– and, like an aggressive poodle, has barked angrily in the general direction of sophisticated, metropolitan, stinking rich PSG boss, Laurent Blanc, who could do with a striker or two now that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is losing his powers like an ageing Jedi. But £45m? Give that yelping poodle a sympathetic look, whistle a jaunty tune and carry on walking Laurent.
Another piece of royal blue hot property is Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez, a playmaker who is so slight when you see him up close that it’s understandable why no Premier League defenders have been able to pick him up this season. The Algerian’s seven goals have put him on the Manchester United radar, with Louis van Gaal rumoured to be ready to duke it out with Arsenal and Arsène Wenger, who hasn’t yet, as far as The Mill is aware, fessed up to having been interested in signing Mahrez when he was worth about 45 pence and playing at Le Havre. There’s time yet.
If United do lose out on Mahrez, they’ll comfort themselves by leaving £36m in a wheelbarrow outside the Mestalla for Valencia’s André Gomes, a central midfielder so silky you could make handkerchiefs with his passing stats.
Wenger, meanwhile, has begun trying to work out how to fill the sink hole that has opened up in Arsenal’s central defence, swallowing all hope of success in Europe this season. He reckons Juventus’s Daniele Rugani could plug it. The Italy Under-21 defender may be allowed to leave Turin, if not permanently, then certainly on a gap-year style loan in which he could spend most of his time digging players 10 years his senior out of trouble.
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores reckons he can get former footballer Emmanuel Adebayor up and running again. “The most important thing is that good players want to come to Watford,” said Flores, revealing a taste for dry humour.
Porto’s attacking midfielder Juan Quintero, another pound-shop Lionel Messi, who is on loan at Rennes, is a target for Southampton, apparently. Ronald Koeman has tried to douse rumours of his interest by insisting he doesn’t need any more midfielders. We’re not having that Ronald. And we need another rumour. “I’m very happy with the players we have. I can’t say it’s 100 per cent because it’s football,” he said. So expect Quintero to be a Liverpool player after his £30m move from Saints in the summer of 2017.
QPR are seemingly only interested in having a manager in charge who has experienced being sacked by the club so that they can handle it when they, inevitably, get sacked again. Ian Holloway, who has had plenty time to tend to his chickens since leaving Millwall in March, is expecting a call. In the nine years since Holloway was told to do one by QPR, they have had … erm … come on Wikipedia … ah … 23 managers, caretaker and permanent. That’s a lot of bullets.
Sam Allardyce has said he’s “confused” by Leeds United’s approach to take Liam Bridcutt on loan from Sunderland. The Mill can understand why. Here’s Steve Evans: “We’re literally just waiting now and I think he has the right to consider what options that [Liam Bridcutt] has,” Evans said. “He’s not going to be joining me this afternoon and playing in a derby for Leeds United where he’s shouting ‘Frank’ but it’s really big Sol. That would be a bit difficult, wouldn’t it? But we’ll have an answer by Sunday and if not, we’ll make a decision. I’m still confident and it’s the power of Leeds United really. It’s the power of this football club. I’m absolutely convinced that anybody that doesn’t want to sign for this football club is bonkers.”
Bonkers, yes.
Sporting Life
Premier League at Upton Park
West Ham vs Everton
Date: 07/11/2015 KO: 15:00
West Ham striker Diafra Sakho will miss the visit of Everton due to a thigh injury.
Defenders Winston Reid (knee) and Angelo Ogbonna (hamstring) are fit after spells out, and one of them will replace the suspended James Collins at centre-back.
Midfielder Alex Song will not be involved, but he has been pencilled in for a friendly next week to build up his match-fitness following a summer ankle operation.
Bryan Oviedo will have to come out of Everton's starting line-up, but Leighton Baines is not yet fit enough to replace him.
Costa Rica international Oviedo strained his hamstring in the first half of Sunday's 6-2 win over Sunderland and could miss up to three weeks, meaning 19-year-old Brendan Galloway may have to fill in at left-back once more.
Baines, who is yet to play this season following ankle surgery, is back in full training, along with Tom Cleverley (ankle) and Muhamed Besic (hamstring), but his return will come in a behind-closed-doors friendly over the international break.
Steven Pienaar (hamstring) and Tony Hibbert (knee) should also be back in the mix later this month.
Teams
West Ham (from): Adrian, Randolph, Tomkins, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Hendrie, Jenkinson, O'Brien, Oxford, Noble, Obiang, Kouyate, Cullen, Payet, Antonio, Moses, Lanzini, Zarate, Valencia, Carroll, Jelavic.
Everton (from): Howard, Robles, Stones, Funes Mori, Coleman, Browning, Galloway, McCarthy, Barkley, Cleverley, Barry, Gibson, Osman, Lennon, Naismith, Deulofeu, Mirallas, Kone, Lukaku.
HITC
Payet vs Barkley pre-match H2H: Which star player comes out on top?
Tom Thorogood
West Ham United host Everton this weekend.
West Ham United take on Everton at Upton Park this weekend in an intriguing Premier League clash which will see playmakers Dimitri Payet and Ross Barkley go head to head.
Payet joined the Hammers from Marseille only last summer in a move which a number of French top-flight observers felt was a damning reflection on the wealth in Ligue 1 compared to the Premier League.
Still, Hammers fans certainly weren’t complaining and Payet joining the club was a clear signal of intent.
So far this season he has been utterly superb but on Saturday he faces another player making inroads during the opening of the current campaign – Everton’s Ross Barkley.
As per the table provided by Opta Stats, the duo have evidently contributed greatly in a number of key areas to their respective team’s positive start to the 2015/16 campaign.
Payet leads the way in terms of goals, netting five goals compared to Barkley’s three despite actually averaging less efforts on goal per Premier League encounter.
Moreover, the France international playmaker is undoubtedly more creative in the final third, averaging an impressive four chances created via key passes per match than his upcoming opponent.
Barkley, however, likes to come deep and instigate attacks through the middle which can be illustrated by his general involvement in terms of touches and accurate passes.
The England international has really taken his game to a new level this season, delighting boss Roberto Martinez and certainly adding pounds to what now must be a pretty hefty price-tag.
On Saturday, the game between West Ham and the Toffees could be separated by the abilities of these two players alone and they will no doubt be in the thick of the action from 3pm onwards.
HITC
Latest West Ham finances reveal just how much Premier League clubs rely on TV money
West Ham United have announced record income figures but their annual accounts for last year show just how much Premier League clubs rely on TV cash.
Damien Lucas
In a statement released on the club's official website on Thursday evening, the Hammers have lifted the lid on a 'record-breaking year'.
All areas of income at the club have increased and is up by £6 million on the year before, from £114.8m to £120.7m.
Match receipts totalled £20million while the East London club's commercial activities brought in £14.5million. Retail and merchandising rose from £6.3million to £7.3million last year.
The club also announced a second consecutive group operating profit of £3m, some achievement in the modern era with a growing trend of clubs operating at huge deficits.
Underneath the piles of money lies a worrying trend
But underneath all the positivity there is an increasingly worrying trend developing which is a sorry indictment of most Premier League clubs in the modern era.
And that is that England's elite have become so reliant on the huge television money to the point that without it they would be operating at huge losses.
In West Ham's case, last year's TV revenue was £79m of the £121m total. Fantastic, you might think? Not when you look closer.
If you take away the TV income, it leaves just £42m income and West Ham's wage bill was £73m, leaving a deficit without TV money of -£31m.
Could the bubble burst?
Yes, clearly the TV revenue and wage bill are intrinsically linked and if the TV money was lower or was no longer there, wages would drop accordingly.
But it does beg the concerning question of just what would happen if the Premier League bubble and the billions that is poured in by TV companies such as Sky and BT was to burst in the near future.
Lessons are already there from the not too distant past.
The collapse of Setanta Sports, which had a £110 deal to show a select number of Premier League and FA Cup matches, was as recently as 2009. That saw a fire sale of the rights to their various sport offerings.
Before that, in 2002, ITV Digital was put into administration because it could no longer afford its multi-million pound contract with the Football League.
Up to 30 football clubs faced the threat of going out of business as the wheels fell off its £315m contract for Nationwide League and Worthington Cup matches.
Do fans care about financial prudence?
Will fans care about financial prudence, though, while their club is using the money to sign the likes of Dimitri Payet, Hammer of the Year Aaron Cresswell, top striker Diafra Sakho and internationals such as Cheikhou Kouyate, Enner Valencia, Angelo Ogbonna and Alex Song?
It also puts into perspective the old cliche thrown at footballers by fans who say 'we pay your wages'.
Well the fact of the matter is, nowadays the income produced by the dedicated fans who attend matches and purchase merchandise does not even account for half of the squad's wage bill.
A sobering thought indeed.
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