Paper Talk
Lionel Messi is in talks over a £800k-a-week move to Manchester City while the club also aims to reunite the Barcelona star with former boss Pep Guardiola.
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand says the club knew what they were getting when they employed Louis van Gaal.
Leicester City's Danny Simpson stunned onlookers by turning up to do community service in a humble charity shop - at the wheel of a £200,000 Lamborghini.
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino has reiterated that Harry Kane is not for sale.
Chelsea are prepared to launch a full-scale attempt to land Tottenham's England hotshot Harry Kane next summer.
Chelsea are eyeing transfer raids for Leicester striker Jamie Vardy and Tottenham midfielder Mousa Dembele in the winter transfer window.
FA chief Greg Dyke is set to quiz Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger over his doping fears.
QPR are set to name Neil Warnock as manager again until the summer.
Bournemouth are plotting the £6m transfer of Crystal Palace striker Dwight Gayle in January.
Steven Gerrard believes Liverpool should have signed Spurs midfielder Dele Alli as his replacement.
Steve McClaren has warned Newcastle's board he cannot guarantee Premier League survival unless there is a major shift in the club's transfer policy.
Chelsea could make a January move for former Blackburn striker Nikola Kalinic.
Swansea striker Andre Ayew has hinted he could be on the move in January, with Liverpool reported to be interested.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed he wants to make a signing in January.
Tottenham are confident they can keep striker Harry Kane, despite interest from Chelsea and Manchester United.
Manchester United's move for Mats Hummels could be back on, with the news that the Borussia Dortmund defender is set to hand in a transfer request.
Sir Alex Ferguson could play an important part in convincing Cristiano Ronaldo to return to Manchester United, according to reports in Spain.
Pep Guardiola has agreed to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season to take over from Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City.
Sam Allardyce expects Sunderland to be involved in "minimal" transfer activity during January but has refused to rule out selling Jermain Defoe.
Fabricio Coloccini will get a final chance to prove he's the right man to captain Newcastle in Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace.
Chelsea are eyeing Antoine Griezmann and Gonzalo Higuain, as Diego Costa gets a two-week deadline.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is targeting Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender ahead of Sporting Lisbon's William Carvalho.
Man City reverse keeper Willy Caballero says he is ready to step up and replace Joe Hart.
Steve McClaren has told Newcastle's board he cannot guarantee Premier League survival without major changes to the club's transfer policy.
BBC
Lionel Messi's agents have had initial discussions about a deal with Manchester City that would see the 28-year-old Barcelona and Argentina forward join on a weekly wage of £800,000. (Sun)
Chelsea are lining up January moves for Leicester's England striker Jamie Vardy, 28, and Tottenham's Belgium midfielder Mousa Dembele, 28. (Daily Mirror)
Dembele's Spurs team-mate Harry Kane, 22, is also a target for the Blues, but Jose Mourinho's side will wait until the summer before making a bid. (Daily Mail)
Tottenham remain confident they can resist interest from Chelsea or Manchester United in England striker Kane. (Telegraph)
Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino is convinced Kane will stay at White Hart Lane to win trophies with the Lilywhites. (Sky Sports)
Chelsea are also considering a move for former Blackburn striker Nikola Kalinic in January. The 27-year-old Croatia international has scored 10 goals in nine Serie A matches for Fiorentina this season. (Gazzetta Dello Sport - in Italian)
Pep Guardiola has agreed to leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season to take over from Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City. (Cadena Cope, via Guardian)
City's reserve goalkeeper Willy Caballero says he is ready to step up and replace Joe Hart should the England international's hamstring injury force him to miss games. (Daily Star)
Lazio midfielder Ravel Morrison is close to returning to England "for personal reasons" after an underwhelming spell at the Italian club. The 22-year-old has played only three league games since joining on a free from West Ham. (Calciomercato - in Italian)
LA Galaxy midfielder Steven Gerrard says he is disappointed his former club Liverpool did not sign 19-year-old England midfielder Dele Alli before Tottenham did. (Evening Standard)
Newcastle defender Fabricio Coloccini, 33, will be offered a final chance to prove he remains the right man to captain the side in Saturday's match against Crystal Palace. (Guardian)
Meanwhile, Magpies manager Steve McClaren has told the club's board he cannot guarantee the team's Premier League survival without major changes to their transfer policy. (Daily Star)
Jermain Defoe, 33, is fit for Sunderland's home match against Stoke, despite suffering an ankle injury in Monday's 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace. (Daily Mail)
Swansea forward Andre Ayew has suggested he could leave for a top Premier League club in January, with Liverpool reported to be interested in the 25-year-old. (RMC, via Daily Express)
Bournemouth are planning a £6m move for Crystal Palace striker Dwight Gale, 25, in January to replace the injured Callum Wilson, 23. (Daily Mirror)
Leeds boss Steve Evans says a deal has been provisionally agreed to extend Sunderland midfielder Liam Bridcutt's loan move for the remainder of the season. (Newcastle Chronicle)
Aston Villa's American goalkeeper Brad Guzan was celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday. "Happy Thanksgiving everyone," the 31-year-old tweeted. "Very thankful this year as my wife and I welcomed our son Aiden."
New York City midfielder Andrea Pirlo was also celebrating the American national holiday. "Happy Thanksgiving from us #myworld #Pirlostyle #familytime #pablotime," the Italian 36-old tweeted. And we give thanks for the fantastic snap of him and his dog.
Tottenham secured their place in the Europa League knockout stages with a 1-0 win over Qarabag on Thursday. Spurs' 22-year-old striker Harry Kane, who got the winning goal, tweeted: "Very happy to be qualified! It wasn't easy but delighted with the win!"
Simon Mignolet was a relieved man on Thursday evening. After the Liverpool goalkeeper conceded a free-kick for holding on to the ball for over 20 seconds - from which Bordeaux took the lead - the Reds scored twice to secure their place in the Europa League last 32. "Happy to get qualified for the knockout stages in the #UEL," the 27-year-old Belgian posted on Instagram.
And finally
Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha, 23, says an impression of Croydon as "an awful place to be in" will change with the proposed new investment coming into the Selhurst Park club. (Croydon Advertiser)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Gregg Bakowski
Manchester City are planning an outrageous stunt. No, they’re not going to give Yaya Touré a second official birthday, like the Queen, to make the Ivorian, who’s been doing a fine impression of a sad trout for the past month, just a smidgin happier and more likely to run around a bit and not get bossed by players such as Lucas Leiva. No, something even more outrageous, reader. What? No, they’re not going to promote a locally-born youth player into their first team either. Don’t be daft. What they are going to do, of course, is spend the GDP of a small nation to invoke the spirit of Surprise Surprise by reuniting Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi at the club next season, perhaps with Bob Carolgees and Spit The Dog overseeing the gooey moment when Pep’s proud eyes fill with tears as Messi does a couple of stepovers and stumbles into his former manager’s warm embrace in the Etihad centre-circle while dancers do the sardana around them and a richly-tanned, heavy-set man with a moustache plays a shawm. Yes, that.
Well, that’s if City have any money left to hire Carolgees. Or a shawm player, for that matter. Because it says here that Messi would cost the club £800,000 a week in wages. That’s £800,000. A week. Yup. A Spanish radio station reckons that Pep, who is in the final year of his Bayern Munich contract and has yet to sign an extension, has already agreed to join City. He feels he’s learnt enough in Germany and wants to give his huge football brain a more taxing challenge. And on the subject of tax, apparently, that’s one of the reasons Messi would be open to a move to north-west England. The Catalan courts haven’t been a friend to the Messi family recently. Manchester even has a bar called Barça. In Catalan Square. How’s that sound Pep? It’s a place where “You can actually enjoy a conversation and find a seat,” according to one reviewer. Surely that’s the deal breaker. Right, let’s move on.
Around this time last season Cesc Fábregas and Diego Costa were so utterly compelling for Chelsea that everyone was talking about them. At the same time last season absolutely no one was talking about Mousa Dembélé and Jamie Vardy. Now, Chelsea want them to replace Fábregas and Costa. That’ll be the winds of change you can feel blowing down the Kings Road. But before they nip in with bids for them they’ll try to snaffle the Croatian Jamie Vardy, Nikola Kalinic, who’s scored 10 goals in nine games for Fiorentina. He also has experience of playing in England with Blackburn Rovers, where he spent three seasons running around waving his arms about never being passed the ball between 2009 and 2011.
Ravel Morrison’s Italian adventure has ended pretty much like everybody in the world thought it would. He’s on his way back from Lazio to England, with a return to QPR, where Neil Warnock is set to be announced as manager until the end of the season, a possibility.
Tottenham and West Ham beancounters are flexing their muscles in front of Torino centre-back Nikola Maksimovic, with both clubs confident that shoving £12m through the letterbox at Stadio Olimpico di Torino will lead to the club’s chairman, Urbano Cairo, pushing the player out of the front door.
Garry Monk might want to put The Monkees song (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone on the changing-room ghetto blaster at Anfield at the weekend to get the message across to André Ayew that when Liverpool come calling in January, they’d like him to stay just a little bit longer at Swansea. He could even help them stay up.
And Eddie Howe’s a fan of reunions too. He wants to send £6m the way of Crystal Palace for Dwight Gayle, who he hopes will remind his former strike partner at Selhurst Park, Glenn Murray, how to stay fit and score goals again at Bournemouth.
Sport Witness
Tottenham and West Ham both keen on Serbian defender, €18m offer from Napoli
Tottenham and West Ham United are both keen on Serbian defender Nikola Maksimovic, according to Italian newspaper Tuttosport on Thursday. The two clubs are joined by interest from the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal, although those three seem to be linked with every half available player in Italy at the moment.
Maksimovic is a 24 year central defender and Tuttosport say that interest from some clubs has carried on despite him being out since the beginning of September with an injury. The defender isn't expected to return until January but interest is still claimed.
Torino have Maksimovic on a contract until June 2018 and he earns €300,000 per year after tax. Interest from other clubs is motivating Torino to offer the young defender a new contract, and try and keep him for a little longer before eventually cashing in.
There's not only claimed interest from the Premier League, Tuttosport say Serie A's Napoli have bid €18m for the player but been informed Torino aren't interested in a sale.
Considering Maksimovic is injured, he's doing pretty well on the interest front.
