Paper Talk
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is weighing up a shock bid for Watford forward Troy Deeney.
Swansea are edging towards placing caretaker manager Alan Curtis in charge until the end of the season.
Bournemouth are preparing to offer Patrick Bamford a Premier League lifeline after the Chelsea striker cut short a loan deal with Crystal Palace.
Cardiff have slapped a £10million price tag on goalkeeper David Marshall.
Southampton are lining up a move for £7.5million-rated Sebastien Haller from FC Utrecht as a potential replacement for Sadio Mane.
Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry's season-long loan to West Brom has been scrapped.
West Ham are willing to offload forward Andy Carroll this month and his former club Newcastle and Sunderland are ready to pay up to £18million.
Manchester United are set to relaunch a £75million bid to sign Gareth Bale from Real Madrid.
Thibaut Courtois admits Chelsea's stars are playing to save their futures at Stamford Bridge.
Sadio Mane is trying to force a move away from Southampton after Chelsea and Bayern Munich joined Manchester United in the race to sign the forward.
Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has made a £2million move for AC Milan midfielder Nigel de Jong and is offering a £1million bonus if the Foxes reach the Champions League.
Manchester City have been told young Schalke midfielder Leroy Sane will cost them at least £40million.
Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has been linked with Manchester City and has fuelled exit talk by putting his house on the market.
Sadio Mane is ready to force his way out of Southampton after snubbing a new offer.
Rangers have beaten Arsenal to Accrington starlet Josh Windass.
Aston Villa have targeted Arsenal defender Mathieu Debuchy to lead their fight against relegation.
Watford will move for Lazio winger Keita Balde Diao if they miss out on Andros Townsend.
AEK Athens are eyeing a move for Aston Villa's Charles N'Zogbia.
Swansea City will resurrect their bid to re-hire former manager Brendan Rodgers in the summer, with Alan Curtis likely to remain in charge for the rest of the season.
Crystal Palace are keen on Wolves striker Benik Afobe and Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey but the deals could set them back £20million in total.
Leicester are to pull out of their ambitious bid for Dynamo Kiev defender Aleksandar Dragovic after the club raised their valuation to £25million.
Leicester City will look to offer forward Jamie Vardy a new contract in January, in a bid to ward off interest from both Manchester clubs and Chelsea.
AC Milan are one of the clubs interested in signing Marouane Fellaini but Manchester United want him to stay at the moment and have already rejected several approaches regarding a possible loan deal.
Tottenham are poised to make Ebbsfleet United wonderkid Shilow Tracey, 17, their first January signing.
Gareth Bale is considering his future at Real Madrid after the Spanish club confirmed the dismissal of coach Rafael Benitez, only seven months after he was placed in charge.
Leicester have opened talks with Sampdoria over teenager right-back Pedro Pereira.
Tottenham have explored the possibility of signing Ademola Lookman and allowing the 18-year-old forward to stay at Charlton.
Andy Carroll would consider leaving West Ham only if it meant a return to Newcastle, despite former manager Sam Allardyce being interested in signing him at Sunderland.
Inter Milan have been told that Pablo Zabaleta, the Manchester City right back, may be available in the summer.
Sam Allardyce has accused the Premier League of putting players' health at risk and devaluing the FA Cup by staging a full programme of fixtures next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Oumar Niasse is set for a £15million move to the Premier League with a host of clubs interested on the Lokomotiv Moscow striker.
Alan Pardew is ready to offer Jonjo Shelvey an escape route out of Swansea by bidding to take him to Crystal Palace next month.
BBC
Manchester United are ready to make a summer offer of more than £75m for Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale, 26, after the Spanish club sacked manager Rafael Benitez on Monday. (Daily Mirror) (The Times - subscription required) (Daily Mail)
Arsenal are considering making a bid for Watford striker Troy Deeney, 27. (Daily Star)
West Ham are willing to sell striker Andy Carroll for £18m, with Sunderland and Newcastle interested in the 26 year old. (Daily Mirror)
Lokomotiv Moscow striker Oumar Niasse, 25, is set for a move to the Premier League this month, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham among the clubs interested in signing the £15m-rated Senegal international. (Guardian)
Chelsea, Manchester City and Juventus want to sign Spain midfielder Isco, 23, from Real Madrid in the January transfer window. (Daily Express)
Manchester City have been told Schalke midfielder Leroy Sane, 19, would cost them at least £40m. (Sun)
Leicester City will offer 28-year-old England striker Jamie Vardy a new contract in January that will more than double his wages. (Daily Mail)
Bournemouth want to sign Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford after the 22-year-old ended a loan spell with Crystal Palace early. (Daily Star)
Marouane Fellaini, 28, will not leave Manchester United in the January transfer window, according to manager Louis van Gaal who has turned down a loan bid from AC Milan for the mdfielder. (Independent)
Stoke boss Mark Hughes has ruled out the prospect of Bojan Krkic leaving Stoke in January, saying there is no buyout clause in the 25-year-old forward's contract. (Daily Mail)
Crystal Palace are to make a bid for £10m-rated Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, 23. (Daily Telegraph)
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's representatives are said to be getting "frustrated" with the lack of movement regarding the Manchester United job. (ESPN)
Aston Villa want to sign Arsenal right-back Mathieu Debuchy, 30, to lead their fight against relegation but West Brom are also interested in the Frenchman. (Sun)
Barcelona registered 77 new players, including 28-year-old midfielder Arda Turan and defender Aleix Vidal, 26, after their 14-month transfer embargo ended on Monday. (Metro)
Former Brazil forward Ronaldinho, 35, has received offers from English clubs, according to his brother and agent. (Times- subscription required)
Manchester City's Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, 30, admits he gets angry with manager Manuel Pellegrini when he gets substituted. (Manchester Evening News)
Arsenal have recalled Germany Under-21 midfielder Serge Gnabry from his loan spell at West Bromwich and will instead loan the 20-year-old to a Championship club. (Telegraph)
Liverpool are in talks to sign 16-year-old Poland youth international goalkeeper Kamil Grabara who currently plays for Ruch Chorzow. However, if a deal goes through he would join the club's Academy side. (Liverpool Echo)
Best of 5 live
Spanish football journalist Graham Hunter claims Real Madrid approached Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola, 44, before sacking Rafael Benitez. (Listen here)
Sunday Times journalist Jonathan Northcroft says he was asked not to write about Gareth Bale's world record £85m fee when he interviewed the Real Madrid midfielder earlier this season. (Listen here)
Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon thinks former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho will return to the club if Zinedine Zidane fails.
Best of social media
Ex-West Ham defender Rio Ferdinand revealed on Twitter that he has been asked to play at Upton Park one last time - for Mark Noble's testimonial at Upton Park. "Such a special place, special fans," he wrote.
And finally
Finally, almost 50 years on, television technology has proved that Geoff Hurst's second goal in England's 4-2 victory over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final did cross the line. (Sky Sports)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Paul Doyle
Arsène Wenger might as well headbutt Graham Taylor and set fire to the whole back catalogue of Elton John. Because the Frenchman seems intent on tearing the heart – or, Troy Deeney – out of Watford. Watford’s burly striker, inspirational leader and likable raconteur has impressed the Arsenal manager by the way he has bullied and unpicked Premier League defences this season and now Wenger wants to separate Deeney from Odion Ighalo and make him a team-mate of Olivier Giroud instead. Because he’s gorgeous.
While such a move would be tantamount to spraying red and white paint all over that hornet statue outside the Harlequin Centre, Wenger reckons an offer of around £20m could make the transfer happen, and some Arsenal fans reckon that while shopping in the area, he should pick up Etienne Capoue, too.
Manchester United, meanwhile, are to resume stalking Gareth Bale, who is said to be displeased by the dismissal of Rafael Benítez from Real Madrid, who could replace him with Eden Hazard. Chelsea would then seek to replace Hazard with Leroy Sané, Schalke’s 19-year-old sensation, who is also being eyed up Manchester City, Liverpool and Juventus. The bidding will start at £40m.
Crystal Palace aim to bolster their challenge for the top by luring Jonjo Shelvey from Swansea and striker Benik Afobe from Wolves. Newcastle, meanwhile, want to bring Andy Carroll home, while Sam Allardyce wants to bring him to Sunderland to help relegate Newcastle. He wouldn’t, would he?
Leicester are to resist any temptation to implant a chip in Jamie Vardy during his imminent groin operation to make him reject any offers from other clubs, a bit like that transplant that alcoholics can get to make them vomit out beer. But the Foxes will try to make Vardy stay with them by offering him a new contract worth more than double his current deal.
Bournemouth are trying to persuade Patrick Bamford that a spell at the seaside is just what he needs to recover from his “terrible” stint at Crystal Palace.
Rome? Lyon? Pah! Sandwell is where it’s at for Mathieu Debuchy, who is poised to spurn advances from AS Roma and Olympique Lyonnais and instead pledge his allegiance to West Bromwich Albion.
Finally, Ronaldinho could be on his way to the Premier League. Finally! That, at any rate, is what his brother and agent Roberto intimated after the 35-year-old’s time at Fluminense came to an unhappy end. Roberto says that more than one Premier League club has mad an offer to Ronaldinho, but the Brazilian trickster is more likely to move to the United States or Asia.
C&H
Irons speak out on £18m Carroll ‘move’
Andy Carroll looks booked to remain at West Ham until the summer AT LEAST!
Reports this morning that a battle royal between Sunderland and Newcastle is underway for his signature this month brought a cool response from the Irons.
The Mirror reported we “are open to selling their £15million record signing – for £18m – with North East pair Newcastle and Sunderland ready to snap the 26-year-old up.”
They, of course, pointed out we have to sell to buy and that letting £90,000-a-week go would reduce their wage bill by a significant amount and give them room for manoeuvre in the transfer market.
However, commenting directly to ClaretandHugh our most senior Hammers source made it clear that Sunderland would be of no interest to AC.
But he said that possibility of him moving at all in the current window is very remote declaring: “There is no way he’d go to Sunderland, or that the club could afford him, but you never know with Newcastle although the possibility is very small.”
Birmingham Mail
Reece Brown features for West Ham and exit is imminent
Blues teenager to follow Demarai Gray out the door
Blues' Reece Brown
Highly rated Birmingham City youngster Reece Brown could be on the way out of St Andrew's after featuring for West Ham Under 21s last night.
The 19-year-old played in a 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion under former Blues coach Terry Westley.
Brown played alongside former Arsenal and Barcelona midfielder Alex Song and was name checked in the Hammers' match blog.
It said: 'Reece Brown has been lively all night, he looks good on the ball and has a great range of passing.'
The England Under 20 has made just one first team appearance under Gary Rowett. The Blues boss earlier this season questioned Brown's off-field conduct claiming he had been late for gym sessions.
Supremely gifted Brown is in the final few months of a contract that expires in the summer.
Often Partisan (Birmingham blog)
Birmingham City and England u20 midfielder Reece Brown played 90 minutes for the West Ham Development Squad tonight, on trial with the Hammers.
I can already see people not being happy with this one – and to tell you the truth, having seen the talent the kid has got in spades it’s not hard to disagree. I’m not sure of how it would work if he did move to the Hammers but the fact that Blues have allowed him to go on trial at West Ham indicates to me he’s not wanted any more.
There’s been rumblings about Brown’s attitude for some time, and it might be that a move away from Blues is what he needs if he’s to make the step up to be a professional. However, as talented as he is on the pitch he’s got to confront his demons off it that have seen him in recent weeks completely overlooked despite injury issues with Charlee Adams travelling with the first team squad as 19th man. He’s only got to look at former West Ham player and Birmingham City loanee Ravel Morrison to see what can happen if a player cannot be a professional in deed as well as name.
If Brown does go – it will be a major disappointment for sure; maybe more so as we won’t get millions for him as we have for Demarai Gray. However, for all the people calling for him to play in the squad just how much can squad management overlook and still give him a place in the team? He might not have taken a leak in Gary Rowett’s fishpond but I suspect the rumblings over his attitude are deeper than a desire act like any other teenager – and as much as we’ve seen his talent it might not be a price worth paying to see it on the pitch.
OS
Westley hails dominant performance
Terry Westley described his side’s performance in a 2-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion as one of the most complete in his time at the Club.
The young Hammers were value for their win, with a goal either side of half-time, both headers from Djair Parfitt-Williams and Reece Oxford.
Speaking after the win, their sixth in seven games, Westley said: “Tonight was a good start to 2016 and nice to continue from where we left off at the end of last year.
“To extend our unbeaten is good of course, I think tonight was the first time in my short tender that we really dominated a team.
“They came here and tried to make it difficult, got men behind the ball and showed our team some real respect. We kept probing away and tried to break them down; we moved the ball nicely and have come away deservedly winning 2-0.”
Despite the likes of likes of Dev Squad regulars Martin Samuelsen and Lewis Page missing out since signing for Peterborough United and Cambridge United on loan respectively, Westley’s side put in an assured team performance, aided by the presence of midfielder Alex Song.
The Cameroonian international provided the crucial ball for both goals, while missing a great chance of his own, before being substituted after 85 minutes.
The win takes the Dev Squad to fourth in the Barclays U21 Premier League Division Two table, with 20 points from 14 games.
Westley continued: “The win is nice but it’s all about playing and preparing in a way that will get them ready for the first team and tonight that type of performance will do that. We really moved the ball around well and got into the right positions.
“Our concentration levels were really high tonight which was also pleasing. With 35 scouts there tonight they’ll have been impressed and there could well be more players going out on loan.
“Overall we are really developing a group of players who know what to do, and when to do it.”
Up next for the Hammers is an U21 Premier League Round of 16 cup tie with Fulham on Wednesday 13 January at Rush Green.
Looking ahead to the tie, Westley finished off by saying: “The Fulham game will be a tough one, they usually use a couple of first team players which will give them some strength.
“Next week is a different test, but one we’re all looking for. We’d all love to get into the quarter-finals of the cup.”
