Paper Talk
Manchester United have renewed their interest in Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos.
Manchester City may need to slug it out with Barcelona and Real Madrid for Bundesliga star Ilkay Gundogan.
Roy Hodgson will make a check on Leicester's in-form Danny Drinkwater ahead of naming his next England squad.
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew is eyeing a summer move for Blackburn's Republic of Ireland international centre-back Shane Duffy.
Atletico Madrid star Saul Niguez has told the club to pay him £4m-a-year amid interest from Manchester United and Arsenal.
Galatasaray have denied reports that Tottenham are trying to sign star goalkeeper Fernando Muslera.
Newcastle's next manager could be former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss Rafael Benitez.
Willy Caballero says he will look for another club in England if he cannot dislodge Joe Hart as Manchester City's No 1.
Jose Mourinho is planning to recast the spine of the Manchester United team if he is appointed manager at Old Trafford in the summer, with a centre-back, a midfielder and a striker high on his list of priorities.
Manchester United want Real Madrid star Toni Kroos for £40m.
Pep Guardiola has played down rumours that he wants to bring Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 29, with him to Manchester City in the summer.
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew believes he could soon have a £30m striker on his hands in Connor Wickham.
Jurgen Klopp has opened the door for Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic, currently on loan at Turkish side Fenerbahce, to return to Anfield in the summer.
Meanwhile, Reds defender Jon Flanagan, 23, is desperate to sign a new contract at Anfield so he can be a one-club man like Jamie Carragher.
David Beckham has made the audacious capture of Lionel Messi one of Miami United's long-term priorities.
Everton passed up a chance to sign Dimitri Payet last summer because they see Ross Barkley as their long-term No 10.
Marc Bartra could easily leave Barcelona this summer, according to his former agent with Manchester United among the clubs interested.
Lorenzo Insigne's agent says the 24-year-old Napoli winger is wanted by a number of Premier League clubs.
Antonio Conte will finalise a deal to take over as Chelsea boss during a meeting with Roman Abramovich in Monte Carlo in the next seven days.
Aston Villa captain Micah Richards has a buy-out clause in his contract and can leave the club for £5m.
Arsenal could miss out on long-term transfer interest Ilkay Gundogan because the Borussia Dortmund midfielder wants to play for Pep Guardiola.
Chelsea sent scouts to watch Juventus star Paul Pogba this week, according to reports in Italy.
Everton have started planning for the era under new owner Farhad Moshiri by targeting Villarreal teenager Alfonso Pedraza for a summer move.
Louis van Gaal has said the recent emergence of Marcus Rashford, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Guillermo Varela and other youngsters will affect Manchester United's summer transfer policy.
Jose Mourinho's charm offensive towards Manchester United gathered pace when one of his aides went to great lengths to undermine the perception that the former Chelsea manager is not interested in developing young players.
Remi Garde has admitted that he could be sacked as Aston Villa manager this summer after cutting short a heated media conference on Friday.
A banner calling on Massimo Cellino to leave Leeds United will fly over Elland Road on Saturday as the fans stage another protest against the club's controversial owner.
BBC
Italy coach Antonio Conte will meet with Chelsea owener Roman Abramovich in Monte Carlo within the next week to thrash out the final details of his appointment as the club's next manager. (Daily Telegraph)
Chelsea have entered the race to sign Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi, 23, who is also wanted by Manchester United. (Tuttosport - in Italian)
United are also thought to be keen on Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez, 21, but have competition for his signature from Arsenal. (AS - in Spanish)
Jose Mourinho is planning to recast the spine of the Manchester United team if he is appointed manager at Old Trafford in the summer, with a centre-back, a midfielder and a striker high on his list of priorities. (Sun)
United could move for Barcelona defender Marc Bartra after the 25-year-old's agent revealed he may have to leave the Nou Camp in search of regular football. (COPE, via Daily Express)
Liverpool defender Jon Flanagan, 23, is desperate to sign a new contract at Anfield so he can be a one-club man like Jamie Carragher. (Daily Star)
David Beckham has made the audacious capture of Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, 28, one of Miami United's long-term priorities. (Daily Mail)
Pep Guardiola has played down rumours that he wants to bring Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 29, with him to Manchester City in the summer. (Daily Star)
Lorenzo Insigne's agent says the 24-year-old Napoli winger is wanted by a number of Premier League clubs. (Italian radio station CRC, via Daily Express)
Liverpool have been linked with a summer move for Malaga midfielder Ignacio Camacho, 25, who could be available for around £4m. (Metro)
Former Liverpool and Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez, who has been out of work since he was sacked by Real Madrid earlier this season, could be in line to return to England to succeed Steve McClaren as manager of Newcastle. (Sun)
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew is eyeing a summer move for Blackburn's Republic of Ireland international centre-back Shane Duffy, 24. (Daily Mirror)
Germany and the Netherlands could be chosen ahead of England for the first official trials of video technology when football's law-making body meets on Saturday.(Times - subscription required)
Tottenham striker Harry Kane says the current Spurs squad is the best he has ever been involved with and that teams do not want to face the "unbelievable" way they press opponents. (Times - subscription required)
Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic says of the start of their Premier League defence, which saw them lose nine of their 16 league games and Jose Mourinho sacked, "we lost control of our game, of our minds."(Daily Mail)
BBC Radio 5 live
Former Spurs manager David Pleat says some pundits "cannot justify" their criticism of Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger after a number of high-profile former Gunners players turned on Wenger over the Gunners' recent results.
Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown believes Wenger should ask for more from his team, and that the current side may be "too nice".
Former Newcastle player and manager Alan Shearer criticises the side's recent recordin the Premier League and questions the lack of 'leaders' in the current team.
Best of social media
West Ham midfielder Michael Antonio grabbed the opportunity to take a cheeky photo of team-mates Reece Oxford and Stephen Hendrie, both of whom had dozed off on the team coach as it made its way to Liverpool for the Hammers' game at Everton.
And finally
After backing Leicester City to win the Premier League title at the start of the season at odds of 5000/1, Foxes fan Jon Pryke has cashed out his £20 bet for a substantial £29,000. City are three points clear at the table with two and a half months of the season remaining. (Ladbrokes)
Chelsea captain John Terry has revealed that the Blues first team have a strange ritual before games of players all using the same urinal in the dressing room. (Sun)
Newcastle boss Steve McClaren was involved in a spat after his news conference with a journalist who said to him: "don't you dare accuse me of having an agenda, You are second bottom of the league, is this your latest excuse?"(Daily Express)
HITC
Danny Higginbotham talks up Bilic masterclass
Popular pundit Danny Higginbotham says Slaven Bilic produced a tactical masterclass as his West Ham United side beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in midweek, the Independent reports.
The Hammers put a halt to their London rivals’ six-game winning streak as Michail Antonio’s first-half header followed by some excellent controlled football was enough to see off Maurico Pochettino’s side.
Writing in his column for the Independent, Higginbotham was full of praise for Bilic as he once again got the better of a more expensively-assembled squad using superb tactical nous.
“West Ham United gave a tactical masterclass on Wednesday night, shutting Spurs down with their 3-5-2 formation. It was a brilliant move from Slaven Bilic, out-thinking Mauricio Pochettino,” he wrote.
West Ham have now beaten Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham while only a number of superb saves prevented them from picking up all three points at Manchester United.
Many questions were asked of Bilic, especially at the beginning of the campaign as his side suffered home defeats to Leicester City and Bournemouth, but nobody is doubting his ability now.
The East London outfit have risen to the peripherals of the top four and a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals represents a fine season thus far, and their campaign could get even better.
With Arsenal and United still to come to the Boleyn Ground, Bilic’s side arguably have their destiny in their own hands and a sustained winning streak could see them pip City or the Gunners to a top four spot.
OS
Preview - Everton
The background
Saturday’s encounter with Everton represents Slaven Bilic’s first return to Goodison Park since becoming West Ham United manager.
While there’s certainly plenty of personal history for the gaffer, he’ll certainly putting it to one side come Saturday afternoon.
His Hammers are in good form of late, following their deserved victory over Tottenham in mid-week, the Irons are five games unbeaten in all competitions.
A win could take the visitors to the heady heights of fourth in the Premier League table.
Standing in their way is Everton, who by their typically optimistic standards have had an indifferent league campaign.
Currently 11th in the table with 38 points, they have won their last two games convincingly.
The history
Despite Adrian’s FA Cup penalty shoot-out heroics last season, the Toffees have tended to shade the most recent encounters.
Of the last ten matches, the Merseysiders have come away victorious on five occasions, with four draws and a defeat.
In fact, the last time the Hammers won outright, in 90 minutes was back in April 2007, thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal.
Earlier this season, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the Boleyn. Manuel Lanzini’s strike was cancelled out by the perennial thorn-in-the-side Romelu Lukaku.
In a total of 133 meetings, Everton have won 67 to West Ham’s 36.
The match
Team news
West Ham United
James Collins is the latest player to join the injury list after suffering a hamstring injury during the win over Spurs.
Sam Byram serves the second game of a two-match ban after picking up his tenth booking of the season in last Saturday’s game against Sunderland.
The right back joins fellow defenders James Tomkins, Joey O’Brien and Winston Reid on the sidelines.
Having returned to action off the bench, Diafra Sakho is in contention to start as is Andy Carroll.
Everton
Similarly, Everton are struggling for numbers.
Saturday’s absentees are Tom Cleverley (illness), Tony Hibbert (Knee) and Leighton Baines (Ankle).
Brian Oviedo, Darron Gibson (knock) and Muhamed Besic (hamstring) face a race against time to return to fitness.
Match info
- Saturday’s match referee is Anthony Taylor. The Hammers have won one of their three games with Taylor at the helm; the 2-0 win over Newcastle United. However, Everton are yet to win at all, losing at home to Manchester City and Swansea City. In 128 top-flight matches, he has awarded 23 red cards and 436 yellows. Andy Madley is the fourth official.
- Everton are unbeaten in 15 league meetings since a 1-0 away defeat in April 2007 (W10, D5).
- Everton have only won four of their last 16 league matches at Goodison Park (W4, D4, L8).
- They are the division's joint second-highest scorers going into the weekend fixtures, with 49 goals in 27 matches.
- Romelu Lukaku has 17 Premier League goals this season, equalling his career-best return in 2012-13.
- The Hammers have taken 20 points from their last 10 games, a record bettered only by Tottenham (22 points).
- Mark Noble could make his 250th Premier League appearance for West Ham. He would be the first player to do so.
- Michail Antonio's ten goals in all competitions this season (for West Ham and Nottingham Forest) have all come at home.
Ticketing, coverage, travel and other info
- Tickets for Saturday’s game have SOLD OUT. However, they may become available online as Season Ticket Holders relist.
- Saturday is set to be an overcast day, with chances of rain before and after the game. Temperature is predicted to be a cool 6C (43F).
- If you’re not heading to the game, make sure you follow the action on our digital channels. The whufc.com Live Match Centre will have live audio commentary and text updates, alongside in-running stats and pictures. You can get involved in the conversation on social using the hashtag #EVEWHU.
