BBC
Manchester City have held talks with Barcelona over a £100m move for Argentina forward Lionel Messi, 29. (Sun)
City will give Guardiola £250m to spend in order to turn the club into champions again. (Daily Star)
Guardiola will be in the market for a new goalkeeper this summer, as pressure continues to grow on Claudio Bravo, 33. (Daily Mail)
Chelsea striker Diego Costa, 28, interests both Barcelona and his former club Atletico Madrid. (Independent)
Blues boss Antonio Conte has no plans to hold clear-the-air talks with Costa, and the Spain forward will have this week to prove he warrants a recall. (Guardian)
Costa will effectively be ending his career if he moves to the Chinese Super League, according to former Blues player and assistant manager Ray Wilkins. (Sky Sports)
West Ham's France forward Dimitri Payet, 29, is prepared to take a pay cut in order to return to his former club Marseille, says French journalist Julien Laurens. (BBC Radio 5 live)
Lyon have had an improved £13m bid for 22-year-old Dutch forward Memphis Depay rejected by Manchester United. (Daily Mail)
Manchester United are among several top European clubs monitoring 16-year-old Flamengo forward Vinicius Junior. The Red Devils have already been rebuffed in one attempt to secure first option on him. (Independent)
The Old Trafford club are also tracking Celtic's 19-year-old left-back Kieran Tierney. (Daily Mirror)
The Football Association is taking active steps towards bringing in retrospective bans for players who dive. (Times)
Middlesbrough are on the verge of completing the £5m signing of Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford, 23, recently recalled to Stamford Bridge from a season-long loan at Burnley.(Northern Echo)
Brazilian side Flamengo are considering a move for Chelsea's versatile left-sided player Kenedy. The 20-year-old joined Chelsea in 2015 from Fluminense and made 20 appearances last season.(ESPN Brazil, via Daily Express)
West Ham and Sunderland are interested in Leeds striker Chris Wood, 25, but have been put off by the Championship club's £15m valuation.(ESPN)
West Brom's hopes of signing Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph, 27, appear over with Pep Guardiola keen to keep the former Aston Villa midfielder.(Birmingham Mail)
Middlesbrough will reluctantly sell Gaston Ramirez to Leicester for £10m and replace him with Stoke's Bojan. The two 26-year-old attacking midfielders are both keen on moves.(Sun)
Swansea City have been linked with a loan move for former Chelsea winger Gael Kakuta, 25, who is playing for Chinese side Hebei China Fortune.(L'Equipe)
Manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed Crystal Palace have reached an agreement with Arsenal for 24-year-old full-back Carl Jenkinson.(Evening Standard)
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has no intention of sending 19-year-old winger Sheyi Ojo out on loan. Championship leaders Newcastle are one of a number of clubs interested.(Liverpool Echo)
Ex-Liverpool striker John Aldridge has criticised Manchester United's playing style against his former club on Sunday, saying it showed a "lack of class".(Liverpool Echo)
Christian Benteke's agent says the 26-year-old striker's focus is entirely on Crystal Palace, despite reports linking the Belgium international with Paris St-Germain.(Evening Standard)
Hull City have made an enquiry for 29-year-old Fenerbahce striker Emmanuel Emenike, who spent part of last season on loan at West Ham.(Turkish-Football.com)
West Brom boss Tony Pulis says his transfer budget is "pretty tight and rigid" in the January transfer window.(Birmingham Mail)
Watford are close to signing Fiorentina's ex-Birmingham, West Ham and QPR striker Mauro Zarate, 29, on loan.(Daily Mirror)
Paris St-Germain right-back Serge Aurier, 24, says he is not paying attention to recent transfer rumours linking him with clubs including Barcelona.(ESPN)
And finally
Tottenham have offered an academy scholarship to manager Mauricio Pochettino's 15-year-old son. (Daily Mail)
On seeing former Leicester midfielder N'Golo Kante arrive back as a Chelsea player, Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri put the midfielder in a headlock. (Metro)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Paul Doyle
The most notable thing that Radamel Falcao did during his season at Chelsea was get a haircut but now the Colombian could be about to have a big impact on the Londoners’ title bid. Because word is that he’s the subject of a cashalicious offer from Tianjin Quanjian, the club who recently spurred Diego Costa’s sudden interest in Chinese culture. So far Monaco have rejected Tianjin’s advances but if that offer were to be increased and Falcao were to accept, then Chelsea’s life could be made a little easier and Costa would have to perform the most embarrassing climb-down since Peter Odemwingie went back to West Brom claiming he’d only gone to Loftus Road to find out why there’s a dental practice near the stadium called Batman.
Meanwhile in Manchester, Pep Guardiola is preparing to confound his doubters by staging a public spoon-bending show before next weekend’s defeat by Spurs. He has already wowed his employers by describing in meticulous detail how he intends to restore Manchester City to the position of dominance that they fleetingly occupied. All he needs to implement it is time, understanding, and another £250m, give or take the world record signing of Lionel Messi.
Manchester United, meanwhile, continue to ready themselves for the arrival of Antoine Griezmann, though the deal won’t be done until the summer. Atletico Madrid will try to replace the Frenchman with their old mucker Diego Costa, who by then could be sporting a new Premier League winner’s medal around his necks or imprints of several boots on his arse. Michy Batshuayi, meanwhile, will be jumping up and down trying to remind everyone at Stamford Bridge of his presence, although someone at Chelsea does appear to be aware that he is there because they rejected inquiries about him from Paris Saint-Germain.
United are also keen to buy the left-back Kieran Tierney from Celtic. Brendan Rodgers is eager to hold on to the player at least until the Scottish Premier League title is secured. So a deal could be done at any moment. It may take United longer to secure 16-year-old Vinicius Junior, the Flamengo forward who has been dubbed ‘the new Neymar’, possibly by his
agent, or possibly by his mates in the playground.
United are also keen to duke it out with Arsenal for the services of the Greek defender Kostas Manolas, who’s currently at Roma.
James McCarthy could be set to revive his career at Sunderland, or just move there. Ronald Koeman has let the midfielder know his future lies away from Goodison Park and is hopeful that if the Republic of Ireland international goes to Sunderland, then that could facilitate Everton’s attempt to prise Lamine Koné away from the Stadium of Light. Sunderland and West Ham are also pursuing after the Leeds United striker Chris Wood but so far neither has offered anywhere near enough to persuade the promotion-chasing club to let him go.
Middlesbrough are close to bringing Patrick Bamford back to their place for good. Swansea City fancy a bit of Gaël Kakuta, who’s been a hot prospect for the best part of a decade.
And here’s a game to play with your friends: see who can name every player to
have played for Watford this season. If you wait until after next weekend
you may have to include Mauro Zárate, because the Hornets are said to be on his case.
Guardian
West Ham’s striking failure: 32 signed in seven years and still no solution
Jacob Steinberg
In the seven years since David Sullivan and David Gold took charge, West Ham United have signed 32 strikers who have managed 125 goals in 641 games
Haggling with Brentford over the asking price for Scott Hogan, testing Sunderland’s sense of humour with a £4m offer for Jermain Defoe, steeling themselves for bids for the mutinous Dimitri Payet, waving goodbye to Simone Zaza and preparing to point Jonathan Calleri to the exit, how West Ham United savoured the majesty of Andy Carroll’s overhead kick in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace. For a team who had to wait until 27 November for a striker to score this season, Carroll’s wonderfully acrobatic goal lifted the mood at the London Stadium and provided a timely tonic after Payet’s revolt.
Yet before celebrating too much about showing Payet that they can win without him, West Ham would be wise to pause and consider a statistic that should make David Sullivan and David Gold wince. In the seven years since the pair bought the club, West Ham have completed 32 deals for new strikers for four different managers and the numbers make for grim reading. Between them those players have managed 125 goals in 641 games.
Those figures are a damning indictment of the piecemeal way West Ham have gone about trying to fill such an important position. From mysterious South American imports such as Brian Montenegro and Wellington Paulista, both of whom disappeared without a trace, to forgettable loan signings such as Marco Borriello and Marouane Chamakh, and from flops like Modibo Maïga to stopgaps like Nikica Jelavic, their underwhelming attacking purchases have too often undermined their attempts to grow.
Of those 32 strikers, only four have managed double figures in terms of goals: Diafra Sakho (20 in 52 games), Carroll (26 in 101 games), Frédéric Piquionne (11 in 62 games) and Enner Valencia (10 in 68 games). Ignore strikers who were signed for the youth team and include Calleri and Zaza, and almost a third left east London without scoring. Once Carroll’s injury record is taken into account, only Sakho, signed for £3.5m from Metz in 2014, and Demba Ba, whose seven goals following his arrival from Hoffenheim in January 2011 were not enough for Avram Grant’s side to avoid relegation to the Championship, can be viewed as successes.
Since their return to the top flight in 2012, only one of the seven strikers who have joined on loan, Carroll, has earned a permanent transfer. In their drive to seek out bargains, West Ham have frittered away too much time and money on strikers who never looked likely to make the grade, leaving them stuck on a loop of short-termism as they find themselves dipping back into the market for the next unsatisfactory quick fix. One mistake simply leads to another.
Payet’s desire to leave is a consequence of unfulfilled promises. After West Ham came close to qualifying for the Champions League last season before squeezing into the Europa League with a seventh-place finish, Sullivan and Slaven Bilic agreed that the priority for the summer had to be the acquisition of a striker with the potency to lift them into the top four. Having finished as the fourth-highest scorers in the league, it was a solid assessment of the side’s potential and Sullivan spoke bullishly last May about the need for a striker who could score 20 goals a season, while also raising expectations by talking about imminent £20m and £25m bids for players.
Goal-shy forwards have been a perennial weakness. Only the midfielder Kevin Nolan (10 in 2012-13) and Diafra Sakho (10 in 2014-15) have hit double figures in a single Premier League season in the Sullivan and Gold era. Getting that striker was easier said than done, of course, bearing in mind that the best are usually found at the leading clubs. It is rare to find one away from the elite in England. No player has ever scored 20 league goals in a Premier League season for West Ham.
Leaving Upton Park for the London Stadium is meant to catapult West Ham into the next level, however, and they were keen to make a marquee signing last summer. “Whatever happens, we’ll bring a top striker in,” Sullivan said. “It’s a statement of intent.”
What did happen, however, is that West Ham found that Lyon’s Alexandre Lacazette and Marseille’s Michy Batshuayi had set their sights higher, while talks with Milan’s Carlos Bacca went nowhere, and the arrivals of Calleri, Zaza and Ashley Fletcher were the universe’s way of telling Sullivan that actions speak louder than words. When West Ham did break their transfer record by spending £20m on Swansea’s André Ayew, the money went on an overpriced winger.
Payet cannot be blamed for deciding that he has had enough, even though there is little to admire about the midfielder downing tools in his attempt to force a move to Marseille. While Fletcher has shown promise since his free transfer from Manchester United, Calleri’s and Zaza’s loan spells have been disastrous and long-term injuries to Carroll and Sakho meant that West Ham were often forced to play without a striker before Christmas.
Calleri has failed to score in nine appearances and the 23-year-old Argentinian is set to return to Deportivo Maldonado, while the Zaza deal was structured in a way that unfairly raised the pressure on the Italy international. Having paid a £5m loan fee to Juventus, West Ham would have had to buy Zaza for a further £20m if he had reached 14 Premier League appearances. The 25-year-old barely threatened a goal in 11 appearances in all competitions before departing for Valencia.
The addition of a lethal striker alone would not eradicate all of West Ham’s flaws. Bad defending, muddled tactics, the absence of a right-back and a shortage of resilience have been just as harmful as the lack of a finisher. Sunderland are in relegation trouble despite Defoe’s 11 goals and the same applies to Crystal Palace, who spent £32m on Christian Benteke. West Ham, because they played with superior coherence last season, were able to spread the goals around effectively.
Yet achieving that balance was possible only because of forwards creating space for their team-mates. They are a different side when Sakho, strong, fast and instinctive in the area, is fit, but the Senegalese soon succumbed to injury after his early header in the 1-1 draw at Manchester United in November.
That hole in Bilic’s attack has placed a heavy strain on the side. They have won one game in which their opponents have scored – five of their seven victories have been by 1-0 scorelines – and they have recovered two points from losing positions.
Losing to Palace might have dragged them back into the relegation picture. Instead they are 10 points clear of the bottom three, having displayed character and quality in the face of adversity, and fine performances from Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini and Sofiane Feghouli against Sam Allardyce’s struggling side offered hope for the future. Yet while Carroll had a fine game, he is their only fit striker and once again they find themselves trying to bolster their attacking options in the January window.
We have been here before. Shortly after Sullivan and Gold’s arrival in January 2010, there was talk of Ruud van Nistelrooy being offered a £100,000 a week contract. West Ham ended up with Benni McCarthy, Ilan and Mido. Only Ilan contributed anything, two of the unheralded Brazilian’s four goals earning four points that were enough to stave off relegation, but staying up with 35 points was no cause for celebration. Robbie Keane and Ba arrived a year later, but West Ham went down.
The club’s parlous financial situation meant that Sullivan and Gold were afforded some slack during that period and West Ham immediately bounced back under Sam Allardyce. Yet history has a way of repeating itself. Having lost Carroll to a nasty foot injury after buying him for £15m from Liverpool, West Ham began the 2013-14 season with Maïga as their only striker. They were reduced to signing two free agents: Carlton Cole, having released him a few months earlier, and Mladen Petric, who made four substitute appearances without scoring a goal. Borriello, a 31-year-old Italian forward, arrived on loan from Roma in January and left after appearing twice.
Something to consider as West Ham mull over whether to meet Brentford’s £15m asking price for Hogan, a 24-year-old forward who has scored 14 goals in the Championship this season, and whether £4m might be a touch too low to convince Sunderland to part with their best chance of staying up, is that Sullivan and Gold have rarely used the winter window productively. None of the 10 strikers signed in January has managed a full campaign.
None of this would matter as much if they were still at Upton Park, but West Ham convinced their supporters that staying in E13 would have condemned them to irrelevance. Although it is far too early to offer any definitive judgments about the wisdom of moving to Stratford, there must be evidence of a shift in the board’s mentality soon. After six months in their new home, West Ham’s most prized asset wants to leave and they will find it hard to attract new punters to the London Stadium without players of Payet’s calibre on show. Talk is cheap.
Star
EXCLUSIVE: Man Utd and Arsenal open talks over signing West Ham bad-boy Dimitri Payet
MANCHESTER UNITED and Arsenal have made tentative enquiries over signing Dimitri Payet.
By Jack Wilson
Starsport understand the Premier League heavy hitters opened preliminary talks with Payet’s camp to see if he’d be interested in a possible move.
Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger are both Payet fans and have been keeping an eye on his availability for months.
Cash-rich clubs from the Chinese Super League have also expressed an interest in luring Payet away from his West Ham hell.
Top Chinese sides are queuing up with mega-bucks offers that could see the 29-year-old quadruple his wages. He’s currently earning £125,000-a-week at the London Stadium.
But it’s understood Payet has snubbed all interest because his heart is set on Marseille.
The France intentional is desperate to return to his former club and sees that as the only place he wants to go.
Marseille have already made two bids for the wantaway star - both of which have been rejected.
The first was around £19.1m bid and the second was for £20m. Both have been turned down by Hammers co-chairman David Sullivan.
Payet is not training with the first team and is currently working with the under-23s.
Despite the club’s insistence he’s not for sale, West Ham privately are admitting that Payet is likely to leave.
Payet has been slammed by former players for the way he’s gone on strike.
Dean Ashton told talkSPORT: “I can't play anymore and to see the way Payet is acting, I can't tell you how angry it makes me.
"West Ham love him, they absolutely adore him - they wouldn't dream to think he would go and do this. He is so many kids' favourite player.
"It is disgusting what he is doing in refusing to play."
Ian Wright agreed and said: "You do not say I don't want to play for the club no more.
"They've got to get rid of him as soon as they can."
HITC
Hammers fans as hard as nails boxing legend Floyd Mayweather pledges his allegiance to West Ham
West Ham United already have arguably the toughest set of famous fans going but can now count on the support of boxing legend Floyd Mayweather.
Damien Lucas
The Hammers may not have had the hardest team for much of this season but they've certainly got the hardest celebrity fanbase around.
Slaven Bilic has endured a torrid second season at the helm culminating in star player Dimitri Payet going on strike in a bid to force through a move back to former club Marseille for personal reasons.
The Hammers eased their worries somewhat at the weekend, though, winning 3-0 over Crystal Palace and former boss Sam Allardyce.
They could do a lot worse than take some inspiration from the club's band of famous supporters who are hard men for a living, which now includes a WWE superstar and five boxers after legendary American fighter Floyd Mayweather pledged his allegiance to the club.
"Soccer is an unbelievable sport and I look forward to going to more soccer games," Mayweather said in a video posted on Facebook.
Then when prompted by his friend that he was going to come and watch West Ham, Mayweather added: "Absolutely, I'll see you guys soon" before signing off by doing the famous crossed Hammers celebration.
So there you have it, the world's greatest pound for pound fighter is now a Hammer.
And he joins an illustrious list.
Lennox Lewis
The three-time heavyweight champion was born in the East End and always been a massive West Ham fan. Lewis was one of the best heavyweights of all time and it in prestigious company with the likes of Muhammad Ali, Vitali Klitschko and Michael Moorer as heavyweights who have won the title three times.
Gennady Golovkin
Legendary pound-for-pound world champ Golovkin delcared himself a Hammers fans after a visit to Upton Park in recent seasons. The fighter easily beat Sheffield United fan Kell Brook to extend his perfect record to 36-0 earlier this year. And he declared about the Hammers and their fans: "They are beautiful people and it feels like a big family. I have a lot of respect for them."
Frank Bruno
A second former heavyweight boxing world champion who supports the Hammers is British national treasure Frank Bruno. Bruno ended his career with a record of 40 wins from 45 fights including 38 by knockout and went toe-to-toe with the likes of fellow Hammer Lewis, Oliver McCall and the great Mike Tyson. He grew up and trained in the East End and is a lifelong fan.
Kevin Mitchell
Now retired, well respected fighter Mitchell loves West Ham so much his nickname in the ring is the Hammer and he has the club's crest on his shorts. The Romford-born lightweight won 39 of his 43 fights and is a friend of Hammers captain Mark Noble. He also fought and lost a world title fight against Australian Michael Katsidis at the club's old Boleyn Ground back in 2010.
Triple H
Last year 14-time world champion Triple H - real name Paul Levesque - told the Daily Mail he was a Hammers fan, praising the club's supporters for their passion. And the biggest name in wrestling has proved he really is into the Hammers as he discussed the importance of their recent 1-0 win over Burnley while in London to promote a WWE event coming to the O2 next May.
Cass Pennant
Cass Pennant, who stands at an imposing 6ft 5in is now a successful writer and filmmaker who is most well known for being a member, and leader, of West Ham's infamous Inter City Firm (ICF) associated with the club from the 1970s. Pennant rose to prominence as one of the only black generals of a hooligan firm and was eventually sentenced to four years in prison in 1980 and was the first person to receive a long term sentence for football hooliganism. Nowadays Pennant focuses on his writing, filmmaking and following the Hammers and even had a film made about his life.
Ray Winstone
Well-known Hammers fan Winstone may be a Hollywood star nowadays but his roots are firmly in East London where he lived until he was seven. The actor, who has starred in Sexy Beast, Scum, and Beowulf, regularly follows the Hammers wherever he is in the world.
Danny Dyer
The Marmite Football Factory star became typecast in "hard-man" roles, an image which saw him present The Real Football Factories, its spin-off, The Real Football Factories International and Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men. Most recently he appears in EastEnders, playing Mick Carter, a much-loved no-nonsense pub owner who guess what... supports West Ham.
Mail
Dimitri Payet pictured arriving back for training
By Matt Maltby
Dimitri Payet has been pictured on Tuesday morning arriving at West Ham's Chadwell Heath training ground as he continues to push for an exit this month.
In these Sportsmail exclusive snaps, the Hammers rebel can be seen arriving at the club's academy base in his white Mercedes.
Payet cut a glum figure as he entered the premises behind the wheel of his left-hand drive AMG CLS63 S sports car, which costs around £90,000.
The French Hammers rebel is seen arriving at the club's academy base in his white Mercedes AMG CLS63 S sports car
The Frenchman has been told to report to work with the Under 23s while West Ham work to resolve the issue, which emerged last week when boss Slaven Bilic revealed Payet had asked to leave the club this month.
The Premier League club have rejected an improved £22million offer from Marseille for Payet.
Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud arrived in London for talks with West Ham co-owner David Sullivan, but discussions ended in stalemate after West Ham rejected a second offer, leaving Payet in limbo after he told the club last Monday that he never wants to play for them again.
Payet only wants to go to Marseille, ending any hopes West Ham have of sparking a bidding war for the player, whose desire to return to the club he left in 2015 are driven by personal reasons.
He has been ordered to train with the Under 23s. West Ham have told Marseille they want £40m but a fee closer to £30m could be enough.
Sullivan has been adamant Payet is not for sale but the prospect of a huge profit on a player signed for £10.7m last season could be too good an opportunity to turn down.
The club have asked Payet to apologise to fans in the hope it could pave the way for his return to first team training as he is currently working with their Under 23 side.
Marseille sense that West Ham would sell Payet this month but want closer to their £35m valuation.
The 29-year-old has already told his representatives to reject proposed moves to China as he seeks a return to France.
Despite his stance, both co-chairmen Sullivan and David Gold have expressed that they have no financial need to sell the former Lille man and are refusing to be bullied into a quick sale.
Bilic announced the news at his press conference ahead of Saturday's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace, saying he was 'let down and angry' at Payet's decision.
Marseille set deadline to sign West Ham star Dimitri Payet [RMC Sport]
Ever since Slaven Bilic announced that Dimitri Payet wants to leave West Ham, there have been differing updates in both France and England.
On Tuesday, there continues to be plenty of information in the French press about the wantaway West Ham star.
L’Equipe report on Tuesday that there is good news and bad news for Marseille. West Ham are willing to sell Payet, but no agreement was reached on Monday when the two clubs discussed Payet in London.
All sources, in both France and England, claim the meeting yesterday was cordial and that negotiations are ongoing.
Can Marseille reach West Ham’s price for Payet?
The problem for Marseille, according to RMC Sport, is that they are nowhere near West Ham’s valuation of Payet.
As a result, Marseille will likely make one more bid for Payet and their deadline for signing the French international is this coming Thursday.
RMC Sport claim that Slaven Bilic’s pre Crystal Palace press conference was aimed at West Ham fans to prepare them for Payet’s departure.
But, West Ham are not willing to sell Payet for less than 30 million pounds and it is not clear whether Marseille can reach such a figure.
West Ham do not have a cash problem right now and are not looking for a cash windfall to fund their current transfer plans.
Meanwhile, Payet remains keen to return to Marseille and offers from China have been rejected by his agent.
