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BBC
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been told West Brom and Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans, 30, can be signed for £23.5m, with a firm bid expected shortly. (Sun)
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte wants to make a fresh bid for Tottenham's 32-year-old Spain striker Fernando Llorente. (Independent)
Sunderland's hopes of landing 18-year-old Liverpool striker Ben Woodburn, 18, on loan appear to be over with Reds manager Jurgen Klopp refusing to let the Wales international leave. (Sun)
Former Newcastle executive director Dennis Wise has suggested that Magpies owner Mike Ashley is prepared to spend money this January - and insists he will sell the club to the right bidder. (Chronicle)
Brighton are set to put in a £2m bid for West Ham defender James Collins, although the 34-year-old Wales centre-back, who is in the final year of his contract, wants to stay with the Hammers. (Standard)
Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish says the club's wage bill is "tight" and "one or two" players could leave this month. (Croydon Advertiser)
Brighton's Dutch winger Soufyan Ahannach, 22, has been lined up for a loan return to the Netherlands with Sparta Rotterdam. (Argus)
Manchester United's deal to sign Chile forward Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal will be worth £180m after he agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract. (Telegraph)
Sanchez's Manchester United contract will earn the 29-year-old more than £400,000 a week. (Independent)
Liverpool have told Sevilla they are not prepared to let them sign England striker Daniel Sturridge, 28, on loan for the rest of the season. (Mail)
Chelsea target Andy Carroll has told West Ham he is unable to train - but his club are questioning that after taking scans of the 29-year-old England striker's ankle. (Mirror)
Manchester United have started talks to extend the contract of Spain goalkeeper David de Gea, 27. (Telegraph)
West Ham manager David Moyes was at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday to watch 24-year-old Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi, who he is interested in signing, in action for Chelsea against Norwich. (Mail)
Real Madrid believe the time has come to sign a new attacking trio - Paris St-Germain's Brazil international Neymar, 25, Chelsea's 27-year-old Belgian Eden Hazard and Bayern Munich's Pole Robert Lewandowski, 29. (Marca)
Bayern could also receive interest from Everton with regards to their 24-year-old Spanish left-back, Juan Bernat. (Liverpool Echo)
Manchester United and Armenia forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan would be a "fantastic" signing for Arsenal and a move to Emirates Stadium would be the perfect one to reignite the 28-year-old's career, says former United player and coach Phil Neville.(BBC Radio 5 live)
Sunderland midfielder Jack Rodwell says he is desperate to leave and get playing again - but the 26-year-old, who has three England caps, says he will not walk away from his £70,000-a-week contract. (Mail)
A major British investor who planned to back Amanda Staveley's bid to buy Newcastle has now decided against supporting the proposed takeover. (Guardian)
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez will make a fresh attempt to convince owner Mike Ashley to fund January signings despite the collapse of takeover talks. (Northern Echo)
Liverpool fear they have lost out to Bayern Munich in the race to sign Schalke's Germany midfielder Leon Goretzka, 22. (Liverpool Echo)
Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin is set to be a target for Juventus this summer. The Serie A giants have been watching the 22-year-old Spaniard since 2014. (Tuttosport - in Italian)
Juventus are also targeting Tottenham's Denmark playmaker Christian Eriksen, 25, or Arsenal's 29-year-old Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil to become their new number 10. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian)
Chelsea have joined Manchester City and Paris St-Germain in the race to sign Nice and Ivory Coast midfielder Jean-Michael Seri, 26. (Sun)
New Stoke manager Paul Lambert is close to signing Augsburg's Greece defender Kostas Stafylidis, 24, on loan for the rest of the season. (Sun)
West Ham are eager to bring in Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario on loan with the 24-year-old Portugal international said to be frustrated at his lack of playing time. (Telegraph)
But the Hammers' Mexico striker Javier Hernandez could be on his way out of the club, with Besiktas reportedly sending a delegation to London to speak with the 29-year-old. (Talksport)
Besiktas are also keen on Leicester City striker Islam Slimani. The Turkish club's president Fikret Orman was at the King Power Stadium on Tuesday to watch the 29-year-old Algeria international. (Sky Sports)
West Brom are interested in signing Egyptian centre-back Ali Gabr, 26, on loan from Zamalek. (Express & Star, Wolverhampton)
Watford's Brazilian forward Richarlison is aiming for a summer move, with the 20-year-old's representatives having started talks with Chelsea and Arsenal. (Watford Observer)
Leeds United are prepared to better the £500,000 bid that Championship rivals Preston had rejected for 24-year-old Rangers' English forward Josh Windass. (Daily Record)
World Cup-winning Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro's son Christian, 18, has joined Serie A strugglers Benevento. (Sun)
Best of Wednesday's gossip
Napoli are interested in signing unsettled Liverpool and Belgium goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, 29. (Sky Italia, via Calciomercato)
Borussia Dortmund are ready to let Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 28, join Arsenal - and want Chelsea and Belgium striker Michy Batshuayi, 24, to replace him. (Bild - in German)
Chelsea have approached West Ham about signing 29-year-old English striker Andy Carroll on a permanent deal. (Daily Telegraph)
Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere, 26, who could leave on a free transfer this summer, must pass a full medical and take a 20% pay cut to receive a new contract. (Sun)
Barcelona have rejected a 25m (£22.2m) euros offer from Inter Milan for 24-year-old Brazilian midfielder Rafinha as they want 40m (£35.5m). (Mundo Deportivo)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Simon Burnton
Chelsea want to bolster their midfield with another player who isn’t as bad as Tiémoué Bakayoko, and have clearly learned from the experience of expensively signing a sought-after midfielder from a club on the French Riviera only to be disappointed by his performances. This time they have identified, um, a sought-after midfielder from a club on the French Riviera, in the shape of the £35m Jean-Michaël Seri, who plays in Nice, a scant 20km from Bakayoko’s Monégasque former employers. Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City have also been monitoring the 26-year-old’s performances but according to the Sun his preference would be a move to England.
Internazionale, having so far this season scored nine fewer league goals than Napoli, 13 fewer than Lazio and 14 fewer than Juventus, want a striker who can help engorge their goals-for column and have identified Daniel Sturridge as the man to do it. Liverpool, however, will want £30m or “a hefty loan fee” before they green-light the deal, demands so hefty that they “scared off Real Betis”.
That, at least, is according to the Mirror; a similar story is splashed across the Gazzetta dello Sport’s front page, although they say the player “was offered to the club 12 days ago” and that the proposed “loan without a redemption option” makes the deal a veritable bargain. Meanwhile an Inter player could be heading in the other direction, with West Ham having opened talks over a loan move for João Mário, according to RMC Sport. However, they report that there is “a big snag”, namely that the player has little desire to play for West Ham. Still, this might not be of critical importance, with English clubs boasting some very convincing chequebooks at present.
Talking of which, Alexis Sánchez will be paid £450,000 a week by Manchester United, say the Times and the Mail. He will be paid £500,000 a week, say the Mirror and the Express. No, he’ll pocket £505,000 a week, insists the Sun. Nonsense, says the Telegraph, he’ll get just under £27m a year before tax – or £519,000 a week. All agree that he will move to Old Trafford – United would like to complete the deal by Friday lunchtime, so the Chilean can make his debut against Burnley on Saturday – and that they will make him extremely wealthy. Héctor Bellerín may also be heading out of Arsenal’s exit, though not until the summer: according to Tuttosport Juventus are ready to spend £40m on him, and also want Espanyol’s Pau López, who handily shares Bellerín’s agents, the “holistic career management agency” Goal Management, and even more handily will by then be out of contract.
Everton’s January spree shows no signs of slowing down, with left-back the next problem position for them to address. Bayern Munich’s Juan Bernat is linked in the Liverpool Echo, though even by the standards of traditional British transfer gossip this story seems particularly speculative.
Stefan Reuter, Augsberg’s general manager, is selling the club’s left-back Kostas Stafylidis to his former Borussia Dortmund team-mate Paul Lambert, whose personal connections have helped Stoke leapfrog Roma and Fiorentina in the chase for the former Fulham flankman. “The deal is not yet official but it is in the last leg,” Reuter said yesterday.
FFC
Man United must decide whether to sign West Ham target Joao Mario
by James Beavis
According to reports in The Telegraph, Manchester United face competition from Premier League rivals West Ham United in the race to sign Inter Milan midfielder Joao Mario, who The Sun reported in December they want to bring in to replace Henrikh Mkhitaryan if the 28-year-old leaves this month.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Telegraph reports that the Irons are keen to sign the Portugal international on a loan deal until the end of the season, and having come to an agreement with the Serie A giants they must now convince the player to come to the London Stadium.
That could be easier said than done though considering The Sun reported last month that United were keen to bring him to Old Trafford in a £40m deal if Henrikh Mkhitaryan went the other way, although the Armenian now looks set for Arsenal instead.
However, The Telegraph adds that Inter don’t want to sell him on a permanent basis this month, and it remains to be seen whether the Red Devils would be willing to accept a loan deal.
How has Joao Mario done this season?
Despite costing €45m (£39.8m) when he joined Inter from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2016, the 24-year-old has struggled to hold down a place in the first team.
This term, he has found himself behind Marcelo Brozovic in the pecking order and has made just 15 appearances in all competitions, with more than half of his 14 Serie A outings coming from the substitutes’ bench.
According to WhoScored.com, the Portugal international’s main strengths are his dribbling and his ability to make key passes, and he has successfully completed 10 of the 14 take-ons he has attempted in the league during the current campaign, while he has made 17 key passes and has an overall passing accuracy of 89.4%.
Would he be a good signing for United?
He certainly could be.
The 24-year-old has largely played in a central attacking midfield role for Inter this season, but he can play in a deep-lying position too.
Jose Mourinho will know his Portuguese compatriot well, and he could be tempted by a loan move for him considering the money the club looks set to spend on a deal for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez.
United certainly won’t worry about West Ham’s interest if they do want the player, knowing that they could offer him Champions League football.
Football London
Transfer boost for West Ham as Anderlecht could cut Leander Dendoncker price - report
The Belgian side could be prepared to make some concessions in January to sell Dendoncker
By Sam Inkersole
Reports in Belgium claim that Anderlecht may well be ready to reduce the asking price for midfielder Leander Dendoncker, who is an apparent target for West Ham in January.
The Belgian side are preparing for the departure of Nicolai Stanciu to Sparta Prague for five million euros and are also apparently willing to work on a transfer for midfielder Dendoncker, according to Belgian outlet L'Avenir.
They claim that Anderlecht have decided their 25-30 million euro valuation of Dendoncker is too high and are prepared to accept an offer that is more closer to 15 million euros - a figure which would surely be of interest to West Ham.
football.london understands that Dendoncker is of interest to the club but they have yet to make a bid or a move for the 22-year-old, with the club not keen on the original valuation of the player.
However, with this news, the Hammers might be far more interested in making a move for the 22-year-old defender turned centre midfielder, who wants a move away from Anderlecht to improve his chances of playing in the World Cup for Belgium this summer.
It does contradict what Anderlecht CEO Herman van Holsbeeck has recently said, where he has quoted a price of £22m for Dendoncker.
He said earlier this month: "Leander is doing a great job as a central defender and we're not going to let our star go. Unless there is an insane bid perhaps.
"These are matters that are discussed. A transfer for €25-€30m is possible, but then we also need a replacement right away."
OS
Samuelsen heads to Championship side Burton on loan
West Ham United youngster Martin Samuelsen has joined Championship side Burton Albion on loan for the rest of the 2017/18 season.
The 20-year-old midfielder will begin his second loan spell in English football’s second tier, having spent three months of last season on loan at Blackburn Rovers.
Burton have only been a Football League side for nine years but have already risen up to the Championship and are in their second consecutive season at that level.
Nigel Clough’s side are looking to pull clear of the relegation zone and have called upon Samuelsen ahead of their trip to Fulham on Saturday.
Samuelsen linked up with the Hammers’ Academy in 2015 and has made great strides during his time in east London, appearing in two UEFA Europa League qualifiers in his debut season and going on to make his full Norway debut in 2016.
Alongside his loan at Blackburn, he has also made 28 Football League appearances across two loan spells with Peterborough United.
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