|
BBC
Arsenal manager Unai Emery is happy to allow German playmaker Mesut Ozil, 30, to leave the club in order to free up funds for two new signings. Ozil is currently Arsenal's highest-earning player on a £350,000-a-week contract. (Mail)
Chelsea will demand £100m if Belgium playmaker Eden Hazard, 28, tells the club he wants to join Real Madrid. (Telegraph)
Tottenham striker Harry Kane fears he may be out for at least a month with the ankle injury he suffered against Manchester United. (Guardian)
Spurs are weighing up a loan move for Barcelona forward Malcom, 21, with uncertainty over striker Harry Kane's fitness. (Star)
West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic, 29, will seal a £35m move to Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG before the end of the week. (Sun)
Shanghai SIPG will test West Ham's resolve by raising their bid to around £45m for Austria international Arnautovic. (Times - subscription required)
The Hammers will target Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson, 26, if they let Arnautovic leave this month. (Sky Sports)
Sevilla have given up on signing Chelsea's Spain striker Alvaro Morata, 26, as he is too expensive, having had an offer worth £40m rejected. (Evening Standard)
Morata is willing to take a pay cut to join Atletico Madrid, who will need to sell another player to bring in the former Real Madrid striker. (Marca)
How does the Manchester United striker compare to other 'wonder kids'?
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez says 26-year-old midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, who has been linked with Fulham and West Ham, is not available in the January transfer window. (Chronicle)
Manchester United keeper David de Gea, 28, wants to stay at the club but is waiting for an offer worth around £300,000 a week. (Mail)
Former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho cannot talk about his departure from the club during stints as a pundit because of a confidentiality clause inserted in his severance package when he left the Old Trafford outfit. (Times - subscription required)
Manchester United players increasingly want caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to take over permanently at the end of the season. (Telegraph)
Solskjaer wants to offload Marouane Fellaini and could let the 31-year-old Belgium midfielder leave on loan in January. (Talksport)
The Norwegian has consulted legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson on team selections since taking over from the sacked Jose Mourinho. (Manchester Evening News)
Chelsea have agreed personal terms with Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes, 24, and have submitted a £27m offer to Zenit St Petersburg. (Mirror)
Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton are among the Premier League clubs interested in signing Netherlands winger Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld, 21, from Club Brugge. (Mail)
Juventus and AC Milan will hold talks over 31-year-old striker Gonzalo Higuain's desire to join Chelsea. The Argentina forward is on loan at Milan from Serie A champions Juve. (Evening Standard)
Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain need a defensive midfielder and are targeting Everton and Senegal's Idrissa Gueye, 29. (L'Equipe - in French)
But the Toffees have told Gueye they will only listen to offers of £40m to sell him in the January transfer window. (Mirror)
Wolves are interested in signing Stoke's Austria right-back Moritz Bauer, 26, on loan for the rest of the season. (Express and Star)
West Ham have opened talks about signing highly-rated Bristol Rovers defender Michael Kelly, 21. The Scot's contract expires at the end of the season. (Football Insider)
Ajax and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 21, is close to joining PSG for around £67m, earning £7m a year in wages. (AS - in Spanish)
Japan striker Shinji Okazaki, 32, wants to leave Leicester in January because of a lack of first-team football. (Sky Sports)
Everton are lining up a move for Espanyol's Spanish striker Borja Iglesias, 25, who has a £25m buyout clause in his contract. (Sun)
But Iglesias has rejected the offer and made it clear he does not want to leave Espanyol midway through the season. (Marca)
Marseille are still keen on Nice's former Italy striker Mario Balotelli, 28, but cannot agree a salary with the former Manchester City player. (L'Equipe - in French)
An editorial column in Spanish newspaper Marca has advised Real Madrid midfielder Isco to change those who represent him in the media or risk ending his career at Bournemouth. (Marca - in Spanish)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Barry Glendenning
Chelsea hog the headlines in this roundup of all the transfer news that’s fit to print and – presumably – more that isn’t. The sound of the jungle drums emanating from Stamford Bridge suggest Atlético Madrid are in talks to bring Álvaro Morata back to the club where he began his career as a whey-faced 13-year-old, before moving on to Getafe and Real Madrid. Unwanted by Chelsea just two largely underwhelming seasons after his record £70m arrival, the 26-year-old could be on his way back to the Spanish capital despite recent rumours suggesting he was more likely to be off to Barcelona or Sevilla.
Eden Hazard has long been expected to make his way to the same city at some point or other, having made no secret of his desire to join Madrid. Chelsea have now named their fee for the Belgian playmaker, whipped out their price-gun and covered him in adhesive tags reading “£100m”. In other news pertaining to Maurizio Sarri’s side, David Luiz is enjoying a new lease of life after being shunted to the margins by Antonio Conte last season. Despite the club’s policy of not offering players over 30 years of age anything longer than a one-year deal, this Chelsea pensioner and his “people” appear confident they can sort something mutually agreeable out with his employers before his contract expires this summer.
Harry Kane fears he could be out injured for a month, a treatment-room hiatus that may prompt Tottenham to bring in a loan signing from Barcelona. While a certain 21-year-old Brazilian is capable of lining up on either flank, Mauricio Pochettino will probably want to play Malcom in the middle. If Spurs are to bring the unsettled striker in on loan, they may have to fend off interest from Chelsea.
The Mill had never heard of Club Brugge winger Arnaut Groeneveld 30 seconds ago and was therefore surprised to learn he has multiple admirers in Liverpool, Tottenham, Everton and Milan. Nigerian-born but with two caps for the Netherlands to his name already, our extensive research reveals, the 21-year-old midfielder’s club have already rejected a £9m offer from the Rossoneri.
A free agent since leaving Olympiakos in December, Yaya Touré could be off to Celtic to play out his dotage after coyly using an appearance on Monday Night Football to put himself in the shop window. “Celtic is a great team, but let me speak to Brendan and we will see,” said the 35-year-old, whose brother Kolo is on Celtic’s backroom team and may be able to pull some strings.
While Yaya has been using media appearances to tout their availability, Sam Allardyce appeared on Talksport’s breakfast show to say he doesn’t think the recently vacated Huddersfield Town job is one he’ll be offered. With his side adrift at the bottom of the Premier League, David Wagner left the club by that rare kind of mutual consent that was actually mutual and many presumed Big Sam would be parachuted in to try the Terriers. It seems unlikely, as the firefighter seems to have ruled himself out, as it seems unlikely a club progressive enough to appoint Wagner in the first place would pursue a man with his particular skill-set.
C&H
Irons respond to Ibrahimovic rumour
Rumours that Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be on his way to the London Stadium have been emphatically denied by West Ham United.
The speculation arose last night after Ibra himself – via Italian media sources – was reported as saying that talks were at an early stage with a London club.
He is reported as saying: “There has been talk of a cameo role at a big club in England on a short term basis but negotiations are at an early stage.”
With considerable doubt surrounding Marko Arnautovic’s future and with West Ham having been interested in Ibra previously before he opted for a move to Manchester United, the story appeared to have legs.
Currently at LA Galaxy, the 37 year old has scored 22 goals but the possibility of working under Manuel Pellegrini added value to the speculation.
However, when Claret and Hugh contacted its highly placed source by e mail asking if there was any mileage in the speculation we received a short and sharp one word response with our insider saying: “NO.”
Exclusive: West Ham open talks to sign full-back
EXCLUSIVE By Pete O’Rourke
West Ham have opened preliminary talks about signing highly-rated Bristol Rovers defender Michael Kelly, Football Insider can reveal.
Kelly’s form and progress at the League One club has not gone unnoticed among clubs higher up the football pyramid with scouts from Premier League and Championship clubs making regular checks on him this season.
A well-placed source has told Football Insider that West Ham have opened negotiation about a deal for Kelly, who is in the final six months of his contract at Bristol Rovers.
Crystal Palace and Millwall are also ready to test Rovers’ resolve to hang onto the full-back during this month’s transfer window with a six-figure bid.
The attacking left-back has made 20 appearances in all competitions and provided two assists for the League One club so far this season.
The 21-year-old started his career at Aberdeen and then had a spell at Leicester City beforing dropping out of professional football and playing for Scottish junior side Hurlford Town to rebuild his career.
Kelly won a move to Bristol Rovers in the summer of 2017 after impressing on trial and he has gone from strength to strength at the Memorial Stadium.
|
