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BBC
Liverpool are interested in Arsenal and England winger Bukayo Saka, 20, whose contract at Emirates Stadium expires in 2024. (Transfer Window podcast, via Express)
Liverpool have also made a contract offer to AC Milan's 25-year-old Ivory Coast midfielder Franck Kessie, whose deal at the San Siro expires at the end of this season. (Ansa - in Italian)
Barcelona want to sign 27-year-old Manchester City and Spain defender Aymeric Laporte next summer. (Sun)
Newcastle are closing in on Lille's £30m-rated Dutch defender Sven Botman, 21, as a key piece of their January transfer business. (Mail)
The Magpies are also monitoring Juventus' Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey, 31, with West Ham and Everton also interested in the 31-year-old. (Sun)
The agent of Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has dismissed rumours the 36-year-old wants to leave Manchester United. (Sky Sports, via Manchester Evening News)
Arsenal have identified Real Sociedad and Sweden's Alexander Isak, 22, and Lille and Canada's Jonathan David, 21 as possible options to bolster their forward line. (The Athletic - subscription required)
Juventus' Argentina forward Paulo Dybala, 28, Inter Milan's 29-year-old Dutch defender Stefan de Vrij and Inter's 32-year-old Croatia forward Ivan Perisic could be tempted to join Tottenham in January. (Football.London)
Chelsea are edging towards a deal for Monaco's 21-year-old French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who may be a cheaper option than West Ham and England's Declan Rice, 22. (Daily Telegraph's Matt Law on the London is Blue podcast, via Chelsea Chronicle)
Newcastle have put together a "monster" contract offer for Barcelona's unsettled French winger Ousmane Dembele, 24. (Rudy Galetti on Twitter)
Newcastle are also preparing an offer for Roma's 28-year-old French midfielder Jordan Veretout. (Foot Mercato - in French)
Watford have enquired about a deal to sign Aston Villa's 26-year-old English defender Kortney Hause in January. (Football Insider)
Lyon have rejected Chelsea's attempt to recall 27-year-old Italian left-back Emerson Palmieri, who is on loan at the Ligue 1 side. (L'Equipe, via Get French Football News)
Leeds are interesting in signing 26-year-old Argentine striker Giovanni Simeone, currently on loan at Verona from Cagliari, in the summer. (L'Arena, via Sport Witness)
Barcelona have made 29-year-old former Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata, currently on loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid, their top target for January. (AS - in Spanish)
However, Juventus have rejected the offer of a swap deal from Barcelona for Morata involving Dutch forward Memphis Depay, 27. (Football Italia)
Juventus' Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt, 22, is Barcelona manager Xavi's top transfer target. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray says the club are not looking to sell 22-year-old Chile international striker Ben Brereton. (Lancashire Telegraph)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Barcelona are hoping to sign Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte next summer, after completing the transfer of fellow Spain international Ferran Torres from the Premier League champions earlier this week.
Mafia bosses are targeting top UEFA referees with cyber-crime attacks to try to fix football matches.
Former Chelsea and Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has been linked with a shock move to Barcelona in January as Xavi looks to bolster his attack.
Brighton youngster Zak Sturge has turned down a contract extension from the club amid transfer interest from Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg.
DAILY MAIL
Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel will be reprimanded by the Football Association for questioning the impartiality of referee Mike Dean following the draw versus Brighton but he has escaped a formal investigation.
Italy has joined France in making vaccination compulsory for anyone wanting to play outdoor team sports, meaning Premier League players will need to be jabbed in order to move to Serie A this January.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is set to miss at least Arsenal's next five matches after being called up to the Gabon side ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Footballers at EFL clubs will no longer take Covid tests on matchdays in a bid to stop last-minute postponements of games, but public health experts have questioned the move as all 72 clubs continue to battle surging cases.
DAILY MIRROR
Juventus have rejected a swap deal from Barcelona involving Memphis Depay as head coach Xavi targets Spaniard Alvaro Morata.
Premier League clubs stand to lose millions because of a huge drop in attendances.
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Alain Prost has spoken in opposition to the sport's reverse-grid format idea, arguing Lewis Hamilton's exploits last season should not be taken for granted in the long term.
THE TIMES
Kyle Walker has recovered from illness and is set to return to the Manchester City squad for Saturday's match against Arsenal.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
England wing Anthony Watson is to leave beleaguered Bath at the end of the season when his contract expires, although he has not yet committed to another club.
Arsenal could be left with a skeleton coaching staff for their match against Manchester City on New Year's Day, with Mikel Arteta not alone in testing positive for Covid-19.
DAILY STAR
The WBC has confirmed the purse split for Tyson Fury's heavyweight clash with Dillian Whyte with the Gypsy King set for a massive 80 per cent share.
Lyon are planning to offload Xherdan Shaqiri, who is on a reported £3.5m-a-year at the Ligue 1 club, just six months are signing the Swiss winger from Liverpool in the summer.
SCOTTISH SUN
Hearts are confident Craig Gordon will be one of the club's first out-of-contract players to agree new terms.
DAILY RECORD
Rangers could let defender Jack Simpson leave on loan in January, with a number of Championship clubs potentially interested.
Celtic are set to complete the signings of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi in a triple New Year swoop.
Football London
West Ham reveal financial accounts as £128.5m debt explained and David Sullivan talks progress
West Ham United have published their financial results ending May 31, with David Sullivan also addressing the club's progress on and off the pitch
By Alan Smith Chief football writer
West Ham United made a pre-tax loss of £26.9million in the financial year ending May 31, according to accounts published by the club yesterday evening that also show the club now has borrowings of £128.5million.
Turnover rose from £53.2million to £192.7million off the back of additional broadcast income and extra prize money for finishing sixth in the Premier League but the club estimates the pandemic, and most of last season taking place behind closed doors, came at an estimated cost of £12.5million on the balance sheet.
While broadcasting revenue rose by £80.6million, that was a result of the previous campaign's deferral. The figure was offset by a rebate to broadcasters which has cost the club £8million across two years.
The club says £79.5million was spent on the first-team squad - which includes the permanent signing of Tomas Soucek, Vladimir Coufal and Said Benrahma in addition to the loan of Jesse Lingard - and their wage-turnover ratio fell marginally to 70%
Matchday revenue was just £500,000, down £22million from a year previous, although the club saw a £1.1million boost in retail sales for annual takings of £9.7million, and games taking place behind closed doors meant a £3.4million reduction in associated costs.
West Ham also received £2.5million from an insurance claim and the owners put £30million of their own money into the club in July 2020 through a rights issue.
In March, West Ham drew £55million from a £120million five-year loan facility previously agreed with MND Holdings, from which £20million had already been utilised in a previous transaction, with the money used to pay off an overdraft from Barclays bank.
The £75million, not including interest, is due for repayment in March 2026. There are also £53.5million of loans owed to shareholders, taking the total owed to £128.5million.
Daniel Kretinsky's arrival as the club's second-biggest shareholder will be reflected in next year's accounts.
David Sullivan, the club's majority shareholder, said: “The 2020/21 season was another unique and challenging year for West Ham United – as it was across football – but we can again be extremely proud of the way everyone here has come together to ensure the club has continued to make excellent progress on and off the pitch.
“I would also like to thank our loyal and passionate supporters who, despite not being able to attend the vast majority of matches last season, gave the club such magnificent support from afar, and were rewarded by being able to return for the final game of the 2020/21 campaign to watch us secure a sixth-place finish and qualification for the UEFA Europa League.
“Since then, we have been delighted to see the return of full stadiums on a regular basis and, with the recent investment into the club helping to strengthen the long-term stability of West Ham United, we have much reason to be positive and confident about further progress in the right direction.”
The accounts state that the club has approved financial forecasts up to May 2023 and "will continue to assist [manager David Moyes] in building and improving the squad." Speaking ahead of tomorrow's game against Crystal Palace, Moyes indicated that funds would be available in the upcoming transfer window but he has doubts that the right targets will be available.
Evening Standard
David Moyes urges caution ahead of ‘difficult’ transfer window for West Ham
By Jack Rosser
David Moyes has warned West Ham fans not to expect any quick movement in the January window and says the club are "probably not" prepared for incomings, despite the need for defensive reinforcements.
The Hammers have been without Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma for almost a month now and the loss of two key figures has hit the side hard.
Moyes wants to invest at the back next month, with the window opening on January 1, with Liverpool’s Nathaniel Phillips a target and Bournemouth’s Lloyd Kelly having been linked.
However, the Scot says January appears to be shaping up to be a difficult window and has cooled expectations over what could be achieved early on.
Asked whether he felt the club were ready to act when the window opens this weekend, Moyes said: "I’d love to say yes. Do we want to act? Yes we do. Are we ready to act? Probably not.
"That is not to do with resources but it’s to do with availability, generally it looks like a difficult market. We say that every year but it feels that way.
"All I would say is that our last few January windows have seen us get [Tomas] Soucek, [Jarrod] Bowen and Jesse Lingard so if I could get anybody that would give us that level of success during the January window it would be seen as a positive."
Moyes has proved a handy operator in the transfer market since his return to West Ham, with those January additions mentioned impressing as well as Vladimir Coufal and Zouma.
However, Moyes has laid out the task at hand over the coming month.
"The answer to that is no," the Scot said when asked if West Ham were clear on who they were targeting. "Because there might be people who you want to target but the other clubs don’t want to sell them. I’ve got a player in mind who we would like but the club said they wouldn’t sell in January so you’ve got to wait until the summer.
"That is why I see a bit more of that in this window than I’ve seen before. You don’t get the feeling that there are clubs who are desperate for the money as they were this time last year where they needed the money to see them through.
"I don’t see that that desperation is out there so maybe you need to pay over the odds or they are not available. I’d love to be more upbeat but I am being honest and telling you how I see the window. I hope to add but I couldn’t guarantee it."
Hoping to add but not offering any guarantees has been Moyes’ modus operandi when it comes to transfers since his return, keen not to waste money on dud signings as West Ham have done in the past.
"I don’t want us to be a club that throws money at it because I don’t really think that’s the way," said Moyes.
"I’ve said right from the start if football was only about money it would be no good, and I hope it’s not that way, because we have to have young players who come up through the Championship. If everyone could go buying the best players in the world, I don’t really see that. Some teams might do that."
Moyes added: "I don’t think West Ham will do it that way. We have made big strides. The job now is to see if we can keep up with the Jones’. I am there, scouting around to see what players we can get to make a difference.
"Can we get the equivalent of Jesse Lingard or a Tomas Soucek, who came in and made such a difference? Can we get those players who can continually make a difference?
"At the level where we are, it is very difficult, unless you are talking about the real top players. We need to keep things right and get players we know can contribute to the team and help us by being team players."
HITC
After West Ham bid, club may now sell 27-goal star for £10m in January
Arthur Cabral may have reached the end of his Basel adventure and could leave the Swiss Super League side in the January transfer window, amid reported interest from West Ham.
That’s according to Calciomercato.it, who report several Italian outfits are exploring deals to sign the Brazilian next month. Cabral has enjoyed a prolific campaign already this term with 27 goals across all competitions, along with offering eight assists.
The 23-year-old has scored 14 of his goals and provided four assists in 18 Super League games. He also scored eight in six Europa Conference League group stage ties, with at least one in each. No player has scored more in the Swiss top-flight than Cabral this term.
AC Milan and Fiorentina are now among the growing list of Cabral’s possible suitors, should he leave St Jakob-Park. The Rossoneri are showing a keen interest in his form this season as they look toward a future without Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Olivier Giroud at the San Siro.
The Serie A side deem Cabral’s characteristics apt for manager Stefano Pioli’s style, given his very physical and explosive nature. They also greatly admire the striker’s fine technique.
Basel outline demands to sanction transfer for West Ham target Cabral
Cabral only joined Basel permanently last year for €6m (£5m) after a season-long loan from Palmeiras. FCB would now hope to make around €12m-15m (£10m-12.5m) if they sell him.
Basel setting Cabral’s minimum valuation at £10m is bound to gain West Ham’s interest as they study a transfer. Swiss publication 442 claimed at the end of November that the Irons had offered the Jakob-Park natives’ €20m (£16.5m) to beat Barcelona to the Brazilian.
He has since failed to score in four Super League outings. But Cabral’s longest goal drought all season so far is unlikely to have taken a quarter off of his value.
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