Monday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Real Madrid look set to rival Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United for Crystal Palace's 21-year-old England midfielder Adam Wharton. (AS - in Spanish), external

Crystal Palace have several targets lined up for January with Bayern Munich's French right-back Sacha Boey, 25, Wolves' Brazil midfielder Joao Gomes, 24, and Auxerre's French midfielder Kevin Danois, 21, all on their list. (Mail+ - subscription required), external

AC Milan are monitoring the situation of Netherlands defender Nathan Ake, 30, at Manchester City as they ponder several options. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external

Chelsea are putting together a package worth £130m in an attempt to convince Real Madrid into selling 25-year-old Brazil winger Vinicius Jr. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Argentina striker Taty Castellanos, 27, is set for a medical at West Ham before completing a £27m move from Lazio. (Talksport), external

Tottenham sent scouts to watch French winger Maghnes Akliouche, 23, feature for Monaco against Lyon on Saturday. (Teamtalk)

Eintracht Frankfurt are in negotiations with Newcastle about signing 22-year-old Danish striker William Osula. (Florian Plettenberg), external

Egypt winger Omar Marmoush, 26, is attracting interest from Aston Villa and Tottenham but wants to stay and fight for his place at Manchester City. (Football Insider), external

Bournemouth are battling with Fiorentina, Cagliari and Genoa for Atalanta's 25-year-old Italy midfielder Marco Brescianini. (Calciomercato), external

Tottenham have turned their attention to Udinese's French defender Oumar Solet, 25, but face competition from Chelsea and Crystal Palace. (Caught Offside), external

Sunderland are prepared to let Luke O'Nien, 31, depart this month with Birmingham, Coventry and West Bromwich Albion interested in the English defender. (Chronicle), external

Bournemouth's Argentine left-back Julio Soler, 20, has emerged as a loan target for Watford. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Barcelona are considering a £70m offer from Sunderland for 22-year-old Spain winger Fermin Lopez. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

England winger Raheem Sterling, 31, looks set to secure a way out of Chelsea in January with Newcastle the latest Premier League club to express an interest. (Football Insider)





Guardian Rumour Mill

Will Unwin

Not content with appointing a new head coach in the coming days, Chelsea are plotting a massive £135m move for Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior. The Brazilian is not too happy in the Spanish capital, by all accounts, and is yet to agree an extension to his contract which runs until June 2027. This trifling situation could open up the possibility of a sale, to avoid losing the winger for nothing in 18 months.

Adam Wharton would not be short of suitors if Crystal Palace allowed him to leave in the summer, especially if he makes an appearance at the World Cup. Real Madrid have an interest in the England midfielder, boosted by the potential Vinícius Jr loot, but they would face competition Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United. The latter three clubs would mean the 21-year-old could return to his native north-west.

The Eagles are priming themselves for a busy January after considerably failing over the summer, much to Oliver Glasner’s chagrin. The Bayern Munich right-back Sacha Boey, the Wolves midfielder João Gomes and the Auxerre midfielder Kévin Danois are on the shopping list in order to boost a thin squad.

After shaking his head at a prospective move to West Ham, Nathan Aké continues to consider the best destination for his future. He will be eager to get more minutes with a World Cup coming up, so the fluttering of eyelashes from Milan might be alluring for the Netherlands centre-back.

Another Manchester City centre-back on the move is Jahmai Simpson-Pusey who will be cutting short his loan at Celtic in order to try his hand in the Bundesliga with Cologne. The defender made a solitary appearance in the Scottish Premiership, not that playing for Celtic would have done much for his reputation.

A year after arriving at the Etihad Stadium, Omar Marmoush is already being linked with a move away. The Egyptian forward is playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland, so is not getting the opportunities he desires. Tottenham and Aston Villa are willing to swoop in for him and end his bench misery.

Speaking of underused strikers, Newcastle’s William Osula has barely had a kick in recent times. Eintracht Frankfurt have entered talks to acquire the Danish forward, who has supposedly already agreed personal terms on a move to Germany.

João Cancelo is looking for a new club because he wants a return to Europe from Al-Hilal. The right-back’s wages are rather high, making it a complex situation for any suits. Internazionale are open to bringing in the Portuguese international but the finances have to be right.

Luke O’Nien has slipped down the Sunderland pecking order since their promotion to the Premier League. The Championship looks like his spiritual home, so it is good news for him that Coventry, West Brom and Birmingham are monitoring his situation. Either way, he should probably set up property alerts in the West Midlands.




Sport Witness

Player in London to complete West Ham move – Director and manager speak

By Naveen Ullal

On Friday, claims from Argentina and Italy reported West Ham United have agreed to sign Taty Castellanos.

Later that day, the 27-year-old said goodbye to his teammates at Lazio’s training centre.

A day later, Corriere dello Sport reported the striker had arrived for his West Ham medical to complete the €29m move.

Il Messaggero state the Argentina is in London to secure a permanent transfer to West Ham. They say he’s ‘virtually a West Ham’ player.

Lazio sporting director Angelo Fabiani spoke to DAZN prior to defeat to Napoli on Saturday.

Tijjani Noslin started his side’s defeat to Napoli yesterday. Fabiani says Castellanos’ impending exit had no bearing on this.

“The boy would have started even with Taty still in Rome. He’s been patiently waiting for his moment, and now the results are proving him right,” he said.

The official used Castellanos’ transfer to West Ham as an example to praise Lazio’s strategy.

“If there are requests for our players today, it means the decisions are bearing fruit. Castellanos will need to be replaced, as will any other possible transfer. The intention is to continue the growth path that will make us competitive in the coming years,” Fabiani explained.

Speaking to Sky Italia, Maurizio Sarri has asked the club for new signings. He also spoke about the South American’s impending sale to West Ham.

“I think the boy was also open to this type of solution. So, when situations like this arise, it’s difficult to keep a player,” he added.

“Then, perhaps, given that this was the type of situation that could happen, we could have been prepared.”

[With Kind Regards]

Thanks Alan.