Chelsea have indicated to Real Madrid that they would sell 25-year-old Argentina midfielder Enzo Fernandez this year. (Teamtalk), external
Manchester United are prepared to rival Napoli and Atletico Madrid for Wolves' 24-year-old Portugal midfielder Joao Gomes. (Caught Offside), external
Two England midfielders - Nottingham Forest's Elliot Anderson, 23, and Crystal Palace's Adam Wharton, 21 - are also on Manchester United's list of targets for the summer. (Football Insider), external
Tottenham and Manchester United have made contact with former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external
Nottingham Forest are in talks with Napoli over a January loan deal for 25-year-old Italy striker Lorenzo Lucca, who could join permanently in the summer. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Crystal Palace have rejected Juventus' approach for 28-year-old France striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. (Calciomercato - in Italian)
Barcelona are looking at Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Paris St-Germain's Luis Enrique as future candidates to manage the club, but want current boss Hansi Flick to stay as long as possible. (Diario Sport - in Spanish), external
Bournemouth and West Ham are interested in Real Betis' Spanish winger Pablo Garcia, 19, and are prepared to pay his £26m buy-out clause. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external
Arsenal and Ukraine defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, 29, is scheduled to have a medical on Tuesday before a loan move to Ajax. (De Telegraaf), external
Besiktas are set to pay Wolves £13m for28-year-old Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Agbadou, including a loan fee and mandatory purchase. (Sabah - in Turkish), external
Everton and Fulham are the leading contenders for Wolfsburg's 24-year-old Austria winger Patrick Wimmer. (Rudy Galetti), external
Leeds United are negotiating with Werder Bremen over a £13m deal for 25-year-old Austria midfielder Romano Schmid. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Chelsea and Manchester City are interested in signing Leicester City's 16-year-old English winger Jeremy Monga. (Fichajes - in Spanish), external
Feyenoord's Algeria forward Anis Hadj Moussa, 23, is being monitored by Chelsea but Marseille and Benfica are also keeping tabs on him. (Florian Plettenberg), external
Sevilla want to sign 24-year-old Everton and Scotland defender Nathan Patterson. (Football Insider)
Sky Paper Talk
PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic could be a target for West Ham should Lucas Paqueta leave this month - The Sun.
The Moroccan national team are looking to add Andres Iniesta to their coaching staff for the World Cup - The Sun.
The Premier League wants to introduce rugby-style concussion substitutions - The Guardian.
Nottingham Forest have reportedly reached an agreement to sign Lorenzo Lucca. The 25-year-old striker will join on loan with an option to buy just half a season after joining Napoli from Udinese - The Mirror.
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL
Xabi Alonso has been linked with a return to management less than a week after Real Madrid sacked him. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder is in talks to be the new manager of Eintracht Frankfurt - Bild.
Jose Mourinho has brushed off rumours that he could make a sensational return to Real Madrid following the sacking of Alonso - The Mirror.
SCOTTISH FOOTBALL
Rangers loan star Lyall Cameron was met with a shock banner from Aberdeen fans at Pittodrie as he made his debut for the club - Scottish Sun.
Guardian Rumour mill
Will Unwin
Liam Rosenior is eager to sign a defender and Chelsea have their eye on Jérémy Jacquet of Rennes. The Ligue 1 club want around £44m for the 20-year-old centre-back, a fee Chelsea may be willing to pay with Levi Colwill and Tosin Adarabioyo injured. The Blues could also consider selling skipper Enzo Fernández, who is a target for Real Madrid.
There may be a shortage of centre-backs at Internazionale soon. With Marc Guéhi on his way to Manchester City, Liverpool need to reconfigure their recruitment plan, and the 26-year-old Nerazzurri defender Alessandro Bastoni is on their list of targets.
Bastoni’s teammate Stefan de Vrij is available, meanwhile, and that could open the door for a move to Newcastle. The 33-year-old is yet to experience the Premier League and may fancy joining the Magpies’ battle for Champions League football.
One of the clearest situations in world football is Nuno Espírito Santo’s lack of interest in James Ward-Prowse’s ability. He barely gave the former England midfielder a kick during a loan spell at Nottingham Forest and quickly banished him from the first team after joining West Ham. Ward-Prowse needs a way out and Burnley could offer him one. After the season-ending injury to captain Josh Cullen, Scott Parker needs to add experience, and the West Ham man could be an ideal candidate.
Sean Dyche said Nottingham Forest are keen to acquire a striker. Lorenzo Lucca is the current focus of their attention and talks are ongoing with Napoli over signing him on loan with a €35m option to buy in the summer.
It might not have gone fully to plan for Evan Ferguson at Roma, where the Republic of Ireland international is on loan, but the striker is the source of interest from elsewhere in Italy. Napoli could offer the Brighton man a route south, but only if they offload Noa Lang during the transfer window, with a move to Galatasaray looking highly likely.
Oleksandr Zinchenko’s sojourn at Nottingham Forest certainly did not work out, so he is primed to cut his loan short and head to Ajax. The Arsenal midfielder has reportedly agreed to join the Dutch club for the remainder of the season.
Nathan Patterson cannot get much of a look-in at Everton, but could be offered a glorious escape route by Sevilla. There are not many better places to live than Andalucia so it will be worth considering for the right-back.
Talks are under way to bring Austrian midfielder Romano Schmid to Leeds from Werder Bremen. The Yorkshire club will need to stump up around €15m.
The Athletic
Callum Wilson was leaving West Ham… until he wasn’t
Callum Wilson sparks bedlam between his team-mates and the away enclosure after his winner Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Roshane Thomas
There was a gleeful smirk from Nuno Espirito Santo when he shook Callum Wilson’s hand minutes after his stoppage-time winner against Tottenham Hotspur. The last time they had interacted closely had not been as jovial.
Wilson, 33, replaced new signing Taty Castellanos in the 91st minute and scored two minutes later. His goal in West Ham United’s 2-1 victory boosted their Premier League survival hopes and sealed their first league win since beating Burnley on November 8.
West Ham remain in the relegation zone but are five points adrift of safety. Wilson, who joined on a free transfer from Newcastle United in August on a heavily incentive-based, one-year deal, was serenaded by supporters in the away enclosure, having registered his fifth goal of the season. Wilson is the second-top goalscorer, behind captain Jarrod Bowen (six).
Post-match, reggaeton music could be heard from the away visiting room as the players celebrated their first win on enemy territory since December 2023. Wilson must have had an extra spring in his dancing after his late intervention.
The Athletic reported this month that Wilson was in talks to leave, just five months after his arrival. The former England international was unsure about his future following the additions of Castellanos and €20million (£17.4m; $23.4m) signing Pablo Felipe from Gil Vicente. But club sources with knowledge of the situation — who, like all of those spoken to for this article, asked to be kept anonymous to protect relationships — have revealed the club now have no intention of losing Wilson in this window.
On January 2, the day before West Ham’s 3-0 loss to fellow relegation contenders Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wilson had a meeting with Nuno before the players travelled to the Midlands.
Wilson asked for clarity over his future and Nuno told the striker he could not guarantee game time and would allow him to leave, but he would have to feature against Wolves.
Leading up to that point, the ex-Bournemouth and England forward had scored four goals in 19 league appearances but had not completed a full match. The longest he had played was 87 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Manchester United, but he stayed on against Wolves.
Dressing-room sources add that news of his potential departure was not received well by the squad. It was sighted as a contributing factor behind the shock defeat and dismal display against Wolves.
The following day, Wilson cleared his locker at West Ham’s training hub in Rush Green and wished the head coach well. He returned to the training ground the following day but did not train as discussions continued over the best outcome.
Following The Athletic’s report, Nuno encouraged Wilson to stay and help the team in his pre-match press conference before the 2-1 home defeat to Forest. But the head coach did not name the forward in his matchday squad against Forest, or the FA Cup tie with London rivals Queens Park Rangers.
Celtic enquired about Wilson’s availability, but West Ham’s hierarchy became drawn to the idea of him staying. Wilson resumed training and his inclusion on the bench against Tottenham was greeted with surprise among the fanbase.
His last-gasp winner was his 93rd goal in the Premier League and he harbours hopes of joining the prestigious 100-goal club.
“He’s a great player and I hope he achieves this milestone quickly,” midfielder Tomas Soucek told The Athletic. “He’s a great guy and he showed it today. He came on and scored within two minutes. He showed that he cared and he created a big chance immediately after coming on and then from the corner he scored.
“He showed the instinct of a striker. I hope he stays because he’s a great guy and he can help us massively. No (I am not surprised he is still with the team) because I don’t follow gossip. I just am with Callum every day at the training ground and he works well — that’s what I care about.”
After the victory against QPR, Nuno gave the squad two days off. Talk during the week was of the importance of building on the win and, against Tottenham, the players showed a fighting spirit that has seldom been seen this season.
Defender Jean-Clair Todibo continued his steady redemption under Nuno, winger Crysencio Summerville, who scored the opener, was at the heart of West Ham’s attack, Mateus Fernandes was everywhere in midfield, and Ollie Scarles showed defensive maturity beyond his years at left-back.
For once, it was West Ham subjecting another club to further misery, with Thomas Frank’s side winless in their last five games in all competitions.
West Ham could have won by a greater margin, with Castellanos and Konstantinos Mavropanos missing chances, while Felipe and Bowen had goals ruled out. But when it mattered most, Wilson scored to kick-start their survival push.
The team will hope to take inspiration from the 2006-07 squad.
Leading up to their dramatic 4-3 loss to Tottenham in April 2007, West Ham had a paltry return of three wins in 28 league games. But defeat to their rivals spurred them on to win seven of their next nine league games, ensuring safety.
Nuno will hope for a winning formula in the upcoming game at home to Sunderland, before trips to Chelsea and Burnley.
As the players left the field at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they departed to Stereophonics’ Dakota playing over the speakers. The chorus of “Made me feel like the one” is what Wilson has been yearning for — but the forward would have related more with lyrics to the outro, “So take a look at me now”. Nuno certainly did.
Sport Witness
Player ‘resolving bureaucratic issues’ to join West Ham – Transfer on way
By Naveen Ullal
At the weekend, West Ham United secured a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur away from home. It was their fourth league win of this season, and piled more pressure on Thomas Frank.
The Hammers are now 18th, five points behind 17th placed Nottingham Forest.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have already signed Pablo and Taty Castellanos in the winter market. Gil Vicente manager César Peixoto is gutted to have lost the former.
West Ham are looking to further improve Nuno’s squad this month. Their work is ongoing and the list of targets includes Deportivo La Guaira FC’s Keiber Lamadrid.
That’s what Venezuelan journalist Elias López is reporting. He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to cover the latest on West Ham’s efforts to sign the winger.
According to López, the Premier League side are in advanced negotiations to sign the 22-year-old on loan.
The London club have found an agreement with the Venezuelan side, according to those claims. A few hours later, the journalist again took to X to share a major update.
He claims Keiber Lamadrid has already travelled to Paris to complete his move to West Ham. That route is easier due to via restrictions.
West Ham progressing unusual deal in Paris
López claims Lamadrid is currently in the French capital, ‘awaiting the completion of the contract, undergoing medical examinations, and resolving bureaucratic issues’. The latter is to do with obtaining visa to travel to London.
Lamadrid can also operate as a wing-back and in midfield. He’s scored 14 goals and contributed seven assists from 104 matches for Deportivo La Guaira. Two months ago, he came off the bench to make his national debut in a friendly defeat to Canada.
López makes no mention of whether the player will be eligible to obtain a work permit to represent West Ham immediately. There would obviously be no point in loaning him if not.