BBC
Chelsea have met with former Bayern Munich manager Julian Nagelsmann as they continue the search for their next permanent boss following the sacking of Graham Potter. (Times - subscription required)
Former Spain boss Luis Enrique was disappointed not to be appointed Chelsea manager prior to the club's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid, but is emerging as the favourite for the role because he could help in signing Barcelona's 18-year-old Spain midfielder Gavi. (AS - in Spanish)
Real Madrid want to take advantage of a clause in 22-year-old Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's contract to sign the Norway attacker in summer 2024. (Fichajes - in Spanish)
Arsenal are targeting a move for 23-year-old Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, with Everton's England forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 26, a back-up option if they fail to land the Serbian. (Football Insider)
England midfielder Jude Bellingham, 19, would rather stay at Borussia Dortmund and reassess his future in 2024 than make a move that is not right for him this summer. (Times - subscription required)
Former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler believes the Reds are right not to spend the majority of their transfer budget on Bellingham this summer as they need a major midfield overhaul. (Mirror)
RB Leipzig and AC Milan will compete to sign Arsenal and England Under-21 striker Folarin Balogun in the summer, with the 21-year-old impressing on his loan spell at Reims this season. (Calciomercato - in Italian)
Napoli forward Victor Osimhen has been linked with Manchester United but the 24-year-old Nigeria international has appeared to suggest he is happy at the Italian club. (TG5, via Manchester Evening News)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is pushing to keep German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 32, and Portuguese playmaker Bernardo Silva, 28, at the club despite both players being linked with moves away from the club this summer. (Football Insider)
Besiktas want to re-sign Dutch striker Wout Weghorst with Manchester United unlikely to turn the 30-year-old's loan move from Burnley into a permanent switch. (Goal)
German midfielder Toni Kroos is set to continue at Real Madrid for another season, with the 33-year-old ready to accept a contract extension at the Spanish giants. (Marca)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Paris Saint-Germain, who are set to change manager again this summer, are among the big European clubs monitoring Arsenal's Mikel Arteta.
Luis Enrique was prepared to join Chelsea immediately and was left disappointed when Frank Lampard took charge on an interim basis, reports say.
Napoli hitman Victor Osimhen has dealt his suitors a blow by declaring that he's already at one of the biggest clubs.
THE MIRROR
Arsenal are running the risk of losing boss Mikel Arteta with talks over a new contract being put on ice for the time being.
Wrexham's celebrity status will increase again on Tuesday when UFC legend Conor McGregor puts his Forged Irish Stout on sale at the nearby Turf Hotel in aid of the Your Space autism charity backed by striker Paul Mullin.
DAILY MAIL
Liverpool have been urged to sign Kalvin Phillips from Manchester City to help rebuild their midfield after the Reds ended their pursuit of Jude Bellingham.
Michael Olise is reportedly set to turn down a move to Arsenal as he has plans to stay at Crystal Palace next season.
Besiktas are reportedly lining up a move to bring Wout Weghorst back to the club in the summer - despite the Dutch forward leaving them midway through this season to join Manchester United.
Barcelona reportedly want to use their relationship with super-agent Jorge Mendes to sign Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes, but expect a deal to be out of reach due to their financial constraints.
Newcastle United's owners remain in talks with a number of European clubs as they look to add an affiliate to their portfolio.
James McClean has called out the Football Association for once again failing to deal with anti-Irish abuse after he was subject to sectarian chants from home fans during their game at Wigan, which he highlighted to match official Thomas Bramall.
The publication of a report by barrister Katherine Newton into complaints of racism at Essex County Cricket Club has again been delayed amid reports that it will contain "bombshell" material implicating at least one well-known former player and coach.
Dillian Whyte does not believe Anthony Joshua's claim that he will not fight again until December and says he has been "doing some strange stuff" to try and create some mystery.
THE TIMES
Chelsea have held a meeting with Julian Nagelsmann as the west London club aim to narrow down the shortlist of candidates to become their next permanent head coach.
Chelsea admire Vincent Kompany, who led Burnley back to the Premier League, and Palmeiras' Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Trainer Sandy Thomson is blaming the protestors who delayed Saturday's Grand National at Aintree for the death of his horse Hill Sixteen, who "got very hot" and had to be re-saddled during the delays and then suffered a fatal fall at the first fence.
DAILY STAR
The former Premier League player arrested on suspicion of child sex offences is now exploring legal action after a two-year investigation by police failed to lead to any charges being laid.
DAILY RECORD
Mick Kennedy, the manager who led minnows Darvel to a stunning Scottish Cup win over Aberdeen earlier this season, has left the club.
Tottenham are in pole position to sign highly-rated Kilmarnock teenager David Watson, with the possibility that he will spend time in London on trial, possibly as early as this week. Spurs are also interested in his 16-year-old team-mate Ben Brennan.
Former Celtic boss Neil Lennon warned players and staff that he was about to bring in "forensic computer IT guys" to try and find out the identity of the infamous "Lennoxtown Leaker" who was putting team news out 24 hours before their games.
Telegraph
David Moyes and West Ham fight back from the brink to restore belief
After being overwhelmed by Arsenal's fast start, West Ham responded impressively showing some of their best qualities under Moyes
By Sam Dean at the London Stadium
The London Stadium has turned on its team before and, after 32 minutes of bland and spineless football from West Ham United, it seemed certain that it would turn on them again. The home fans were grumbling when Gabriel Jesus scored for Arsenal after seven minutes, and they were beginning to simmer when Martin Odegaard doubled the lead a few seconds later.
As Thomas Partey strolled through West Ham’s midfield shortly afterwards, the atmosphere threatened to become one of all-out rage. Soon there were boos, and they rained down on David Moyes like hailstones. A manager with nowhere to hide, exposed to the fury of his own supporters as he stood, all alone, in the Premier League’s most cavernous dugout.
Was this the end? The thought must have crossed the Scotsman’s mind, at the least. It might even have dominated his thinking at that point. Moyes has been clinging onto his job in recent months but he would have known there would be only one outcome after another heavy, humiliating loss at home. “When we went 2-0 down, I have to say that I thought ‘my goodness…’” he admitted afterwards.
But with a single burst of speed from Declan Rice, an error by Partey and a subsequent composed penalty by Said Benrahma, West Ham came back to life. Out of nothing, the game changed. So did the mood in east London, where despair had turned into desire, and desire then turned into belief. Within nine minutes of the restart, West Ham were level.
Jarrod Bowen equalised for the Hammers as they fought back superbly having gone 2-0 down and looked certain to lose
For Moyes, who has spent so much of 2023 on the brink, this battling draw will bring respite. There is little expectation of him staying at the club beyond this summer but he can certainly expect to remain in post for the next week, at least, and therefore to be in the dugout for West Ham’s Europa Conference League quarter-final against Gent on Thursday.
How did they turn it around? At times in the second half, it seemed as if they had turned back the clock. This was the West Ham of the last two seasons, playing aggressive and intense football in front of their own supporters. One of the greatest achievements under Moyes has been the weaponisation of the previously mild London Stadium, and here the stands heaved with that passion once more.
“We put them on the back foot,” said Moyes. “We looked a little bit quicker all around the pitch. We got up to people faster. We started to get a little bit more pressure on the ball.”
Rice, as ever, was the driving force in midfield — against the club he might join this summer. Just as important, though, was the role played by the forward players, Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen, who ran in behind the Arsenal defence and stretched the game with the same relentlessness that defined their campaign last year.
Such energy and intensity has often been missing from West Ham’s attack this season, so there were moments when this felt like something of a throwback performance. After being so open in the first half an hour, their midfielders found within them the energy required to close down the gaps and disrupt Arsenal’s passing rhythm.
“We had to try to put Arsenal in a situation where it was more uncomfortable for them,” said Moyes. “We probably got the ball behind the opposition more than we have done all season. Maybe we have been doing that in the past and we have not been doing it as much [this year].”
It was a huge result for relegation-threatened West Ham who go four points clear of the relegation zone with the draw
Life is rarely straightforward at West Ham and it is a measure of the strangeness of their season that Moyes could yet end the campaign with a European trophy in his hands. If they play like this against Gent on Thursday, they will have far too much for the Belgian side. From there, they are only three matches from glory.
Truly, it is a tightrope of a campaign. And for 30 painful minutes here it seemed as if the teetering Moyes would finally fall. Instead, he stood tall as dark clouds began to gather, and his players found a level of performance that many supporters would have thought to be beyond them.
The Athletic
West Ham must use fearless performance against Arsenal as catalyst to save season
By Roshane Thomas
West Ham United regularly thrived as underdogs in last season’s meetings against the ‘Big Six’.
While they have been unrecognisable for most of this one, in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday, David Moyes’ side showed flashes of that old ability to land punches on the teams from the top of the table once again.
Jarrod Bowen, Michail Antonio, Declan Rice and Vladimir Coufal produced terrific individual performances. Said Benrahma, who showed lapses in concentration for both Arsenal goals, scored the penalty that got West Ham back into it and Thilo Kehrer and Kurt Zouma formed a solid defensive pairing against the league leaders’ attacking trio of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka.
In 2021-22, West Ham got wins over Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Chelsea and a draw with Manchester City. They tended to be at their best against tougher opponents. Although they haven’t beaten a ‘Big Six’ side this season, they created enough opportunities to claim all three points yesterday.
This draw leaves Moyes’ side four points clear of the relegation zone, and the performance will give them plenty of encouragement ahead of tough fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
“We want to be competitive against the top teams, and I think last year we did a really good job,” said Moyes. “We didn’t win all the games, but we pushed them really hard. (We) beat Liverpool at home, we had some big results. So the idea is to do that in the remaining games. We’ve got some big teams coming to the London Stadium in the next month or two.”
It was the worst possible beginning for the home team, with Jesus and Martin Odegaard both scoring in the opening 10 minutes. This prompted the away fans to mockingly chant, “Are you Tottenham in disguise?”
But to borrow the boxing parlance, West Ham went from a fighter who had a puncher’s chance to one who learned how to box. The mood among the home crowd quickly shifted from boos to cheers, with confidence growing enormously after Benrahma coolly converted from the spot after 33 minutes.
“It’s a massive point; coming into this game, nobody expected anything from us,” said Bowen, who scored West Ham’s second-half equaliser. “Maybe we used that to our advantage. You saw us putting them under pressure. It wasn’t the start we wanted but we dug in and nearly nicked it at the end.”
“It was an unbelievable team performance,” said Coufal. “We were 2-0 down against one of the best teams in the world, so I’m very grateful to every person from our team. I was afraid when we went 2-0 down but we had nothing to lose and the crowd started pushing us on. We have to play like this from the beginning.
“The crowd were unreal when (Bukayo) Saka missed his penalty,” Coufal added of a key moment early in the second half, two minutes before Bowen’s goal. “For us, it was like another life in the game. Had he scored it would have been over.
“It is very important we are not in the relegation zone and we will take it game by game. In one way, it feels like a victory today.”
With fellow strugglers Bournemouth and Crystal Palace beating Spurs and Southampton respectively on Saturday, the players were aware of how important even a point against Arsenal would be.
There was also the need to produce an encouraging display following the disappointing performance in drawing 1-1 away to Belgian side Gent in the first leg of a Europa Conference League quarter-final three days earlier.
West Ham were always going to be viewed as underdogs against Mikel Arteta’s table-topping side, but before the game, midfielder Pablo Fornals spoke about how that could be to his team’s benefit.
“Probably on paper no one thinks we’re going to take anything, so we don’t have that pressure,” Fornals said. “Arsenal are in a different race right now so we’re going to try to make this Premier League a bit more interesting.”
And so it proved.
West Ham’s hopes of survival have been boosted and Arsenal’s bid to win the title for the first time since 2003-04 has been dented.
Moyes’ men could have another say in the race to be champions when they visit Manchester City on May 3.
But until then, the priority will be to beat Gent on Thursday to advance to a second European semi-final in as many seasons, create more distance from the bottom three and, most importantly, produce displays similar to those seen against the top sides last season.
Football London
Why West Ham penalty vs Arsenal was not overturned amid controversial Declan Rice handball claim
David Coote awarded a penalty to both West Ham and Arsenal at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon
By Jake Stokes
Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has explained why West Ham's penalty against Arsenal was not overturned. The Gunners launched out of the blocks at the London Stadium and secured a two-goal lead inside the opening ten minutes, with goals from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard.
But, the visitors quickly lost their foothold on the tie after Lucas Paqueta won a controversial penalty. Thomas Partey was dispossessed by Declan Rice, who then slotted the Brazilian through on goal.
Paqueta was clipped by Gabriel Magalhaes inside the box and David Coote immediately pointed to the spot, with the Video Assistant Referee confirming the on-field decision. In the build-up to the foul, Rice appeared to handle the ball and lots of Arsenal fans rushed to social media to vent their frustrations.
Some sections of the Gunners fanbase also believed that there was not enough contact on Paqueta worthy of a penalty. However, in an interview with The Sun, Halsey explained exactly why Arsenal shouldn't have any qualms about the verdict.
"Lucas Paqueta went past Gabriel and it’s clear the Arsenal defender caught him so it was an obvious penalty," the former Premier League referee said. "It was a careless challenge and Arsenal cannot have any complaints.
"There were suggestions Declan Rice handled the ball in the build up, but even if there was contact, it looked to be accidental and accidental handball is not an offence. VAR would not get involved in that situation because it was subjective."
In the second-half, Arsenal were awarded a penalty as well after the ball struck Michail Antonio's forearm. Coote pointed to the spot once more, and Halsey believes that the referee made the correct decision again.
"The law is clear, if you’re making yourself bigger and your arms are out and move towards the ball, the referee will give a penalty," he added. "We see a lot of those given week in, week out. That’s why the handball law is an ass.
"They changed the law to try and simplify it but the new law has made it even more confusing. The VAR was never going to overturn that. Both penalty decisions were correct.
"We want to see the on-field referee making decisions. We don’t want referees not getting involved and waiting for VAR to help. And fair play to David Coote because he made the decisions himself yesterday."
