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Paper Talk
Manuel Pellegrini is in danger of failing to meet Manchester City's Champions League demands this season - but won't be sacked.
Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge is on the verge of signing a new five-year contract.
Cheick Tiote has added to Newcastle's woes by admitting he wants to quit the club.
Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Sami Khedira is ready to try to force a move to the Premier League in January, rather than wait to be a free agent in the summer. That is likely to alert Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Daniel Sturridge is set to sign a new, incentivised, deal that will double his pay to beyond £150,000 a week - as long as he's scoring regularly for Liverpool.
Fired-up Ronny Deila last night warned he will quit Celtic if his demands for better professionalism fall on deaf ears.
Southampton are to lose another key member of their squad - their top physio Matt Radcliffe is joining Manchester United as Louis van Gaal bids to overcome a burgeoning injury list.
Daniel Sturridge is close to signing a new deal that could net the Liverpool striker £150,000 per week.
Neymar's father has told a Spanish court that the Brazilian star rejected a more lucrative move to Real Madrid to join Barcelona instead. According to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo, Real Madrid offered Santos £116m for Neymar, but he instead joined Barcelona in a £50m deal.
Manuel Pellegrini has been told he must take Manchester City further in the Champions League than last year by at least reaching the quarter-finals.
Cheick Tiote can have his dream move to Arsenal - if the Gunners stump-up £15m.
Stoke will offer Peter Crouch a new contract to fend off expected interest from QPR in January.
Daniel Sturridge is expected to sign a new £150k-a-week five-year deal this week
Cardiff owner Vincent Tan seems set to add part-ownership of an MLS club in Los Angeles to his portfolio which already includes Bosnian side FK Sarajevo.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has doubled his stake in Rangers to about nine per cent despite fans threatening to boycott his Sports Direct stores over him gaining the Ibrox naming rights.
Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has doubled his stake in Rangers to 9%.
BBC
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Arsenal lead the race to sign 27-year-old Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, who is unhappy at Paris St-Germain. (Daily Star)
The Gunners could also move for Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote, 28, who says he wants to leave St James' Park. (Independent)
Manchester United have been handed a significant boost in their efforts to sign Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman, 24, after the Italian club's manager Rudi Garcia admitted he could not stop the Dutchman leaving. (Daily Express)
Arsenal are set to compete with Chelsea for the signature of West Ham defender Reece Oxford, 15. (Daily Express)
Manchester United winger Nani, 27, says he may make his loan switch to Sporting Lisbon permanent at the end of the season. (Independent)
Stoke chairman Peter Coates is in no rush to make Chelsea winger Victor Moses's loan move permanent, despite the 23-year-old's impressive start. (Stoke Sentinel)
Barcelona are confident Argentina forward Lionel Messi will stay, despite reports linking the 27-year-old with Chelsea and PSG. (Sky Sports)
Liverpool are prepared to offer £22m plus midfielder Lucas Leiva, 27, as they bid to sign Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain, 26. (Caught Offside)
OTHER GOSSIP
Liverpool's 25-year-old striker Daniel Sturridge is close to signing a new five-year contract that could take his earnings up to £150,000 per week. (Times - subscription required)
Chelsea striker Diego Costa, 25, intends to play in Spain's Euro 2016 qualifiers against Slovakia and Luxembourg next week, despite club manager Jose Mourinho wanting him to rest his sore hamstring. (Sun - subscription required)
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has been set a target of reaching the Champions League quarter-final this season by the club's owners, who believe it could take five years to actually win the competition. (Daily Telegraph)
Chelsea defender John Terry, 33, says he was reduced to tears by Chelsea's failure to win the Premier League last season. (Independent)
Manchester United defender Phil Jones, 22, could play in Sunday's match against Everton after recovering from a hamstring injury suffered in England's Euro 2016 qualifier in Switzerland. (Daily Mirror)
Former Spartak Moscow Aiden McGeady, 28, has encouraged more British and Irish players to play abroad, as he returned to Russia for Everton's Europa League tie against Krasnodar. (Daily Express)
Meanwhile, Blues team-mate Kevin Mirallas, 26, is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines because of a hamstring injury. (Daily Telegraph)
Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino admits he has no idea when England full-back Kyle Walker, 24, will return from an abdominal problem. (Daily Mirror)
Arsenal full-back Kieran Gibbs, 25, could return to the England set-up after a four-year absence. (Times - subscription required)
Midfielder James Milner, 28, says Manchester City must beat CSKA Moscow later this month if they are to stand any chance of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages. (Sun - subscription required)
Milner's team-mate and fellow midfielder Fernandinho, 29, both concede progressing from the group stage will be "difficult" for Manuel Pellegrini's side. (Manchester Evening News)
The chairman of anti-racism organisation Kick It Out has described 35-year-old QPR defender Rio Ferdinand's autobiography as a "book of trivia". (Guardian)
Ferdinand also says he is happy to talk to David Moyes, despite describing the former Manchester United manager as "embarrassing" in his book. (Daily Star)
Former West Ham and Watford boss Gianfranco Zola, 48, has emerged as a leading contender for the vacant manager's role at Fulham. (Sky Sports)
Former Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour, 41, doubts the Gunners will ever win the Champions League under Arsene Wenger. (Talksport)
Midfielder Stephen Quinn, 28, is set to stay at Hull City, but 26-year-old striker Yannick Sagbo has been challenged to prove his worth following his loan move to Wolves. (Hull Daily Mail)
Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins says reports linking the club with a foreign takeover are wide of the mark. (Wales Online)
Manchester United are set to raid Southampton again - this time for club physio Matt Radcliffe. (Daily Mail)
BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
World Cup winner and former Argentina boss Diego Maradona is set to become the new coach of Palestine.
Roma continued their light-hearted Twitter exchange with Manchester City with a post mocking their poor record in Italy ahead of the two sides' meeting in Rome.
Stoke City midfielder Steve Sidwell, 31, paid a visit to former club Fulham, tweeting his delight as the Cottagers beat Bolton 4-0.
AND FINALLY
Hannover players have been told they cannot attend the Oktoberfest beer festival - even if they beat Bayern Munich on Saturday. (Sun - subscription required)
West Bromwich Albion defender Craig Dawson, 24, was persuaded not to give up professional football by comedian Bernard Manning's son. (Express and Star)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Gerard Meagher
The Mill has always been a fan of tiresome cliches and so it takes great delight to inform our dear readers that good things most certainly come in threes for Daniel Sturridge. Firstly he was spared Liverpool’s limp defeat at the hands of Basel on Wednesday night, watching from the comfort of his living room, munching on toblerone and watching his stock rise with every misplaced pass from the Yellows. Secondly, according to Brendan Rodgers, he is only fit enough to play for Liverpool, meaning he will on Thursday be spared secondment to military service/England duty, where Roy Hodgson’s men face San Marino and Estonia –180 minutes that none of us will get back. And thirdly, Sturridge is due to be handed a brand spanking new £150,000-a-week, five-year contract, just reward for his one goal in four matches this season. It’s as if a genie has been visiting the Sturridge household.
In other ‘good things come in threes for people called Daniel’ news, Danny Welbeck scored three goals in the same game for the first time in his career against Galatasaray prompted the lazy comparison to Thierry Henry – a comparison the Mill will not tire of making. Henry however, may be set for his 45th spell with the Gunners following the news that he is to leave the New York Red Bulls in December but has absolutely no intention of hanging up his boots. Arsène Wenger however, is thinking bigger. Ever the altruist, the Frenchman plans to ignore the threadbare nature of his defence as well as his injury-depleted midfield ranks and rescue Edinson Cavani from his Parisian hell. Cavani is so sad in the French capital, that according to L’Equipe, his eyes no longer sparkle but £55m of Wenger’s finest will no doubt put that right in January.
Back to lazy cliches and Cheik Tioté has issued a come-and-get-me plea to Arsenal, revealing that he wants to leave Newcastle and urging the Gunners to follow up their summer interest. Wenger has responded with a no-I-won’t riposte.
The Mill has long since been aware of Liverpool’s interest in the Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuaín but in further developments, Rodgers plans to dangle human metronome Lucas Leiva as bait for the Argentinian.
Shopping in Italy is en vogue at the moment and Manchester United have been put on red alert after Roma’s manager, Rudi García revealed the club cannot prevent Kevin Strootman leaving in January. Ed Woodward is wiping away the saliva with 50-pound notes.
Tottenham however, have not learned their lesson. Having prised Roma’s previous prized asset away the summer before last and set Erik Lamela’s career trajectory due south, Daniel Levy seems to think Sampdoria’s Manolo Gabbiadini, whose agent has stoked the fires by saying his client will categorically not be moving in January.
In other news, Sami Khedira has announced he wants to come to the Premier League in January, which has pricked the ears of Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool while Nani plans to make his move to Sporting Lisbon permanent in the summer and Dani Alves wants to come to England next year.
OS
Reid makes defensive points
Winston Reid says West Ham United need to tighten up defensively if they are to pick up points consistently
Winston Reid believes West Ham United will quickly climb the Barclays Premier League table as soon as they eradicate costly defensive errors.
Mistakes have arguably cost the Hammers points in defeats by Southampton and Manchester United and a draw at Hull City, meaning Reid and his team-mates go into Sunday's visit of Queens Park Rangers in the bottom half.
With fixtures against the Hoops and fellow Barclays Premier League new boys Burnley next on the agenda, the No2 said West Ham will be looking to tighten things up at the back.
"I think, first and foremost, we've played some good stuff this year but unfortunately we haven't got the amount of points we'd like to have," said the New Zealand captain.
"I think we will be looking to be doing two things this Sunday. One, we want to win the game and score a few goals and two, from a defensive point of view we want to keep a clean sheet because that's something we haven't done so far this season.
"I think if we can get those two things right then we'll be all right."
West Ham's uncharacteristic defensive record has been in stark contrast to their potency in front of goal. The Hammers have scored ten and conceded ten in their opening six league matches - a record Reid is not altogether proud of.
"We've been good at scoring goals this season so far, but defensively we've not quite managed to keep a clean sheet. We need to do better in that regard, not just as a defensive unit but as a whole team. Come kick-off, I'm sure we'll get it right."
While Reid is confident West Ham can keep Harry Redknapp's side at bay defensively, he also knows it will not be easy for the home side to find a way past a familiar figure in the QPR goal.
Robert Green played for six seasons with the Hammers before departing for Loftus Road in summer 2012. Having shared a dressing room and pitch with Green for two seasons, the centre-back knows the quality the England international goalkeeper possesses.
"When Greeny was here he was a good goalkeeper for us and I'm sure he'll be doing his best to stop us," said Reid. "I thought Greeny did well for us. He spoke a lot and was a great shot-stopper and pulled off some good saves when we needed him to.
"He has been capped by England and has played a number of years in the Premier League, so he has been around the block and is an experienced goalkeeper."
C&H
Downing heads Fabregas, Hazard, Sterling
Enner Valencia and Diafra Sakho have been a revelation this season but Stewart Downing is emerging as the most influential Hammer over the early games.
And since he was used in the diamond formation the guy has truly blossomed to the point where he is looking for and talking about an England recall.
A new set of stats from @EPL Statman proves the point as Downing now heads the list of players responsible for creating most Premier League chances this season.
Here’s the full list:
Downing 20
Fabregas 20
Cabella 17
Silva 16
Hazard 15
Sigurdsson 14
Sterling 14
Barton 13
Ramsey 13
Larsson 13
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