Paper Talk
Bolton boss Neil Lennon is ready to return to former club Celtic with bids for midfielder Kris Commons and right-back Adam Matthews.
Liverpool have taken the lead in the chase for Norwegian wonder boy Martin Odegaard after the 15-year-old flew into Merseyside for talks.
Frank Lampard will have the blessing of MLS commissioner Don Garber if he elects to extend his loan spell with Manchester City until the end of the season.
Arsenal are ready to test Southampton's resolve with a £15m move for Morgan Schneiderlin as Arsene Wenger looks to shore up his midfield.
Roberto Mancini is planning to boost his Inter Milan squad by returning to the Premier League to try to bring Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski, Liverpool midfielder Lucas and Chelsea winger Mo Salah to Italy.
Norwich star Nathan Redmond is set to spurn interest from Stoke City in order to stay with the Championship club for the rest of the season.
Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal has dismissed talk of a move to Manchester United, saying he is happy with the Italian champions.
Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini may be heading to the Premier League as AC Milan seek to shift the 30-year-old's wages off the books, with QPR, Sunderland and Aston Villa all said to be interested in taking him on loan.
Millwall and Bristol City are both planning January moves for Chesterfield hotshot Eoin Doyle.
Liverpool are making their play to sign 15-year-old Norway starlet Martin Odegaard after he arrived for a tour of the club on Wednesday.
Rickie Lambert wants Steven Gerrard to sign the contract on offer from Liverpool and end his career at the club.
Arturo Vidal has told Manchester United he is happy at Juventus as the January transfer window approaches.
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has claimed that Brad Friedel "tried to block" his move to Old Trafford in 2003 - although the Tottenham veteran denies that.
Sevilla are monitoring Juan Mata's situation at Manchester United - with a view to making a January move for him.
Premier League clubs have received a boost in their pursuit of Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus.
Manchester United have reassessed their targets for the season after winning four games in a row under Louis van Gaal.
Arsenal and Manchester United target Lucas Silva has taken a step closer to a Real Madrid move after admitting "it would be a dream come true" to sign for the European champions.
Italy striker Giampaolo Pazzini is being offered to Premier League clubs. QPR, Sunderland and Aston Villa are set to be interested.
Rickie Lambert insists Steven Gerrard must stay at the Anfield giants not just for the rest of his playing career but for life.
Terry Butcher could be set for a sensational return to Motherwell - the former England international has been heavily backed over the last 24 hours for a second stint at Fir Park.
Chelsea fans could be set for an early Christmas present this year, with manager Jose Mourinho, captain John Terry and star player Eden Hazard poised to sign new contracts with the club.
Angel Di Maria looks set to stay at Manchester United this summer after PSG identified Tottenham playmaker Christian Eriksen as their first-choice signing.
Lucas Silva's agent has confirmed interest in his client from the Premier League and La Liga. Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are on alert.
Wonderkid Martin Odegaard has been spotted at a Liverpool restaurant sparking speculation that he is on the verge of snubbing a host of Europe's top sides to sign for the Merseysiders.
Paris St Germain are preparing a shock bid for Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Liverpool have entered the race to sign Palermo striker Paulo Dybala with Mario Balotelli and Fabio Borini's long-term Anfield futures in doubt.
Lukas Podolski is set to hold crunch talks with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger later this month.
Arsenal and Liverpool are preparing audacious bids for Paris St Germain striker Edinson Cavani.
QPR midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips, 32, is a target for MLS side New York Red Bulls when his contract expires in the summer.
BBC
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Sevilla are monitoring Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata with a view to a January move for the 26-year-old. (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool's players have joined forces to plead with captain Steven Gerrard, 34, not to leave at the end of this season. (Guardian)
AC Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini, 30, is being offered to Premier League clubs - with Queens Park Rangers, Sunderland and Aston Villa all interested. (Daily Mirror)
Tottenham are set to beat Liverpool to the signing of Porto's Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, 28, by offering Spanish forward Roberto Soldado, 29, in part-exchange. (Metro)
Liverpool are considering a move for Stromsgodset's 15-year-old Norway international midfielder Martin Odegaard, who was shown round the club's training ground on Wednesday. (Daily Mail)
AC Milan's French forward M'Baye Niang, 19, has revealed how a dream move to Arsenal fell apart in 2012. (Sun - subscription required)
QPR winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, 33, could join his brother Bradley in America's Major League Soccer when his contract ends. (Talksport)
OTHER GOSSIP
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini claims Louis van Gaal's side can still win the Premier League title after winning four games in a row. (Daily Star)
Real Madrid have rewarded their players for winning last season's Champions League and Copa del Rey competitions by giving them each a watch worth around £24,000. (Marca)
Leicester City are investigating an altercation between manager Nigel Pearson and a section of fans after Tuesday's 3-1 defeat at home by Liverpool. (Leicester Mercury)
West Brom centre-back Joleon Lescott, 32, has said he wants to help under-pressure head coach Alan Irvine keep his job . (Daily Express)
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 29, expects to be fit for Monday's Premier League trip to Southampton after a scan on a knee injury gave him the all-clear. (Daily Telegraph)
Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse, 29, says he is still not fully over the dislocated kneecap he suffered last season, despite scoring in Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Burnley. (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool say they will hold a meeting next week with fans disgruntled by the rising cost of tickets at Anfield. (Liverpool Echo)
Former Inverness and Hibernian boss Terry Butcher, 55, is in line to return to Motherwell for a second spell as a manager. (Daily Express)
BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Former Manchester City midfielder Paul Lake had nothing but praise for striker Sergio Aguero after Wednesday's 4-1 win at Sunderland: "Sergio Aguero is in that wonderful place where he *knows* he's going to score. From his perspective, the football's the size of a beach ball."
Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin's hip injury kept him out of Wednesday's 1-0 Premier League defeat at Arsenal, and he tweeted: "Want to play! Come on lads."
Piers Morgan wasn't impressed by Arsenal's win. The journalist, TV personality and Gunners fan posted: "Lucky win against a good Southampton team. Performance thoroughly mediocre though."
Tottenham's 3-0 defeat at Chelsea had Match of the Day host Gary Lineker going through the memory banks. He asked: "Has anyone mentioned the fact that Spurs haven't won a league game at Chelsea since some big-eared goalhanger scored the winner in 1990?"
Guardian journalist Daniel Taylor was thinking of a different historical event: "Amazing stat: the last time Tottenham won at Stamford Bridge was the day they announced Mandela was going to be released."
Derby midfielder Jeff Hendrick tweeted: "Time to start getting in the Christmas spirit and start watching some movies. Starting off with Elf."
A cryptic posting from Middlesbrough winger Mustapha Carayol: "One thing I've come to learn in this game is look after no1!!"
Chelsea defensive prospect Alex Davey, 20, who is currently on loan at League One strugglers Scunthorpe, shares his joy at signing a new deal at Stamford Bridge.
AND FINALLY
Iago Aspas beat Robbie Fowler's record for the fastest hat-trick by a Liverpool player - although he did it while on loan at Sevilla. (Liverpool Echo)
Tottenham's secret weapon could be their assistant manager Jesus Perez, who has a frightening 1,000-yard stare to match Roy Keane. (Daily Mirror)
Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has risked the wrath of the club's fans by wearing a Spurs hat - but he was only showing support for his favourite basketball team, the San Antonio Spurs. (Metro)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Nick Miller
Sometimes it’s best to cut through the treacle, to just come out with things without any lengthy preamble. To really get to the point. Reach the heart of the issue as quickly as possible. Go straight for the jugular. Get stuck in and avoid any unnecessary waffle. Eliminate the chit-chat, the small talk, the flab from a conversation and just say what’s on your mind. Cut to the chase. Tell it like it is.
So, having avoided any superfluous wibble before reaching the meat of things, the Mill is here to tell you that Arsenal and Liverpool are apparently in for Edinson Cavani. Huh. Interesting. If we eliminate the implausibility factor, in theory that would be a belting move for either club, but the Mill will promise to bring you a full month’s rumours fully in the nude if such a move actually does happen (talk of the pair duking it out for Palermo’s 21-year-old striker Paulo Dybala seems more realistic), but for the moment Arsenal and Liverpool fans are just left with the theory to keep them warm on these cold, cold December nights.
On a similar tip, theoretically Juan Mata and Manchester United should be perfect for each other. Lovely player, lovely man, and in some ways he’s exactly what United need - a little subtlety to go with the rather blunt instruments of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney et al, but it just doesn’t really seem to be quite working as it should. Ergo, thusly, therefore, hence, rumours abound that he could be doing one from Old Trafford, with Sevilla said to be the latest club keen on buying the Spaniard in January, although United would prefer to wait until the balmy days of summer to send the wee man on his way. Either way, they’ll use the money to buy themselves a big fat slice of Kevin Strootman from Roma.
One of the few shafts of light this season for Tottenham fans has been Christian Eriksen, but even that might be cruelly snatched away from them soon, as much like the flame-haired Jolene of Partonian legend, PSG might be about to take him just because they can. Still, in brighter news for the sufferers at the Lane, it says here that Spurs have joined Arsenal in the hunt for PSG youngster Adrien Rabiot, while they are also set to best Liverpool in the chase for Porto goalster Jackson Martínez, in the hope that he’d be better at football than Roberto Soldado or Emmanuel Adebayor. A limbo dancer-esque low-bar there, of course.
Should they lose out on Martínez, Liverpool may well dry their eyes (figuratively speaking) on one of the reddest and hottest of red-hot talents doing the rounds in Europe at the moment, specifically Martin Odegaard. The 15-year-old wunderkind currently setting the hearts of the continent’s talent-spotters a flutter is wanted by anybody who’s anybody, but apparently Liverpool have stolen a march on their competitors by giving young Martin a tour of Anfield. A tour! They also apparently showed him round the city centre, for which you can make your own jokes, but because of the boy’s quite revolting youth the question at one point was almost certainly asked ‘Who’s Ringo Starr?’ Who indeed, Martin. Who indeed. Staying in Liverpool, their players are seemingly taking it in turns to get down on their knees and beg Steven Gerrard please to stay. He’s mulling it over and will tell you his decision when he’s good and ready, it seems.
And once more on a Mersey theme, Inter director Piero Ausilio was apparently in the house for Liverpool’s win over Leicester, and not just to sample the white-hot atmosphere of the King Power stadium: he also wanted to check out Glen Johnson, Fabio Borini and Lucas Leiva, presumably with a view to buying them, but you never know. Speaking of the Italians, Inter are hawking striker Giampaolo Pazzini around like a knock-off DVD copy of The Expendables III, with potential takers in the shape of Queens Park Rangers, Sunderland and Aston Villa.
Finally, startling news that may have you spraying your morning mimosa over your screen: Shaun Wright-Phillips is still a Premier League player. A QPR player, to be precise, but that won’t be the case for too much longer, as his contract will expire at the end of the season and word is that he will join his brother Bradley, whose absence from the recent MLS playoffs was amusingly cited as a key factor in the New York Red Bulls being knocked out, in America.
Ladbrokes
West Ham the next club in the frame for David Accam transfer
Hammers have joined two Premier League rivals in the hunt for the lightning-quick winger
Reports are gathering pace that West Ham have become the latest Premier League club to join the race for Helsingborg’s highly-rated winger David Accam.
Despite the fact that the Hammers have had no trouble in giving opposition defences something to think about, it is rumoured that Sam Allardyce is still in the market for another attacking player to boost his squad’s depth.
If he is to capture this signing though, he may have to move quickly.
Leicester City and West Brom are also looking into the possibility of signing the Ghana international, and would probably be in a better position to offer the 24-year-old first team football.
The Swedish outfit are seeking at least £2.5m for the player they paid Ostersunds €235k for back in 2012.
Since arriving at the club, Accam has taken the Allsvenskan by storm, netting 38 goals in 68 appearances for Henrik Larsson’s side, including 17 in 23 this season, and has established himself as a vital member of their squad.
But with the allure of the Premier League sure to be telling, the man who began his career in the English non-league with Ledbury Town and Evesham could be vocal in his wish to push through a move.
The winger is known for his electric pace that is sure to trouble all but the quickest of defenders, an attribute that would be very helpful at the Boelyn.
Where he would fit in, in terms of breaking into the starting XI, remains to be seen, with the east Londoners already possessing a number of attacking midfielders and front men.
His arrival in the East End could spell the end for fringe players such as Ricardo Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison, but time will tell on that.
Following their come-from-behind win at the Hawthorns, Allardyce’s side sit fifth in the table, and will be looking for maximum points when Swansea visit the capital on Sunday
