Paper Talk
Liverpool are considering a £50million offer for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.
Manchester United target Diego Godin says he would like to stay at Atletico Madrid for 'many years.'
Liverpool are set to join Arsenal and Tottenham in the race to sign Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk next month.
David De Gea will sign a new contract with Manchester United in the coming weeks after turning down the opportunity to join Real Madrid.
Manchester United look set to restart their pursuit of Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi in case they fail to land Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels next month.
Liverpool have identified Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph as the man to replace Steven Gerrard.
Christian Benteke admits his transfer request at Aston Villa was "a mistake" and now wants to repay boss Paul Lambert for building the side around him.
Managers Alan Pardew and Gus Poyet have joined forces to call for an end to the Tyne-Wear derby trouble ahead of Sunderland's trip to Newcastle.
Hatem Ben Arfa has been booted out by Hull after a disastrous four months on Humberside.
Toronto FC have declared that they expect Jermain Defoe to be with the club for the 2015 MLS season.
Stoke boss Mark Hughes wants Peter Crouch to sign a new deal.
Chelsea star Eden Hazard has agreed a £200,000-a-week deal until 2020 which will earn him £52million as the club's highest-paid player.
Arsene Wenger should stay as Arsenal manager according to 78 per cent of the club's fans polled by the newspaper.
Roma want to sign Stoke captain Ryan Shawcross in the January transfer window.
Sergio Aguero is on track to return from injury ahead of schedule in early January, says boss Manuel Pellegrini.
Steven Gerrard has pleaded with Raheem Sterling to sign a new Liverpool deal.
Southampton forward Jay Rodriguez is out until February after a setback in his recovery from a knee injury - scuppering a potential move to Tottenham.
Manchester United could have Luke Shaw back in their side against Newcastle on Boxing Day as he recovers from an ankle injury.
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce insists Diafra Sakho will only get a new contract when he and the chairmen decide.
Schalke and AC Milan both want Manchester City's out-of-favour defender Matija Nastasic.
Chelsea are virtually certain Eden Hazard will sign a new five-year contract worth £200,000 per week.
Mario Balotelli has been hit with a one-game ban and £25,000 fine for breaking the FA's social media rules after sharing a controversial Instagram post.
Arsenal forward Theo Walcott could make his long-awaited return from knee and groin injuries in time for Sunday's crucial clash with Liverpool at Anfield.
Simon Mignolet has been warned his Liverpool career is in danger by Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard.
Sami Hyypia is facing the end of his Brighton reign if his side do not beat Wolves on Saturday.
BBC
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Liverpool are prepared to make a £50m bid for Real Madrid's French forward Karim Benzema, 26, in the January transfer window. (Daily Express)
Manchester United will try to sign Valencia defender Nicolas Otamendi, 26, if they fail to capture their top target, Borussia Dortmund's 26-year-old centre-half Mats Hummels. (Daily Express)
Tottenham and Liverpool are keen to sign Porto's 28-year-old forward Jackson Martinez in January. (Metro)
The Reds are also interested in Aston Villa midfielder Fabian Delph and see the 25-year-old as a long-term replacement for Steven Gerrard, 34. (Daily Mirror)
Atletico Madrid centre-half Diego Godin, 28, a transfer target for Chelsea, dismisses a move to the Premier League and says he wants to stay at the La Liga champions. (Daily Star)
Manchester United are prepared to spend more than £30m on new players in January to strengthen their defence and midfield. (Manchester Evening News)
Cardiff City boss Russell Slade is expecting a busy transfer window at the Championship club. "There will be players coming in - and a number going out," says Slade. (Wales Online)
Southampton's Dutch manager Ronald Koeman says his side will not bid for Netherlands and Galatasaray midfielder Wesley Sneijder, 30, as they would not be able to afford his wages . (FourFourTwo)
Wolves are set to sign Iceland attacking midfielder Gudmundur Thorarinsson, 22, from Norwegian top-flight side Sarpsborg 08. (Birmingham Mail)
French side Lille want to sign Sunderland striker Jozy Altidore, 25, on a loan deal in January, but the Black Cats are hoping for a permanent move. (Sunderland Echo)
West Ham striker Carlton Cole, 31, wants to stay with the Hammers, despite starting only one Premier League game since August. (London Evening Standard)
OTHER GOSSIP
Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has urged midfielder Raheem Sterling, 20, to sign an extended, improved contract. (Daily Telegraph)
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 27, believes a rejuvenated side under Louis van Gaal could yet still win the Premier League this season, with a top-four finish a minimum requirement. (The Times, subscription required)
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has offered his support to Merseyside rival and Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, 26, as he faces the possibility of a lengthy spell on the sidelines. (Daily Express)
West Ham striker Diafra Sakho, 24, wants an improved contract, despite signing a four-year deal when he joined the Hammers in the summer. (Daily Mail)
Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, who has been linked with a move back to his former club, says he remains committed to current club Napoli, and has turned down two job offers recently. (Talksport)
Stoke boss Mark Hughes wants striker Peter Crouch to sign a new contract. The 33-year-old's current deal expires at the end of the season. (Daily Mirror)
Three Tottenham fans who ran on to the pitch wearing T-shirts with a sponsor's name on and caused a Europa League game to be suspended for 10 minutes have been banned from attending football matches until 2018. (Guardian)
Aston Villa striker Darren Bent, 30, who is on loan at Championship club Brighton, has had £150,000 worth of supercars stolen from his Staffordshire home. The burglars took a Range Rover and an Audi RS6. (Birmingham Mail)
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, 35, says Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers will ruin the career of Reds keeper Simon Mignolet, 26. (Sun, subscription required)
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is expected to return to action a month ahead of schedule after suffering a knee injury earlier this month. The 26-year-old was expected to be out for two months, but could be back in early January. (Sun, subscription required)
Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen, 22, can become as good as Spurs legends Paul Gascoigne and Glenn Hoddle, says defender Jan Vertonghen. (London Evening Standard)
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert says he remains a close friend of Roy Keane, despite the Irishman leaving his role as assistant manager in November. (Times, subscription required)
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil, 26, has criticised his team-mates for conceding "unnecessary goals". (Daily Star)
Meanwhile, Arsenal have been given an early Christmas present with the news that forward Theo Walcott, 25, is in line for a return to action against Liverpool on Sunday after returning to training following a long-term groin injury. (Daily Mail)
Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez, 25, has suffered an injury setback and will not make his long-awaited return to action until February. (Daily Mirror)
BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a mixed reception from children when he and his team-mates visited them in hospital. The England international wrote on Instagram: "Nice to see some of the kids at the Royal Free Hospital today to give them some Christmas presents. Best moment of the day was when we surprised one of them and the first thing they said with a straight face was, 'I don't even like Arsenal. Can we get some Liverpool players?'"
Injured Manchester United defender Luke Shaw wrote on Twitter: "Working hard on my recovery everyday, I will be back stronger. Can't wait to get on the pitch again, thank you everyone for your support."
Former Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper backs Jak Alnwick to perform well against Sunderland after making mistakes during his side's 4-0 League Cup defeat at Tottenham on Wednesday. Harper wrote on Twitter: "Rather than criticism, Jak Alnwick needs a proper Geordie reception when he runs out on Sunday lunchtime to give him a lift before the game. Get behind the young lad by singing his name to pick him up and watch him grow in response to it. #toonarmy."
AND FINALLY...
A 12-year-old leukaemia patient, who lost her hair during treatment, got Manchester United players Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Juan Mata, and assistant manager Ryan Giggs, to sign the top of her head. (Daily Mirror)
Celtic striker and former Wolves player Leigh Griffiths has offered to buy a five-year-old boy Christmas gifts after his home was burgled. (Scotsman)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Simon Burnton
Eden Hazard isn’t going to feature in popular occasionally semi-humorous regular transfer roundup columns any time soon – unless you count today – having agreed a £52m five-year contract that will keep him at Chelsea until the start of the next decade. We’ll miss you, Eden. Also not going anywhere any time soon: Christian Benteke, who had demanded to leave Aston Villa back in 2013 only to change his mind at the last minute – today he tells the Mirror that the whole thing was “a mistake” and that he has “no regrets about staying”.
Now for some transfers that might happen, and Manchester City’s 21-year-old centre-back Matija Nastasic is a January target for Schalke and Milan, Manuel Pellegrini having decided he isn’t up to much. Another Premier League centre-back potentially leaving for Italy next month is Ryan Shawcross, on the face of it an unlikely Italophile, but it says here that while Newcastle and Everton are both interested in the player, the team currently leading the chase is Roma.
Talking of Roma, their Dutch midfielder Kevin Strootman has already agreed to join Manchester United and with the Italian club now out of the Champions League everyone’s very optimistic – and by “everyone” we do indeed mean “at least one tabloid journalist” - that he can complete a £30m switch to Old Trafford post haste.
Still talking of Roma, Ashley Cole isn’t about to flee the Italian capital because he likes it. “The facts are that he is not going to leave Italy for a year,” revealed Neil Warnock, one of the English managers who would quite like him to. “He is loving it there. He walks about the town without getting recognised. The press are not shoving cameras in his face, so he is loving it.”
Still talking of Italy-based players, though no longer of Roma, Milan’s Stephan El Shaarawy might move to England but not quite yet, according to his agent and brother Manuel. “If he leaves Milan, I’d like to see him play in England, because the Premier League is a competition that is very attractive,” he said. “At the end of the season, we will sit down with Milan and judge how the season has gone.”
Liverpool are ready to ruin the career of yet another defender, with Celtic’s Virgil van Dijk now popping up on their radar. Tottenham and Arsenal are also interested in the Dutchman but it’s Brendan Rodgers - “a certainty to splash the cash again when the transfer window opens,” assures the Express – who’s favourite to win this race. It’s not the only one he’s involved in, though, having decided that Fabian Delph has the potential to replace Steven Gerrard in their lineup, and also that he’d be cheap, what with being out of contract in the summer and stuff. And they’ve also been linked in Italy with deals for the Sampdoria goalkeeper Sergio Romero and the Palermo striker Paulo Dybala.
The Merseyside-based long-shot title aspirants may also profit from a breakdown in transfer negotiations between Newcastle and Rolando Aarons, whose current deal still has 18 months to run but whose performances this season have attracted the interest of Manchester City and Arsenal, as well as the Anfield-based side. Aarons has apparently been offered a six-year contract with his wages set at a paltry £6,000 a week, which is, a “toon source” told the Star, “what you’d expect them to offer someone in the reserve team”. The cheek of it!
Burnley feel they need to add a little Premier League experience to their squad in January. “We still take value in young players,” said Sean Dyche, “but we are looking for players who’ve had a feel of the Premier League. We are not necessarily a young group, but we’re quite inexperienced as regards regular Premier League football.”
Also looking to get busy when the transfer window opens – less than two weeks now, actual transfer fans! – is Neil Warnock, who wants to add at least three players to the Crystal Palace squad. “We are thin in midfield and up front,” he admitted. “We are trying to get to January, then give our squad better balance. We’re looking for three players.”
His ambition is almost exactly shared by Swansea’s Garry Monk, who admits “we do need those two or three bodies to come in” and is also happy to reveal precisely which positions he wants those bodies to be able to play in. “I have talked about a striker, and it could be that we look at a loan with a view to something longer-term,” he says. “Full-back is another one … We could look for a player capable of playing on both sides … Midfield could be another position we look at, but it has to be the right player.”
Outside the Premier League Derby are considering a January bid for Ross McCormack, even though the striker only signed for Fulham in the summer, for a massive £11m. McCormack has so far scored in precisely one game per month, grabbing one goal in August, a couple in September and one in each of October and November – December’s goal remains pending – and with Fulham foundering in 14th – 10 points from the Championship’s play-off places, the Rams hope they might be able to tempt him away for a cut-price £6m.
And in other essential news, it was revealed today that Wojciech Szczesny’s favourite festive tune is Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.
HITC
Report: West Ham scouts watch Ludovic Sane ahead of January transfer window
West Ham United scouts watched Bordeaux's match with Nantes last weekend, as they wanted a closer look at Ludovic Sane.
John Verrall
West Ham United's scouting team were sent to France last weekend, as the club prepare to step up their interest in Bordeaux defender Ludovic Sane.
According to the Daily Mail, Sane has been a long-term target of the Hammers and Sam Allardyce is looking for more detailed reports on the centre-back now they feel they are in a strong position to secure his signature.
West Ham's start, which has lifted them into the top four, makes them an appealing club to join in the new year.
Allardyce will reportedly have funds to spend in the January window, as the club want to give themselves the best possible chance of claiming a European spot.
Ambitions at West Ham have risen because of their start and they feel that Sane could be a crucial addition.
The 27-year-old has impressed in Ligue 1 for a number of years and Allardyce reportedly feels that he could be a replacement for Winston Reid, if the New Zealander does leave.
Reid is stil in protracted contract negations with the Upton Park outfit and will be free to sign a pre-contract with foreign clubs in January, as things stand.
The central defender's contract expires next summer and it seems that his head has been turned by the reported interest that is growing in his services.
Losing Reid would be a major blow to West Ham, but they feel the addition of Sane would soften it considerably and a bid could be made if the scouting team report back positively on his performance.
West Ham are also apparently tracking Marseille defender Nicolas N'Koulou, while Sporting Lisbon striker Islam Slimani is said to be of interest.
OS
Chadwell Chatter
Cheikhou Kouyate on settling in, Leicester and the Africa Cup of Nations
Hello everyone,
We have a very important game against Leicester City on Saturday. We need to battle for the three points.
The atmosphere at home is very good, we have very nice supporters and I'm happy to play in front of them. We want to make them happy again on Saturday!
I'm looking forward to coming up against Marcin Wasilewski. I played with him at Anderlecht and he's a nice guy.
He's a good player and Wasil really helped me at Anderlecht for four years. He's experienced and he won't make it easy for us. It's good to see him succeeding in the Premier League.
This is the first of our Christmas games and it will be something new for me. I'm used to having a break at this point of the season and we have to play a crazy amount of matches in a short space of time.
But it's ok - it's football and we'll try to win as many games as we can.
We've had a great start to the season and anything is possible in football. We need to stay humble, work hard but it's possible that we can qualify for Europe.
We have a great set of lads here. You've probably seen the pictures of me, Alex Song and Diafra Sakho on social media!
Alex takes some funny pictures - he's a great guy and I'm very happy him and Diafra are here. We get on very well.
Next month I have the Africa Cup of Nations too and I'm looking foward to helping Senegal.
We have the group of death, against Algeria, Ghana and South Africa, but as I said before anything is possible in football!
See you on Saturday!
Cheikhou
Big Sam on: Leicester City
Sam Allardyce faced the media on Thursday morning ahead of this weekend's game against Leicester City.
The manager revealed he is looking forward to getting the festive football programme started, even if is promises to be a hectic time.
Looking ahead to Saturday's game against Leicester, how important is this part of the season?
SA: "We want to continue this run of form for as long as possible. We've only lost one game in the last ten which is an excellent run. We're all looking forward to this quick run of games, the players enjoy it but it is a very hard, especially for them. We will have to rotate the team because there will be fatigue, there will be injuries to deal with. We keep our fingers crossed like never before, there's not time to prepare properly, it's play, recover, play, recover. If we come out of this period with a few more points, then we'll reassess our aims for the rest of the season.
"Leicester are a hard team to break down, they work very hard for each other. Despite their run of games without a win, they haven't been turned over by anyone, it's only ever by the odd goal. I saw the Leicester game against Manchester City and I thought they did very well. There are a lot of dangers in Nigel's teams that we need to be well aware of. They won't lie down and sit back."
Can you sympathise with Nigel Pearson, getting a club promoted and now under pressure?
SA: "There's only been one thing missing from Nigel's side and that is scoring goals. That's everyone's problem really, thankfully we've alleviated that issue this year. Had the players had their shooting boots on against Sunderland we would have won comfortably. I spoke to Gus after the game and we talked about the difficulty of scoring goals consistently. A lot of teams have struggled, if you look at Liverpool this year compared to Suarez and Sturridge last season. If Leicester find a striker, or a current player gets back on form, then they have a good chance of staying up.
"You need a board to back you when you're struggling. I was in a similar situation at Bolton, we bought in Youri Djoarkaeff. I think he scored six goals in the last ten games and we stayed up."
What sort of shape is the squad in at the moment? Mark Noble has been injured for a few weeks, is he available for Saturday?
SA: "No, he's not available for this weekend. He should be available for the Chelsea game. Everyone else is available for selection which is fantastic for this stage of the season and it gives us the best chance of winning."
Will any of the young players get a chance to play over the Christmas period?
SA: "Not at the moment, the current squad is very strong and nearly all fit. We've got experienced players all the way through the squad, in all sorts of different leagues across the world. It does depend on how injuries go but I wouldn't of thought so."
