Paper Talk
Striker Edinson Cavani is being lined up by Manchester United as part of their summer spending plans providing Paris Saint-Germain find a big-name replacement.
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has named Paul Scholes as the best player he's ever watched.
Newcastle, Sunderland and Southampton are on red alert with QPR striker Charlie Austin saying he's hoping his form can attract the 'right opportunity' going into the transfer window.
Gareth Barry believes Everton's 'fab four' of Ross Barkley, John Stones, Romelu Lukaku and Gerard Deulofeu can spark a glittering new era at Goodison Park.
Trevor Sinclair has called on his former side Manchester City to beat off fierce competition and sign Everton star John Stones.
Arsenal and Manchester United will battle for Ajax's teenage sensation Abdelhak Nouri, according to reports.
Ruben Neves is happy at Porto and has no intentions of leaving the club, despite interest from Chelsea.
Gary Neville may only be keeping the Valencia hot seat warm for Jose Mourinho.
Manager Roy Hodgson is ready to give Wilfried Zaha a shock second chance with England. The Crystal Palace winger has made two appearances for his country, totalling just 20 minutes.
Leicester stars will not get a bonus if they qualify for the Champions League. Claudio Ranieri's high-flying Foxes failed to negotiate extra cash for a top-four spot, expecting a relegation fight.
Arsenal will allow Alexis Sanchez to take a 15-hour flight to Chile this week for treatment on his injured hamstring.
Ex-Watford boss Billy McKinlay is in the frame for the Chesterfield job.
Harry Redknapp is close to agreeing a £10m deal to take over United Arab Emirates club Al Jazira.
Leeds United owner Massimo Cellino is open to offers for every single player in his first team squad.
Rio Ferdinand has revealed in an exclusive Q&A session with England's U16 team that former Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo used to put weights on his feet while practising stepovers.
Siem de Jong has admitted Newcastle players are "ashamed" of their relegation struggle.
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne is as good as Luis Suarez, claims Raheem Sterling.
Teen 'keeper Jordan Holmes is set to go from the seventh tier to sitting on the bench against Chelsea in a week - after being recalled by Bournemouth from a loan at Weymouth.
Ravel Morrison is searching for a new club with Lazio ready to wash their hands of the midfielder.
Ilkay Gundogan has admitted his Borussia Dortmund future is uncertain and that Liverpool have a 'good team and great coach'.
Fleetwood will benefit from 25 per cent of any transfer fee Leicester City receive for Jamie Vardy because of a sell-on clause in the player's contract.
FA technical director Dan Ashworth insists England are aiming to win the 2022 World Cup.
Emmanuel Adebayor's quest to restart his Premier League career is being threatened by the fact that Tottenham are still paying his £100,000 a week salary.
Leeds United fans have hit out at a £5 'pie tax' at Elland Road, where tickets will rise to £42, a price which includes a compulsory meal voucher.
Arsenal will be without Santi Cazorla for at least three months with a knee ligament injury suffered against Norwich.
BBC
Barcelona could sell some of their biggest stars to Premier League clubs to balance the books. Forwards Lionel Messi, 28, Neymar, 23, and Luis Suarez, 28, could all be made available. (Sun)
Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender, 26, is on the shortlist of players Arsenal want to sign in January. (Evening Standard)
Liverpool and Spain left-back Alberto Moreno, 23, has played down reports linking him with Real Madrid. (Cadena Cope via Liverpool Echo)
Chelsea are facing a dilemma over the future of one of their most highly rated young players, 19-year-old Belgian midfielder Charly Musonda, who is attracting interest from clubs across Europe. (Telegraph)
Manchester City's billionaire owners will explore the possibility of buying a Chinese club as part of their ambitious global expansion plans. (Times - subscription)
Manchester United players remain unhappy with Louis van Gaal's style of management, with some complaining about their strict routine on the eve of games. (Mail)
Spain midfielder Santi Cazorla, 30, will miss the next three months of Arsenal's season after damaging knee ligaments during Sunday's 1-1 draw at Norwich. (Guardian)
Manager Steve McClaren is set to make big changes for Newcastle United's Premier League match against Liverpool on Sunday. (Evening Chronicle)
Former Manchester City midfielder Trevor Sinclair wants to see Everton defender John Stones, 21, move to Etihad Stadium. (Talksport)
Former West Ham midfielder Ravel Morrison, 22, is seeking a transfer back to England to end his Lazio "nightmare". (Mirror)
Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba, 22, previously linked with a transfer to Manchester United and Manchester City, told photographers he loves Manchester on a visit to the city this week. (Mail)
Costel Pantilimon believes fellow Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, 21, who has gone on loan to Preston, will emerge as a future rival to Joe Hart for the England shirt. (Star)
Striker Emmanuel Adebayor's bid to restart his Premier League career is being threatened by the fact the 31-year-old is still being paid £100,000 per week by Tottenham. (Telegraph)
Former Southampton manager Stuart Gray, 55, has emerged as a surprise contender to take over at Fulham, who are still seeking a successor to Kit Symons. (Mirror)
Leicester players will not get a bonus if they qualify for the Champions League after failing to negotiate extra payments for finishing in the top four. (Sun)
The Premier League's top scorer Jamie Vardy, 28, could have been at Swansea City instead of Leicester City. (Wales Online)
Scotland assistant coach Stuart McCall has called for more dedication from kids to improve the game. (Daily Record)
And finally
Panama midfielder Manuel Torres' temper after being substituted in a cup game resulted in him throwing a cup of water in the direction of his Plaza Amado coach before shoving him. (Evening Standard)
Former Portsmouth footballer Andres d'Alessandro, 34, has had his own face tattooed onto his skin. (Metro)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Gregg Bakowski
Arsène Wenger is doing that thing again. You know, the one where he sends out smoke signals suggesting the club is interested in signing the defensive midfielder that they have needed since time immemorial even though everybody knows at the last minute he’ll crumble and sign another flighty, attacking midfielder and a routine full-back whose greatest use will be to crack jokes in the presence of the club’s overworked medical team to keep their morale up. You see, they’ve “emerged as favourites” to sign the Bayer Leverkusen metronome Lars Bender, a player who was seemingly born just a hop, skip and a jump away from a move to Arsenal. The Mill has a theory, though. Perhaps Wenger’s after the wrong Bender. And no, we don’t mean his twin brother, Sven, who plays for Dortmund. It would be Peak Wenger to sign the Lars Bender currently warming the bench at Fortuna Köln in the third tier of German football, a club who’d happily accept a bag of hard-to-zip-up coats and £500 for him. Now there’s a real Wenger deal.
For a player who it’s fair to assume may have forgotten how to play football in the six months since he last kicked a ball in anger or vaguely in the direction intended, Emmanuel Adebayor is being linked with some very decent suitors. It was Watford and Chelsea last week and now it’s the Serie A leaders, Napoli. His people are in discussions with club suits in Naples, by all accounts. Presumably, they believe he’s exactly the kind of forward who will put the hard yards in alongside Gonzalo Higuaín … all seven of them, before he places his hands on his hips and stares into the middle distance for the rest of the game.
It says here Paul Pogba is going to sign for Manchester United or Manchester City. Why? Because the transfer-speculation-hogging Juventus midfielder was seen eating in a trendy Manchester eatery with friends. Friends who, presumably, still live in Manchester where Pogba spent two years of his life before waltzing off to Turin and joining Juventus. “I love Manchester,” said the midfielder, after stuffing his face in Wing’s Cantonese restaurant. The Mill would like to shoot this one down but a visit to Manchester to see friends? In December? Why not Skype them and avoid the gloom? Hmmm. Maybe he was was visiting Gary Neville. Expect him to sign for Valencia.
Sergio Agüero is hopelessly sentimental. The kind of person you expect would hold on to an out-of-date tin of spaghetti hoops given to him by a loving family member rather than bin them due to the guilt it would cause. And that’s why he’s off to play for Indendiente. Ah, but in 2019. If he still has any hamstrings left he’s vowed to return home to Argentina – perhaps with a red rose clamped between his teeth – to play for the club he supported as a boy when his City contract ends. In 2019 the Mill fully expects Manchester City to be playing in China and to have cloned Agüero so they can sell him like Disney merchandise at Christmas.
Barcelona are, apparently, so broke they might not be able to put any food on the table this Christmas. So they may have to wrap up their best players and flog them at market like prime pieces of meat. Imagine the queue? It could even be bigger than the one outside Games Workshop in Basingstoke when they introduced a new range of Beastmen. So The Mill is going to bold up the names of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez and juxtapose them neatly with Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and, hmmm, who else is rich? Ah, PSG. Painfully predictable, we know.
And one of Chelsea’s collection of bright, young things that will never so much as get the faintest whiff of the first-team, Charly Musonda, wants to leave. And it says here that loads of clubs, including Monaco, would like to sign the racy 19-year-old midfielder unless Chelsea act quick and hide him away on loan with all the other youngsters they’ve scattered around Europe like clues in a Dan Brown novel.
HITC
Slaven Bilic hopes for Silva lining as West Ham are linked with swoop for Portuguese star
West Ham United have been linked with a swoop for Portuguese winger Rafa Silva but face stiff competition.
Damien Lucas
The 22-year-old has already featured in five games for Portugal and plays his club football for SC Braga.
A tricky winger, Silva has scored 24 goals in 114 career games so far.
Silva, famous for his withered right leg is wanted by the Hammers
But he would cost the Hammers a pretty penny given he still has three years left on his five-year contract at Braga.
According to Portuguese sports website Abola, Silva has been watched by scouts from some of the world's biggest clubs including Manchester United, Barcelona and Arsenal.
West Ham face stiff competition
But West Ham are among a clutch of second tier clubs also said to be weighing up a move.
A report on Abola.pt claimed scouts of several big European clubs were present for Braga's game against Liberec.
If Slaven Bilic is given money to strengthen his injury-hit squad in January, he will face competition from the likes of Benfica, Celtic, Sevilla, Betis, Montpellier and Lorient for his signature.
What do we know about Silva
If he signs for the Hammers they won't want to leave it until the last minute of the window.
That's because his full name is Rafael Alexandre Fernandes Ferreira Silva.
Silva started playing football with Atlético Povoense and F.C. Alverca in Lisbon and when he turned 18 signed for C.D. Feirense.
The winger made his professional debut in 2012 and went on to miss just one game in that entire league campaign totalling more than 3,200 minutes of action to help his team finish 13th in the second division.
It follows West Ham's transfer policy of targeting young, fit players like Aaron Cresswell who can grow in stature and value during their time at the club.
His form for Feirense persuaded SC Braga to tie him to a long-term deal for an undisclosed fee where he has shone since making his Portuguese top flight debut two years ago.
The Hammers have plenty of midfield talent in their squad but will be without instrumental midfielder Dimitri Payet until at least February.
