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Paper Talk
Roman Abramovich will break the bank in an attempt to outbid Manchester City and land Pep Guardiola as Chelsea's new manager this summer with a contract worth more than £17m a year.
Manchester United have put Jose Mourinho on standby to take over as their manager with Louis van Gaal given the Christmas games to save his job.
Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes is confident none of his players will leave in January.
Manchester United's American owners have been left with the final decision on whether to sack Louis van Gaal after Jose Mourinho agreed in principle to be their next manager having had talks to step in.
Manchester United have beefed up security for Louis van Gaal after fans at Old Trafford turned on him.
Roma striker Juan Manuel Iturbe is set to sign on loan at Watford for the rest of the season after holding official talks in a Starbucks in London.
Roman Abramovich has told Pep Guardiola he will give him anything he wants to take over at Chelsea next summer.
Riyad Mahrez will stay at Leicester for the rest of the season at least despite Manchester United and PSG keen to sign the player in January.
Fulham hope to unveil former Watford boss Slavisa Jokanovic as their new manager this week.
Sunderland are ready to bid £5m for QPR defender Steven Caulker, who is on a season-long loan at Southampton.
Arsenal have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of PSG's Adrien Rabiot. After signing a four-year extension in 2014, he indicated he'd welcome a loan move, but the club's president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has lambasted the 22-year-old for showing a lack of respect.
Jose Mourinho is willing to take a £16m pay cut to be the next Manchester United boss.
Chelsea will go all out to get Pep Guardiola as their next manager with Roman Abramovich only looking at other targets if he fails to convince the Bayern Munich manager to move to London.
Guus Hiddink held a secret meeting with Jose Mourinho hours before his first training session to get the lowdown on the Chelsea squad.
Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez has been denied a move to Arsenal despite having his bags packed for London.
New QPR manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is aiming to snap up Hull midfielder Tom Huddlestone.
Chris Coleman is set to be offered a new two-year contract at Wales manager.
Tottenham are keen on Leicester winger Riyad Mahrez, though a January bid is unlikely. Manchester United also want the Algerian star, scorer of 14 goals this season, despite Leicester's insistence he won't be sold in the window.
Spurs will move for Valencia striker Alvaro Negredo if they fail again in their bid to sign West Brom striker Saido Berahino.
Swansea are facing up to a managerless Christmas with hopes fading fast that they will land Marcelo Bielsa.
Fulham are closing in on Slavisa Jokanovic with the former Watford manager agreeing terms to take over at Craven Cottage.
Sir Alex Ferguson is helping decide Louis van Gaal's Manchester United fate having met executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and former chief executive David Gill for emergency talks at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Jose Mourinho will have to take a massive pay cut to land the Manchester United job. The 'Special One' would see his £12m salary at Chelsea slashed in half to match what Louis van Gaal currently earns at Old Trafford.
Tottenham are considering a switch for Valencia striker Alvaro Negredo if West Brom block their latest move for Saido Berahino.
Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham are all chasing Charlton's 18-year-old Ademola Lookman who has netted three goals in seven games since making his debut last month.
Jurgen Klopp will refuse to hit the panic button in the January transfer window - despite Liverpool's alarming slump.
Arsenal are weighing up a move for Basel's Egyptian defensive midfielder Mohamed Elneny.
David Hasselhoff, in Glasgow for pantomime, has professed his love for Partick Thistle.
Fallen former Hibs, Celtic and Scotland striker Derek Riordan has made a plea for a new club on the business social media platform LinkedIn.
BBC
Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is willing to take a £16m pay cut to become Manchester United's next manager. (Daily Star)
United held informal talks with representatives of Mourinho last week to gauge whether the Portuguese would want to succeed current boss Louis van Gaal, who is under pressure after his side failed to win any of their last six games. (Times - subscription required)
Sir Alex Ferguson will help United's hierarchy decide on Van Gaal's future at Old Trafford. (Mirror)
Van Gaal will have extra security if he is still in charge of the club when the Red Devils face Chelsea at home on 28 December. (Sun)
Meanwhile, United are ready to pay £51m for Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, 27. (Mundo Deportivo, via Daily Star)
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has told outgoing Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola he will give him anything he wants in a bid to lure him to Stamford Bridge in the summer. (Sun)
Abramovich is planning to make Guardiola the world's highest-paid manager and will also fund a massive overhaul of the Blues' playing staff. (Daily Mail)
Midfielder Marko Grujic, 19, has agreed a five-year contract with Liverpool ahead of completing a £5m move from Red Star Belgrade. (Liverpool Echo)
Liverpool and Everton are watching Marseille captain Steve Mandanda, with the 30-year-old keeper considering a move to the Premier League. (Canal+, via TalkSport)
Manchester City scouts are interested in 19-year-old Partizan Belgrade winger Andrija Zivkovic. (Daily Mail)
Riyad Mahrez, 24, is likely to stay at Leicester in January according to his agent, despite interest from other Premier League clubs including Manchester United. (Sky Sports)
Tottenham are preparing another attempt to bring West Bromwich Albion striker Saido Berahino to White Hart Lane. The 22-year-old was the subject of a £23m bid by the London club in the summer. (Telegraph)
Tottenham will look to sign Valencia's former Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo, 30, if they fail to revive a deal for Berahino. (Daily Mail)
Southampton have joined Arsenal and Liverpool in showing interest in 18-year-old Charlton forward Ademola Lookman. (Newshopper)
Fulham hope to unveil former Watford manager Slavisa Jokanovic as their new manager this week. (Mirror)
Portsmouth manager Paul Cook is mulling over whether to send 19-year-old defender Jack Whatmough on loan. (The News, Portsmouth)
Monaco are also interested in Newcastle target Salvatore Sirigu, the 28-year-old Paris St-Germain goalkeeper. (Daily Express)
QPR director of football Les Ferdinand admits that striker Charlie Austin, 26, might leave the club in January. (Evening Standard)
Celtic manager Ronny Deila has six weeks to get it right, according to former Hoops midfielder Alan Thompson. (Daily Record)
Swansea City might be in the bottom three but won't end the season there, says ex-Cardiff City defender James Collins. (Wales Online)
David Beckham would like to sign 34-year-old Paris St-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for his MLS franchise team in Miami. (Aftonbladet)
And finally
Tottenham's players have been playing Secret Santa by choosing a Christmas present for one of their team-mates and defender Jan Vertonghen cheekily suggested he would get young midfielder Dele Alli a girlfriend. (Spurs TV)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Back after Christmas
Star
West Ham star hits out at Niall Quinn following cheating allegations
WEST HAM defender James Collins has hit back at Niall Quinn insisting: “I’m no cheat.”
By Ralph Ellis
The Welsh international was accused by TV pundit Quinn of trying to con the referee by clutching his head when he’d been on his hand by the ball in Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Swansea.
Referee Lee Mason didn’t give a penalty despite furious protests and Swansea players reacted angrily as the defender lay on the ground rubbing his head.
But Collins said: “I think the fans thought I was trying to blag it by holding my head, but I wasn’t.
“I was holding my head because, in the same incident, I stayed on the floor and I think he slid in behind me and I took a knee in the back of the head. That’s why I was down, not because I was trying to say the ball had hit me in the head.
“The ball certainly did hit my hand, but I didn’t intentionally handball it.
“To be honest, he had a shot and I just tried to chuck my body in front of it. If you look closely, you can see I didn’t deliberately handball it. I just couldn’t get out of the way.”
Collins gave a man of the match display as West Ham kept a clean sheet for the third game in a row.
But the 32-year-old Sunderland target admits he’s fighting to save his career at Upton Park.
He has started only five Premier League games this season after falling behind Winston Reid in the pecking order and knows his place in the Wales squad for Euro 2016 is in doubt if he can’t hold down a regular spot.
He said: “I can’t afford to think ahead to Wales – I need to concentrate on my club form.
“I am out of contract in the summer, and I need to look at performing well and that will obviously be good for me in terms of my Wales opportunity too.”
The injury hit Hammers have not won in seven games and need to put that right when they visit rock bottom Aston Villa – Collins’ former club – on Boxing Day.
He said: “We are grinding out results, and although we are not scoring or winning we are picking up points.
“We are creating chances, even though everybody knows we are missing some of our creative players and goal scorers.
“If we’d just had three defeats rather than three draws we would be talking a bit differently, but we are still confident and we feel that over the busy Christmas period there are games we believe we can win.”
C&H
Irons striker loan deal rumoured
West Ham are rumoured to have re-opened negotiations for a loan move for Juventus striker Simone Zaza in January after missing out in the summer.
The recycled news suggests West Ham are looking to bolster their attacking options through talks to re-negotiate a £1.5m loan fee with the Serie A side, with an option to buy set at £18m. Zaza is keen to find a club that will offer him more playing time as he looks to secure a place in the Italy squad for Euro 2016 next summer.
The 24-year-old joined Juventus in the summer for £13.5m after spending the last two seasons with Sassuolo, who had purchased co-ownership in him when he left Sampdoria at the end of the 2012-13 season.
He played 64 Serie A games for Sassuolo, scoring 20 times, but is not currently in Massimiliano Allegri’s first-team plans in Turin. Zaza has played just 10 games all season, starting only three Serie A ties. He has netted five goals but it is clear he is not a favourite at Juventus.
The fresh rumour surfaced yesterday after a report was published in Italy via La Gazetta Dello Sport.
Last week Bilic told a press conference “Apart from one loan deal that we were thinking about, we were not thinking of buying major players in January. That hasn’t changed”
Could that one loan deal be Simone Zaza that Bilic was referring to?
West Ham Blog updated:-
farewellboleyn.blogspot.com
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