BBC
Chelsea have put a £130m price tag on striker Diego Costa and are willing to sell the 28-year-old this month. (Sunday Times - subscription required)
Manchester United's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, 31, is expected to receive an offer of £1m a week to play in the Chinese Super League. (The Sun)
Real Madrid are ready to eclipse any offers made for Tottenham playmaker Dele Alli, 20, this summer. (Express)
West Ham are considering a deal to loan outcast playmaker Dimitri Payet, 29, to Nice. (Mirror)
Paris St-Germain are ready enter the race for Payet and beat fellow French club Marseille to the signing of the France international. (Express)
Chelsea have joined Manchester United and Bayern Munich in pursuit of Benfica's £34m-rated Portugal international right-back Nelson Semedo, 23. (A Bola, via Daily Star)
Manchester United players will face a pay cut if they fail to qualify for the Champions League again next season. (The Sun)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wants referees' chief Mike Riley to explain why Andre Marriner did not give his side a penalty when the Etihad club were 2-1 up in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Saturday. (Daily Telegraph)
Sunderland could bring in Robbie Keane and Joleon Lescott - who have a combined ages of 70. Keane, 36, is a free agent after leaving LA Galaxy and is expected to begin talks next week, while Lescott, 34, has been training with the Wearsiders after leaving AEK Athens. (Express)
Tottenham have rejected an £8m offer from Crystal Palace for Wales international full-back Ben Davies, 23.(People)
The Black Cats are monitoring former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira, currently coaching New York City in the MLS, if David Moyes departs. (The Sun)
Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United are considering bids for Inter Milan's Croatian international midfielder Ivan Perisic, 27. (La Gazzetta Dello Sport)
Juventus are considering a move for Liverpool's Germany international midfielder Emre Can, 23. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian)
New Swansea manager Paul Clement says he wants to hang on to in-form striker Fernando Llorente, 31, after reports of interest from Premier League leaders Chelsea. (Talksport)
Crystal Palace could lose out to Olympique Lyonnais in the race to sign Juventus and former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, 35.(Eurosport - in French)
Watford have agreed to sign former Birmingham City, West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers striker Mauro Zarate, 29, from Fiorentina for £2.3m. (Observer)
Former Burnley boss Stan Ternent believes incumbent Sean Dyche is doing such a good job that he will become a target for bigger clubs. (Daily Star)
Carlos Tevez has denied reports that he became the highest paid player in world football when he swapped his boyhood club Boca Juniors for the Chinese Super League. (Daily Mail)
West Ham transfer target Scott Hogan, 24, was left out of Brentford's matchday squad against Wigan on Saturday, fuelling speculation that he will shortly be on his way out of Griffin Park. (London Evening Standard)
Middlesbrough's £6m bid, rising to £8m with add-ons, for Hull City winger Robert Snodgrass has been rejected by the Tigers. (Sky Sports)
Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy says former Newcastle defender Steven Taylor, 30, could be joining the Suffolk club next week. (Ipswich Town FC Twitter)
The Football Association will apply to Brent Council to increase the number of full capacity matches at Wembley from 37 to 57. (Daily Mail)
And finally
After Aston Villa's Ross McCormack claimed he could not get to training because of faulty gates, boss Steve Bruce drove to the striker's house, photographed the 4ft 6in wall to prove the player could have left the property and arranged alternative transport. (Daily Mirror)
Twitter user Reece Jones posts a picture which appears to be Bruce in full Villa training kit in a kebab shop. (Daily Star)
Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce, clearly trying to forget Seamus Coleman's winning goal for Everton, mistakenly refers to the Republic of Ireland international as Simon. (Liverpool Echo)
Guardian
Andy Carroll’s double sinks Middlesbrough as West Ham climb table
Louise Taylor at the Riverside Stadium
Andy Carroll not only scored twice but made a compelling case for an England recall as West Ham United’s mid-winter revival continued with a fifth win in seven league games.
Much more of this from Slaven Bilic’s side and the striking Dimitri Payet will seem both increasingly dispensable and an even bigger idiot than he already appeared.
As hard as Adama Traoré tried – and, illuminating the bleakest of Teesside afternoons Aitor Karanka’s winger played like a man auditioning for a role at Chelsea next season – Middlesbrough could not quite avoid a defeat that leaves them far too close to the bottom three for comfort.
They are now without a win in their last five games and, perhaps unwisely, their manager bizarrely took his frustration out on the home fans. “The atmosphere was awful,” said Karanka. “They demanded too much. I don’t know how many thousands of people were asking for long balls at the end but it’s a style we don’t know how to play and the team was broken on the pitch. I was really upset.
“We have to improve but they need to understand where we were last season. They have small memories. These players deserve more respect. It’s something we have to fix – and while I’m here we won’t be playing long balls.”
Bilic was somewhat happier. “We were way the better side,” he said, before revealing Angelo Ogbonna had played his last game of the season and is due to undergo knee surgery. “And Andy Carroll gives you everything. He’s brilliant. He’s quality.”
The same has been said of Payet but West Ham’s manager acknowledged that the Frenchman’s downing of tools had bonded and galvanised his team-mates. “You lose something and you gain something,” he shrugged. “But it would be ridiculous for me to say we don’t miss him playing.”
Karanka’s mood might have been different had Carroll not recovered from the whiplash he sustained in the course of scoring that acrobatic volley against Crystal Palace last week. Indeed, it did not take the centre-forward many minutes to prove a real pain in the Boro manager’s neck.
His opening goal was quintessential Carroll, involving him out-leaping both Calum Chambers and Ben Gibson before connecting with Manuel Lanzini’s corner and powering an unstoppable header past the helpless Victor Valdés and into the net.
At least Karanka had Traoré on his side and the winger’s amalgam of rapid acceleration and a clever, shoulder dropping trick destabilised Bilic’s defence to the point where Chambers was able to cross for Cristhian Stuani to side-foot a shot beyond Darren Randolph at the end of a glorious eight-man passing move that encapsulated Karanka’s vision.
Unwilling to be upstaged, Carroll offered a swift riposte, pouncing on the rebound after Valdés could only parry Michail Antonio’s low shot from the edge of the area into his path. As Carroll extended his left boot to steer the ball into the net, Valdes must have rued his failure to push Antonio’s effort around the post.
Bilic wanted a penalty when George Friend went through the back of Sofiane Feghouli in the area and the sense of visiting grievance grew when Bernardo Espinosa’s nasty, cynical, foul caused Mark Noble to hobble off nursing an ankle injury. Badly missing Noble’s intelligence in midfield, West Ham lived dangerously for a while.
Randolph did well to keep a Marten de Roon header out and only Stuani’s body and the bar came, rather fortuitously, between Aaron Cresswell and an own goal.
Yet although a tight groin forced Carroll off, his replacement, Jonathan Calleri, enjoyed the final word, the substitute’s stoppage-time shot deflecting in off Adam Clayton before gentle boos greeted the final whistle. “I wouldn’t say the atmosphere was awful,” said Bilic. “It was just that we played real good.”
Telegraph
Middlesbrough 1 West Ham 3: Resurgent Andy Carroll leads Hammers into top half
Jason Mellor, at the Riverside Stadium
Aitor Karanka risked reopening old wounds in his often strained relationship with Middlesbrough supporters, after accusing them of disrespecting his players and making for an “awful” atmosphere as two goals from Andy Carroll helped to condemn his side to a defeat that leaves them in the thick of the battle for Premier League survival.
The Spaniard, clearly irked by the way the home crowd urged his side to revert to long-ball tactics in their ultimately fruitless attempts to salvage a draw from a highly entertaining contest played out in front of more than 30,000, left Riverside regulars in little doubt as to his feelings in the wake of a defeat that sees the Teesside club four points above the drop zone.
“I was really upset with the last 10 minutes,” the head coach said after Carroll inspired the visitors to a fifth win in seven games. Karanka added: “We didn’t play in the way we have to and in the way we need to, and it was because the atmosphere was awful today. The fans demanded a lot from the players to play in a certain way which we don’t know how to play [long ball]. Playing that way we didn’t create one chance.
“If you look at where we are this season and where we were two or three seasons ago, these players deserve more respect. Are fans expecting too much? Yes. When I don’t know how many thousands of fans at the end are asking for long balls, you have to play long balls. It’s a style we don’t know and we don’t play well.
“It’s a thing we have to fix because while I’m here we’re not going to play long ball. They [supporters] have short memories. They’re leaving the stadium with five minutes to go when three years ago the club was going to League One. The fans knew this season was going to be tough but they mustn’t forget where the club was two, three, four, five seasons ago.”
Middlesbrough would no doubt have profited from their belated long ball tactics had they been able to call upon the aerial talents of Carroll, the game’s outstanding performer who shaped his side’s victory with two first-half goals before being taken off as a precaution 25 minutes from the end to protect a groin strain.
The 28-year-old’s thunderous header from Manuel Lanzini’s ninth minute corner was a throwback to a bygone age of centre-forward play, while the former Newcastle forward reacted first to convert the rebound after Victor Valdes saved a shot from Michail Antonio on the stroke of half-time.
In between, Cristhian Stuani swept home a cross from Calum Chambers to reward some enterprising forward play from the division’s lowest scorers, who deserved a share of the spoils and came close to levelling in the second half when Darren Randolph kept out Marten de Roon’s header, and when Stuani’s close range effort bounced back off the bar. Substitute Rudy Gestede came desperately close to a stoppage-time leveller when his volley bounced inches wide before Jonathan Calleri sealed victory at the death when his shot found the net thanks to a hefty deflection off Adam Clayton.
After seeing his side climb into the top half, Slaven Bilic confessed to having sympathy with the way Karanka spelled out a few home truths. “A lot of times it’s easier to play away,” the West Ham manager said. He added: “I wouldn’t say the atmosphere was awful, but if you concede a goal at home, then at any ground you’re in trouble.”
Karanka professed the visitors a better side with Carroll in their ranks, the England forward more than making up for the absence of Dimitri Payet. Asked for an update on the French forward’s proposed move to Marseille, Bilic added: “There’s 10 days to go in the window so it’s going to finish in 10 days. Two outcomes are possible, for him to stay or leave us for another club. He’s a great player and to say you’d not miss a brilliant player like him would be ridiculous. We’re not asking for anything crazy, in fact we’re asking for less than his market value.”
PLAYER RATINGS (Mail)
Middlesbrough (4-1-4-1): Valdes 5.5; Chambers 6.5, Bernado 6, Gibson 6, Friend 6; Clayton 6.5; Traore 7.5, de Roon 6.5, Forshaw 7 (Gestede 83), Stuani 6.5 (Bamford 80); Negredo 6.5
Subs not used: Da Silva, Leadbitter, Fischer, Guzan, Downing
Scorers: Stuani 27
Bookings: Chambers
West Ham (4-4-2): Randolph 6; Byram 5.5, Reid 7.5, Ogbonna 6.5, Cresswell 5.5; Feghouli 6 (Collins 83), Noble 6 (Fernandes 54, 5.5) Obiang 6, Lanzini 6.5; Antonio 7, Carroll 8 (Calleri 67, 6.5)
Subs not used: Adrian, Fletcher, Oxford, Quina.
Scorers: Carroll 9 and 43, Calleri 90
Bookings: Lanzini
Referee: Martin Atkinson 6.5
Att: 30, 848
MOM: Carroll
Express
West Ham Exclusive: Paris Saint-Germain looking to usurp Marseille for Dimitri Payet
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN are ready to launch a rival bid to snatch West Ham United’s striking play maker Dimitri Payet from under the noses of Marseille.
By Neil Fissler, Exclusive
West Ham have accepted that Payet who has been refusing to play for them for the last two weeks is going to be leaving before the transfer window closes.
But they are determined to get as close to their £35million asking price as possible having already rejected two offers from Marseille for the French international.
Marseille are now preparing a third offer of around £25million for a player they sold to The Hammers two years ago for £10.7million.
They are insisting that they cannot afford the £35million that Hammers are believed to want for the star who is earning £125,000 a week in the capital.
PSG have had a long-term interest in Payet signed German international Julian Draxler at the start of the month.
Unai Emery has placed a question mark over the future of injury hit Argentina international Javier Pastore and has earmarked Payet as his replacement.
Payet’s fee and wages wouldn’t be a problem for PSG’s owners Qatar Sports Investments and would provide a more acceptable alternative to Marseille.
Payet has turned down at least one offer from the Chinese Super League believed to be from Hebei China Fortune who were willing to pay him £26million a year.
Meanwhile, The Hammers are considering making a formal complaint to European football’s governing body UEFA about Marseille’s conduct.
Liverpool Echo
Everton youngster set to join West Ham
Londoners to swoop for Nathan Holland
Everton talent Nathan Holland is set to join Premier League rivals West Ham United.
Nathan Holland of Everton (Photo by Charles McQuillan)
The 18-year-old will sign a long-term deal with the London club and an announcement is expected today.
Holland has been with the Blues since the age of nine and signed his first professional contract last summer, tying him down until the end of this season.
Long-time admirers West Ham were alerted to his situation and with no new deal at Goodison in the offing made their move.
Holland, born in Wythenshawe, is an England youth international but despite being highly thought of never managed to make his breakthrough at first-team level at Everton.
But West Ham have swooped on the attacking midfielder and are ready to complete his transfer to the London Stadium today.
