WHO Poll
Q: 2023/24 Hopes & aspirations for this season
a. As Champions of Europe there's no reason we shouldn't be pushing for a top 7 spot & a run in the Cups
24%
  
b. Last season was a trophy winning one and there's only one way to go after that, I expect a dull mid table bore fest of a season
17%
  
c. Buy some f***ing players or we're in a battle to stay up & that's as good as it gets
18%
  
d. Moyes out
37%
  
e. New season you say, woohoo time to get the new kit and wear it it to the pub for all the big games, the wags down there call me Mr West Ham
3%
  



Alan 12:56 Tue Jan 30
Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
BBC

Chelsea will refuse any bid from Manchester City for 27-year-old Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard - even if Pep Guardiola's side offer to break the world record transfer fee of £200m. (Telegraph)

The Blues are targeting Tottenham's Spanish striker Fernando Llorente, 32, if they cannot sign Arsenal's 31-year-old France striker Olivier Giroud. (Sun)

Chelsea's Brazil defender David Luiz, 30, is a potential makeweight in bringing Giroud to Stamford Bridge. (Star)

Juventus are confident they will be able to sign 24-year-old Liverpool and Germany midfielder Emre Can, who is out of contract in the summer, on a free transfer. (Mail)

Everton boss Sam Allardyce has told Netherlands midfielder Davy Klaassen he should go out on loan in a bid to revive his career at Goodison Park. The 24-year-old only joined the Toffees in the summer but has not played a Premier League game since September. (Star)

Swansea midfielder Roque Mesa has passed his medical at Sevilla. The 28-year-old Spaniard is set to join the La Liga side on loan until the end of the season. (Marca - in Spanish)

Manager Roy Hodgson says Crystal Palace are still looking to bring in Getafe's Spanish goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, 31, and Lille's 24-year-old French defender Ibrahim Amadou. (Sky Sports)

Manchester City are close to signing England Under-21 winger Jack Harrison from New York City for a fee of about £4m. He will then move to Championship side Middlesbrough on loan. (Mail)

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp claims added time was cut short by broadcasters BT Sport during his side's FA Cup defeat by West Bromwich Albion. (Telegraph)

Barcelona's Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho, 25, returned to former club Liverpool's training ground to say goodbye to team-mates. (Mail)

Burnley boss Sean Dyche has made a bid for Nottingham Forest centre-half Joe Worrall, 21, worth up to £10m. (Sun)

Former Manchester United midfielder David Beckham is stunned Arsenal sold Alexis Sanchez, 29, to his former club and predicts he will be a big success. (Mirror)

Beckham also believes Jose Mourinho is the perfect man to lead Manchester United forward. (Star)

Best of Monday's gossip

Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is nearing a move to LA Galaxy in the MLS. The 36-year-old former Sweden international is due to return to training next week following a December injury setback. (ESPN)

Arsenal will allow forward Olivier Giroud to move to Chelsea if their Premier League rivals meet the 31-year-old France international's £35m asking price. (Mail)

Manchester United have joined the race to sign Bayern Munich's Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, 30. (Mirror)

Andre Ayew could also be on his way out of West Ham with Swansea hoping to complete an £18m deal for the 28-year-old Ghana forward's return to the Liberty Stadium. (Sun)

Goalkeeper Joe Hart is keen to end his loan deal with West Ham before the transfer window closes. The 30-year-old, on loan from Manchester City, is now David Moyes' second choice and wants to retain his position as England's number one for the World Cup. (Times - subscription required)




Guardian Rumour Mill

Barry Glendenning

With a midweek round of Premier League matches inconveniently scheduled to clash with the final two days of the January transfer window, the Rumour Mill can’t help but ponder the notion that football has finally reached such a point of ludicrousness that there now exists a huge army of internet fanboys for whom the football played in the former is little more than a distraction from the white noise of the latter. For many, the frenzy surrounding the purchase of particular footballers has become more interesting than anything these guys actually do once they switch clubs.

Many, but not all. If nothing else, a lack of activity in the transfer market in recent weeks suggests Newcastle fans will be able to give their team’s match against Burnley on Wednesday their full attention. Having missed out on Daniel Sturridge despite labouring under the delusion they had a deal wrapped up, the Magpies are now being linked with Manchester City central defender Eliaquim Mangala, who will find himself surplus to requirements at the Etihad once Aymeric Laporte arrives from Athletic Bilbao for £57m. Feyenoord striker Nicolai Jorgensen has also been linked with a move to St James’ Park, where recent disappointments mean season ticket-holders are unlikely to be holding their breath waiting for any big – or even small – announcements.

In potentially good news for Peter Crouch, Fernando Llorente, Olivier Giroud and any other sentient male over 6ft tall who happens to be walking past Stamford Bridge at around 10.30pm (GMT) tomorrow, the mooted move of Edin Dzeko to Chelsea has fallen through after the Roma striker failed to agree personal terms on an 18-month contract. His Roma team-mate Emerson Palmieri will be flying in to cough for the Chelsea medics later today, after the two clubs agreed a fee of £17.6 plus £7m in add-ons for the left-back. Giroud remains the favourite to go to Chelsea instead of Dzeko, as Arsenal charitably bid to increase their London rivals’ chances of beating them to a Champions League qualification spot, while out-of-favour defender David Luiz could go the other way as a makeweight in any deal.

One of those players hailed as a real bargain when he was signed for £11m last summer, Swansea City flop Roque Mesa has gone to Sevilla on loan. Crystal Palace remain interested in Lille central defender Ibrahim Amadou and Getafe goalkeeper Vicente Guaita, while Burnley have made an audacious £10m bid for Nottingham Forest’s 21-year-old centre-half Joe Worrall. Relegation threatened Stoke are hoping to get their £14m deal for Galatasaray midfielder Badou Ndiaye over the line today, but will miss out on 21-year-old local lad-turned-New York City star, Jack Harrison, who is off to Manchester City and will promptly be shipped out on loan to Middlesbrough.

And finally, in dire need of a notoriously calming influence for the many overpaid and under-achieving troublemakers in their squad, Sunderland hope to sign Norn Iron and Hearts frontman Kyle Lafferty. Sunderland boss Chris Coleman had offered Chris Martin a loan deal, but decided the dithering Derby County striker wasn’t for him when he went all Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte by asking for 48 Hours and then Another 48 Hours to think about his decision.





C&H

Andre Ayew bid confirmed

Sources close to the club have confirmed that Swansea City have now made a formal cash bid for Andre Ayew.

Initially, the Welsh club said they only were interested in a loan with an option to buy but in the last twenty-four hours Swansea have changed their strategy to make it a straight transfer bid to tempt the Hammers in selling their player. The source refused to reveal the specific amount bid but said it was very significant. Media reports vary with competing bids of £16m and £18m both being mentioned in recent articles.

The source said it was also true that a Swansea player may be coming in the opposite direction as part of a deal although they refused to name the player. Both Ki Sung-Yueng and Aldie Mawson have both been linked with West Ham interest.

Rumours suggest the player has been feigning injury in an attempt to get a move while he is not said to be in the manager’s current plans. The source said ‘He is a number 10 not a number 9 and the manager doesn’t need a number 9’



West Ham forward Andre Ayew could be in line for a return to the Liberty Stadium but Swansea will have to up their bid for the forward, according to reports.

Ghana international Ayew may be set for a family reunion with striker brother Jordan as the Swans increased their offering after a £14million bid was rejected earlier this month.

According to Sky Sports, the Hammers value Ayew senior at £20million – around the fee the London club paid for him in August 2016.

While Swansea’s reported bid of £18million falls short of this figure, it is understood that West Ham are interested in a swap deal involving Swans midfielder Ki Sung-yueng.

The reported £20million offer would smash the £15million record transfer fee paid by the Swans for flop Borja Baston, who joined from La Liga side Atlético Madrid 18 months ago.

Ayew has made 24 appearances in all competitions for West Ham this season, netting six times along the way.

In his solitary season at the Liberty Stadium, after joining on a free transfer from Marseille in July 2015, he scored an impressive 12 goals in 35 appearances.

Swansea’s strike force has been found wanting this term – strikers Jordan Ayew, Tammy Abraham and Wilfried Bony have managed just ten goals between them in the league this season.

The Swans have seemingly failed to replace frontman Fernando Llorente after his departure to Spurs and will almost certainly require additional firepower to stay in the Premier League.






Sky

Domingos Quina and Chung-Yong Lee on Bolton's agenda

Bolton are in talks to re-sign Crystal Palace's Chung-Yong Lee and are considering a loan move for West Ham's Domingos Quina, according to Sky sources.

Palace manager Roy Hodgson told Sky Sports News one of his first-team squad members will go out on loan before Wednesday's transfer window deadline.

Lee, signed from Bolton by Palace in 2015, is expected to be allowed to move after Tuesday's game at West Ham.

The Hammers' Domingos Quina could also be heading to the Macron Stadium, with Bolton monitoring the young attacking midfielder.

Quina, a Portugal under-21 international, has made four first-team appearances for West Ham this season.

The 18-year-old is highly rated and has previously been linked with a move to Liverpool and Arsenal.

Bolton face Bristol City on February 2 in their next Sky Bet Championship fixture, live on Sky Sports Football.




OS

Moyes calls for another 'fantastic' London Stadium atmosphere

David Moyes has called on the Claret and Blue Army to roar West Ham United to victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening.

The Hammers go into their London derby meeting with the Eagles on a run of one defeat in nine Premier League matches that has lifted them to eleventh in the table.

And with victory over Roy Hodgson’s men set to take West Ham into the top half, the manager says the energy provided by a capacity London Stadium crowd can inspire his team to another important win.

“The main thing at the Stadium has been really good,” he said. “In my first game Leicester, I got the feeling that they knew the team and the club needed it.

“They recognised that the team was putting in a real shift in their effort and in the main, probably the run we have been on, it has merited it, but we’re not asking for more praise.

“We didn’t play well at Wigan but I would hope there was a bit of an understanding that, with the team we took up there, it was always going to be a struggle.

“I said after the game that I don’t think, unless we had our best team out, we had a realistic chance of winning because I don’t think you can go to these clubs with less than your best team; maybe one or two players out, but not what we had out for the game.

“Ultimately, we are the ones on the pitch, and I need to get the players to play better and get results.

“Some of the atmospheres recently have been fantastic and I think the players have helped that with. Marko Arnautovic’s running and energy have spilt over to the terraces.

“Some of the games we’ve had have been terrific and even against West Brom, late on, the energy the supporters gave us was terrific. We’ve had some really big results at home against Chelsea and Arsenal, so we’ve got to keep that going."

When asked which players could be back in contention for Tuesday’s game, Moyes was being understandably coy, so as not to give any advantage to opposite number Roy Hodgson ahead of kick-off.

“I’m not going to give Roy any help on his team selection but there is a chance that we might have a couple back around the squad or around the team. Most could probably do with of extra training or a bit of extra football, but sometimes that’s what you have to do.

“Michail Antonio is one who could be close, but he is someone who is a big, powerful boy and we’ve got to watch that we don’t do things too quickly with him.

“Mark Noble has done some training in the last two days so I’m going to push to try to get him fit, but there is no guarantee yet.”




Replies - Newest Posts First (Show In Chronological Order)

BubblesCyprus 8:29 Wed Jan 31
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Thanks Alan much appreciated

Texas Iron 6:11 Tue Jan 30
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Cheers...

Takashi Miike 1:31 Tue Jan 30
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Thanks Alan

I like the Korean player Ki and hope that signing happens

Fivetide 1:29 Tue Jan 30
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Thanks Alan - nothing but the facts.

Thanks Alan 1:28 Tue Jan 30
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Thanks Alan

Alan 1:18 Tue Jan 30
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Moyes column added.

tiddingtoniron 1:03 Tue Jan 30
Re: Tuesday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Superb as always Alan





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