BBC
Manchester United are in talks to sign France forward Ousmane Dembele, 23, from Barcelona. (Daily Record)
Alternatively, sources at United have rubbished the link with Dembele. (Mirror)
Paris St-Germain are confident Tottenham Hotspur and England midfielder Dele Alli, 24, wants to join them on a season-long loan deal. (Mail)
PSG are also interested Chelsea's France midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, 26. (Le 10 Sport - in French)
Barcelona's French defender Jean-Clair Todibo, 20, is on a list of centre-backs Everton are considering as they look to secure a loan signing before the transfer deadline. (Liverpool Echo)
Norwich City's 20-year-old English defender Max Aarons has agreed a five-year contract at Barcelona. (Sport - in Spanish)
Arsenal's French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, 21, has handed in a transfer request. (Tribal Football)
Borussia Dortmund remain adamant England winger Jadon Sancho, 20, will not be leaving the club during the summer transfer window, despite consistent links with Manchester United. (Independent)
Newcastle United are interested in Napoli and Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik, 26. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian)
Southampton are in talks to sign 22-year-old English midfielder Tom Davies from Everton. (Talksport)
Arsenal face competition from a Champions League club in the race for Lyon and France midfielder Houssem Aouar, 22. (Telegraph - subscription required)
Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero, 33, wants to leave Manchester United. (Sun)
Chelsea's Germany defender Antonio Rudiger, 27, is considering his future at the club after being left out of the first team. (Sky Sports)
And 19-year-old England winger Callum Hudson-Odoi's future is also in doubt at Stamford Bridge. (The Guardian)
Bayer Leverkusen's German defender Jonathan Tah, 24, is a on a list of potential targets for Leicester City.(Kicker - in German)
The Foxes have had a €32m (£29.5m) offer for French centre-back Wesley Fofana, 19, rejected by Saint-Etienne. (L'Equipe via Leicester Mercury)
Fulham are considering trying to sign former Everton and Charlton winger Ademola Lookman on loan. The 22-year-old Englishman now plays for RB Leipzig. (Evening Standard)
Manchester United and England midfielder Jesse Lingard, 27, will not be joining Tottenham despite being linked with a move. (Athletic - via Twitter)
The Red Devils are considering taking up a one-year option to extend Lingard's contract in order to protect his £25m valuation. (Sun)
Southampton's Moroccan winger Sofiane Boufal, 27, is a target for French club Angers. (L'Equipe, via Daily Echo)
Wales winger Daniel James, 22, is not likely to leave Manchester United this summer, despite being linked with Leeds United. (Manchester Evening News)
Blackburn Rovers are keen to secure loan moves for English defenders Tyler Magloire, 21, and Hayden Carter, 20 before the 16 October deadline, but both have picked up injuries which puts that in doubt. (Lancashire Telegraph)
Guardian Rumour Mill
Gregg Bakowski
In a break with tradition the Rumour Mill had to do some mild research. You see, when we read that Manchester United had “progressed talks with Barcelona” over the transfer of Ousmane Dembélé something felt a little off. No, no, no, that’s the wrong Dembélé, we yelped. Only a few weeks ago, we were filling this page with fluff linking Lyon’s 24-year-old forward, Moussa Dembélé, with a move to Old Trafford. It’s a rumour that has kept us well-stocked for the best part of 18 months, but we went to the trouble of using a search engine, and lo and behold, it does appear that the most recent piffle doing the rounds is that Ed Woodward has Barça’s Dembélé on his shopping list.
The 23-year-old forward has misfired like an Austin Maestro running on chip fat since arriving at Camp Nou for €105m. He was supposed to be the new Neymar but injuries, a David James-style obsession with video games, Lionel Messi bringing down the mood every other week and a rolling cast of soon-to-be-sacked managers have hardly helped him fill the void left by the Brazilian. So with Jadon Sancho seeming a non-starter, United would happily see if they could get Dembélé motoring again on loan. And that’s the problem. Barcelona desperately need to reduce their wage bill and would rather United agree to a permanent deal for the player before they let him go. Perhaps that is why United have offered unfilled-potential’s Jesse Lingard a one-year deal and told Tottenham to sling their hook.
In other Barcelona-related news, you may have read in these pages that Max Aarons is close to swapping Carrow Road for Camp Nou. The latest we have is that the 20-year-old left-back is close to inking a five-year-deal and will occupy the place in the Barça squad that Nélson Semedo will vacate when he joins Wolves. French defender Jean-Clair Todibo is another who looks like he has run his course at Barça. Premier League pacesetters Everton [subs, please check] have suffered an early defensive injury crisis and Carlo Ancelotti wants to bring in reinforcements. The 20-year-old, who impressed on loan at Schalke last season, would fit the bill.
One man who could be on his way out of Goodison is New York style icon Tom Davies. The midfielder with the short socks, long hair and penchant for smoking jackets has been nudged down the pecking order at Goodison by the arrival of wage bill-busting Abdoulaye Doucouré, Allan and James Rodríguez and Southampton would quite like to give the young scouser a platform to showcase his unique stylings.
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PSG are confident that Dele Alli would jump at the opportunity to put the Channel between himself and José Mourinho and are still working on securing him a loan move away from Tottenham. Not only that but they want to rescue Tiémoué Bakayoko, who has had a Winston Bogarde of a time at Chelsea since arriving in 2017.
Reports in Italy suggest that Newcastle are in for Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik but we’re guessing hacks who floated that idea haven’t done their homework on Mike Ashley. And Mattéo Guendouzi has slapped down a transfer request at Arsenal, who may try to raise some of the £49.5m they would need to buy Atlético Madrid Thomas Partey by selling pocket-sized midfield tyro Lucas Torreira.
Guardian
David Moyes and two players leave West Ham game after Covid-19 positive tests
Manager, Issa Diop and Josh Cullen return home
Carabao Cup tie against Hull goes ahead
Jacob Steinberg
West Ham’s Carabao Cup tie against Hull was allowed to go ahead on Tuesday night despite the Premier League club’s manager, David Moyes, and two of their players being sent home after returning positive tests for Covid‑19 70 minutes before kick-off at the London Stadium.
Medical officials from both clubs agreed to let the tie take place in line with health protocols and in consultation with the English Football League after Moyes, Issa Diop and Josh Cullen received their results.
None of Hull’s players had been tested. There was surprise when West Ham, who will face Everton or Fleetwood after reaching the fourth round with a 5-1 win, said the League One club had declined their offer to pay for tests for their team.
West Ham arrived at the ground around two hours before kick-off and Cullen, 24-year-old midfielder, and Diop, a 23-year-old defender, were in the starting line-up.
Alan Irvine, Moyes’s No 2, said there was shock when medical staff announced the positive results at 6.20pm. West Ham were forced to change their team, with Harrison Ashby and Jack Wilshere coming in, and Irvine stood in for Moyes on the touchline.
“We were in the same area as David,” Irvine said. “We weren’t sitting beside him. It was a big room and that wasn’t an issue for any of us. We were shocked by the news, because we have had so many tests and not had any positive. We do know that [some] tests are not completely accurate so we will wait and see what happens.”
West Ham’s players and staff were tested on Monday and those who had returned negative results did not need to isolate. Social-distancing measures were in place before results were received to minimise the risk of spread and Moyes, Cullen and Diop, who are asymptomatic, will follow government guidelines by self-isolating for 10 days. According to the Athletic, Arsenal have returned no positive tests after facing West Ham last Saturday.
The EFL said: “The League was made aware of a number of positive test results. Those individuals affected are now following the relevant Premier League and Public Health England advice and guidance and we wish them a speedy recovery.
“That guidance permitted the match to go ahead as planned but not before the two clubs’ medical teams, in conjunction with the EFL’s medical advisers, agreed all relevant protocols had been followed and both teams were comfortable in continuing.”
Testing is not mandatory in the EFL, whereas it is in the Premier League.
Tottenham had paid for Leyton Orient’s players to receive tests and their third-round tie, due to take place last night, was called off when the majority of the League Two club’s first-team squad returned positive results. However, Hull rejected a similar offer from West Ham, whose players and staff will be tested again before Sunday’s league game against Wolves.
Moyes, who is 57, will not be able to take training until his quarantine ends. “I am quite sure he will be in touch with us,” Irvine said. “It’s one of these situations that it could come back as false positive.”
West Ham announced the results 13 minutes into the game. “The club’s medical team were informed of the test results as the team were at London Stadium,” the club said. “The manager and both players immediately left the stadium and have returned home.”
Grant McCann, Hull’s manager, said nobody representing the visitors came into contact with Moyes, Cullen or Diop. “We found out an hour before the game,” he said.
“We are happy we followed the EFL protocols and West Ham were adamant on that, so we were comfortable to play the game.
“The players knew before the game. The players are not silly. Once we got here we had to follow the guidelines.”
Despite the disruption, West Ham dominated on the pitch. Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring with a fine volley, while Sébastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko both scored twice. Mallik Wilks grabbed a consolation for Hull.
Mail
West Ham 5-1 Hull: Hammers ease into Caraba Cup fourth round with Sebastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko both netting doubles after David Moyes and two players tested positive for Covid-19
West Ham eased into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup by beating Hull
Robert Snodgrass, Sebastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko were on target
Malik Wilks briefly gave Hull hope in the second half before two late goals
Hammers' boss David Moyes was absent after testing positive for Covid-19
By Kathryn Batte For Mailonline
West Ham eased into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 victory over League One side Hull City in the absence of manager David Moyes.
West Ham eased into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 5-1 victory over Hull City
Robert Snodgrass opened the scoring against his former side with a well-placed volley in the 18th minute before Sebastien Haller doubled their lead just before half-time.
Andriy Yarmolenko added a third from the penalty spot after Hull's Sean McLoughlin was penalised for a push from a corner.
Malik Wilks gave the Tigers brief hope when he made it 3-1 with 20 minutes to go but Grant McCann's side tired in the final stages of the game with Haller and Yarmolenko scoring twice in the last five minutes.
West Ham will play Fleetwood Town or Everton in the fourth round next week.
But West Ham will play that game without Moyes and two of his players after they were dramatically sent home from the London Stadium prior to their win after testing positive for Covid-19.
Defender Issa Diop and midfielder Josh Cullen were initially named in the team to face the League One Tigers.
But 15 minutes later the line-up was changed with both players omitted, and when the teams came out there was no sign of Moyes, with assistant Alan Irvine taking charge.
A club statement subsequently read: 'West Ham United can confirm that David Moyes, Issa Diop and Josh Cullen have returned positive tests for Covid-19.
'The club's medical team were informed of the test results as the team were at London Stadium preparing for this evening's Carabao Cup third-round tie against Hull City.
'The manager and both players immediately left the stadium and have returned home. All three, who are asymptomatic, will now follow Public Health England and Premier League guidelines and protocols.'
Telegraph
West Ham undeterred by pre-match Covid drama as they put Hull to the sword in Carabao Cup
Positive Covid tests for David Moyes and two players result in last-minute changed line-up but West Ham still prove too strong for Hull
By Sam Dean
Undeterred by the drama before kick-off, when their manager and two team-mates were withdrawn from the game after testing positive for coronavirus, West Ham United’s players demonstrated their superiority over Hull City with a comfortable victory in the Carabao Cup.
Strikes from Robert Snodgrass, Sebastien Haller and Andriy Yarmolenko gave West Ham a three-goal lead before even an hour had passed, with Yarmolenko in particular impressing with his creativity and skill.
The Carabao Cup has come to represent a source of much-needed relief for West Ham this season. Moyes’ side have lost their two matches in the Premier League but have so far enjoyed their cup run, beating Charlton Athletic and now Hull in emphatic fashion.
With concerns over their lack of summer activity and the sale of exciting prospect Grady Diangana, the sense is that dark clouds are once again gathering over the London Stadium. Their cup games have therefore allowed West Ham’s second string to play with more freedom than we have so far seen in their league campaign.
The likes of Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson all appeared to enjoy themselves here, playing an adventurous style of football under the eye of assistant manager Alan Irvine, who was standing in for Moyes following his Covid-19 test.
Yarmolenko was instrumental in everything West Ham produced in attack, creating the opener for Snodgrass and then the second for Haller. He scored two of his own in the second half, with Hull unable to disrupt the Ukrainian’s flow.
Most encouragingly of all, perhaps, there was a commanding performance in central midfield from Jack Wilshere, who was due to start on the bench before the positive coronavirus tests became known.
It was Wilshere’s first start in almost a year and, with doubts over his future at the club, he showed he could still be of use to West Ham this season.
Having created the first two goals, Yarmolenko scored the third with a penalty after Haller had been dragged to the ground by Hull’s Sean McLoughlin. Haller added a late fourth, after Mallik Wilks had scored a consolation goal for the visitors, and then Yarmolenko fired in the fifth.
Match details
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Randolph 6; Ashby 7 (Longelo 69), Balbuena 6, Alese 7, Johnson 7; Wilshere 7, Snodgrass 7; Yarmolenko 9, Lanzini 7, Anderson 7; Haller 8 Subs: Trott, Coventry, Bowen, Xande Silva, Martin
Hull City (4-2-3-1): Long 5; Coyle 5, A Jones 5, McLoughlin 5, Fleming 5; Smallwood 5 (Honeyman 17), Batty 5; Mayer 5 (Lewis-Potter 61), C Jones 5, Scott 6 (Wilks 61); Magennis 6 Subs: Ingram, Burke, Emmanuel, Samuelsen Booked: McLoughlin, Fleming, Honeyman
Referee: Simon Hooper (Wiltshire)
