BBC
Manchester United and Roma are miles apart in their valuation of Joshua Zirkzee, 24, with the Premier League club demanding a fee of around £35m and reluctant to sanction a loan move for the Netherlands striker. (Corriere dello Sport - in Italian), external
Barcelona are eager to extend the contract of Hansi Flick to 2028 despite the 60-year-old German manager only signing a new deal with the Spanish champions until 2027 in May this year. (Bild - in German), external
Barcelona are also looking at Aston Villa's 28-year-old Spain defender Pau Torres and Borussia Dortmund's 26-year-old Germany international Nico Schlotterbeck as they look to sign a left-sided centre-back. (ESPN), external
Chelsea's priority in the summer will be bolstering central midfield - with England duo Kobbie Mainoo, 20, of Manchester United and Adam Wharton, 21, of Crystal Palace mentioned. (Telegraph - subscription required), external
Crystal Palace are looking at right wing-back options for the January transfer window after an injury to Daniel Munoz that could rule out the 29-year-old Colombia international for an extended period. (Sky Sports), external
One of the wide defenders Palace are interested in is Bayern Munich's Sacha Boey - the 25-year-old French full-back who is expected to leave the Bundesliga club next month. (Standard), external
Palace boss Oliver Glasner believes England defender Marc Guehi, 25, will see out his contract by staying until the end of the season. (Standard), external
AC Milan are in talks to sign Germany striker Niclas Fullkrug, 32, from West Ham - having offered to take him on loan with option to buy. (Bild - in German), external
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer urged Manchester United to sign Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice while he was manager at Old Trafford - but they instead signed Donny van de Beek, Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo. (Mail - subscription required), external
Leeds United are unlikely to spend about £25m to sign AC Milan and Mexico striker Santiago Gimenez, 24, and will instead eye a short-term loan deal for a new forward during the January window. (Football Insider), external
Germany striker Nick Woltemade was a target for Bayern Munich in the summer before he joined Newcastle United from Stuttgart and the 23-year-old says that "in hindsight, I'm happy that it turned out this way". (Sport Bild, via Sky Sports Germany), external
Newcastle United's 20-year-old English midfielder Alfie Harrison, who is yet to make his senior debut for the club he joined from Manchester City last year, is attracting interest from two Championship clubs. (Sky Sports)
Sky Paper Talk
Premier League
Chelsea's recruitment for 2026 will centre heavily around boosting the club's midfield options and easing the load placed on Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez - Daily Telegraph
Manchester United target Karim Adeyemi is believed to be ready to push for a move away from Borussia Dortmund, with his wife the catalyst for any potential transfer - Daily Mail
Chelsea have been urged to "put up or shut up" and decide whether they want to move to Earl's Court after alternative plans for the site were approved by Kensington and Chelsea council - The Guardian
Chelsea did not see Enzo Maresca's post-Everton outburst coming and even five days on, confusion still surrounds what prompted the 45-year-old Italian to say what he said - Daily Mail
Manchester United could have signed Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but instead plumped for Cristiano Ronaldo, Donny van de Beek and Jadon Sancho - The Sun
Arsenal have set their sights on AC Milan youngsters Davide Bartesaghi and Lorenzo Torriani - Daily Express
Scottish Premiership
Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson has slammed the alleged assaults of 'three colleagues' - Scottish Sun
EFL
Former Peterborough United defender Oscar Wallin has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of just 24 - The Sun
Athletics
World Athletics will conduct an in-depth review of the financial crisis at Grand Slam Track before giving authorisation for the US league to return for another season next year - The Times
The Athletic
West Ham’s defence is not fit for purpose: What are the problems – and answers?
Konstantinos Mavropanos, Jean-Clair Todibo and Maximilian Kilman are part of a struggling West Ham defence Marc Atkins/Getty Images
By Roshane Thomas
The January transfer window opens in 14 days and West Ham United intend to land their top target.
Head coach Nuno Espirito Santo is concerned with his porous defence. In the 11 league games he has overseen, his side are yet to keep a clean sheet and have conceded two or more goals on seven occasions.
The club has a long-standing interest in Toulouse defender Charlie Cresswell, who they failed to sign on deadline day in the summer.
The 23-year-old centre-back has other European suitors, but West Ham see Cresswell as an ideal fit to boost their chances of Premier League survival. The club’s representatives remain in regular contact with Cresswell’s representatives and continue to monitor the defender’s progress. Toulouse’s valuation of Cresswell is around €25million (£22m; $29m). They also want to sign a striker next month, with 32-year-old forward Niclas Fullkrug in talks to join Milan on loan.
In Nuno’s first game in charge against Everton, he fielded a back four of El Hadji Malick Diouf, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Kyle Walker-Peters. But this is the first and only time the quartet have started under Nuno.
His central-defensive pairing has changed from Kilman and Mavropanos to Jean-Clair Todibo and the Greece international. Igor Julio, the summer signing from Brighton & Hove Albion, has only featured in four league games under Nuno. The 27-year-old, whose deal includes a recall option, is determined to force his way into the starting XI. Julio has already played for his parent club this season (in an EFL Cup game against Oxford United) so would be ineligible to play for another side if his loan is cut short.
His first start was in the 2-2 draw against Bournemouth, where Nuno fielded a back three for the first time in a competitive game. During the October international break, the head coach fielded this system in a behind-closed-doors friendly loss to Ipswich Town. There were encouraging signs when striker Callum Wilson scored twice in the opening 35 minutes. Todibo assisted one of the goals and Bournemouth seldom threatened West Ham’s defence. But Wilson’s substitution led to Nuno’s side retreating further in their own half and struggling to sustain pressure from Bournemouth. The home side only registered four shots in the first half, but had 21 attempts after the interval.
Nuno reverted to a back four for games against Liverpool and Manchester United, but rejigged his formation for the 1-1 draw against Brighton. A back three of Todibo, Kilman and Mavropanos came close to sealing Nuno’s third win as head coach, but a controversial finish scuppered their chances. West Ham’s precarious league position is unlikely to change ahead of forthcoming matches against Manchester City, Fulham and Brighton.
A mitigating factor behind their porous defence is their lack of tight marking. During the 1-1 draw against Manchester United, an unmarked Diogo Dalot advances into the penalty area.
The full-back is in acres of space before he converts the opener.
West Ham have conceded 32 goals this season, the third highest in the league behind Burnley (33) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (35). They have the joint-second (along with Manchester United) fewest number of clean sheets (1). Only Wolves have a worse record. West Ham’s defensive frailties also extend to having the second-highest number of shots faced (244), behind Burnley (247).
Heading into the home loss to Liverpool, Alexander Isak was yet to open his league account for Arne Slot’s side following his £125million switch from Newcastle United. But West Ham’s defence gave him plenty of space in the penalty area to ensure that changed.
Fellow Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo squares it to the Sweden international, who side-foots his strike past goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
“They mark a chunk of space and think they are strong and secure, but they really struggle with lapses in concentration,” Matt Upson, who played in defence for West Ham from 2007-2011, tells The Athletic.
“All a centre-forward has to do in the box is show a little bit of movement across or behind them and it’s a goal. They’re not locked in and Kilman, Todibo and Mavropanos are terrible at it.
“For all their faults, the team does have a better structure under Nuno. They struggled to have an identity under Graham Potter and were all over the place under Julen Lopetegui. I do see small improvements with Nuno, but the defence is costing them massively.”
Another example of an error in judgment is Mavropanos missing the ball when he attempts to clear Joe Gomez’s cross.
It led to Gakpo scoring and doubling Liverpool’s lead. Game over.
The 3-2 victory against fellow relegation contenders Burnley saw West Ham concede first in the 35th minute. Similar to Dalot’s goal, Zian Flemming is unmarked before he converts his header into the bottom-right corner.
“My biggest issue with Mavropanos, Kilman and Todibo is they have no clue about awareness of head movement and marking in the box,” says Upson.
“It doesn’t matter how big and strong you are, they get done with movement all the time and that Burnley game highlights why. The cross before Flemming’s goal took ages to get into the box and Kilman doesn’t make it difficult for him to score.
“He just completely switches off. He’s a big defender, so all he has to worry about is where the attacking player is. I had high hopes for him when he joined (from Wolves for £40m) but he’s really struggled. I can’t recall many games where I’ve come away and said, ‘Wow, he was incredible today’. He seems like the sort of defender who you have to constantly be on. It’s no surprise West Ham are in the market for a defender.”
Cresswell could be the answer to Nuno’s problems.
Sport Witness
West Ham ready to meet fee for January signing – Hammers need to convince 11-goal star
West Ham United will be looking to improve their attacking options, especially with Niclas Füllkrug set to leave in the winter market.
AC Milan are working on signing the 32-year-old German on loan. On Wednesday, reports from Germany and Italy explained the Serie A side have made an offer to the Hammers.
West Ham have identified Royale Union Saint-Gilloise’s Promise David as a target for the mid-season window. Journalist Sacha Tavolieri, relayed by Walfoot, provides the latest on the Premier League side.
David joined Union Saint-Gilloise from Estonian side Nõmme Kalju FC in 2024 and finished his debut season with 24 goals and five assists. He decided against leaving the Jupiler Pro League side last summer and in June signed a new contract until 2029.
The Canada international has extended his impressive run, scoring 11 goals from 25 matches this season. The journalist claims the interest in him is growing as we get closer to the January window.
Tavolieri focuses on Nuno Espírito Santo’s side as he reports they are ready to meet Union Saint-Gilloise’s demands to sign David, without mentioning figures.
He adds the 24-year-old has been ‘opposed’ to a move. The frontman wants to at least finish this season with the Belgian club.
West Ham have to convince David to change his stance to succeed in their efforts to sign him in January.
FLW
Norwich City sent new Josh Sargent warning - £12m tipped to land West Ham transfer
West Ham United are interested in signing Norwich City striker Josh Sargent during the January transfer window as they look to strengthen their forward options.
The Hammers are currently languishing inside the relegation zone in the Premier League, so it is no real surprise that Nuno Espírito Santo is keen to add more firepower to his squad ahead of the second half of the season.
Sargent would give the 51-year-old another option in attack, with Callum Wilson and Jarrod Bowen being the main senior forwards available to him at present, aside from Niclas Füllkrug, who has failed to make any real impact in East London and has not started a game since October.
West Ham have internally opened initial talks over a potential deal for Sargent next month, as per Teamtalk.com.
The USA international made an excellent start to the 2025/26 campaign, scoring five goals in the first four games of the Championship season, although he has only found the net once since August.
Norwich also find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle this season, so they may put up a fight to keep hold of their number nine in January, especially with his contract not set to expire until the summer of 2028.
West Ham move would be a "no-brainer" for Josh Sargent
We asked our Norwich fan pundit, Zeke Downes, whether he could see Sargent being tempted by a move to the London Stadium, and if he did make a switch in January, how much money he would expect the Canaries to receive for his services.
"I would say it would be a no-brainer for him to be interested in that move," Zeke said.
"The only issue is, obviously, they are close to the relegation zone, but they have enough to get themselves out, as they have got experience in the league, they have got a good enough squad — they are just not in a good place at this moment.
"I think they will manage to get out of the bottom three in the end, so if Sargent is interested in it, which I would assume that he is, then it would be a really good move for him.
"I wouldn't begrudge it at all. He has already stayed for longer than he should and could have done. His value might have dropped slightly, but because it is in the January window, we might be able to get a little bit more for him.
"It wouldn't be the end of the world losing him. We have Makama now, who is proving to be a decent goalscorer in this league.
"If we can get enough money from Sargent, then we could use that money to get a winger and a striker, and then we should be OK.
"We have got Kvistgaarden as well, who would also be a striking option and has done pretty well when he's played, so if we can have Makama, Kvistgaarden and another guy, then I think that is probably a decent position to be in.
"We have also got Crnac, who will be back for next season.
"We were hoping for £20 million in the summer — we could probably ask for £15 million and if we get £12 million then I would say it probably will happen."
Josh Sargent deal could cost West Ham at least £20m
While West Ham are clearly in search of a striker who can prove to be value for money during the January transfer window, there is every chance it will cost them a fairly significant transfer fee to sign Sargent.
Considering that Norwich are in danger of being relegated to League One, Sargent has plenty of time left on his contract, and it is no secret that West Ham are desperate for reinforcements up front, there is no reason why the Canaries will not drive a hard bargain for the 25-year-old next month.
The Carrow Road outfit may value Sargent at more than £20 million, as per Teamtalk.com, which is more than West Ham would have hoped for.
With Sargent likely being keen on a move to the Premier League, as was alluded to by Zeke, it will be interesting to see how any potential transfer saga plays out if West Ham do make an approach for the striker once the transfer window opens.