Friday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Liverpool have stepped up their interest in Bayern Munich attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala, 21, with Manchester City, Real Madrid and Paris St-Germain all monitoring the Germany international. (Caughtoffside)

Arsenal and Newcastle are ready to offer Bayern Munich and Germany winger Leroy Sane, 28, a route back to the Premier League. (Givemesport)

Manchester United have been handed a boost in their pursuit of Paris St-Germain winger Xavi Simons with the 21-year-old Dutch international - currently on loan at RB Leipzig - unable to see a future with the Ligue 1 club. (Teamtalk)

Manchester United and Arsenal have been put off signing France midfielder Adrien Rabiot, 29, who is a free agent, because of his wage demands of £220,000 a week. (GiveMeSport)

Manchester United shortlisted Lille's Canadian forward Jonathan David, 24, and Al-Ahli and England striker Ivan Toney, 28, as alternatives to Joshua Zirkzee if they were unable to sign the 23-year-old Dutchman from Bologna. (ESPN)

Inter Milan are interested in signing Aston Villa's English midfielder Jacob Ramsey, 23. (Caughtoffside)

Chelsea and Ivory Coast forward David Datro Fofana has agreed a loan deal with Turkish side Goztepe SK after the 21-year-old's move to AEK Athens collapsed. (Fabrizio Romano)

West Ham are interested in signing ex-Liverpool defender Joel Matip, 33, on a free transfer with the German-born Cameroon defender still without a club. (Ruhr24 - in German)

Former England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole is to leave his coaching role at Birmingham City to join the Football Association full time and support interim England manager Lee Carsley. (Athletic - subscription required)

Chelsea's England defender Ben Chilwell hopes to be included in the club's 25-man Premier League squad, with 27-year-old not expected to move on loan to Turkey. (Telegraph - subscription required)

Arsenal and Chelsea will keep Sporting Lisbon's Sweden striker Viktor Gyokeres, 26, on their shortlist for next summer's transfer window. (Football Insider)

Junior Firpo wants to sign a new contract at Leeds but the 28-year-old Dominican Republic defender is open to a return to La Liga if a deal cannot be reached, with Real Betis keen. (Teamtalk)

Veteran former Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos, 38, is eyeing up a move to Major League Soccer after the Spaniard's move to Brazilian side Botafogo broke down. (Goal)

The agent of Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams says the 22-year-old Spaniard snubbed a move to Barcelona because he wanted to stay with the Basque Club for another year. (AS - in Spanish)

AC Milan's owners are unhappy with the attitude of former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 42-year-old's role as a senior adviser to the club. (La Repubblica - in Italian)




Sky Paper Talk

THE ATHLETIC

Ashley Cole is set to leave Birmingham City and join The Football Association (FA) on a full-time basis.

Real Madrid have reached an agreement in principle with 17-year-old centre-back Joan Martinez over the renewal of his contract.

Newcastle United forward Garang Kuol has suffered a grade three tear to his right quad, which disrupted a planned transfer window move.

Barcelona midfielder Gavi has returned to training for the first time in 10 months after injury.

THE SUN

Tottenham midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur could face up to 12 games on the sidelines following his FA charge.

David Beckham will lead soccer legends and dignitaries saluting England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson at his star-studded funeral in Sweden on Friday.

Arsenal ace Jorginho revealed he is planning to transition to coaching after his retirement.

Manchester United's transfer stance helped them pay below asking price for all but one of their summer acquisitions.

Steve Cooper is battling to keep some of Leicester's senior players on board after just three games in charge.

Chelsea's Europa Conference League group stage match against Astana has been moved over 770 miles away from the original location.

Manchester United reportedly explored a £25m move for Jonathan David as an alternative to Joshua Zirkzee.

Chelsea want to sell Carney Chukwuemeka and are not interested in loaning him out, according to reports.

Liverpool almost signed Pumas star Cesar Huerta just before the summer transfer window slammed shut but a late "issue" led to the deal falling apart.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez is not facing punishment from The FA for alleged racist and homophobic chanting, despite Rodrigo Bentancur being charged with aiming a slur at his Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Heung-Min Son.

A proposal for an Anglo-Welsh league is being considered by Premiership clubs as part of a consultation to explore ways of increasing the value of future broadcasting deals.

Ben Chilwell is hoping to be included in Chelsea's 25-man Premier League squad, with the left-back not expected to move on loan to Turkey.

LIV Golf's new individual champion will not only walk away with a huge cheque but they will also be gifted a gaudy championship ring filled with gems and a QR code.

THE GUARDIAN

Celta Vigo's former captain Hugo Mallo has been found guilty of the sexual assault of a woman who was working as the Espanyol mascot in the final moments before a game in La Liga.

The Sale Sharks second-row Jonny Hill is set to learn his fate when he meets with the police on Monday after an investigation was launched following an incident with a Bath supporter at last season's semi-final at the Rec in June.

DAILY MAIL

Erling Haaland can take compassionate leave if the Manchester City striker requires time away after the death of close friend Ivar Eggja.

Manuel Ugarte is in line to make his debut for Manchester United at Southampton on Saturday after returning from international duty with Uruguay.

PSG have refused to pay Kylian Mbappe almost £50m in unpaid wages despite being ordered to do so - with the explosive saga now set to be settled in court.

Rafael Nadal has raised further concerns about his future after announcing that he has pulled out of the Laver Cup.

DAILY MIRROR

Mohamed Salah's agent has increased speculation over his future at Liverpool after posting an angry rant on social media.

THE TIMES

Manchester United may have escaped a charge for breaching Premier League financial rules by being allowed to claim as "adjustments" a controversial Covid loss of £40m and a similar sum relating to the cost of the sale of shares to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

The head of the players' union has said the rash of injuries suffered by Premier League stars during the international break "comes as no surprise" due to the demands of the relentless fixture calendar.

A "plague" of cocaine use among rugby players in France has prompted two leading clubs to subject its stars to random drug tests.

DAILY STAR

Liverpool legend Djibril Cisse has been accused of tax evasion in France.

DAILY RECORD

James Tavernier is set to remain at Rangers after snubbing a move to Turkey.

John Eustace has claimed Todd Cantwell wasn't where he wanted to be last season during his time at Rangers and will now be able to "showcase" himself at Blackburn Rovers.

SCOTTISH SUN

Rangers and Aberdeen will face off at an SPFL tribunal to settle Connor Barron's transfer fee.

Lennon Miller and David Watson have been ranked among the best teenagers in world football.

A delegation from the Scottish FA is set to propose some far-reaching rule changes to help tackle the lack of first-team opportunities for young players in Scottish football.



Sport Witness

Player on childhood dream helping West Ham summer exit – Planned for move since he was little

By Naveen Ullal

West Ham United’s Nayef Aguerd completed a loan move to Real Sociedad on deadline day.

New West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui didn’t include the centre-back in his plans this season. This convinced Aguerd to look for options that would allow him to continue to grow.

On Thursday, the La Liga side presented the West Ham man to the local media. He talked about his decision to join the Spanish club.

“I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to play in La Liga and doing so in a club like Real is perfect. That’s why I speak Spanish so well, because since I was little, I wanted to learn it to play in La Liga one day,” he said, as quoted by AS.

The Morrocco international’s comments are also relayed by El Desmarque. The 28-year-old was asked if he had to think much after he received a call from La Real.

Responding to that, Aguerd explained: “Not really. When I spoke with Roberto [Olabe] and with the coach as well, I knew that he was aware of the responsibility of coming here and the truth is that it is undoubtedly a very healthy club, which helps the players a lot to improve.

“I’m looking for this to continue growing and the club also wants to grow and be at the top of La Liga and the world.”

Real Sociedad saw Robin Le Normand leave them for Atlético Madrid in the last window. His exit forced them to look for a new centre-back.

La Real president Jokin Aperribay also gave his take on his side’s decision to sign Aguerd on loan from West Ham. His quotes are relayed by Noticias de Gipuzkoa and he suggested Real Sociedad took a gamble with the Hammers man.

“We were dealing with many centre-backs, for some we already knew that we would have to wait because when we spoke with their clubs they were selling and not loan. We knew that if we approached the operation before August 25th we had to go for some names and we hoped after the 25th we could go for others,” Aperribay said.

“Hummels was one of them. There were more players that were on the list. We already knew that we had little time, that we had to act quickly, and we were prepared to act.”

“There was a moment when we decided to wait until the end to opt for one of the loans, and the player who most convinced the people who had to make the decision was Nayef. We entered the last few days thinking that if it wasn’t him, no one was going to come.”

Earlier reports made it clear Real Sociedad didn’t want an option to buy because they have youngsters coming through, so are unlikely to take the West Ham player permanently.

 

[Texas Iron]

Cheers…

[With Kind Regards]

Thanks Alan.