Liverpool are confident 33-year-old Netherlands defender Virgil van Dijk, who is out of contract in the summer, will sign a new two-year deal with the club. (Team talk)
Real Madrid are not interested in signing Van Dijk this summer, despite reports linking them with the Dutchman. (Marca - in Spanish)
Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies, 24, is open to a Premier League move this summer, with Manchester United and Liverpool among the clubs interested in the Canadian. (TBR Football)
Manchester United have set an initial asking price of about £50m for 27-year-old England forward Marcus Rashford. (Caughtoffside)
Arsenal are monitoring Wolves' 25-year-old Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha, who could become available if the Midlands club are relegated to the Championship. (Athletic - subscription required)
However, Wolves manager Vitor Pereira is hopeful that the club can keep Cunha. (Metro)
Manager Pep Guardiola and the Manchester City board will discuss which signings they will try to make in the January transfer window this week. (Guardian)
Monaco's 22-year-old French winger Maghnes Akliouche is one of Manchester City's targets, but Atletico Madrid, Paris St-Germain, Inter Milan and Newcastle United are among the clubs also interested. (Caughtoffside)
Brazilian winger Antony has had offers to leave Manchester United in January but the club do not want the 24-year-old to depart, according to his agent. (Give me sport)
Crystal Palace's 21-year-old English full-back Danny Imray is wanted by several Championship and League One promotion-chasers looking to sign him on loan for the second half of the campaign. (Telegraph - subscription required)
Dani Olmo's agent has arrived in Manchester with Premier League clubs, including Manchester United and Manchester City, potentially looking to take advantage of Barcelona's struggle to register the Spain midfielder, 26, ahead of the 1 January deadline. Agent Andy Bara said he is in Manchester on holiday rather than on business. (Mail)
Liverpool first-team coach John Heitinga is leading the list of candidates to replace Carlos Corberan as West Brom boss. (Football Insider)
Fiorentina are interested in Parma's 25-year-old French full-back Woyo Coulibaly. (Matteo Moretto - in Italian)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY MIRROR
Man Utd have reservations over triggering Alvaro Carreras' £25m buy-back clause in January after selling the left-back to Benfica last summer. The deal helped to ease United's financial concerns but the club have seen the need for a left-sided full-back develop.
Dani Olmo's agent Andy Bara has reportedly arrived in Manchester with Premier League clubs considering whether to take advantage of Barcelona's uncertain ability to register the player.
Sport claim that Barcelona are happy to sell Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen, with the decision made not to hand the latter a new deal. The Dane joined Barca on a free transfer from Chelsea but has been out for a lengthy spell this season. Newcastle, Juventus and AC Milan have been linked.
DAILY MAIL
Manchester United are intent on keeping Antony at the club when the January transfer window opens next week - and the player's agent has clarified his current situation amid speculation that the Brazilian could leave the club.
Ruben Amorim stressed that Manchester United must adopt survival mode after a fourth defeat in five Premier League games.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed Manchester City plan to be active in the January transfer window.
Legendary sports reporter Chris Kamara made his triumphant return to broadcasting on Boxing Day, two years after stepping back from his Soccer Saturday duties due to a speech condition.
THE SUN
Ruben Amorim indicated Marcus Rashford is still not doing enough for his liking after leaving the forward out of Manchester United's squad for a fourth straight game.
Wayne Rooney has been left clinging onto his job after Frank Lampard's Coventry thrashed Plymouth 4-0.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's cheat sheet was exposed on his water bottle before saving Erling Haaland's penalty against Manchester City.
Wilfried Zaha could be blocked from a return to the Premier League in January by a little-known rule. The Ivorian winger, on loan at Lyon from Galatasaray, may be prevented from representing a third team in the 2024-25 campaign after his 15-minute cameo in the Turkish Super Cup thumping should FIFA deem that an official match.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Arsenal hold an interest in Wolves forward Matheus Cunha but would face a huge battle landing him during the transfer window while the Brazilian is involved in a fight for survival at Molineux.
Crystal Palace full-back Danny Imray has a host of Championship and League One promotion-chasers looking to sign him on loan for the second half of the campaign.
Ipswich are among the teams looking at Scottish midfielder Jordan Holsgrove during his spell at Portuguese club Estoril.
THE TIMES
Nottingham Forest and their fans are dreaming about a return to European football after this win against Tottenham Hotspur sent them up to third in the Premier League - but Spurs supporters attacked their chairman Daniel Levy following a ninth league loss of the season in their opening 18 games.
The Newcastle United assistant manager Jason Tindall was sent off after a 20-man brawl in the St James' Park tunnel at half-time during the home side's 3-0 win over Aston Villa.
Wayne Rooney has insisted he is the right man to lead Plymouth Argyle despite their 4-0 hammering by Frank Lampard's Coventry City keeping them bottom of the Sky Bet Championship. However, the former Manchester United and England captain accepted that he would inevitably face intense pressure.
DAILY RECORD
Brendan Rodgers has promised Celtic can still find another level after victory over Motherwell saw them continue their unbeaten start to the Premiership season.
Stuart Kettlewell accused ref Ross Hardie of talking to his Motherwell side like schoolchildren.
Guardian
West Ham’s Fabianski carried off but Jarrod Bowen sinks Southampton
Ben Bloom at St Mary's Stadium
Jarrod Bowen pounces to earn West Ham victory at Southampton. Photograph: Alex Pantling/Getty Images
If we take the view that Southampton are doomed – as a reminder, no club has ever stayed in the Premier League with such a lowly points tally at this stage of the season – then small positives must be sought wherever possible for the beleaguered regulars at St Mary’s. So while this defeat by West Ham extended the hosts’ winless league streak to eight games, there was at least some evidence that the Ivan Juric era might offer fresh hope; if not for this campaign then beyond.
Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga scores past Fraser Forster of Tottenham
Nottingham Forest rise to third after Anthony Elanga goal sees off Tottenham
Read more
In the first half alone Southampton attempted 11 shots, more than they had managed in the entirety of their previous nine matches. That they failed to score with any of them remains the concern, prompting Juric to urge his players to “be much more clinical and much more, like Italians say, bastards”.
Defeat was harsh in a match settled only by Jarrod Bowen’s close-range prod, which further eases pressure on Julen Lopetegui, who was close to losing his job a few weeks ago. He praised his players for being “resilient and able to suffer as a team to win” a game of fine margins.
West Ham are now four games unbeaten, while safety remains a distant dream for Southampton.
The level of stylistic upheaval tasked by Juric of his troops is wholesale. Take, for example, Aaron Ramsdale. Since moving to the south coast in the summer, the goalkeeper had been allowed only to use dainty wedges or a putter to move the ball. Within two minutes of this match kicking off, he had lumped it as far upfield as possible no fewer than four times. The booming driver is back.
If any Southampton fan had been unable to stomach Martin’s aesthetically pleasing but heart-stoppingly hazardous habit of delicately knocking the ball about from the back, Juric seems the ideal antidote, albeit with the hefty caveat that it is almost certain to have no bearing on the club’s Premier League survival.
On this early evidence, we may see plenty more of Paul Onuachu. After spending last season banging in goals on loan at Trabzonspor, the 6ft 7in Nigeria striker appears the ideal target man for the way his new manager wants to do things – namely, knocking the ball into the box for the big lad to get his head on it or pumping it long for him to hold up.
His presence caused regular problems for the West Ham defence, going closest in the first half when his header from a Kyle Walker-Peters cross was clawed out by a full-stretch Lukasz Fabianski. That was to prove one of the goalkeeper’s final involvements. A sickening head collision with Nathan Wood when punching clear a corner soon after caused a prolonged delay, and Fabianski left the field on a stretcher wearing a neck brace.
Lopetegui later confirmed the veteran keeper was conscious and talking in the changing room, but West Ham also had to cope with the premature departures of Maximilian Kilman and Carlos Soler through injury.
Much of the match only strengthened the argument that Lopetegui requires a new forward in the January transfer window, with Niclas Füllkrug largely ineffective. But the German did manage to flick Tomas Soucek’s header into the path of Bowen for the West Ham captain to poke home from a couple of yards just before the hour.
Without the video assistant referee, the visitors would have been down to 10 men by then after Guido Rodríguez had been shown a straight red card for a strong, if somewhat reckless, challenge on Walker-Peters. Further viewing of the incident on the pitchside monitor convinced the referee, Lewis Smith, to downgrade his verdict to a yellow card.
Things might have been very different had Carlos Soler’s fourth-minute shot gone in rather than crashing against the bar. Instead, the visitors had to survive a nervy final few minutes, with the Southampton substitute Tyler Dibling curling just over in injury time and Onuachu sending one of countless headers wide.
“It’s a pity that we lose the game when we played well,” said Juric. “They are much more competitive than before. There is lots of potential for improvement.
“I am very satisfied with the whole game. I think they did a good 90 or 100 minutes, missing the details and missing confidence to score.”
The Athletic
West Ham must show they can match Jarrod Bowen’s ambition
By Roshane Thomas
Actor Danny Dyer, the father of Dani, who is Mrs Bowen-to-be, once joked he loved Jarrod Bowen more than his wife. West Ham United head coach Julen Lopetegui may not quite agree but he can attribute his extended stay at the helm to Bowen’s brilliance.
The England international scored the solitary goal in an uninspiring win against Southampton and was the man of the match. When Lopetegui urged for much-needed inspiration against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bowen answered the call with the winning goal. Were it not for his strike cannoning off the crossbar in the 1-1 draw against Bournemouth, the winger would have scored three goals in his last four games.
The 28-year-old has registered five goals and four assists in 18 league games this season. Bowen has also played a key role in the club’s four-game unbeaten run, easing the pressure on an embattled Lopetegui, who needs to preside over a strong second half to the season.
There are many variables at stake — from potential European qualification to convincing transfer targets to join — but perhaps the most crucial thing is to persuade key players Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta that they can achieve their goals at West Ham.
“Our ambition as a club is qualifying for Europe every year,” Bowen outlined in his post-match interview with broadcaster Amazon Prime.
He is not wrong. A summer expenditure of more than £120million ($150m) on nine players was supposed to boost their surge for a European berth. However, a lack of consistency and identity has seen West Ham move ponderously towards fulfilling that objective.
West Ham fended off interest from Crystal Palace in January 2020 to sign Bowen from Hull City for around £18million. The attacker has since scored 66 goals across 222 appearances and his transfer value has rocketed. He is second (48) in the list of West Ham’s all-time Premier League scorers, with only Michail Antonio scoring more (68), and Bowen’s goal against Southampton was his 100th in the top four divisions of English football.
Bowen signed a seven-year contract extension in October 2023. The long-term deal, which does not include a release clause, underlined his importance to the team and saw Bowen become one of West Ham’s highest earners. He has referenced why he wants to retire at the London Stadium and other factors behind extending his loyalty.
Crucially, it put to bed murmurs over Bowen’s future. He was linked with a move to Liverpool but they never made a formal enquiry. Next summer they may renew their interest should Mohamed Salah depart upon the expiry of his contract. If doubts over Bowen’s ability persists, it would be foolhardy to maintain that same belief in 2025.
These past 12 months, he has elevated his game to another level. In February, he scored his first career hat-trick against Brentford. Two months later, he became the first West Ham player to score 20 goals or more in a season since Teddy Sheringham and Marlon Harewood both did it in 2004-05.
Bowen also equalled Paolo Di Canio’s record (16) for the most goals by a West Ham player in a single Premier League season. In June, the forward was named in England’s European Championship squad and fulfilled a childhood dream of scoring his first England goal against the Republic of Ireland in November. The list of achievements is as packed as Bowen’s scoring record this year.
Pre-match, Lopetegui urged his players to be main actors. If West Ham’s performance against Southampton were a movie, there would be few standout moments but the end credits would read, “Jarrod Bowen and cast.” He continues to excel.
“I had a feeling I was going to score today,” he told Amazon Prime. “When the ball is in the box, it’s just about anticipation and trying to be on the front foot. When (Niclas) Fullkrug headed it, I knew I would get a toe on it enough for it to go in.
“I didn’t know (that I had scored my 100th goal). When you play you just want to score as many goals as possible. Then when you retire you look back at how many goals you’ve scored. I love scoring goals for this club and here’s to many more.
“A lot of things happened today from losing Maximilian (Kilman) and Lukasz (Fabianski) through injury really early. But full credit to the whole squad because everyone is ready to come on. This is a reliant group.”
It is Bowen who has helped foster that environment. One of Lopetegui’s first acts was to appoint the forward as captain. In the past 10 days, he has shown endearing qualities by giving a young fan his shirt and meeting Archie, a supporter born with cerebral palsy.
Bowen is very unassuming but knows when it is appropriate to strike a different chord. This month, Bowen, Danny Ings, Kilman and Aaron Cresswell had to decide who was the most annoying in training. They were unanimous: it was Bowen. His demands have led to an unbeaten run, which has been crucial for Lopetegui’s future.
Bowen’s love for West Ham continues to grow. His winner against Fiorentina in the 2023 Europa Conference League final shows what he can do on a European stage. West Ham need to show they can match Bowen’s ambitions by returning there.
Football Espana
West Ham United interested in La Liga midfielder with €60m asking price
Real Sociedad have regularly had to deal with their players attracting a lot of interest from many different clubs. They parted ways with Robin Le Normand (Atletico Madrid) and Mikel Merino (Arsenal) during the summer, and it would be no surprise if they were to lose more big-hitters in 2025.
Martin Zubimendi has been strongly linked with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City in recent months, and now his midfield partner Brais Mendez has also attracted interest from the Premier League. As per CaughtOffside, West Ham United are keen on the 27-year-old.
The report claims that Mendez would be interested in a move to the Premier League, although any club that wishes to sign him will need to pay €60m, as this is the asking price that has been set by La Real.
It remains to be seen whether West Ham, or anyone else, comes calling for Mendez next summer. Real Sociedad will not want to sell him, although if their asking price is met, they could be forced to.
