Nottingham Forest and Newcastle are both interested in Liverpool and Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez, 25, who looks increasingly likely to leave Anfield. (Teamtalk, external)
Liverpool's pursuit of Newcastle United and Sweden striker Alexander Isak, 25, is gaining traction. (Givemesport), external
Bayern Munich are preparing to make a bid for £60m-rated Brighton and Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, 22. (Telegraph - subscription needed), external
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is targeting Sporting and Portugal winger Francisco Trincao, 25, as a key part of his planned summer squad overhaul. (Talksport), external
Manchester United, Arsenal, Paris St-Germain, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are all interested in Espanyol keeper Joan Garcia, 23. (AS - in Spanish), external
Arsenal want uncapped Spaniard Garcia to be number two to David Raya and he is open to the move. (Athletic - subscription needed), external
Arsenal, Manchester United, AC Milan and Bayern Munich are all interested in Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, 21, but the Slovenian favours a move to the Premier League. (Bild - in German), external
Another Leipzig star could be in line for a move to Old Trafford as Manchester United are interested in 21-year-old Dutch midfielder Xavi Simons. (Teamtalk), external
Aston Villa are favourites to secure the signing of Chelsea and England winger Noni Madueke, 23. (Givemesport), external
Chelsea and Manchester City are among the clubs considering a move for Roma and Serbia goalkeeper Mile Svilar, 25. (Caught Offside), external
Newcastle have produced a promotional video of a new 65,000-capacity stadium at Leazes Park in the strongest indication yet that they are planning to leave St James' Park. (Guardian), external
Collette Roche, the Manchester United chief operating officer, has emerged as one of the candidates for the chief executive role at Newcastle United. (Telegraph - subscription needed), external
Southampton are set to part ways with head of recruitment Darren Mowbray. (Daily Echo)
Sky Paper Talk
DAILY MAIL
Newcastle have reportedly joined Tottenham, West Ham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool in the race to sign highly-rated Lille forward Jonathan David.
The son of Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has joined Havant and Waterlooville for the rest of the season.
Manchester City supporters are planning a demonstration against the club's ticketing policies during next week's home game against Leicester.
Aston Villa transfer chief Monchi has revealed his interest in Real Madrid and Turkey starlet Arda Guler, who was involved in a social media spat with Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai last week.
Bayern Munich have opened talks over a new contract for Eric Dier.
A Yeovil supporter has been banned from attending matches due to his negative comments about the club on social media.
DAILY MIRROR
Tottenham are eyeing Andoni Iraola in a blow to current manager Ange Postecoglou, it has been claimed.
Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez has opened the door to a dream summer switch to Liverpool after admitting he wants to take the next step in his career with an elite club who are capable of challenging for major honours.
Osasuna have officially launched an appeal against Barcelona after the Spanish league leaders fielded Inigo Martinez in their win against the Pamplona side.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Tottenham have not held talks over Fabio Paratici returning to a full-time position at the club once his worldwide ban ends.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United have been handed a monumental two-part boost in their hopes of signing Napoli striker Victor Osimhen this summer, according to reports.
Manchester United chief operating officer Collette Roche features on Newcastle's shortlist as the Carabao Cup winners hunt for a new chief executive, according to reports.
Former Arsenal sporting director Edu reportedly carried out a huge amount of work to complete a £51m deal for Martin Zubimendi.
THE SUN
Enzo Maresca cancelled a day off for senior Chelsea stars after they flopped in a training session with the club's U21s.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's family have made £140,000 selling his memorabilia to help settle his debts.
THE ATHLETIC
Norwegian football fans have announced a series of protests across the opening two matchdays of the top two divisions after its governing body voted to keep using VAR despite its professional clubs voting to discontinue the system.
James Rodriguez has described FIFA's decision to exclude Liga MX side Club Leon from the Club World Cup as a "grave injustice".
DAILY STAR
Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has shared his annoyance at the reaction of some Liverpool fans to reports that Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to sign for Real Madrid.
Mason Mount is set to play his first minutes of 2025 as he returns from another injury lay-off.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's rumoured deal to join Real Madrid has sparked Liverpool to enter into contract negotiations with Mohamed Salah.
THE GUARDIAN
Newcastle have produced a glossy promotional video of a new 65,000-capacity stadium at Leazes Park in the strongest indication yet that they are planning to leave St James' Park, their home since 1892.
THE TIMES
Arsenal are trialling a new take on off-field partnerships by launching their own equivalent of a reality TV dating show.
The Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk's company VVD Promotions Ltd continues to blossom, with income from image rights and other activities swelling its assets by more than £2.4m last year.
SCOTTISH SUN
Celtic have revealed they are in contact with independent safety and event consultants to review supporters' concerns around policing of the recent Old Firm fixture.
AC Milan legend Joe Jordan reckons Scott McTominay is on course to become one of the best British exports to Italy.
Victor Wanyama called his return to Scottish football with Dunfermline a fairytale.
DAILY RECORD
Brendan Rodgers says Daizen Maeda has earned every penny of an improved deal at Celtic.
Ryan Kent looks set to try and resurrect his career with Seattle Sounders in MLS, with the US side's head coach hinting that the former Rangers star's arrival is imminent.
Hearts could ask the Scottish FA for more Scottish Cup semi-final tickets after selling out their allocation.
Birmingham boss Chris Davies has confirmed the club will be looking to turn Rangers midfielder Kieran Dowell's loan move into a permanent transfer at the end of the season.
The Athletic
West Ham’s play-off win 20 years on: ‘My knee is still in bits, but I would do it all over again’
By Roshane Thomas
In mid-February, we invited requests from our subscribers for articles you might like to read on The Athletic as part of our latest Inspired By You series. Charlie C asked for a piece on West Ham United’s 2005 Championship play-off final victory over Preston North End.
The West Ham United players had not long arrived at the Millennium Stadium when manager Alan Pardew presented an ingenious idea to provoke an emotional response from his squad.
It was hours before the 2005 Championship play-off final against Preston North End and West Ham’s second attempt at returning to the Premier League, having lost the final against Crystal Palace the previous May. Once the players settled in the dressing room, they all received special instructions from Pardew.
“Before the match, we wrote down why and who we want to win the final for on a card,” former goalkeeper Jimmy Walker tells The Athletic. “The lads put different things and we all pinned it on a wall. We looked at everyone’s reasons and it was quite emotional. That probably won us the game before we went out on the pitch. It was a lovely idea from the manager. I said I want to be in my rocking chair and look back and remember winning this together.”
West Ham were under financial pressure to secure promotion. They had not been in the top flight since the 2002-03 season. Under Glenn Roeder, they amassed 42 points and remain the only club to be relegated from the Premier League with more than 40. And now, Pardew’s side had an opportunity to go up via the play-offs after finishing the 2004-05 campaign in sixth following a 2-1 victory over Watford on the last day of the season.
West Ham drew 2-2 with Ipswich Town in the first-leg of the semi-final, before a brace from Bobby Zamora in the return fixture at Portman Road secured their place in the final. The striker would end up being the match-winner against Preston but West Ham’s journey to promotion was not straightforward.
“I left Crystal Palace, where I was captain, to come to West Ham,” says ex-midfielder Hayden Mullins. “It hurt so much getting beat by them in the final (in 2004). It was a rubbish goal to concede (via Neil Shipperley). The hardest thing was going through the whole season, 40-odd games, seeing your peers away on holiday and losing the final, knowing you have to do it all over again the following season. So to finally do it the following year was special.
“But we experienced lots of ups and downs. We almost got into a bad place towards the end. The turning point was when we played Wigan in April. Leading into it I don’t think the manager really knew his best team.”
West Ham celebrate Zamora’s goal (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Before that victory over Wigan Athletic, West Ham had lost six of their last 12 league games, winning four, drawing twice. Mullins continues: “Anton Ferdinand and Elliott Ward came into the team. I’d been playing right- and left-back and the manager put me back in midfield with Nigel (Reo-Coker) and it just clicked after that. We went on a run and only lost one match (against Sunderland in the penultimate game).”
Teddy Sheringham and Marlon Harewood — who scored a combined total of 43 goals in all competitions that season — were on target in that Wigan game, as West Ham won 2-1. Pardew’s side then won four of their last seven games of the campaign to reach the play-offs.
“I initially didn’t get much game time so I was waiting for my chance,” says Walker. “We arrived at Wigan and I don’t expect to play. I’m setting up the music while the lads inspect the pitch, then Pardew saw up to me and said, ‘I need you today, goalie’. When Sheringham scored something clicked in everyone. We got the winner, stayed up in Manchester for Sheringham’s birthday and beat Burnley in our next game.
“I played every match after the Wigan game but we thought we blew our chances for the play-offs when we lost to Sunderland. We beat Watford and I think that’s one of my best games for West Ham. Ipswich finished the season 12 points ahead of us but we just had that feeling as a group.”
Starting XI against Preston: Jimmy Walker, Tomas Repka, Anton Ferdinand, Elliott Ward, Chris Powell, Shaun Newton, Nigel Reo-Coker, Hayden Mullins, Matthew Etherington, Marlon Harewood, Bobby Zamora. Substitutes: Stephen Bywater, Christian Dailly, Mark Noble, Carl Fletcher, Teddy Sheringham
Where are they now?
Jimmy Walker: West Ham ambassador
Tomas Repka: Host of the Red Card podcast
Anton Ferdinand: West Ham ambassador
Elliott Ward: Under-21s’s lead coach at Colchester United
Chris Powell: Sheffield Wednesday assistant coach
Shaun Newton: Unknown
Nigel Reo-Coker: Football pundit
Hayden Mullins: Fulham’s Under-21s Head Coach
Matthew Etherington: Under-21 assistant coach at Southampton
Marlon Harewood: West Ham ambassador
Bobby Zamora: Brighton & Hove Albion striker consultant
Stephen Bywater: Unknown
Christian Dailly: Co-founder of Club Human
Mark Noble: West Ham sporting director
Carl Fletcher: Bournemouth’s chief scout
Teddy Sheringham: Football pundit
West Ham had six days to prepare for their encounter with Ipswich. They took encouragement knowing they got the better of Joe Royle’s side at the same semi-final stage the season prior. Matthew Etherington had featured in the side that lost the 2004 play-off final and had a personal desire to return to the top flight.
“We had to win promotion that season,” says Etherington. “Terry Brown was the chairman and the day before the play-off final (against Preston) he came to the training ground in a helicopter. We rarely saw him during the season so that was another reminder that we needed to win. We were a young group trying to make our way in the game.
“Two of my biggest disappointments was losing in the final to Crystal Palace and the FA Cup final loss to Liverpool (in 2006). No one said a thing in the dressing room after those games. We were deflated and I didn’t want to experience that again. There was a tinge of disappointment after the 2-2 draw against Ipswich in the first leg. We had got the better of them the previous season and needed to step up in the second leg.”
Zamora, a boyhood West Ham fan, spearheaded the attack in the play-offs. Across the three games, he scored four of their five goals and was a key member of Pardew’s rejuvenated side.
“Bobby doesn’t get enough credit for the career he’s had,” says Walker. “He’s massively underrated and he came good when it mattered that season.”
West Ham celebrate the victory with a parade (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Pardew did not complicate preparations for the final. “The manager gave us time off,” Etherington says. “The manager handled that perfectly because we had 12 days between the win over Ipswich and the final. Pardew was an arm-around-the-shoulder type of manager. I really needed that because it made me feel a million dollars. It got me in the right headspace for the final but we all felt the pressure as the game got closer. I’ve always been a good sleeper but I really struggled the night before. The pressure on the game, how much it meant to the club and not wanting to let the fans down again. I always felt I was a Premier League player and I wanted to get back there.”
Preston finished the season fifth, two points above West Ham, and overcame Derby County in their play-off semi-final. Preston had not been in the top flight since 1960-61. It was a closely contested game at the Millennium Stadium. Defender Tomas Repka hit the post but Zamora’s winner before the hour-mark ended West Ham’s two-year exile from the Premier League.
“It was a great finish from Bobby and it made my day getting an assist for him,” says Etherington. “Teddy and Nobes (Mark Noble) both ran up to me, which was a good feeling. We felt so relieved after that match and we all had a good night out.”
“The parade we had will always stay with me,” says Mullins. “There were people everywhere. I remember being at a petrol station in Nottingham and a supporter came up to me and shared their memory from that final against Preston. I went on holiday the day after the final and I was on the beach enjoying the sunshine thinking, ‘I’m a Premier League player now but, s***, the club are going to start buying players’.
“I enjoyed myself for a week and then I was constantly in the gym after. I didn’t want it to catch me out. The boys were ridiculously fit when we got back. Sometimes one player will have a bit of fat but that wasn’t the case. We were ready.”
Mullins and his team-mates helped West Ham seal a ninth-place finish on their return to the top flight and reached the FA Cup final, in which they lost to Liverpool on penalties. However, as Rafael Benitez’s side finished third in the table and therefore qualified for a place in the Champions League qualifying round, West Ham secured qualification for the first round of the UEFA Cup. But at the training ground in Chadwell Heath, there was a member of the promotion-winning side who could not enjoy the club’s success.
Walker being taken off of a stretcher with injury (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
“I had an issue with my hip leading up to the final but I didn’t say anything,” says Walker. “I wanted to help the team so I took painkillers to get through it. My first kick in the final was agony but there was no way on God’s earth I was coming off. We had enough firepower but the real target was to keep a clean sheet. Towards the end, they sent everyone up and I just thought, ‘If this ball has any height on it in the box, I’m taking it and going to waste time’.
“I was told I was too small to make it in the Premier League so this was my chance of proving people wrong. I leapt in the air but planted my right leg awkwardly. My knee was in bits and I’ve never felt pain like that. I went off on a stretcher, they put me in this first aid room and I watched the last six minutes on this tiny TV. John Green, the physio, helped me get on the pitch. I was in so much pain but there’s a lovely picture of me on Ludo Miklosko’s back.
“It took me nine months to recover. Twenty years later my knee is still in bits but we sealed promotion and I would do it all over again.”
(Top photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
TBR
Everton, Crystal Palace and West Ham eyeing ‘complete’ international striker likened to Luca Toni
Giuseppe Labellarte
TBR Football can exclusively confirm that Everton, Crystal Palace and West Ham are interested in Udinese striker Lorenzo Lucca.
The Toffees, the Eagles and the Hammers are all likely to be busy in the summer transfer window as they look to have better campaigns in 2025/26.
Everton and West Ham are especially in need of bringing in new forwards over the coming months.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin looks set to leave Everton on a free transfer, while West Ham have long needed more firepower.
Both sides, along with Crystal Palace, have identified Lucca as a potential signing over what he could bring to their respective squads.
What Lorenzo Lucca could bring to Everton, Crystal Palace and West Ham
TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has confirmed that Everton, Palace and West Ham have all been watching Lucca over the past month.
Lucca’s form for Udinese in recent months has seen him catch the eye of scouts across Europe, with the 24-year-old now in double figures in Serie A.
Lucca stands 6ft 7in tall -the same height as Peter Crouch – and is superb in the air and strong, along with having an eye for goal.
Jacek Kulig has likened Lucca to Italy legend Luca Toni and described him as “an absolute king of the penalty area” and “the complete package”.
Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye recently sung Lucca’s praises on the Italian Football Podcast.
“For me, he is already a top-level striker, but like myself, we are young and we have to work on a lot of stuff,” he said.
“I’m sure he will be there [top-level] sooner or later. He has all the qualities, the special height not every striker is two metres tall.
“And still, he has the ability of a striker who is not that tall. He’s a very special player.”
Lorenzo Lucca’s transfer stance
Lucca seems keen on trying his luck abroad, recently suggesting he’d be open to a move away from Serie A.
In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, he said: “I have grown physically, technically and mentally.
“Abroad I see more goals. Serie A is difficult but it is a challenge that gives me adrenaline. I am the master of my destiny.”
It has also been reported that Udinese are open to cashing in on their star striker for a fee in the region of £29million.
