Wednesday news (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

"BBC Al-Nassr are lining up an audacious bid for Brazil midfielder Casemiro, 31, and ex-England Under-21 defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 26, as Manchester United prepare to offload some of their high-earning stars. (Mail) Al-Nassr have already had a ¬£20m bid turned down for Tottenham and Brazil right-back Emerson Royal, 25, and view Wan-Bissaka as a viable alternative. (Telegraph - subscription required) Victor Osimhen has hinted that he is ready to leave Napoli this summer, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid all linked with the 25-year-old Nigeria forward, who has a release clause of just over ¬£100m in his contract. (90 Min) Manchester United's on-loan England forward Mason Greenwood, 22, is edging ever closer to a summer switch to Barcelona after starring for Getafe. (Sun) Nottingham Forest are in talks with Borussia Dortmund over a loan deal for the United States midfielder Giovanni Reyna, 21. (Athletic - subscription required) Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson, 76, has been warned that he could be sacked if results do not improve after holding talks with chairman Steve Parish. (Guardian) Former Roma boss Jose Mourinho has rejected an offer from Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab to become their new manager. (ESPN) Napoli have agreed a loan deal with Aston Villa, which includes a non-mandatory option to buy clause worth ¬£7.7m (9m euros), for 28-year-old Belgium midfielder Leander Dendoncker. (Fabrizio Romano) Newcastle are considering hijacking Tottenham's proposed move for Club Bruges' teenage forward Antonio Nusa, 18. The Norway attacker is seen as a direct replacement for Paraguay international Miguel Almiron, 29, who may leave Tyneside for Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab. (Football Insider) Chelsea have registered their interest in signing 36-year-old French forward Karim Benzema from Saudi side Al-Ittihad. (Guardian) Meanwhile, Chelsea's English centre-back Trevoh Chalobah, 24, is a key target for Fulham. (Teamtalk) Nottingham Forest are also plotting a loan move for Chalobah, who is currently recovering from a long-term hamstring injury. (Sun) The Netherlands winger Arnaut Danjuma, 26, is a target for Lyon with his parent club Villarreal growing frustrated at his lack of game time on loan at Everton. (Mail) Manchester United are interested in Bayern Munich's Cameroon forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, 34, and Sporting Lisbon's 25-year-old English winger Marcus Edwards. (Football Transfers) The Old Trafford club are also leading the race to sign Bologna's Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee, 22, despite interest from Arsenal. (Sun) Newcastle are set to sign Manchester City's 18-year-old English midfielder Alfie Harrison. (Athletic - subscription required) Sheffield United may make a move for Nottingham Forest's centre-back Joe Worrall, 27, and have also registered an interest in fellow English defender Mason Holgate, 27, as a possible loan signing from Everton. (Football Insider) Sheffield United are close to completing a ¬£2m deal for Atletico Madrid and Croatia goalkeeper Ivo Grbic, 28. (Mail) Portland Thorns will pay ¬£250,000 to make Chelsea and Canada midfielder Jessie Fleming, 25, the most expensive signing made by an American women's team. (Telegraph - subscription required) Sky Paper Talk DAILY TELEGRAPH UEFA disciplinary chiefs were ""right"" about Manchester City breaching its Financial Fair Play regulations when they threw the club out of the Champions League, its president has declared. Pep Lijnders, the Liverpool assistant manager, says Mohamed Salah could not be more committed to the Egypt national team after accusations he 'plotted his departure' from the Africa Cup of Nations. Salah's absence due to injury until at least the AFCON final, should his country make it that far, has led to scathing criticism from Egypt legend Ahmed Hassan. Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr are prepared to bid for Aaron Wan-Bissaka in their search for a full-back during the January transfer window. Centre Ollie Lawrence is set to be ruled out of a significant portion of the Guinness Six Nations Championship, plunging England into a familiar midfield crisis. Owen Farrell's move from Saracens to Racing 92 is being held up as the Premiership club are yet to receive the ¬£500,000 fee understood to have been agreed. Luton Town are keen on veteran West Brom defender Kyle Bartley, who has only six months remaining on his contract with the Championship club. DAILY MAIL Al Nassr are ready to make a huge offer to Manchester United midfielder Casemiro after being encouraged to do so by his former team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo. Crystal Palace have held talks with the Raine Group, who oversaw the sale of Manchester United, amid criticism from supporters over their ownership and tensions in the boardroom. Newcastle United are closing on a deal to sign Manchester City's teenage midfielder Alfie Harrison. Nottingham Forest are in talks to sign Borussia Dortmund forward Gio Reyna and Ajax midfielder Carlos Borges with both deals likely to be initial loans. Rangers are among the clubs showing interest in Leicester City full-back Luke Thomas. David Lloyd has a great deal of sympathy for England spinner Shoaib Bashir and feels England should seriously consider delaying the start of their Test series in India until he has been granted a visa to enter the country. THE TIMES FIFA is giving serious consideration to holding the 2026 World Cup final under a roof for the first time. Kalvin Phillips is set to undertake a medical at West Ham United on Wednesday after they agreed a six-month loan deal with Manchester City for the England midfielder. Gary O'Neil's Wolves squad were spotted using 'daylight glasses' in an attempt to improve their performance for evening kick-offs. Ben Stokes has shed up to 10kg in an effort to accelerate his recovery from knee surgery and has declared himself fit and ready to lead England in the Tests against India starting on Thursday. DAILY MIRROR Erik ten Hag is expected to have Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw available for their FA Cup fourth-round clash with Newport County this Sunday. Mikel Arteta is now willing to let Nuno Tavares leave Arsenal permanently as the full-back struggles for minutes while on loan at Nottingham Forest. A deal could be in sight between Middlesbrough and Aston Villa for the signing of Morgan Rogers, with Boro ready to accept between ¬£10m and ¬£12m for the striker. Tottenham remain interested in Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee, but will almost certainly face competition from Aston Villa and Arsenal, while Bayern Munich also have a buy-back clause in the deal which sent him to the Serie A club. THE GUARDIAN West Ham are poised to sign Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City for the rest of the season. The deal has not been finalised but the midfielder has agreed to move to the London Stadium. It remains to be seen whether West Ham will have an option to buy Phillips. Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr have cancelled their two-game China tour after the forward sustained an injury, the club said on Tuesday, sparking concern over the Portuguese's participation in their upcoming game against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami. Roy Hodgson is to remain in charge of Crystal Palace for now after holding talks with the chairman, Steve Parish, in the aftermath of their 5-0 thrashing against Arsenal, but he has been warned he could be sacked if results do not improve. DAILY STAR Sir Dave Brailsford will not give up his involvement with the INEOS Grenadiers - despite joining the board of Manchester United. THE SUN Manchester United are keen to try and tie down Scott McTominay to a longer-term contract. Kalvin Phillips is close to joining West Ham on loan until the end of the season. Nottingham Forest are plotting a bold move for Chelsea's forgotten defender Trevoh Chalobah. Victor Osimhen appears increasingly likely to leave Napoli at the end of the season and continues to admit his admiration for the Premier League. Andy Cole says Karim Benzema is still good enough to be able to boost a Premier League side, even at the age of 36, and says his former club Manchester United would be foolish not to try and sign him. Portsmouth are in advanced talks to sign Wigan striker Callum Lang. England Test captain Ben Stokes has admitted pitches in India could see him decide to give Joe Root the new ball while uncapped Tom Hartley is a serious consideration for a debut in the first Test in Hyderabad. DAILY EXPRESS Mansfield Town boss Nigel Clough says it is ""very sad"" that Premier League clubs do not want to help those further down the pyramid and instead face being forced to do so by football's new independent regulator. Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera is set to spend the remainder of the season on loan with Spanish club Villarreal. DAILY RECORD Sydney van Hooijdonk's dad Pierre reckons that Bologna will hold on to the striker this month amid speculation over a move to Celtic. Former Rangers winger Ryan Kent is set to snub former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard - with a loan move to Dinamo Zagreb inching closer. Luke Jephcott, James Brown and Cammy Ballantyne are among the players who have been told they are free to look for new clubs by St Johnstone boss Craig Levein. SCOTTISH SUN Celtic have rebuffed loan offers from a number of clubs for Israeli star Liel Abada, according to a report in his homeland. Scottish Cup scorer Rocco Vata will turn his back on Serie A offers to sign a new deal with Celtic - as soon as one is forthcoming. Guardian Rumour Mill Tom Davies With rumour constituting nine tenths of the news in this slow-moving transfer window, the Mill has had to up its game. And where better to start than with the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Nassr are looking to tempt Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to form a Manchester United old boys club with league propagandist Cristiano Ronaldo. As a 32-year-old on ¬£375,000 a week, Casemiro fits the profile of the sort of player United want to offload and the Saudi league has tended to snap up, so perhaps it‚Äôs a goer? The Daily Mail reports that United‚Äôs director of football, John Murtough, has flown to Riyadh to run various sales up SPL clubs‚Äô flagpoles. Wan-Bissaka is also in the mix after Al-Nassr had a ¬£20m bid for Tottenham‚Äôs Emerson Royal rebuffed. As for possible incomings at Old Trafford, United‚Äôs current targets reportedly include the Bayern Munich forward Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who at 34 is even older than Casemiro, and Sporting‚Äôs English winger Marcus Edwards, 25. United are also in pole position to sign the Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna but Arsenal are sniffing around as well. Nottingham Forest may be under pressure to belt-tighten in the light of their recent Premier League charges but old habits die hard and the Athletic reports that the Tricky Trees are in talks over a loan deal for Borussia Dortmund‚Äôs Gio Reyna. The USA star has appeared only sporadically for BVB this season, and Forest are keen on giving the 21-year-old winger more game-time, with a view to a possible permanent deal in the summer. But there are of course a lot of imponderables surrounding Forest‚Äôs current predicament. One player possibly heading out of the City Ground is Joe Worrall, with Forest‚Äôs relegation rivals Sheffield United batting eyelids at the 27-year-old defender. The Blades are also keen on Everton‚Äôs Mason Holgate, who has struggled for regular first-team action during his loan spell at Southampton. Sheffield United are also reportedly closing in on a ¬£2m swoop for the Atl?©tico Madrid and Croatia goalkeeper Ivo Grbic. West Ham, feeling bullish about the impending capture of Kalvin Phillips, now want Nordsjaelland‚Äôs Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Osman. The Danish club value him at ¬£15m and Brentford, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Everton and Wolves have also been linked with Osman, so we might expect a bit of a scramble over the coming week. There‚Äôs been a lot of talk but not so much action all month about outgoing and incomings at Newcastle. The latest concerns an attempt to gazump Tottenham in the race for Club Brugge‚Äôs 18-year-old forward Antonio Nusa. The Norwegian is thought to offer useful attacking reinforcement should Miguel Almir??n depart to Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia. A ‚Äúhuge‚Äù offer has apparently been made for Newcastle‚Äôs Paraguayan attacking midfielder. Leander Dendoncker looks set to join Bertrand Traor?© and Calum Chambers in the Aston Villa departure lounge, as Napoli move closer to sealing a loan deal for the Belgian defender. The ailing Serie A champions are seeking an initial loan with an option to buy of about ‚Ǩ9m (¬£7.7m). And finally Chelsea‚Äôs Jessie Fleming could be leaving the Women‚Äôs Super League champions and heading Stateside with Portland Thorns set to shell out a record ¬£250,000 for the Canada midfielder. TeamTalk West Ham to repeat masterful Mohammed Kudus signing as ‚Äòhuge bid‚Äô launched for exciting attacker West Ham United are aiming to sign the next Mohammed Kudus, as they have reportedly submitted a major offer to sign a player from the same academy, Ibrahim Osman. Kudus arrived in the Premier League in August when West Ham paid Ajax ¬£38million to sign him on a five-year contract. The attacking midfielder, who can also play as a right winger, had previously been linked with West Ham‚Äôs top-flight rivals Manchester United, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion. However, it was David Moyes‚Äô side who won the race for his services. And they have benefitted hugely from the summer move. Kudus has had a brilliant impact in East London, having notched nine goals and one assist in 24 games so far. Before heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations to represent Ghana, he registered a brace against Wolverhampton Wanderers and also scored at home to Man Utd, helping West Ham to win both games. The 23-year-old has formed a devastating partnership with the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta. And the Irons could soon add another exciting player to the attacking mix. On Tuesday night, Sky Sports revealed that West Ham are in talks with Danish club FC Nordsjaelland over signing Osman. He is a 19-year-old left winger who can operate as a centre-forward or right winger if required. Reports in Denmark have now provided an update on the teenager‚Äôs situation. They state that discussions between the two clubs are ramping up, as West Ham have launched a ‚Äòhuge bid‚Äô to try and forge an agreement. That offer is reportedly worth around ‚Ǩ18m (¬£15.3m), though it is unclear how much of that will be an initial payment and how much will be made up through add-ons. Winger ‚Äòreally close‚Äô to joining West Ham Sources have confirmed to TEAMtalk meanwhile that the two clubs are aiming to finalise a ¬£15m deal. Osman is ‚Äòreally close‚Äô to signing for West Ham, which suggests the deal will be finalised in the next few days. There are lots of similarities between Kudus and Osman. The first is that they are both Ghanaian and came through the Right to Dream academy setup. Nordsjaelland have a partnership with that academy and have helped to produce both Kudus and Osman. Kudus initially swapped Nordsjaelland for Ajax before landing at West Ham, whereas his younger compatriot will be making the jump straight to England. Osman is not the only signing West Ham could soon announce. They have also agreed to sign Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City for the rest of the season. The deal includes an option for West Ham to buy Phillips in the summer, should he get back to his old Leeds United form. Bild (Translation) Secret plan with Neuhaus Gladbach's management team have imposed an internal plan for a possible sale of Manu Kon?© (22) during this transfer period (ends on February 1st at 6 p.m.). This means: If a top club wants to buy the Frenchman despite his contract until 2026, they have to really scramble: 30 million euros plus X is the pain threshold. Because the club actually wants to get out of there Exactly the same applies to Florian Neuhaus (26)! The big difference between these two personnel in central midfield: It would be okay for Kon?© to stay here until the summer. Neuhaus, on the other hand, absolutely wants to leave immediately. The ten-time international player neither sees himself as valued by coach Gerardo Seoane (46) nor does he believe that his strengths are even needed in the Swiss' heavily defensive system. BILD learned: Selling Neuhaus is not an issue with Gladbach because his contract has just been extended by four years (!) without an exit clause. But probably a loan. So far there have been loose inquiries from Lazio Rome and Sevilla FC, but the lead to England is more concrete: West Ham United and Aston Villa want to play with Neuhaus for the Champions League places. TheRoyal Gazette Goalkeeper Nathan Trott could leave West Ham in summer Nathan Trott could well be on the move again this summer. The Bermudian goalkeeper, 25, has been on loan at Danish Superliga club since August 2022, but his future remains uncertain as he has no plans to stay in Denmark after the season ends. A graduate of the West Ham academy, Trott has found it hard to break through at first-team level with the hugely experienced pair of France international Alphonse Areola and Lukasz Fabianski, who recently signed a one-year contract extension, blocking his route to the first team and it is increasingly unlikely that he will force his way into David Moyes‚Äôs side. Trott, who has represented England at under-21 level, could well be looking for a new club soon, with his West Ham contract close to expiring and he will be a free agent from July 1 if no contract is offered by the East London side. For now, Trott is concentrating on his few remaining months in Denmark with Vejle, who are second from bottom with just three wins out of 17 matches, and is concentrating on helping them to avoid relegation. ‚ÄúI think this season will be my last at Vejle,‚Äô‚Äô Trott told Tipsbladet, a weekly Danish sports magazine. ‚ÄúMy focus is just to keep them up right now, and of course you never know what the future holds. But I think I‚Äôm ready for the next step now. ‚ÄúI haven‚Äôt really thought about what will happen this summer yet. Of course, my loan agreement expires this summer, and my contract with West Ham also expires, but there is an option in my contract which gives West Ham the opportunity to extend the contract by two years.‚Äù"

[Texas Iron]

Cheers…

[RM10]

"Osman signing would be a bit of kick in the teeth to our academy, only 19 and 15m can’t see it myself"

[terry-h]

"Nathan Trott’s ‘next step now’… AWAY FROM WEST HAM Sorry Nathan, you weren’t quite good enough for the Hammers…"

[Thanks Alan]

Thanks Alan