Friday newspapers (includes West Ham)
Posted: 27 Oct 2023, 11:49
"BBC Saudi Pro League officials have sounded out Manchester City's Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, 32, about a move to the Middle East in 2024. (Football Insider) Newcastle are targeting a January move for Al-Hilal's Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves, 26, after Italy midfielder Sandro Tonali, 23, was given a 10-month ban for betting breaches. (Sun) Following Tonali's ban, Newcastle are exploring the possibility of reducing his wages. (Telegraph) Newcastle are also considering Manchester United's Scotland international Scott McTominay, 26, and Manchester City's England midfielder Kalvin Phillips, 27. (90min) Chelsea have shown an interest in signing 19-year-old Spain midfielder Gavi, who Barcelona may have to sell for £87m to ease their financial troubles. (Sport via Express) A loan move to Saudi Arabia looks the likeliest escape route from Manchester United for 23-year-old England winger Jadon Sancho, although Chelsea could be an option with Borussia Dortmund not interested. (Athletic) Crystal Palace are confident that English forward Eberechi Eze, 25, will sign a new long-term contract despite interest from Manchester City. (Standard) Arsenal have prioritised signing Real Madrid and France star Aurelien Tchouameni, 23, next summer as they look for a midfielder to play alongside England's Declan Rice. (Football Transfers) The Gunners have also identified Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi as a target, although the 24-year-old Spain midfielder is interesting Manchester United too. (Football Transfers) Liverpool are favourites to sign Portugal centre-back Goncalo Inacio, 22, from Sporting Lisbon. (Bild - in German) Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo is ready to discuss a new long-term contract after seeing boss Marco Silva sign a new deal. Monaco had a bid for the 26-year-old Englishman rejected last summer, with Tottenham also keen. (Standard) Newcastle United are the latest Premier League club to consider a move for Inter Milan's Federico Dimarco, with the 25-year-old Italy defender also interesting Chelsea and Manchester United. (Fichajes - in Spanish) It would take a bid of at least £80m for Manchester City to consider selling Argentina forward Julian Alvarez, 23. (Football Insider) West Ham and Brentford target Serhou Guirassy, 23, will be available for about £15.2m in January because of a release clause in the Guinea forward's contract with Stuttgart. (90min) Sheffield United could sack manager Paul Heckingbottom if his side lose at Arsenal on Saturday, paving the way for former Blades boss Chris Wilder, whose last job was at Watford last season. (Mail) Mali midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure, 30, is set to sign a new contract at Everton until 2025, with an option until 2026. (Fabrizio Romano) Chelsea are closely following the progress of Lille's 17-year-old French centre-back Leny Yoro. (90min) Manager Mauricio Pochettino will have the final say on Chelsea transfers going forward. (Independent) Burnley owners ALK Capital are in talks with Dundee over proposals to make the Scottish Premiership side a feeder club. (Mail) Sky Paper Talk THE SUN Newcastle United are targeting a shock move for former Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, who was one of the high-profile players to leave for Saudi Arabia over the summer. Gary Lineker believes England could use Jude Bellingham as an out-and-out striker after his outstanding start to life as a Real Madrid player. Newcastle United might have a clearer run at Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha in January amid reports in Germany which claim Bayern Munich have cooled their interest because of a supposed knee issue. Barcelona are trying to ease their cash crisis by selling off parts of the Nou Camp as they become available during demolition, and that includes making ethical and sustainable diamonds created from the carbon of the grass from their final game of last season. Parking wardens slapped German football side Borussia Dortmund's team bus with a £50 fine following their 1-0 win over Newcastle United. THE ATHLETIC Manchester United CEO Richard Arnold is preparing for his departure from Old Trafford once confirmation arrives of Sir Jim Ratcliffe taking control of football operations at the club. Alejandro Garnacho is at risk of a Football Association ban over a social media post regarding Manchester United team-mate Andre Onana - who has since mounted a defence of his team-mate. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will not be in attendance for Saturday's Clasico against Barcelona. DAILY TELEGRAPH Newcastle United have held internal talks with lawyers over the possibility of reducing Sandro Tonali's wages after his 10-month ban for gambling breaches while at AC Milan was confirmed. DAILY MAIL Sheffield United are ready to sack manager Paul Heckingbottom if they lose at Arsenal this weekend with former boss Chris Wilder lined up to replace him. Aaron Wan Bissaka should be back in Manchester United's first-team plans inside the next 10 days after making his return to full training. Burnley are in talks about a talent-sharing deal with Dundee as the Turf Moor club's owners ALK Capital seek a feeder club for Vincent Kompany's side. Organisers of The Masters and The Open are ignoring calls to create exemptions for players who continue to represent LIV Golf. Amir Khan has revealed he is in talks with Manny Pacquiao for an epic fight which could take place in Saudi Arabia. DAILY EXPRESS Arsenal's efforts to sign Brentford striker Ivan Toney could be dependent on Real Madrid following up their interest in Gabriel Jesus because of their desire to remain financially prudent. Tottenham are already preparing to launch a bid for make their first signing of the January transfer window as Ange Postecoglou targets another addition to his squad, with the Premier League leaders targeting Uruguay international Sebastian Caceres. George Russell has called for the FIA to consider changes to track designs which allow drivers to use 'get-out-of-jail-free cards' to escape punishment when racing for position. Daria Kasatkina shared a snippet of the vile online abuse she received after beating Magda Linette at the WTA Elite Trophy. UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been cleared of an ongoing case after a woman alleged she was sexually assaulted on June 9. THE TIMES Wasps are considering joining the United Rugby Championship, rather than play in the English leagues, on their return to professional rugby union. Police in Norway have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebritsen and two of his brothers were physically abused by their father, who was also their coach. Football's anti-discriminatory body Kick It Out is set to be given extra powers as a ""super-complainant"" under a new law designed to accelerate complaints about online hate speech directly to Ofcom. Wimbledon's controversial plans for the largest expansion in its history cleared the first hurdle last night as Merton Council granted planning permission for the All England Club to treble in size. THE GUARDIAN David Datro Fofana has been suspended for a week by Union Berlin after the Chelsea loanee refused to shake head coach Urs Fischer's hand after being taken off against Napoli on Tuesday. DAILY MIRROR Former Premier League referee Keith Hackett believes the current generation of officials are not up to standard and suggested that some have become lazy. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney considered investing in Scottish club Arbroath before eventually settling on putting their money into Wrexham. DAILY RECORD Alistair Johnston says Celtic team-mate Matt O'Riley should be valued in the £50m bracket after the midfielder's meteoric rise was highlighted on social media by transfer guru Fabrizio Romano. Telegraph West Ham's 17-game unbeaten European run ends with limp defeat at Olympiacos By Andy Sims West Ham’s unbeaten European record was reduced to ruins in Athens as they crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Olympiacos. The Hammers came a cropper in the shadow of the Acropolis as they suffered a first loss in UEFA competitions in 18 matches. David Moyes, who led his side to the Europa Conference League title last season, made seven changes for their Europa League Group A clash in the Greek capital. But his selection backfired as a soft goal from Olympiacos captain Kostas Fortounis and an own goal from stand-in Hammers skipper Angelo Ogbonna brought their undefeated run to a halt despite Lucas Paqueta’s late reply. A hostile reception for West Ham was guaranteed at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, with Olympiacos even issuing a warning to their supporters not to throw missiles or target players with laser pens. That plea came after their match against fierce rivals Panathinaikos on Sunday had to be abandoned when a visiting player was hit by a firework hurled from the crowd. With tensions high in Athens – Panathinaikos were also playing at home a few miles away - around 1,600 West Ham fans were bussed in from the city centre to the ground under a police escort to avoid any potential trouble. The local ‘ultras’ did not disappoint, with a huge banner reading “tonight you dine in hell” welcoming the visitors on to the pitch amid a cauldron of noise. Moyes would certainly have found West Ham’s first-half display hard to stomach. The hosts took the lead in the 34th minute when Fortounis turned away from Emerson Palmieri, James Ward-Prowse and Pablo Fornals far too easily, 25 yards out. Fortounis launched an old-fashioned toe poke from the edge of the box which flew past the flat-footed Alphonse Areola in the West Ham goal. On the stroke of half-time the Hammers found themselves two behind when Ogbonna suffered his own personal Greek tragedy. The Italian veteran stuck out a foot to block a cross from Brazilian full-back Rodinei, only to help it past Areola into his own net. Moyes will have been having a bad case of deja vu; his ill-fated spell in charge of Manchester United included a 2-0 defeat at the same stadium in 2014. West Ham did at least come out in the second half with more purpose, but a low cross from Emerson was scooped over the crossbar by Danny Ings. Moyes made a triple substitution before the hour mark with Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio entering the fray. Paqueta halved the deficit with a stunning volley from the edge of the box with four minutes left, but despite a late flurry they could not find an equaliser. A victory would have all but secured West Ham’s passage into the knockout stages but now they find themselves with work to do, lying level with Freiburg at the top of the group with Olympiacos two points behind. The Athletic End of West Ham’s 17-game unbeaten European run raises questions over fringe players By Roshane Thomas All good things must come to an end but a recurring theme is starting to develop, given the manner of West Ham United’s performance in their 2-1 loss to Olympiacos. Manager David Moyes made seven changes for last night’s Europa League group stage fixture in Greek capital Athens, following the 4-1 defeat away to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. There were starts for Pablo Fornals, Danny Ings, Said Benrahma, Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna, Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos — but the reshuffle did not have the desired effect. To the credit of West Ham, it is unlikely another English team will surpass their record of 17 European games unbeaten any time soon. But against Olympiacos, they were devoid of ideas and played like European novices, as opposed to the European competition champions who won the Conference League final in June. It was another match where Fornals, Ings, Benrahma and Ogbonna struggled to impress, another match where fringe players failed to give Moyes a difficult conundrum heading into this weekend’s home game with Everton. Fornals is yet to register a goal or an assist 11 appearances into the final year of his current contract. Ings, the club’s second-choice forward, has not scored in the Premier League since February. Benrahma has been the definition of inconsistent. Ogbonna has been a stalwart at the back since joining from Juventus in 2015, but he is now 35 and his age is starting to show. He made a mistake in the 3-1 victory over TSC Backa Topola in last month’s opening group game, and against Olympiacos he deflected in Kostas Fortounis’ opening goal. Meanwhile, Maxwel Cornet’s performance off the bench for the final 20 minutes in Athens showed why he is now reduced to such late cameos. All things considered, those who receive limited game time can have few complaints about lack of minutes if they continue to produce underwhelming performances when given their chance. Moyes defended his team selection but there is a huge drop-off in talent at West Ham now from the first-team regulars to the fringe players. There was more urgency in their play following the introductions of Lucas Paqueta and then Edson Alvarez, both of whom should have started, midway through the second half. On paper, away to Olympiacos, third in the Greek league last season, was West Ham’s toughest fixture of the group and a stronger initial line-up might have extended that unbeaten run. “We didn’t quite reach the standards we’ve been playing at in Europe,” said Moyes. “We’ve had a brilliant run at 17 games unbeaten. We’re in the Europa League again and we’re going to need to step it up again because the teams are slightly better. We came up a bit short tonight. Didn’t play well in the first half and got a bit better as the game went on. “I was disappointed with the team in the first half, not just the players we brought in. We’ve done this for two years and we’ve had success from it and the proof of that success is we went 17 games unbeaten. So if you lose one, we wouldn’t see it as a failure, but tonight we left it too late. “We’ve changed players regularly in Europe for two years now. It’s not something we haven’t previously done and if there was criticism for it tonight there should be praise for the 17 games we’d done it prior to tonight. “We’ve tried to keep everyone involved. I want a good and strong squad, with everyone ready to play and I want to give them all a chance when I can.” West Ham have produced two of their worst performances for some time back-to-back in a matter of days. We are approaching a busy part of the season where Moyes will have to rotate his squad, but many of its fringe players have offered little encouragement that their form will improve when they are selected. The only solace from the disappointing loss is West Ham are still top of their group at the halfway stage despite the defeat — level on points with German side Freiburg, and have qualification for the knockout phase still in their hands. “I thought we gifted them two goals and they didn’t really have to work too hard for them,” midfielder James Ward-Prowse told the club’s website post-match. “To give any team two goals makes things difficult, especially at this level. “But the positives were we came out in the second half and showed a reaction. Ultimately it came too late but it’s something to remember and we look forward to playing them again at London Stadium soon (the next European game, in two weeks). As I said, this is a disappointing loss. But the bigger picture is we’re in a really good position and ultimately it’s about qualifying out of the group. We’re still on course to do that. “It’s not nice to lose two games in a row but I think it’s important we show a reaction on Sunday. There is a game every few days for us and there’s always an opportunity to make a difference just around the corner.” There was plenty of optimism at West Ham heading into the October international break. But following these losses in their two games since the season resumed after it, Ward-Prowse and company need to turn their words into actions against Everton."