Wednesday news (includes West ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is weighing up for a move for Bayer Leverkusen's Netherlands defender Jeremie Frimpong, 23, and his fellow Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg, 22, who joined Brentford from Liverpool last summer. (Football Transfers)

Tottenham are interested in Manchester City and England winger Jack Grealish, 29. (Football Insider)

The agent of Canada striker Jonathan David has told potential suitors including Juventus, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Manchester United that the 24-year-old wants a contract worth £5m a year to join them on a free transfer when his deal at Lille expires next summer. (Tuttosport - in Italian)

Juventus want to take Netherlands forward Joshua Zirkzee, 23, on loan from Manchester United in January. (Tuttosport - in Italian)

Arsenal and Liverpool are among the top European clubs looking to add Eintracht Frankfurt's Sweden midfielder Hugo Larsson, 20, to their ranks in January. (Teamtalk)

Chelsea are among a number of clubs, including Newcastle and Crystal Palace, who are keen on Benfica's Portuguese centre-back Tomas Araujo, 22. (O Jogo - in Portuguese)

Manchester United have been exploring taking up the buy-back option they have for 21-year-old Spanish left-back Alvaro Carreras, who they sold to Benfica in the summer. (Marca - in Spanish)

Chelsea and France forward Christopher Nkunku, 26, would be interested in a move to Old Trafford and is keen to play first-team football. (Football Insider)

Liverpool have been impressed by Sweden's Daniel Svensson, with Manchester United and Arsenal also among the clubs interested in the FC Nordsjælland left-back, 22. (Teamtalk)

Barcelona have earmarked Porto's Spanish striker Samu Omorodion, 20, as a possible replacement for Poland's Robert Lewandowski, 36. (El Nacional - in Spanish)

Real Madrid have both Al-Nassr's Spain centre-back Aymeric Laporte, 30, and Tottenham's Spain right-back Pedro Porro, 25, on their radar. (Relevo - in Spanish)

Technical director David Weir and his assistant Mike Cave have led an overhaul of Brighton's recruitment department involving the departure of several scouts, despite the club's successful scouting in recent seasons. (Telegraph - subscription required)

Former Roma striker Vincenzo Montella is the leading candidate to take over as the Giallorossi's new boss and appears willing to break his contract as Turkey coach, even though eit will cost him nearly £1m to do so. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)




Sky Paper Talk

DAILY MIRROR

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has been dealt a transfer blow with Bayern Munich reportedly ruling out a January exit for winger Leroy Sane.

Lisandro Martinez and four other Premier League players endured a nightmare journey down to South America to link up with their Argentina team-mates after a connecting flight from Brazil was cancelled.

Ruben Dias has warned Manchester City's critics to write them off at their peril.

 Arsenal chiefs are set to hold talks with the Kroenke family this week about their plans for upcoming transfer windows after sporting director Edu resigned.

Cody Gakpo reckons playing on the left has made him a dangerous weapon for Liverpool.

DAILY MAIL

Premier League clubs are privately blaming Thomas Tuchel's late arrival as permanent England head coach as a key reason behind the glut of squad withdrawals this week.

Manchester United are reportedly looking to offload striker Joshua Zirkzee on loan in January, just six months after his £36.5m move.

THE SUN

The Premier League could descend into chaos this season due to the growing injury toll on its stars. That is the warning from PFA boss Maheta Molango, who is alarmed at the increased casualty list across England's top flight.

David Coote has been booted off UEFA's match list as the fall-out grows from his astonishing video rant at Jurgen Klopp.

David Coote can kiss goodbye to more than £1m after his astonishing X-rated rant at Jurgen Klopp.

Ruud van Nistelrooy urged Manchester United's players to get behind new manager Ruben Amorim before signing off as interim boss with a 3-0 win over Leicester.

Bruno Fernandes has been hailed as a "hero" after helping a passenger on a plane while heading to Portugal.

Tyrell Malacia has finally made his long awaited return from injury after 17 months.

Troy Deeney was left distinctly unimpressed by Manchester United ace Alejandro Garnacho after he refused to celebrate his "unbelievable" goal against Leicester.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Taylor Harwood-Bellis can lean on one of the Republic of Ireland's greatest and most fearsome players for advice ahead of facing them this week, with Roy Keane among the wide-ranging influences on his journey to the England squad. The Southampton centre-back is engaged to Leah Keane, the daughter of arguably the Premier League's greatest ever midfielder.

Brighton have let go the majority of their full-time recruitment scouts as part of a restructuring of the envied department that helped earn the club £200m in a bid to stay one step ahead of their rivals.

THE GUARDIAN

Rick Parry has accused the Premier League of undervaluing the football pyramid, arguing that without the "variety and competition" that come from relegation and promotion the game would become "sterile".

DAILY STAR

Ruben Amorim has pledged to dine with club legends such as Sir Alex Ferguson and Roy Keane in a bid to quickly immerse himself in the Red Devils' culture.

DAILY EXPRESS

Steven Gerrard will reportedly stay on as Al Ettifaq manager after showdown talks with club bosses.

SCOTTISH SUN

John Nelms has revealed Dundee are keen to resurrect their plans to take the SPFL Stateside.

Bonnyrigg Rose are fighting for their future in the SPFL after landing a six-point penalty for their sloping pitch.

Scott Brown and Ayr United suffered a huge cup upset at the hands of Lowland League side East Kilbride.

DAILY RECORD

Al Ettifaq have cut ties with former Rangers director of football Mark Allen - as well as Steven Gerrard's right-hand man, Dean Holden.

QPR are weighing up a move to make former Liverpool and Rangers full-back Gregory Vignal their new manager.




The Hard Tackle

West Ham United eyeing Gonzalo Plata swoop

West Ham United will reportedly look to sign 24-year-old South American winger Gonzalo Plata from Flamengo next year.

According to a report by Spanish outlet Fichajes, Gonzalo Plata is the subject of interest from West Ham United. The Hammers are scouring the market for a versatile attacker ahead of the two transfer windows next year. So, the 24-year-old Flamengo winger has emerged as a target for the East London outfit.

Who is Gonzalo Plata?

Gonzalo Plata has hit the ground running since joining Flamengo from Al-Sadd in August 2024. A native of Guayaquil, he spent his formative years in Ecuador and graduated from the youth division at Independiente del Valle. He then gained experience in Europe with Sporting CP and Real Valladolid before spending a year at Al-Sadd.

The 24-year-old returned to South America in the summer transfer window and has not looked back in the last few months. Plata has managed only two goals and one assist in 13 appearances across all competitions thus far. However, one of those strikes earned Flamengo the Copa do Brasil title this month.

Meanwhile, Gonzalo Plata’s impact at Flamengo has not gone unnoticed, capturing the attention of several well-known clubs across Europe, especially in the Premier League. The Ecuadorian attacker has previously attracted interest from English clubs, and he is now a target for West Ham United.

London calling?

West Ham United’s interest in Gonzalo Plata is understandable. The Hammers are scouring the market for a versatile attacker ahead of the two transfer windows, with the team over-dependent on Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus. Considering Kudus can reprise a central role, Plata is a viable candidate to take over duties on the left flank.

However, other versatile forwards, including Pedro Goncalves, also feature on West Ham’s radar. Nevertheless, the East London outfit might look to bring Plata back to Europe, although a move in the January transfer window might not see the light of day.

With West Ham spending heavy sums to bolster the first-team squad in the summer transfer window, the club’s decision-makers expect a quiet winter window. So, it will be interesting to see if Plate returns to Europe next year for the first time since 2023.

[Texas Iron]

 Cheers…

[With Kind Regards]

Thanks Alan.

[CanningTownWA]

Thanks as always Alan