Tuesday News (includes West Ham)
Posted: 14 Jan 2025, 11:51
BBC
Manchester United are said to value winger Alejandro Garnacho, 20, at about £42m, amid interest from Napoli. (Sport Italia )
Bayern Munich have joined Chelsea in the race for 19-year-old Manchester United and England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo. (Sun)
Manchester City are willing to allow defender Kyle Walker, 34, to depart for free this month amid interest from AC Milan and Inter Milan. (Gazzetta dello Sport )
AC Milan will make a formal approach for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, 27, who is set to leave Old Trafford this month. (Sky Sports )
Borussia Dortmund have also reportedly met with Rashford's representatives in the hope of striking a January deal. (Sky Sport Germany - in German )
Aston Villa have agreed a £19m deal to sign Dutch forward Donyell Malen, 25, from Borussia Dortmund. (The Athletic - subscription required )
Villa have also opened discussions with Sevilla as they look to sign 24-year-old French defender Loic Bade. (L'Equipe - in French)
Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, 35, is in negotiations over a pay rise to see out the final five months of his contract. (The i )
Leicester are set to sign French full-back Woyo Coulibaly, 25, from Parma in a £3m deal. (Fabrizio Romano )
Chelsea will allow midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, 21, to leave on loan this month, with Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg interested. (Fabrizio Romano )
Nottingham Forest are open to offers for striker Emmanuel Dennis, 27, with interest from clubs in the Championship, Serie A and La Liga. (Sky Sports )
Portugal defender Renato Veiga, 21, looks likely to leave Chelsea in January, with clubs in England, Germany, France and Italy showing interest. (Athletic)
Monaco have made a second proposal to West Ham for Edson Alvarez, 27, after their initial loan offer for the Mexico midfielder was rejected. (Mail)
Netherlands defender Tyrell Malacia, 25, could leave Manchester United on a loan deal this month. (Fabrizio Romano)
West Ham are poised to enquire about Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin before possibly making a move for the 27-year-old England striker. (GiveMeSport)
Leicester are open to selling Belgium defender Wout Faes, 26, at the end of the season to ensure they meet profit and sustainability regulations. (Sky Sports Switzerland - in French)
Real Madrid are looking at possible managerial options to replace Carlo Ancelotti after losing 5-2 to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. (Relevo - in Spanish )
Luton Town want to make Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield their new manager and are close to making an appointment. (The Guardian)
Championship side Norwich City have joined the chase for highly-rated Peterborough striker Ricky-Jade Jones, 22, who is out of contract at the end of the season. (Football League World)
Hull City are close to the loan signing of Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt - who was wanted by ambitious League One side Wrexham. (Goal)
Stoke City have an anxious wait ahead as striker Tom Cannon could be recalled by parent club Leicester, with manager Ruud van Nistelrooy saying "there are decisions to be made". (Stoke Sentinel)
Both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday are keen to sign Cannon if he becomes available. (Yorkshire Post)
Millwall are interested in signing forward Aaron Connolly from Sunderland. The 24-year-old only signed for the Black Cats in September but has struggled to make an impact and could be available. (Sunderland Echo)
Leeds striker Patrick Bamford is on a "long list" of players Blackburn Rovers are looking at as potential signings in January. (Lancashire Telegraph)
West Brom are eyeing a move to hire Sean Dyche as their new manager after he was sacked by Everton. (LiverpoolWorld)
Sheffield United and Luton are set to battle for the £4m signing of midfielder Timothy Ouma from Swedish top flight side IF Elfsborg. (Football League World)
Middlesbrough have renewed their interest in Hull City left-back Ryan Giles and want to sign the 24-year-old in January. (HullLive)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Bayern Munich are set to join the race for Kobbie Mainoo.
Kyle Walker rejected a mega-money move to Saudi Arabia because he still hopes to reach 100 caps for England.
Borussia Dortmund have been thrown into chaos by a savage bout of 'man flu'. Last season's Champions League finalists are being forced to quit their training ground as a result and move into the German FA headquarters in Frankfurt, which is 140 miles away.
Manchester City were given special permission to make a major change to their FA Cup sponsor badge for the third-round clash against Salford.
DAILY MIRROR
Manchester United and Arsenal have been warned they will be investigated after their players were involved in a 20-man mass brawl - with points deductions previously dished out as a punishment.
Arsenal fear Gabriel Jesus is in for another lengthy lay-off with a knee injury.
David Moyes had already been invited back to Goodison Park before the call came last week to see if he would return as manager.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Miguel Almiron is edging closer to a Newcastle United exit this month with clubs in the United States, Brazil and Europe making contact over the winger.
West Ham have expressed an interest in signing Marcus Rashford from Manchester United as they come to terms with the loss of strikers Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio to injury.
Hampshire captain James Vince is likely to miss the start of the 2025 County Championship after he became one of six English players picked for the Pakistan Super League.
The family of an England football supporter who died in Bulgaria has been given a date for a pre-inquest into his death following more than five years of "hell".
Pep Guardiola and his wife have separated after 30 years together in a "totally cordial" split, according to reports in Spain.
Joe Marler has revealed that he will lead crucial talks with the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs over player welfare in his new role as performance director for Team England Rugby.
DAILY MAIL
Kyle Walker held a 'leaving party' for friends this weekend, with his Manchester City career seemingly at an end.
A number of non-league clubs are set to seek permission to switch home FA Cup ties to the venue of Premier League opponents, following the abolition of replays.
More than 100 disgruntled athletes have returned their Olympic medals just five months on from the Paris 2024 Games because of damage and rust.
Leicester will listen to offers for defender Wout Faes and are thought to be willing to sell the Belgium international for about £15m.
West Ham are interested in Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi, with Marseille forward Elye Wahi also under consideration for the Hammers.
PSG have reportedly agreed a deal worth £59m to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli.
Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos' protracted move to Fenerbahce is stalling amid new concerns the deal is in danger of falling through.
England are facing more visa issues with Saqib Mahmood yet to be granted his visa for their tour to India which begins next week.
THE INDEPENDENT
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a loan move for Marcus Rashford and have investigated whether a deal may be possible.
THE TIMES
The FA will review whether to scrap extra-time in FA Cup matches at the end of the season - but will not consider bringing back replays.
The Somerset batsman Tom Kohler-Cadmore is the latest county player who could be forced to quit first-class cricket and take a white-ball-only contract because of new rules on English players' participation in franchise tournaments.
Pep Guardiola has revealed that he turned down the chance to rebuild his Manchester City squad last summer as it emerged that Kyle Walker is edging closer to the exit door at the Etihad Stadium.
THE ATHLETIC
Chelsea have enquired over a potential deal to sign Bayern Munich forward Mathys Tel. The Premier League club have made contact with their Bundesliga counterparts to see whether an agreement can be reached, with Bayern interested in signing Christopher Nkunku in a separate deal.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has reduced the club's debt by converting a further £72m ($87.5m) of loans into shares.
Brighton have been hit by two more injury blows to their front line following Saturday's FA Cup win over Norwich City, with Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh both suffering issues.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United may need to get the approval of Jurgen Klopp to sign their replacement for Marcus Rashford after reportedly lining up a move for Red Bull Salzburg forward Nene Dorgeles.
Manchester United have reportedly turned down a bid from Napoli for Alejandro Garnacho.
EVENING STANDARD
Millwall manager Alex Neil has confirmed that Crystal Palace are progressing in talks with a deal to sign Romain Esse.
DAILY RECORD
Luis Palma's exit from Celtic is in jeopardy after FIFA's intervention to slap Rayo Vallecano with a three-window transfer ban.
Celtic have reportedly set their sights on Aston Villa starlet Louie Barry.
Rabbi Matondo could leave Rangers this month with details over an exit plan emerging, according to a report.
SCOTTISH SUN
Brendan Rodgers says Celtic are ready to react and replace Kyogo if he was sold this month.
Tony Docherty admits he's not surprised Rangers want to sign Lyall Cameron.
Guardian Rumour mill
Tom Davies
Financial protocols be damned, Spain’s big two are on manoeuvres again, with Barcelona linked with Marcus Rashford and reports that Real Madrid are prepared to pay above the asking price for Tottenham’s Archie Gray. Big Ange Postecoglou’s side may have underachieved this season but the teenager’s mature performances have caught the eye of the European champions. The Spanish outlet Fichajes says Madrid are prepared to offer €50m (£42m) for the 18-year-old talent.
Meanwhile their rivals Barça are evidently prepared to pull various of their many financial levers to move for Rashford, according to sources in Spain, who say Barça’s sporting director, Deco, has been in touch with the Manchester United forward’s representatives. West Ham have also been linked with Rashford – as have Milan, Borussia Dortmund, the world and their spouse, to be honest – but may find the wage costs prohibitive.
Rashford is not the only United player under the transfer microscope in Jim Ratcliffe’s economy drive. Alejandro Garnacho is turning heads at Napoli, who could be tempted to move for the Argentina winger, whom Ratcliffe’s bean counters value at £42m, reports Sport Italia. Kobbie Mainoo, meanwhile, could be the subject of a tussle between Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Talking of Chelsea, they’re all in for Bayern’s forward Mathys Tel. The French teenager is under contract until 2029 so the London club would have to shell out, but they may throw in Christopher Nkunku as part of a deal, given that he’s been on Bayern’s radar. Another player who could be on their way out of the door at the Bridge is Carney Chukwuemeka, a rumoured loan target for Dortmund and Strasbourg.
Randal Kolo Muani’s struggles at Paris Saint-Germain are an opportunity for Juventus and Tottenham, both of whom are said to be interested in a deal for the French forward, probably a loan with an option to buy.
Arsenal are stepping up their interest in Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko as a possible solution to their barn-door-locating problems in front of goal. The Slovenia striker snubbed Arsenal for a new contract last summer but the Gunners still fancy another try for him. They may find encouragement in reports from Football London that Leipzig are poised to sign another attacker, Milan’s Noah Okafor.
West Ham could receive another bid for the out-of-sorts Edson Álvarez from Monaco, who had their first loan attempt rejected, while a potential arrival for Graham Potter’s new team is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, after whom the Hammers are set to inquire as David Moyes goes through his bulging in-tray at Goodison.
In the Championship, Burnley could stoke things up nicely for Friday’s big promotion tussle with Sunderland by signing the former Newcastle midfield stalwart Jonjo Shelvey, who, the Sunderland Echo reports, is training with Scott Parker’s side after having his contract cancelled by mutual consent by the Turkish club Eyupspor.
The Athletic
Graham Potter must improve his record in derbies if he is to turn West Ham’s season round
By Liam Tharme
Hypothetical question: you have just taken over at a Premier League club midway through the season. What kind of fixture list would you want to start with? Teams struggling for form and towards the bottom of the table or high-flying opponents who you could catch off-guard with a new style?
You would probably not pick five derbies in seven games. Unfortunately for Graham Potter, those are the cards he’s been dealt at West Ham United after replacing Julen Lopetegui.
Potter’s first game ended with a 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa in the FA Cup — and next up are five London derbies in six matches.
Fulham and Crystal Palace visit the London Stadium, followed by difficult away trips to Chelsea (Potter’s former club) and Arsenal, either side of a home fixture against Brentford. No European football means Potter won’t have the “washing-machine” feeling he described of walking into 14 matches in eight weeks at Chelsea — but even so, it’s an objectively hard fixture list. West Ham have the sixth-toughest run (over the course of the next eight games) in the Premier League, based on Opta’s power rankings.
There is a bigger problem: Potter and West Ham have poor records in derbies.
Potter lost three and won just two of his eight London derbies at Chelsea, against Crystal Palace and both by a single goal. His Brighton & Hove Albion teams failed to win any of six meetings against rivals Palace, drawing four and losing two of their matches against them.
Those Chelsea and Brighton sides often faced low blocks and struggled for goals. The positive for West Ham, who are in dire need of defensive improvement, is that Potter’s teams were not heavily beaten in those matches.
West Ham have never conceded as many goals as this (39) after 19 games of a Premier League season. Six of their nine defeats have been by three or more goals, the most in the league, and from December 2023 onwards, they have lost London derbies by 4-1, 5-0 (twice), 5-2 (also twice) and 6-0 scorelines.
Their defensive issues have manifested differently between matches. West Ham were undone by Tottenham’s relentless counter-attacking in October, losing 4-1 despite taking the lead. They conceded five in a half at home to Arsenal at the end of November, the opener from a corner and then conceding two penalties.
Chelsea scored twice in the opening 18 minutes at the London Stadium in September, the first following a simple one-two to release Nicolas Jackson out wide, where he was allowed to dribble to the six-yard box before nutmegging Alphonse Areola on the angle.
Jackson and Chelsea’s second was even worse from a West Ham perspective. They tried to press out of a mid-block but left Moises Caicedo free in midfield. Chelsea worked an up-back-through pattern to release Jackson in-behind the high defensive line and he doubled the lead one-v-one.
Those three games, all from the first half of this season, are examples of why West Ham have the most London derby defeats (22) since the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
They have conceded the most goals in these fixtures and only kept four clean sheets, while just Crystal Palace (34) have taken fewer points than West Ham’s 38. A 2-0 win over Palace in August, when Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek scored, is their only win in their last 10 against other teams from the capital city.
Potter ought to learn from, and build on, the David Moyes blueprint of early 2023-24. That team recovered its defensive shape quickly, made defensive two-v-ones out wide to shut down dribbles, and pushed the full-backs on aggressively in attack with wingers rolling inside. Expect Potter’s West Ham to have more possession and territory than Moyes’, though they might share the use of long passing sequences as a defensive tool to control momentum.
Under Lopetegui, West Ham lacked build-up and in-possession ideas, often reliant on switches of play from centre-backs to wingers and having them dribble to create chances. In Lopetegui’s final home game, a 5-0 defeat by Liverpool, they only had two solutions to Liverpool’s press: go around it, with a chipped ball to left-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, or go over it, pushing midfielder Soucek upfield into a 4-2-4.
Injury to marquee summer signing Niclas Fullkrug required Bowen to play as a No 9 rather than out wide and both are currently out. Potter is also without forward Michail Antonio for the rest of the season.
That limits his attacking options, though Potter, as he did in his early games at Chelsea and Brighton, is likely to tinker with systems, personnel and roles. He is not one to abandon his approach and play derby games with a ‘win-at-all-costs’ approach. After his Brighton side drew 1-1 at home to Crystal Palace in January 2022, he said “the thing we have to take forward is the performance level. If we maintain that performance, we will win more than we lose”.
For him, these are games, not occasions, and really they need sustainable performances. ClubElo, a “method to measure relative strength levels” that assigns more points for beating better teams, shows that West Ham’s dire start to this season has taken them back to the level they were at before they qualified for the Europa League in 2021-22.
West Ham’s flurry of derbies is a repeat of earlier in the season when they only left London once in the opening 11 games in all competitions. Even if history paints the fixture list as unideal, there is an advantage to more time on the training pitch and little travel early in Potter’s tenure.
These upcoming matches will go a long way to deciding their season. Twenty-three points from 20 games has them marooned in the bottom half of the table in 14th, form that cost Lopetegui his job. Expectations had been high ahead of 2024-25, as West Ham had the sixth-highest summer transfer spending of Premier League clubs.
Potter has a challenge on his hands. A sextet of London derbies is going to prove a succession of acid tests for him and West Ham and both must improve their records in them.
Guardian
West Ham’s striker obsession remains unresolved after years of failure
Jacob Steinberg
(Clockwise from top left): Gianluca Scamacca, Niclas Füllkrug, Sébastien Haller, Mido, Simone Zaza. Composite: Getty, Alamy, Shutterstock
Graham Potter must quickly get to grips with the club’s failure to sign the right centre-forward over the past 15 years
West Ham rarely hit the target when they buy a striker. Names such as Mido, Ilan, Benni McCarthy, Jonathan Calleri and Simone Zaza will send a shiver down the spine of Hammers supporters, who must despair at the same old mistakes being made over and over again.
This has been a constant theme since David Sullivan and the late David Gold bought the club in January 2010. The 15-year anniversary arrives on Sunday and the numbers have not improved in the eight years since I first wrote about West Ham’s striking failure, detailing how the 32 forwards bought during Sullivan and Gold’s ownership at that point had mustered 128 goals in 643 appearances.
Of course, as Arsenal are finding, landing the right goalscorer is a difficult and costly business. Why, though, do West Ham keep misfiring? The number of strikers signed is up to 40, with a return of 192 goals in 970 appearances. Niclas Füllkrug, the latest in a long line of underwhelming buys, has just been ruled out for three months with a hamstring injury sustained during last Friday’s defeat away to Aston Villa in the FA Cup. For Graham Potter, whose only fit striker for Tuesday evening’s home game against Fulham is Danny Ings (a panic buy at £12m in January 2023, five goals in 64 appearances since then), getting to grips with the foot-shooting nature of the West Ham way is one of his most pressing priorities.
It will not be easy for West Ham to adjust against Fulham given that Potter goes into his second match in charge with Ings, Lucas Paquetá, Luis Guilherme, Carlos Soler and Mohammed Kudus as his only attacking options, assuming that the Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville is sidelined with a minor hamstring injury. This is a challenging moment for the head coach. Reinforcements are needed this month and West Ham are desperately hunting for a striker. Links with Marcus Rashford will not go away, but their chances of signing the Manchester United forward on loan are next to nothing.
Other targets are being considered. Evan Ferguson is a possibility on loan but is injured and it is unclear whether Brighton will let him go. There have been talks over a loan move for Nottingham’s Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi. Desperation abounds. The problem for West Ham is they are always playing catch-up. Misfortune is part of the situation – the hole caused by Füllkrug limping off against Villa would not be as big were Michail Antonio or Jarrod Bowen available – but overall West Ham are in an unforgiving loop of expensive strikers trying and failing to impress before leaving at a loss.
It is why, for instance, West Ham paid £16m for Javier Hernández, who did not have the physicality to lead the line for a mid-table Premier League side, and let the Mexican go after 17 goals in 63 appearances two years later.
Does the face fit? “It’s tempting to think there’s some guy out there that’s going to solve all your problems,” Potter said on Monday. “My experience is it’s rarely as easy as that. What you don’t want to do is just go: ‘OK, we’ve signed a centre forward’ – and then you look under the button and you think: ‘Well he’s not quite at the level, or doesn’t fit the playing style, or isn’t quite the right character.’ All of a sudden you think you’ve solved the problem, but you’ve just created another one.”
It should not be about individuals. Too often, though, West Ham seem to buy a striker with little regard for whether they are the right style of player. There was the decision to spend a club record £45m on Sébastien Haller, who left after 18 months after scoring 14 goals in 54 appearances. Eighteen months later came the £30.5m Gianluca Scamacca: a talent who seemed unsuited to English football, unable to adjust to life away from Italy and unwilling to last more than a season after eight goals in 27 appearances. The 31-year-old Füllkrug, who cost £27.5m last summer, has two goals in 11 appearances and is probably out for the season.
Then there are the punts: £8m on Albian Ajeti (no goals in 12 appearances), £8m on Jordan Hugill (never to be seen again after three substitute appearances), £4m on Lucas Pérez (why?). No wonder West Ham have been so reliant on Antonio for such a long time. Nobody has been able to replicate his physicality and running power. Ings lacks presence, is on big wages and was mainly signed to cover for Scamacca’s struggles. West Ham miss Antonio, who is out for the season after breaking a leg in a car crash last month.
The irony, of course, is that Antonio has been converted into a striker since signing in 2015 and is the club’s record goalscorer in the Premier League era. It is similar with another success story, Marko Arnautovic, who was turned into an effective No 9 by David Moyes, while Bowen’s goals and assists from the right wing have been crucial in recent seasons.
At Brighton Potter, who is toying with the idea of Paquetá as a false 9, built a team that shared the goals around. West Ham have had near-misses in the past – they tried and failed to sign Darwin Núñez and Alexander Isak – but perhaps it is not all about a prolific striker. They do not come cheap and West Ham have already wasted a lot of money attempting to satisfy an obsession that continues to be their undoing.
Mail
West Ham eye £20m Ligue 1 star to solve striker woes amid long-term Michail Antonio and Niclas Fullkrug injuries - with Bournemouth and Tottenham also showing interest
The Ivorian has enjoyed an outstanding first half of the season with nine goals
West Ham scouted the striker several times in November and December
By MATT BARLOW
West Ham have been looking closely at Evann Guessand of Nice as they intensify the search for a striker in mid-season.
They scouted him several times in November and December before injuries sustained by Michail Antonio and Niclas Fullkrug and he remains prominent on the list of options.
Guessand, a France-born Ivory Coast international, has enjoyed an outstanding first half of the season with nine goals, including three in his last four games.
French sports paper L'Equipe selected him in their team of the season so far.
Prising him away from Nice in mid-season will not be easy though. They are challenging for the Champions League places and he is the best striker in the team.
The 23-year-old signed a new long-term contract in August tying him to the club until 2028, although offers of more than £20million would test resolve.
Bournemouth and Tottenham have also shown an interest in Guessand as they look to improve their forward options in January.
‘It’s fair to say it's a significant one,’ said West Ham boss Graham Potter of Fullkrug. ‘When a player pulls up like that you know something fairly serious has happened.
‘It’s still early in terms of full diagnosis but nevertheless a significant one, a number of weeks. Months? A number of weeks probably adds up to months, yes. So yeah, I would say that.
‘Crysencio felt something after about 35 minutes and finished the first half, but probably not at 100 per cent. It's touch and go but probably erring towards the negative at the moment, but we'll see.’
Get French football
Lens interested in West Ham’s on loan winger Maxwel Cornet
According to a report from L’Équipe, RC Lens are considering a move to bring West Ham United’s Maxwel Cornet (28) back to France.
Cornet left Ligue 1 four years ago when he was signed by Burnley FC from Olympique Lyonnais in a €15 million move. He impressed during his lone season in the north of England ending the year as the club’s top scorer. However, Burnley were relegated to the Championship and West Ham acted quickly to sign the winger for €20 million.
His stay in London has been far less impressive and during the summer he was loaned out to Southampton FC. So far Cornet has only made four appearances for Southampton and has spent the majority of his time excluded from the matchday squad.
L’Équipe writes that Lens have made enquiries into the player. However, it has not been disclosed in what shape a possible deal will be made.
Manchester United are said to value winger Alejandro Garnacho, 20, at about £42m, amid interest from Napoli. (Sport Italia )
Bayern Munich have joined Chelsea in the race for 19-year-old Manchester United and England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo. (Sun)
Manchester City are willing to allow defender Kyle Walker, 34, to depart for free this month amid interest from AC Milan and Inter Milan. (Gazzetta dello Sport )
AC Milan will make a formal approach for Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford, 27, who is set to leave Old Trafford this month. (Sky Sports )
Borussia Dortmund have also reportedly met with Rashford's representatives in the hope of striking a January deal. (Sky Sport Germany - in German )
Aston Villa have agreed a £19m deal to sign Dutch forward Donyell Malen, 25, from Borussia Dortmund. (The Athletic - subscription required )
Villa have also opened discussions with Sevilla as they look to sign 24-year-old French defender Loic Bade. (L'Equipe - in French)
Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, 35, is in negotiations over a pay rise to see out the final five months of his contract. (The i )
Leicester are set to sign French full-back Woyo Coulibaly, 25, from Parma in a £3m deal. (Fabrizio Romano )
Chelsea will allow midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka, 21, to leave on loan this month, with Borussia Dortmund and Strasbourg interested. (Fabrizio Romano )
Nottingham Forest are open to offers for striker Emmanuel Dennis, 27, with interest from clubs in the Championship, Serie A and La Liga. (Sky Sports )
Portugal defender Renato Veiga, 21, looks likely to leave Chelsea in January, with clubs in England, Germany, France and Italy showing interest. (Athletic)
Monaco have made a second proposal to West Ham for Edson Alvarez, 27, after their initial loan offer for the Mexico midfielder was rejected. (Mail)
Netherlands defender Tyrell Malacia, 25, could leave Manchester United on a loan deal this month. (Fabrizio Romano)
West Ham are poised to enquire about Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin before possibly making a move for the 27-year-old England striker. (GiveMeSport)
Leicester are open to selling Belgium defender Wout Faes, 26, at the end of the season to ensure they meet profit and sustainability regulations. (Sky Sports Switzerland - in French)
Real Madrid are looking at possible managerial options to replace Carlo Ancelotti after losing 5-2 to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup final. (Relevo - in Spanish )
Luton Town want to make Wycombe Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield their new manager and are close to making an appointment. (The Guardian)
Championship side Norwich City have joined the chase for highly-rated Peterborough striker Ricky-Jade Jones, 22, who is out of contract at the end of the season. (Football League World)
Hull City are close to the loan signing of Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt - who was wanted by ambitious League One side Wrexham. (Goal)
Stoke City have an anxious wait ahead as striker Tom Cannon could be recalled by parent club Leicester, with manager Ruud van Nistelrooy saying "there are decisions to be made". (Stoke Sentinel)
Both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday are keen to sign Cannon if he becomes available. (Yorkshire Post)
Millwall are interested in signing forward Aaron Connolly from Sunderland. The 24-year-old only signed for the Black Cats in September but has struggled to make an impact and could be available. (Sunderland Echo)
Leeds striker Patrick Bamford is on a "long list" of players Blackburn Rovers are looking at as potential signings in January. (Lancashire Telegraph)
West Brom are eyeing a move to hire Sean Dyche as their new manager after he was sacked by Everton. (LiverpoolWorld)
Sheffield United and Luton are set to battle for the £4m signing of midfielder Timothy Ouma from Swedish top flight side IF Elfsborg. (Football League World)
Middlesbrough have renewed their interest in Hull City left-back Ryan Giles and want to sign the 24-year-old in January. (HullLive)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Bayern Munich are set to join the race for Kobbie Mainoo.
Kyle Walker rejected a mega-money move to Saudi Arabia because he still hopes to reach 100 caps for England.
Borussia Dortmund have been thrown into chaos by a savage bout of 'man flu'. Last season's Champions League finalists are being forced to quit their training ground as a result and move into the German FA headquarters in Frankfurt, which is 140 miles away.
Manchester City were given special permission to make a major change to their FA Cup sponsor badge for the third-round clash against Salford.
DAILY MIRROR
Manchester United and Arsenal have been warned they will be investigated after their players were involved in a 20-man mass brawl - with points deductions previously dished out as a punishment.
Arsenal fear Gabriel Jesus is in for another lengthy lay-off with a knee injury.
David Moyes had already been invited back to Goodison Park before the call came last week to see if he would return as manager.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Miguel Almiron is edging closer to a Newcastle United exit this month with clubs in the United States, Brazil and Europe making contact over the winger.
West Ham have expressed an interest in signing Marcus Rashford from Manchester United as they come to terms with the loss of strikers Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio to injury.
Hampshire captain James Vince is likely to miss the start of the 2025 County Championship after he became one of six English players picked for the Pakistan Super League.
The family of an England football supporter who died in Bulgaria has been given a date for a pre-inquest into his death following more than five years of "hell".
Pep Guardiola and his wife have separated after 30 years together in a "totally cordial" split, according to reports in Spain.
Joe Marler has revealed that he will lead crucial talks with the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs over player welfare in his new role as performance director for Team England Rugby.
DAILY MAIL
Kyle Walker held a 'leaving party' for friends this weekend, with his Manchester City career seemingly at an end.
A number of non-league clubs are set to seek permission to switch home FA Cup ties to the venue of Premier League opponents, following the abolition of replays.
More than 100 disgruntled athletes have returned their Olympic medals just five months on from the Paris 2024 Games because of damage and rust.
Leicester will listen to offers for defender Wout Faes and are thought to be willing to sell the Belgium international for about £15m.
West Ham are interested in Nottingham Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi, with Marseille forward Elye Wahi also under consideration for the Hammers.
PSG have reportedly agreed a deal worth £59m to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli.
Aston Villa defender Diego Carlos' protracted move to Fenerbahce is stalling amid new concerns the deal is in danger of falling through.
England are facing more visa issues with Saqib Mahmood yet to be granted his visa for their tour to India which begins next week.
THE INDEPENDENT
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a loan move for Marcus Rashford and have investigated whether a deal may be possible.
THE TIMES
The FA will review whether to scrap extra-time in FA Cup matches at the end of the season - but will not consider bringing back replays.
The Somerset batsman Tom Kohler-Cadmore is the latest county player who could be forced to quit first-class cricket and take a white-ball-only contract because of new rules on English players' participation in franchise tournaments.
Pep Guardiola has revealed that he turned down the chance to rebuild his Manchester City squad last summer as it emerged that Kyle Walker is edging closer to the exit door at the Etihad Stadium.
THE ATHLETIC
Chelsea have enquired over a potential deal to sign Bayern Munich forward Mathys Tel. The Premier League club have made contact with their Bundesliga counterparts to see whether an agreement can be reached, with Bayern interested in signing Christopher Nkunku in a separate deal.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has reduced the club's debt by converting a further £72m ($87.5m) of loans into shares.
Brighton have been hit by two more injury blows to their front line following Saturday's FA Cup win over Norwich City, with Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh both suffering issues.
DAILY EXPRESS
Manchester United may need to get the approval of Jurgen Klopp to sign their replacement for Marcus Rashford after reportedly lining up a move for Red Bull Salzburg forward Nene Dorgeles.
Manchester United have reportedly turned down a bid from Napoli for Alejandro Garnacho.
EVENING STANDARD
Millwall manager Alex Neil has confirmed that Crystal Palace are progressing in talks with a deal to sign Romain Esse.
DAILY RECORD
Luis Palma's exit from Celtic is in jeopardy after FIFA's intervention to slap Rayo Vallecano with a three-window transfer ban.
Celtic have reportedly set their sights on Aston Villa starlet Louie Barry.
Rabbi Matondo could leave Rangers this month with details over an exit plan emerging, according to a report.
SCOTTISH SUN
Brendan Rodgers says Celtic are ready to react and replace Kyogo if he was sold this month.
Tony Docherty admits he's not surprised Rangers want to sign Lyall Cameron.
Guardian Rumour mill
Tom Davies
Financial protocols be damned, Spain’s big two are on manoeuvres again, with Barcelona linked with Marcus Rashford and reports that Real Madrid are prepared to pay above the asking price for Tottenham’s Archie Gray. Big Ange Postecoglou’s side may have underachieved this season but the teenager’s mature performances have caught the eye of the European champions. The Spanish outlet Fichajes says Madrid are prepared to offer €50m (£42m) for the 18-year-old talent.
Meanwhile their rivals Barça are evidently prepared to pull various of their many financial levers to move for Rashford, according to sources in Spain, who say Barça’s sporting director, Deco, has been in touch with the Manchester United forward’s representatives. West Ham have also been linked with Rashford – as have Milan, Borussia Dortmund, the world and their spouse, to be honest – but may find the wage costs prohibitive.
Rashford is not the only United player under the transfer microscope in Jim Ratcliffe’s economy drive. Alejandro Garnacho is turning heads at Napoli, who could be tempted to move for the Argentina winger, whom Ratcliffe’s bean counters value at £42m, reports Sport Italia. Kobbie Mainoo, meanwhile, could be the subject of a tussle between Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Talking of Chelsea, they’re all in for Bayern’s forward Mathys Tel. The French teenager is under contract until 2029 so the London club would have to shell out, but they may throw in Christopher Nkunku as part of a deal, given that he’s been on Bayern’s radar. Another player who could be on their way out of the door at the Bridge is Carney Chukwuemeka, a rumoured loan target for Dortmund and Strasbourg.
Randal Kolo Muani’s struggles at Paris Saint-Germain are an opportunity for Juventus and Tottenham, both of whom are said to be interested in a deal for the French forward, probably a loan with an option to buy.
Arsenal are stepping up their interest in Leipzig’s Benjamin Sesko as a possible solution to their barn-door-locating problems in front of goal. The Slovenia striker snubbed Arsenal for a new contract last summer but the Gunners still fancy another try for him. They may find encouragement in reports from Football London that Leipzig are poised to sign another attacker, Milan’s Noah Okafor.
West Ham could receive another bid for the out-of-sorts Edson Álvarez from Monaco, who had their first loan attempt rejected, while a potential arrival for Graham Potter’s new team is Dominic Calvert-Lewin, after whom the Hammers are set to inquire as David Moyes goes through his bulging in-tray at Goodison.
In the Championship, Burnley could stoke things up nicely for Friday’s big promotion tussle with Sunderland by signing the former Newcastle midfield stalwart Jonjo Shelvey, who, the Sunderland Echo reports, is training with Scott Parker’s side after having his contract cancelled by mutual consent by the Turkish club Eyupspor.
The Athletic
Graham Potter must improve his record in derbies if he is to turn West Ham’s season round
By Liam Tharme
Hypothetical question: you have just taken over at a Premier League club midway through the season. What kind of fixture list would you want to start with? Teams struggling for form and towards the bottom of the table or high-flying opponents who you could catch off-guard with a new style?
You would probably not pick five derbies in seven games. Unfortunately for Graham Potter, those are the cards he’s been dealt at West Ham United after replacing Julen Lopetegui.
Potter’s first game ended with a 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa in the FA Cup — and next up are five London derbies in six matches.
Fulham and Crystal Palace visit the London Stadium, followed by difficult away trips to Chelsea (Potter’s former club) and Arsenal, either side of a home fixture against Brentford. No European football means Potter won’t have the “washing-machine” feeling he described of walking into 14 matches in eight weeks at Chelsea — but even so, it’s an objectively hard fixture list. West Ham have the sixth-toughest run (over the course of the next eight games) in the Premier League, based on Opta’s power rankings.
There is a bigger problem: Potter and West Ham have poor records in derbies.
Potter lost three and won just two of his eight London derbies at Chelsea, against Crystal Palace and both by a single goal. His Brighton & Hove Albion teams failed to win any of six meetings against rivals Palace, drawing four and losing two of their matches against them.
Those Chelsea and Brighton sides often faced low blocks and struggled for goals. The positive for West Ham, who are in dire need of defensive improvement, is that Potter’s teams were not heavily beaten in those matches.
West Ham have never conceded as many goals as this (39) after 19 games of a Premier League season. Six of their nine defeats have been by three or more goals, the most in the league, and from December 2023 onwards, they have lost London derbies by 4-1, 5-0 (twice), 5-2 (also twice) and 6-0 scorelines.
Their defensive issues have manifested differently between matches. West Ham were undone by Tottenham’s relentless counter-attacking in October, losing 4-1 despite taking the lead. They conceded five in a half at home to Arsenal at the end of November, the opener from a corner and then conceding two penalties.
Chelsea scored twice in the opening 18 minutes at the London Stadium in September, the first following a simple one-two to release Nicolas Jackson out wide, where he was allowed to dribble to the six-yard box before nutmegging Alphonse Areola on the angle.
Jackson and Chelsea’s second was even worse from a West Ham perspective. They tried to press out of a mid-block but left Moises Caicedo free in midfield. Chelsea worked an up-back-through pattern to release Jackson in-behind the high defensive line and he doubled the lead one-v-one.
Those three games, all from the first half of this season, are examples of why West Ham have the most London derby defeats (22) since the start of the 2021-22 campaign.
They have conceded the most goals in these fixtures and only kept four clean sheets, while just Crystal Palace (34) have taken fewer points than West Ham’s 38. A 2-0 win over Palace in August, when Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek scored, is their only win in their last 10 against other teams from the capital city.
Potter ought to learn from, and build on, the David Moyes blueprint of early 2023-24. That team recovered its defensive shape quickly, made defensive two-v-ones out wide to shut down dribbles, and pushed the full-backs on aggressively in attack with wingers rolling inside. Expect Potter’s West Ham to have more possession and territory than Moyes’, though they might share the use of long passing sequences as a defensive tool to control momentum.
Under Lopetegui, West Ham lacked build-up and in-possession ideas, often reliant on switches of play from centre-backs to wingers and having them dribble to create chances. In Lopetegui’s final home game, a 5-0 defeat by Liverpool, they only had two solutions to Liverpool’s press: go around it, with a chipped ball to left-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, or go over it, pushing midfielder Soucek upfield into a 4-2-4.
Injury to marquee summer signing Niclas Fullkrug required Bowen to play as a No 9 rather than out wide and both are currently out. Potter is also without forward Michail Antonio for the rest of the season.
That limits his attacking options, though Potter, as he did in his early games at Chelsea and Brighton, is likely to tinker with systems, personnel and roles. He is not one to abandon his approach and play derby games with a ‘win-at-all-costs’ approach. After his Brighton side drew 1-1 at home to Crystal Palace in January 2022, he said “the thing we have to take forward is the performance level. If we maintain that performance, we will win more than we lose”.
For him, these are games, not occasions, and really they need sustainable performances. ClubElo, a “method to measure relative strength levels” that assigns more points for beating better teams, shows that West Ham’s dire start to this season has taken them back to the level they were at before they qualified for the Europa League in 2021-22.
West Ham’s flurry of derbies is a repeat of earlier in the season when they only left London once in the opening 11 games in all competitions. Even if history paints the fixture list as unideal, there is an advantage to more time on the training pitch and little travel early in Potter’s tenure.
These upcoming matches will go a long way to deciding their season. Twenty-three points from 20 games has them marooned in the bottom half of the table in 14th, form that cost Lopetegui his job. Expectations had been high ahead of 2024-25, as West Ham had the sixth-highest summer transfer spending of Premier League clubs.
Potter has a challenge on his hands. A sextet of London derbies is going to prove a succession of acid tests for him and West Ham and both must improve their records in them.
Guardian
West Ham’s striker obsession remains unresolved after years of failure
Jacob Steinberg
(Clockwise from top left): Gianluca Scamacca, Niclas Füllkrug, Sébastien Haller, Mido, Simone Zaza. Composite: Getty, Alamy, Shutterstock
Graham Potter must quickly get to grips with the club’s failure to sign the right centre-forward over the past 15 years
West Ham rarely hit the target when they buy a striker. Names such as Mido, Ilan, Benni McCarthy, Jonathan Calleri and Simone Zaza will send a shiver down the spine of Hammers supporters, who must despair at the same old mistakes being made over and over again.
This has been a constant theme since David Sullivan and the late David Gold bought the club in January 2010. The 15-year anniversary arrives on Sunday and the numbers have not improved in the eight years since I first wrote about West Ham’s striking failure, detailing how the 32 forwards bought during Sullivan and Gold’s ownership at that point had mustered 128 goals in 643 appearances.
Of course, as Arsenal are finding, landing the right goalscorer is a difficult and costly business. Why, though, do West Ham keep misfiring? The number of strikers signed is up to 40, with a return of 192 goals in 970 appearances. Niclas Füllkrug, the latest in a long line of underwhelming buys, has just been ruled out for three months with a hamstring injury sustained during last Friday’s defeat away to Aston Villa in the FA Cup. For Graham Potter, whose only fit striker for Tuesday evening’s home game against Fulham is Danny Ings (a panic buy at £12m in January 2023, five goals in 64 appearances since then), getting to grips with the foot-shooting nature of the West Ham way is one of his most pressing priorities.
It will not be easy for West Ham to adjust against Fulham given that Potter goes into his second match in charge with Ings, Lucas Paquetá, Luis Guilherme, Carlos Soler and Mohammed Kudus as his only attacking options, assuming that the Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville is sidelined with a minor hamstring injury. This is a challenging moment for the head coach. Reinforcements are needed this month and West Ham are desperately hunting for a striker. Links with Marcus Rashford will not go away, but their chances of signing the Manchester United forward on loan are next to nothing.
Other targets are being considered. Evan Ferguson is a possibility on loan but is injured and it is unclear whether Brighton will let him go. There have been talks over a loan move for Nottingham’s Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi. Desperation abounds. The problem for West Ham is they are always playing catch-up. Misfortune is part of the situation – the hole caused by Füllkrug limping off against Villa would not be as big were Michail Antonio or Jarrod Bowen available – but overall West Ham are in an unforgiving loop of expensive strikers trying and failing to impress before leaving at a loss.
It is why, for instance, West Ham paid £16m for Javier Hernández, who did not have the physicality to lead the line for a mid-table Premier League side, and let the Mexican go after 17 goals in 63 appearances two years later.
Does the face fit? “It’s tempting to think there’s some guy out there that’s going to solve all your problems,” Potter said on Monday. “My experience is it’s rarely as easy as that. What you don’t want to do is just go: ‘OK, we’ve signed a centre forward’ – and then you look under the button and you think: ‘Well he’s not quite at the level, or doesn’t fit the playing style, or isn’t quite the right character.’ All of a sudden you think you’ve solved the problem, but you’ve just created another one.”
It should not be about individuals. Too often, though, West Ham seem to buy a striker with little regard for whether they are the right style of player. There was the decision to spend a club record £45m on Sébastien Haller, who left after 18 months after scoring 14 goals in 54 appearances. Eighteen months later came the £30.5m Gianluca Scamacca: a talent who seemed unsuited to English football, unable to adjust to life away from Italy and unwilling to last more than a season after eight goals in 27 appearances. The 31-year-old Füllkrug, who cost £27.5m last summer, has two goals in 11 appearances and is probably out for the season.
Then there are the punts: £8m on Albian Ajeti (no goals in 12 appearances), £8m on Jordan Hugill (never to be seen again after three substitute appearances), £4m on Lucas Pérez (why?). No wonder West Ham have been so reliant on Antonio for such a long time. Nobody has been able to replicate his physicality and running power. Ings lacks presence, is on big wages and was mainly signed to cover for Scamacca’s struggles. West Ham miss Antonio, who is out for the season after breaking a leg in a car crash last month.
The irony, of course, is that Antonio has been converted into a striker since signing in 2015 and is the club’s record goalscorer in the Premier League era. It is similar with another success story, Marko Arnautovic, who was turned into an effective No 9 by David Moyes, while Bowen’s goals and assists from the right wing have been crucial in recent seasons.
At Brighton Potter, who is toying with the idea of Paquetá as a false 9, built a team that shared the goals around. West Ham have had near-misses in the past – they tried and failed to sign Darwin Núñez and Alexander Isak – but perhaps it is not all about a prolific striker. They do not come cheap and West Ham have already wasted a lot of money attempting to satisfy an obsession that continues to be their undoing.
West Ham eye £20m Ligue 1 star to solve striker woes amid long-term Michail Antonio and Niclas Fullkrug injuries - with Bournemouth and Tottenham also showing interest
The Ivorian has enjoyed an outstanding first half of the season with nine goals
West Ham scouted the striker several times in November and December
By MATT BARLOW
West Ham have been looking closely at Evann Guessand of Nice as they intensify the search for a striker in mid-season.
They scouted him several times in November and December before injuries sustained by Michail Antonio and Niclas Fullkrug and he remains prominent on the list of options.
Guessand, a France-born Ivory Coast international, has enjoyed an outstanding first half of the season with nine goals, including three in his last four games.
French sports paper L'Equipe selected him in their team of the season so far.
Prising him away from Nice in mid-season will not be easy though. They are challenging for the Champions League places and he is the best striker in the team.
The 23-year-old signed a new long-term contract in August tying him to the club until 2028, although offers of more than £20million would test resolve.
Bournemouth and Tottenham have also shown an interest in Guessand as they look to improve their forward options in January.
‘It’s fair to say it's a significant one,’ said West Ham boss Graham Potter of Fullkrug. ‘When a player pulls up like that you know something fairly serious has happened.
‘It’s still early in terms of full diagnosis but nevertheless a significant one, a number of weeks. Months? A number of weeks probably adds up to months, yes. So yeah, I would say that.
‘Crysencio felt something after about 35 minutes and finished the first half, but probably not at 100 per cent. It's touch and go but probably erring towards the negative at the moment, but we'll see.’
Get French football
Lens interested in West Ham’s on loan winger Maxwel Cornet
According to a report from L’Équipe, RC Lens are considering a move to bring West Ham United’s Maxwel Cornet (28) back to France.
Cornet left Ligue 1 four years ago when he was signed by Burnley FC from Olympique Lyonnais in a €15 million move. He impressed during his lone season in the north of England ending the year as the club’s top scorer. However, Burnley were relegated to the Championship and West Ham acted quickly to sign the winger for €20 million.
His stay in London has been far less impressive and during the summer he was loaned out to Southampton FC. So far Cornet has only made four appearances for Southampton and has spent the majority of his time excluded from the matchday squad.
L’Équipe writes that Lens have made enquiries into the player. However, it has not been disclosed in what shape a possible deal will be made.