Tuesday News (includes West Ham)

[Alan]

BBC

Manchester United are keen on signing Victor Osimhen, who is on loan at Galatasaray from Napoli, but the 26-year-old Nigeria striker's Champions League aspirations and wage demands might make any deal tough to complete. (Teamtalk), external

Manchester United's Brazilian midfielder Casemiro, 32, wants to see out the remaining 16 months of his £300,000 per week contract, dealing a blow to the club's plans to sell him to raise transfer funds. (Mirror), external

Manchester City's interest in 21-year-old Bayer Leverkusen and Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz, who would cost more than £85m, is increasing as the club plans for a future without Belgium's Kevin de Bruyne, 33. (Mail), external

Borussia Dortmund want £85m (102m euros) for Jamie Gittens, with Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea among the 20-year-old England U21s winger's suitors. (Bild - subscription required - in German), external

Manchester City are braced for offers for Portugal midfielder Bernardo Silva this summer, with clubs in Spains, Portugal and Saudi Arabia interested in the 30-year-old. (Football Insider), external

  Argentinia U20s attacker Claudio Echeverri, 19, will join Manchester City's squad this week after spending the last year on loan at River Plate. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Manchester City could face competition from rivals Manchester United for Atalanta's 23-year-old Belgium midfielder Charles de Ketelaere. (Teamtalk), external

Tottenham tried to sign Mexico striker Santiago Gimenez from Feyenoord late in the January transfer window, but the 23-year-old decided to join AC Milan instead. (Calciomercato - in Italian, external)

Bayern Munich have dropped out of the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah, which has cleared the path for Barcelona to sign the 29-year-old Germany international on a free when his contract expires in the summer. (Sport - in Spanish), external

Manchester United will earn £31m if Marseille sell English attacker Mason Greenwood, 23, to Paris St-Germain this summer, as they hold a 50% sell-on clause. PSG have offered Marseille 75m euros (£62m). (Fichajes - in Spanish), external

Bournemouth and Spain under-21s defender Dean Huijsen, 19, has a £50m release clause in his contract which can be activated from this summer, with Liverpool among the clubs interested. (Fabrizio Romano)




Sky Paper Talk

THE SUN

Manchester City are set to go head-to-head with rivals Real Madrid again this summer in a battle for £85m-rated midfielder Florian Wirtz.

Tottenham are eying an ambitious £80m transfer swoop for Dortmund and England U21 star Jamie Gittens.

Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr has bought Portuguese second-tier club FC Alverca for £6.7m.

 Thomas Frank was axed Manchester United sporting director Dan Ashworth's first choice to replace Erik ten Hag, not Ruben Amorim.

Enzo Maresca has the backing of the Chelsea board despite an alarming post-Christmas slump, even if they miss out on the Champions League this season.

DAILY MIRROR

Mikel Arteta is hoping to have Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli back after the next international break.

The EFL will continue the trial of in-stadium VAR announcements by referees at next month's Carabao Cup final despite the opposition of Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

Former defender Rio Ferdinand has urged Manchester United to stick with Ruben Amorim despite the club's current crisis.

Minehead AFC have launched an investigation after players were involved in a shocking brawl with their own fans after conceding a late goal.

THE TIMES

The FA is allowing Thomas Tuchel the flexibility to make regular trips back to Germany to see his family, even though it has meant him missing three Premier League weekends, the third round of the FA Cup and all four Carabao Cup semi-final matches in his first six-and-a-half weeks as England head coach.

Darcy Graham and Finn Russell could feature in Saturday's Calcutta Cup match despite both Scotland backs having been forced off after a sickening clash of heads in the first half of the 32-18 defeat by Ireland on February 9.

Alex Hales has become the first fully freelance elite English cricketer after ending a run of 17 consecutive seasons with Nottinghamshire by announcing that he will not play in England this summer.

DAILY EXPRESS

Young Wigan youngster Harrison Rimmer trolled Everton by holding up six fingers as a Liverpool gesture after scoring the first goal in a test event at the new Bramley-Moore Dock stadium, in reference to their Champions League trophies.

Manchester United could end up spending another £25m on Casemiro after the midfielder revealed his determination to remain until the end of his contract.

Emma Raducanu credited her new training regime after ending her losing streak at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Thibaut Courtois has confessed he was a Manchester United fan earlier in his life and idolised Edwin van der Sar.

THE GUARDIAN

Australia Women vice-captain Ellie Carpenter has thrown her support behind Sam Kerr as the star forward turns her focus to recovering from a serious knee injury after a high-profile trial in the UK ended last week.

DAILY MAIL

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has blasted the Blues after their recent poor run of form, while singling out a number of stars and Enzo Maresca for criticism.

Football fans who misbehave at matches could be drug tested under new powers that are set to be given to police.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Manchester United have been accused of setting "callous" ticket prices for their forthcoming FA Cup match against Fulham. Premier League away tickets are capped at £30 but Fulham fans face paying as much as £61 for a seat in Old Trafford's away end.

EVENING STANDARD

Sunday's protest by thousands of Tottenham supporters against chairman Daniel Levy and the club's board is unlikely to change anything in the short term.

DAILY RECORD

Brendan Rodgers has insisted Celtic must go out against Bayern Munich with no fear and the belief that "anything is possible".

SCOTTISH SUN

Celtic fans in Munich have been asked to be mindful of a memorial service taking place in the city before their match against Bayern Munich.




Glasgow World

'Top London Stadium source' states West Ham interest in Rangers ace + 'promise' secures restless Celtic talent

Rangers and Celtic talent’s are said to be peaking the interest of West Ham United.

A pair of Rangers and Celtic players are said to be on the agenda of West Ham United.

The Hammers are looking towards the summer and firepower is something they wish to add, it would appear. Talent spotter Kyle Macauley joined up with new manager Graham Potter at West Ham last month and they have gone about looking for recruits alongside sporting director Mark Noble.

Daniel Cummings is a talent that has emerged at Celtic this season. He made his debut in the Champions League vs Aston Villa after a hatful of goals in the UEFA Youth League and Lowland League, but appears likely to seal a move to the Premier League side.

Hammers News claim that a major message has sealed the deal for Cummings. It’s stated “Potter and sporting director Mark Noble have made quite the promise to Cummings to seal a deal.” They add “Cummings has been persuaded to join West Ham over other clubs – and the option of staying at Celtic – on the promise of being involved in Potter’s first team squad from the off.”

It’s further mentioned that the Celtic talent has “grown restless at a lack of opportunity at Celtic, who have been trying to tie him down to a new deal.” West Ham might not be done there with Rangers striker Hamza Igamane reportedly on the radar.

He has hit form for boss Philippe Clement this season after spells in his native Morocco. Premier League clubs have been linked with his services and now West Ham are having their name thrown about in connection with Igamane.

The same report mentions “A top London Stadium source has confirmed Igamane is another target being considered in addition to Cummings as Potter and Macauley look to massively reduce the average age and profile of West Ham’s squad.” Currently, Potter has the likes of 32-year-old Danny Ings, 35-year-old Michail Antonio and 31-year-old Niclas Fullkrug on his books.




Caught Offside

West Ham want £54m playmaker as potential Soler replacement

West Ham could be looking to replace Carlos Soler this summer, and Graham Potter already apparently has his eyes on a £54m replacement.

It was reported a month ago that the Hammers were close to sealing a pre-agreement with Soler in order to make his loan move a permanent one in the summer.

Soler has also impressed Graham Potter during the latter’s short time at the club.
Carlos Soler could be replaced by Georgiy Sudakov

However, it’s being reported that the East Londoners are looking at a €54m-rated ace as a potential replacement for the 28-year-old Spaniard.

Give Me Sport suggest that West Ham are the latest club to throw their hat into the ring for Shakhtar Donetsk’s brilliant, Georgiy Sudakov.

The Ukrainian club will apparently demand £54m for his services, and that’s perhaps why Porto, Napoli and Man City have all failed with previous interest in the player.

The 22-year-old playmaker has an impressive 10 goals and three assists in 25 games this season (transfermarkt), so it’s easily understood why he’s attracting interest and just as easily understood why Shakhtar are going to make any move a difficult one to complete for any interested parties.

Of course, a move into one of European football’s elite leagues will be a step up in quality for the player, and we’ve already seen it prove to be too much for his countryman, Mykhailo Mudryk, to handle.

[Takashi Miike]

Cheers Alan 

[gooders]

Thanks Alan