Paper Talk: Chelsea dealt striker blow; Mourinho picks No.1 January target

Oli Fisher

Jose Mourinho has picked his number one target for January, while Andrea Belotti has been linked with a huge move in Wednesday’s papers.

 

ARSENAL TO END LEMAR PURSUIT

Arsenal will terminate their long-standing interest in Monaco forward Thomas Lemar, according to a report.

The Daily Mail claim that the Gunners will end their pursuit due to the financial demands of the Ligue 1 club, with Barcelona set to get involved and drive the price up even further.

Arsenal almost sealed a £90million deadline day move for the France international, but now would have to pay considerably more given the competition.

Seemingly outpriced in a deal for Lemar, Arsene Wenger has already starting eyeing alternatives such as Lyon’s Nabil Fekir and Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling.

The Frenchman will reportedly make a fresh attempt to sign Sterling after failing to land him in an Alexis Sanchez swap deal in the summer as Pep Guardiola would not sanction his exit.

With City poised to come back for Alexis, Wenger is reportedly determined to land the England international as part of any deal.

 

 

AND THE REST

Antonio Conte is wanted to revive Italy after the humiliation of them failing to qualify for the World Cup finals (Daily Mirror)

Leicester winger Ahmed Musa hopes to link up with “father figure” Leonid Slutsky at Hull City when the transfer window opens in January (Daily Express)

Chelsea have been dealt a huge blow in their attempts to sign Andrea Belotti as Torino president Urbano Cairo says he has spoken with Real Madrid counterpart Florentino Perez about the striker (The Sun)

Jose Mourinho currently sees Valencia’s Carlos Soler as his main January transfer target, in what is likely to be a limited window for Manchester United (Independent)

Watford have rejected Everton’s second offer of £8.5m for Marco Silva as the search for Ronald Koeman’s successor continues (Daily Mail)

Everton are willing to double Marco Silva’s wages and give him a considerable January transfer fund to try and persuade the highly-rated Watford manager to join Goodison Park in mid-season (Independent)

Barcelona will reportedly look to hold a crunch meeting with Liverpool this month to push through a move for Philippe Coutinho in January (Daily Express)

Liverpool must pay Charlton £250,000 after Joe Gomez made his full England debut against Brazil (Daily Mail)

Manchester United have spent more than £52m in wages on injured players since 2014 (The Sun)

Newcastle scouts have been keeping a close eye on Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun (Daily Mail)

Thomas Vermaelen has admitted again that he regrets staying at Barcelona last summer (The Sun)

Chelsea are looking to sell Willian in January to fund a deal for Paris Saint-Germain winger Lucas Moura, according to reports in France (Daily Express)

Willian: Winger was linked with a move to Man Utd

West Ham boss David Moyes wants to make Brighton defender Lewis Dunk his first signing in January (Daily Mirror)

Wolves are hoping to boost their attacking options when the transfer window opens, with Fiorentina’s Nicolai Jorgensen one of their chief targets (Daily Mirror)

Bristol City assistant manager Dean Holden is one of the contenders to become boss of League One strugglers Bury (Daily Mirror)

Sunderland have a four-man shortlist to interview for their managerial vacancy (Daily Express)

Brendan Rodgers has put Reading defender Liam Moore at the top of his list of January transfer targets (Daily Record)