Paper Talk: Mourinho pushing for £50m Rose deal; quartet eye Walcott

Jose Mourinho has urged Manchester United’s board to move for a £50million left-back target, while a Serie A giant is keen on signing United star Juan Mata, according to Thursday’s papers.

 

MOURINHO URGES MAN UTD TO PUSH THROUGH DEFENDER DEAL

Jose Mourinho is reportedly urging the Manchester United board to sanction a £50million move for Tottenham defender Danny Rose.

The England star has long been linked with a switch to Old Trafford and talk of a potential Spurs exit was ramped-up when he criticised the club’s pay structure towards the end of last year.

It is no secret that Mourinho is chasing a new left-back in January, with Luke Shaw and Matteo Darmian not considered good enough for a long-term future with the Red Devils.

Converted winger Ashley Young has been filling in this season, although Shaw has impressed when called upon after a public fall-out with the United chief over his fitness and professionalism in the summer.

Rose has had his own fitness issues, having only returned from a long-term knee injury in October, while he also suffered a recurrence to the injury in the Boxing Day win over Southampton.

Should that injury keep the 27-year-old on the sidelines for another spell, the likelihood is that United will stick with what they have and revisit the situation in the summer.

Rose, however, is not the only left-back on the club’s radar with Juventus star Alex Sandro another potential option.

Juve are determined to hold on to the Brazilian, who is also a major Chelsea target, and are not willing to sell in January.

That decision is said to have made United favourites to land the 26-year-old, given that Mourinho would be prepared to wait six months to get his man.

AND THE REST

Liverpool have identified £90m-rated Monaco man Thomas Lemar as replacement for Philippe Coutinho (Daily Mirror)

Robbie Keane could make an amazing return to Wolves as they close in on promotion to the Premier League (Daily Mirror)

Everton are closing in on the transfer of Cenk Tosun after face-to-face talks with the Besiktas president (Daily Mirror)

West Brom are ready to sell Jonny Evans this month if he won’t commit to a new contract, with Manchester United & Manchester City ready to swoop (Daily Mirror)

Huddersfield are preparing a third bid to sign Norwich midfielder Alex Pritchard (Daily Mirror)

Inter Milan are keen on Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata (Daily Mirror)

Sergio Aguero says he is in the dark over his long-term Manchester City future (The Sun)

Manchester United fear Jose Mourinho could resign at the end of the season (Daily Mail)

Stoke boss Mark Hughes is set for talks with the board amid their awful run of form and questions over his future at club (Daily Mail)

Tottenham are ready to smash their wage ceiling to make Harry Kane the highest paid Englishman in the Premier League on £200k-a-week (Daily Mail)

Crystal Palace are speaking to Lille about a deal for their versatile defender Ibrahim Amadou, 24, who is priced at £16m (Daily Mail)

Sevilla are interested in Everton striker Sandro Ramirez (Daily Mail)

Watford want Sunderland midfielder Didier Ndong, Leicester striker Islam Slimani and Liverpool outcast Lazar Markovic in a triple January swoop (Daily Star)

Southampton, West Ham, Newcastle and Everton are all in the running to sign out-of-favour Arsenal winger Theo Walcott (Daily Star)

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will block Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s transfer to Inter Milan (Daily Star)

Striker Cameron Jerome is free to leave Norwich and is wanted by Cardiff and Birmingham, two of his former clubs, in a £1m deal (Daily Star)

Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett has returned to former club Wolves to sign full-back Sylvain Deslandes and midfielder Connor Ronan on loan (Daily Star)

Swedish side Ostersunds want to sign forgotten Celtic midfielder Liam Henderson (Daily Express)

Juventus are determined to keep Alex Sandro this month, frustrating Manchester United and Chelsea (The Independent)

Bayern Munich have confirmed their interest in the Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka, who previously attracted interest from Liverpool (The Guardian)