Paper Talk: Toon, West Ham target Paraguay ace; Barca eye City legend
Miguel Almiron: Arsenal have company for striker
Barcelona are plotting an ambitious raid on Manchester City in January, while West Ham and Newcastle will slug it out for a MLS attacker, according to Saturday’s newspapers.
BARCELONA KEEN ON KOMPANY
Barcelona have put Vincent Kompany and Branislav Ivanovic on a shortlist of centre halves to solve their defensive ills, according to reports.
The LaLiga giants are scouring the market to sign a new centre-half next month amid fears over the long-term fitness of Samuel Umtiti.
And after Ernesto Valverde’s side saw an enquiry knocked back by Chelsea for Andreas Christensen, it seems they have set their sights even higher, reports the Daily Mirror.
The paper reports Barca will ask City about the availability of club legend Vincent Kompany, who is no longer considered first choice in Pep Guardiola’s side.
However, the proposed swoop looks unlikely will Kompany married to a Manchester girl and keen to finish his career with the Premier League champions.
It all means Barca could be forced to turn to their third choice option in former Chelsea man Branislav Ivanovic – now at Zenit St Petersburg – or bite the bullet and spend big to sign their top target Matthijs De Ligt.
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AND THE REST
Paraguay sensation Miguel Almiron is keen on a January switch to either Newcastle or West Ham (Daily Mirror)
Inter Milan forward Ivan Perisic has admitted that he wanted to join Manchester United in the summer but was eventually convinced to stay by his manager Luciano Spalletti (Daily Mirror)
Rafa Benitez has revealed he was a phone call away from becoming West Ham manager in 2015 (Daily Mirror)
Newcastle players have been told they can revive their Christmas party tradition after last year’s bash was scrapped due to poor form (Daily Mirror)
Gareth Southgate could get a nightmare clash with relegated Germany in the Euro 2020 qualifying draw this weekend (Daily Mirror)
Gary Rowett is under pressure because of Stoke’s stuttering campaign so far (Daily Mirror)
Alexis Sanchez’s scream after tearing his hamstring in training on Thursday left his Manchester United team-mates in shock and distress (The Sun)
Arsenal are hoping their relations with Hoffenheim, where they sent Reiss Nelson on loan, will help them land 22-year-old playmaker Nadiem Amiri ahead of Tottenham (The Sun)
Manchester United’s flight to Southampton on Friday was delayed because a Manchester City plane was parked in their way (The Sun)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic rejected a move to Manchester City in 2010 when he left Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona to sign for AC Milan (The Sun)
Watford boss Javi Gracia admits that he could be powerless to prevent Abdoulaye Doucoure going to Everton in January (The Sun)
David Villa is set to join former Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta at Japanese side Vissel Kobe (The Sun)
Daniel Sturridge has been given until February to respond to a misconduct charge following nine alleged breaches of betting rules (The Times)
The FA are appointing an external legal firm to investigate corruption allegations made by Craig Kline, the former Fulham assistant director of football, against his old club and the governing body (The Times)
Liverpool are preparing an improved contract for their academy striker Bobby Duncan to fend off interest from several German clubs (The Times)
Southampton are planning to sell players during January’s transfer window to raise money to fund signings (The Times)
Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas says he has not spoken to AC Milan and intends to stay at Chelsea until his contract expires at the end of the season (Daily Express)
Brazilian striker Gabriel Barbosa is attracting interest from Everton and West Ham (Daily Mail)
Callum Hudson-Odoi wants assurances of first-team games at Chelsea before he enters talks over a new long-term deal (Daily Telegraph)
Former Southampton striker Marian Pahars says he dreams of becoming Saints manager (The Independent)