Chelsea are considering a £24m January bid for Barcelona
defender Gerard Pique, 27, as a replacement for captain John
Terry, 33. (Daily Star)
Tottenham head coach Mauricio Pochettino expects Harry Kane to
have a long future at White Hart Lane, despite rumours linking the
21-year-old with a move from the club. (London Evening Standard)
Gareth Bale could be available to Manchester United for £90m as
his Real Madrid team-mate Isco’s good recent form has edged the
25-year-old Welshman out of the European champions’ first team.
United attempted to buy Bale when the attacker left Tottenham for
the Bernabeu in a world-record move in 2013. (Daily Star)
Gareth Bale won the Spanish
league and cup double and
the Champions League in his
first season with Real Madrid
Manchester United could bring former Arsenal and Chelsea left-
back Ashley Cole back to the Premier League from Roma. The 33-
year-old is keen on a return to England and would give teenager
Luke Shaw competition in the United defence. (Daily Express)
Aston Villa are considering making an offer to local rivals Wolves
for winger Bakary Sako in an attempt to add some much-needed
attacking edge. The 26-year-old Mali international has scored
seven goals this season, while Villa have managed just four. (Daily
Mirror)
Nottingham Forest have made a move to sign Hull City’s out-of-
favour forward Tom Ince, 22, on an emergency loan deal. (Hull
Daily Mail)
Arsenal have stolen a march on Bayern Munich in the race to sign
17-year-old Benfica midfielder Goncalo Guedes, who is also being
tracked by AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund. (Daily Express)
OTHER GOSSIP
Hull manager Steve Bruce has been linked with the vacant
managerial role at Championship side Fulham. (Daily Mirror)
Wednesday’s Sun back page
Adel Taarabt was left out of QPR’s under-21 fixture against
Swansea. The 25-year-old midfielder has been involved in a public
row with Harry Redknapp over his fitness but was due to play in the
match at the club’s Harlington training ground in west London.
(Daily Express)
The average yearly wage of a League Two manager is £50,000,
compared with the £3m average of a manager in the Premier
League. (Daily Mail)
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini wants to see more of
his players challenging to win the Ballon d’Or in future.
(Independent)
Goalkeeper Vito Mannone, 26, faces the axe for Sunderland’s visit
to Crystal Palace on Monday night. (The Sun – subscription
required)
Former France coach Raymond Domenech has described Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho as a translator with an over-inflated
opinion of himself. (Daily Telegraph)
Referee Mark Clattenburg has been dropped from Premier League
duty this weekend after he broke protocol to attend an Ed Sheeran
concert. (Daily Mail)
BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Mario Balotelli celebrated ending his Liverpool goal drought
against Swansea on Tuesday night by tweeting: “Finally!”
Anders Lindegaard was
reportedly the only
Manchester United squad
member not to watch El
Clasico with his team-mates
Manchester United goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard took to Twitter
to poke fun at reports he did not join his team-mates in watching
Real Madrid’s match against Barcelona on Saturday.
AND FINALLY
Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski is set to make his acting debut.
The 29-year-old is set for a role in German comedy Macho Man.
(Metro)
A Uruguayan newspaper has claimed that Luis Suarez’s Barcelona
team-mates did not help him on his debut against Real Madrid. El
Observador noted that Lionel Messi did not pass to the former
Liverpool striker at any stage during the match. (Daily Star)
Stoke City have told Ryan Shawcross not to man-mark at set-
pieces as they fear the 27-year-old defender is being targeted by
referees for his ‘grappling’. (Daily Mail)
Al Ahly midfielder Walid Soliman has been banned for four months
by the Egyptian FA for untucking a referee’s shirt after being
booked. (Fox Soccer)
Source: bbcsport.com/football
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