Chelsea are considering a £24m January bid for Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, 27, as a replacement for captain John Terry, 33.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nottingham Forest have made a move to sign Hull City’s out-of-favour forward Tom Ince, 22, on an emergency loan deal.
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.
OTHER GOSSIP
Hull manager Steve Bruce has been linked with the vacant managerial role at Championship side Fulham.
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.
The average yearly wage of a League Two manager is £50,000, compared with the £3m average of a manager in the Premier League.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini wants to see more of his players challenging to win the Ballon d’Or in future.
Goalkeeper Vito Mannone, 26, faces the axe for Sunderland’s visit to Crystal Palace on Monday night.
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Former France coach Raymond Domenech has described Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho as a translator with an over-inflated opinion of himself.
Referee Mark Clattenburg has been dropped from Premier League duty this weekend after he broke protocol to attend an Ed Sheeran concert.
BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Mario Balotelli celebrated ending his Liverpool goal drought
on Tuesday night by
“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
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.
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.
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’.
Al Ahly midfielder Walid Soliman has been banned for four months by the Egyptian FA for untucking a referee’s shirt after being booked.
