Back to the really important stuff, right? Manchester United have woken up feeling horribly smug because they fancy their chances of prising Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund next month and, despite rival clubs queuing up for the teenager, Ole Gunnar Solskjær believes he is first in line. It all bodes well for United, who also want to take Christian Eriksen from Tottenham, though they could have more trouble convincing the Dane that the bright lights of Manchester beats Madrid.
Chelsea are dead keen on Wilfried Zaha but Frank Lampard may have to shell out more than half of the £150m Roman Abramovich has set aside for January, with Crystal Palace demanding in excess of £80m for the winger. Failing that, it says here that Chelsea could exercise a handy buyback option to sign another Ivory Coast international: Sassuolo’s Jérémie Boga, who they could bring back to Stamford Bridge for a measly £3.5m. Barcelona, too, are said to be interested in the winger, so much so they have sent a delegation to Milan, a neutral venue, to make their feelings known.
Meanwhile manager tittle-tattle is in overflow, be it 72-year-old Harry Redknapp being vaunted for a return to the coalface with West Ham or talk that Pep Guardiola has a break clause in his contract which could see him depart Manchester City at the end of the season. Everton have had a chinwag with Unai Emery but, in truth, they would prefer a piece of Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked by Napoli hours after guiding them to the Champions League knockout stages. Emery is keen on a swift return to the Premier League, while West Ham think they can land Mauricio Pochettino. If Arsenal or Everton capture Ancelotti, it says here that they would not have to pay any compensation for the Italian.
Elsewhere, John Terry could soon be teaching ponytailed Croatia defender Domagoj Vida the dark arts, with Aston Villa interested in bringing the Besiktas centre-back to Birmingham. Jack Rodwell, without a club since leaving Blackburn in the summer, is training with Sheffield United with a view to joining Chris Wilder’s side. As for Newcastle, it seems things are going so swimmingly under Steve Bruce that he is reluctant to rock the boat, therefore they may only plump for a loan signing or two in January. And the English Football League have discussed introducing a salary cap that they hope would prevent Championship clubs from breaking the bank in search of the Premier League’s riches.
