Advertisement

Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Arsenal ‘target Payet’, West Ham ‘want Sturridge’, Ronaldo ‘avoided tax’

image

There was a time when Arsene Wenger seemed to have first dibs on all talented French footballers, and he could be about to use a bit of the old magic to snare the latest Gallic sensation on the scene.

Wenger has been caught “purring” over West Ham playmaker Dimitri Payet, prompting the Sun to speculate that Arsenal are “lining up a sensational swoop” for the 29-year-old.

Former Gunner and renowned soccer intellectual Paul Merson believes Payet has “downed tools” as the Hammers enter a relegation battle and “looks like someone that wants to be moving on his way”, which will be music to Wenger’s ears.

Payet might be particularly useful to the Gunners if the persistent reports in Spain that Mesut Ozil wants to return to Real Madrid turns out to have any substance.

In an exclusive interview with Marca, the German magician responds to a question about his possible return to the Bernabeu with the game’s least reassuring phrase - “we’ll see what happens in the future”.

West Ham, meanwhile, could soften the blow of losing Payet by signing Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge. The Star says the Hammers are planning a “shock” January move for the England striker, although it isn’t really that shocking because it has already been reported by about four other tabloids in the past fortnight. Doesn’t mean it will happen though, obviously.

The Star says West Ham are also keen on bringing Arsenal right-back Carl Jenkinson back to east London on loan, which will be great news for the Gunners fans who have been giving him so much stick that Wenger may “take him out of the firing line” for Saturday’s match against the Hammers (Sun).

Liverpool U-23 manager Michael Beale is set to join Brazilian club Sao Paulo as assistant manager to Rogerio Ceni (Globo Esporte), which might sound incredibly boring until you realise that his departure would create an opening for Steven Gerrard to return to Anfield in a management role (Independent).

Elsewhere, Roma are closing in on a deal to sign Manchester United’s Memphis Depay on loan (Corriere dello Sport) Leicester have agreed a £15m fee with Genk for 19-year-old midfielder Wilfred Ndidi (Guardian) and Aston Villa’s ridiculous owner Tony Xia says he wants the Championship strugglers to be “the top club in the Premier League” in five or six years (Times).

But perhaps the biggest story of the day comes courtesy of a project called Football Leaks, which has released 18.6 million private documents revealing the “tax tricks” and “murky financial transactions” of the world’s top football stars, including one bit about Cristiano Ronaldo avoiding paying tax on £125m of image rights (European Investigative Collaborations). Well how else is he supposed to get food on the table for his family, guys??

@darlingkevin