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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: West Ham ‘target Fabregas’, Bayern Munich ‘want Klopp’

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The exact opposite of whatever Cesc Fabregas wants to happen keeps happening. First he was repeatedly benched by new Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, then when he was finally restored to the starting line-up against his former club Arsenal he was 3-0 down by half-time and the first one to be substituted. But now the Spaniard’s season has hit a new low: he’s been linked with a move to West Ham.

A man who is used to being part of the European football elite, having previously only played for the Blues, Arsenal, Barcelona and Spain, and been linked with the likes of Italian giants Juventus and AC Milan in recent weeks, has suddenly found himself in the bargain basement with a reduced sticker slapped onto his forehead.

The Sunday Mirror says the struggling Hammers are keeping Cesc’s situation “under review” and will offer him an “escape route” if he doesn’t find his way back into Conte’s plans between now and January.

Whether Fabregas will deem it a satisfactory escape, given that he has become accustomed to the finer things in life and all the Hammers can currently offer is a relegation battle and the chance to see grown men fight each other in the stands, is another matter. He might just prefer to stay at Stamford Bridge and focus on their EFL Cup campaign.

The Mirror adds that the Hammers have also been offered 29-year-old free agent Kevin Constant, the former AC Milan defender whose surname well describes his unhappy quest to find regular football.

There’s lots of interesting manager gossip around, such as the Daily Star Sunday’s claim that Bayern Munich are lining up Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to be their next manager.

Given that Carlo Ancelotti has only been in Bavaria for a few months, this may not happen anytime soon. But if Klopp does one day take over at Bayern, even if he’s about 68 years old, the Star can do one of those “we told you so” headline flashbacks to further cement its reputation as a respected and accurate publication.

Meanwhile, Stoke are considering Steve Bruce as a replacement for his former Manchester United team-mate Mark Hughes (Sunday Express) while Swansea’s Francesco Guidolin is “90 minutes from the sack” with Ryan Giggs and Chris Coleman on a five-man replacement shortlist drawn up by the Swans (Sunday Mirror).

Elsewhere, Leicester will demand Morgan Schneiderlin in part exchange if Man Utd keeping trying to sign Danny Drinkwater (Sunday People), Tottenham are preparing a move for Fiorentina’s £7m-rated midfielder Milan Badelj (Sunday People) and Brendan Rodgers thinks he is responsible for Raheem Sterling’s renaissance because he sent him a “motivational” letter after Euro 2016 (Mail on Sunday). Bet he never even gets a thank you letter from Pep Guardiola for it.

@darlingkevin