Barcelona and Atletico Madrid join race for Man City’s Kalvin Phillips – Paper Talk | Football News

The top stories and transfer rumours from Thursday’s newspapers…

DAILY TELEGRAPH

Chelsea are willing to listen to offers for striker Armando Broja over the next two weeks but any interested suitors, which could include West Ham, Fulham and Wolves, will have to find more than £50m to sign him.

Kalvin Phillips’ future at Manchester City should be decided next week with interest from Barcelona and Atletico Madrid on top of at least four clubs from the Premier League.

Manchester United paid Raine Group £24.9m ($31.5m) to broker Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s £1.3bn bid for a 29 per cent stake in the club.

Everton’s takeover remains on course to be completed by the end of the month, according to 777 Partners, who insist there are no fresh doubts over their funding.

Chelsea are reported to be paying for round-the-clock security for teenage signing Kendry Paez, and have offered support to the family of midfielder Moises Caicedo, amid ongoing unrest in his native Ecuador.

Napoli have registered their interest in Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg should the Premier League club make him available before the January deadline.

THE SUN

Jordan Henderson has not been paid a single penny from his lucrative contract with Al Ettifaq and may never see any of it after agreeing to forgo his deferred salary so he can leave the club and potentially join Ajax.

Arsenal and Tottenham are interested in Real Sociedad winger Ander Barrenetxea, a current Spain U21 international.

Isaac Hayden has vowed to sue prospective Everton owners 777 Partners after he returned from a loan spell with their Belgian club Standard Liege and claimed he was still owed unpaid wages.

Reports in France have suggested PSG will attempt to cash in on former Manchester United target Goncalo Ramos because of doubts whether he is a good fit for their team.

Ray Parlour has urged Arsenal to strengthen their spine with a new centre-back, central midfielder and striker this month, but concedes the players he would like to see signed could cost upwards of £150m combined.

London’s six Premier League clubs face extra costs next season with the Met Police calling on them to contribute to the £18.5m bill covering their games costs. As things stand only police officers who enter stadiums are paid for by the clubs.

A group of Newcastle fans opposed to the club’s Saudi takeover have demanded the resignation of chairman Yassir Al Rumayyan after he was hit with a £59m lawsuit accusing him of waging a “malicious” campaign against a dissident former Saudi spy chief.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be at risk of having to sell his 25 per cent stake in Manchester United in just 18 months.

The 2026 World Cup final is now set to be played indoors – after FIFA chiefs agreed Dallas’ AT&T Stadium will host the biggest game in football.

Reports in Spain have suggested Barcelona will not host F1’s Spanish Grand Prix after its current license expires in 2026 and hinted at an imminent announcement of a street race in Madrid.

DAILY MAIL

Anthony Martial is training alone to improve his fitness before boss Erik ten Hag will even consider him for a place in Manchester United’s first team.

Newport County are installing a temporary stand ahead of their FA Cup fourth-round date with Manchester United later this month to increase capacity by 1,000.

Inter Miami will fly more than 23,000 miles in three weeks as part of a punishing pre-season tour including trips to El Salvador, Dallas, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Chelsea centre-back Trevoh Chalobah is attracting interest from Fulham.

Kylian Mbappe has revealed that LeBron James offered him advice on how to ‘cement’ his legend by helping young people off the field.

Jose Mourinho’s agent has reportedly put the 60-year-old’s name forward to become Xavi’s replacement at Barcelona.

DAILY MIRROR

Manchester United have been placed on red alert amid reports that Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt could leave this summer because of a tense relationship with boss Thomas Tuchel and a lack of playing time.

Chelsea’s interest in former Coventry City striker Viktor Gyokeres appears unlikely to end in an offer to current club Sporting Lisbon.

Jordan Henderson is set to become Ajax’s highest paid player as he finalises his move to the Dutch giants – as he is set to earn a basic of around £85,000-a-week which will climb to £110,000-a-week after initial bonuses.

Manchester United winger Amad Diallo appears to have quashed rumours of a loan move to Championship side Middlesbrough.

DAILY STAR

Darts sensation Luke Littler has revealed he received two pieces of advice when he met Sir Alex Ferguson during a trip to watch Manchester United take on Tottenham – stay dedicated to his sport and believe in himself.

DAILY EXPRESS

Chelsea are reportedly keen on reviving their interest in Southampton defender Kyle Walker-Peters.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou could be set to see his transfer budgets rise over the coming seasons due to the work of Daniel Levy behind the scenes.

THE TIMES

Criminals using football clubs to launder money or commit other serious offences are being targeted in a new operation that has been launched by the police across the United Kingdom.

A Wolverhampton Wanderers fan has spoken of his “killer’ disappointment after coming out of the crowd to stand in as the fourth official during their FA Cup game against Brentford – but not being able to celebrate his team’s winner.

Louis Rees-Zammit believes he has quit rugby union “for good” to try to break into the NFL, according to the Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington.

THE GUARDIAN

Clubs interested in a deal to sign Manchester City and England midfielder Kalvin Phillips are waiting for them to drop their £7m loan fee demand.

Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness has called on FIFA to publish its report on possible failings at the Qatar World Cup and says delays make her concerned about a lack of transparency at the world governing body.

THE ATHLETIC

Granada are confident of securing Manchester United winger Facundo Pellistri on a loan deal for the remainder of the campaign.

Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White will be out for up to two weeks with an abdominal injury.

Israeli footballers Sagiv Jehezkel and Eden Kartzev are facing bans of up to eight matches for “ideological propaganda” relating to the Israel-Gaza war.

Bournemouth have received loan offers from Sunderland and Ipswich Town for Kieffer Moore but are yet to reach an agreement for the striker.

Former world No 1 tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario has been handed a suspended two-year jail sentence for fraud by a criminal court in Barcelona.

DAILY RECORD

Hibernian are keen on Hertha Berlin winger Myziane Maolida but are unlikely to be able to meet his wage demands.

Sheffield Wednesday will have to make other changes to their squad to be able to bring in striker Mika Biereth, who is currently on loan at Motherwell.

Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin does not want David Wotherspoon to be his last January addition as he looks for a player who can “unlock opposition defences”.

Hellas Verona are the latest Italian club considering a loan move for Celtic’s Gustaf Lagerbielke.

Scott Fraser has opened the door on a return to Scottish football, with the Charlton Athletic midfielder keen to return north for family reasons.

SCOTTISH SUN

Dumbarton boss Stephen Farrell is gutted loan keeper Jay Hogarth won’t face parent club Rangers in the Scottish Cup – despite the Ibrox side being happy for him to play.

Danish side FC Midtjylland were sent out on a survival mission in the freezing Scottish Highlands and ordered to hunt their own food to survive in a bizarre team bonding exercise last week.