TOUCH LINES
JOSE MOURINHO’S agent denies a deal has been agreed for the former Chelsea boss to replace Louis van Gaal at Manchester United.
EX-NORWAY striker and German television pundit Jan Age Fjortoft believes Van Gaal will be sacked and replaced by assistant Ryan Giggs in the next few days, possibly even before Christmas.
FORMER QPR manager Neil Warnock says United must make Jose Mourinho their new manager before the former Chelsea boss is employed again, but doubts the club’s owners have the ‘bottle’ to dismiss Van Gaal. and overlook assistant Ryan Giggs.
UNITED are considering Paris St-Germain boss Laurent Blanc (caricature) as a potential replacement for Van Gaal, should they fail to land outgoing Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola.
LEICESTER striker Jamie Vardy, 28, has been the subject of a tentative enquiry from Manchester City, but Chelsea’s interest is more solid.
CHELSEA are looking to make Inter Milan and former Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini their next permanent manager.
THE Daily Telegraph say Chelsea and Manchester City will fight for the signing of Leicester’s Jamie Vardy. Meanwhile, the Blues have agreed to sign £30m-rated Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira, 25, from Shakhtar Donetsk.
EVERTON are set to be taken over by an American-led consortium within the next six weeks.
ARSENAL are hoping 27-year-old Germany midfielder Mesut Ozil will commit to a long-term deal, which will surpass his current £140,000-aweek contract due to run until 2018.
BUT French midfielder Mathieu Flamini, 31, is set to leave the Gunners when his deal expires in the summer despite having never lost a league game at home.
FORMER England, Chelsea and Arsenal leftback Ashley Cole is set to join LA Galaxy. The 35-yearold is a free agent after being released by Roma.
CAMEROON defender Joel Matip, 24, is closing in on a move to Liverpool after rejecting a contract offer from Schalke.
BOURNEMOUTH look set to beat Watford to the signing of 22-year-old Roma forward Juan Iturbe.
MIDFIELDER Steve Sidwell, 33, is expected to leave Stoke in January after falling out of favour under manager Mark Hughes.
SAMPDORIA want to sign Leicester’s 28-yearold French defender Yohan Benalouane in the January transfer window.
CELTIC captain Scott Brown has criticised the organisers of a petition who are calling for manager Ronny Deila to be sacked.
KENWYNE JONES’ ongoing contract saga at Cardiff City is not causing the 31-year-old striker to lose his focus on the pitch.
REAL MADRID are interested in 17-year-old Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe.
FORMER Manchester United striker Diego Forlan, 36, is interested in playing in the MLS.
NEIL WARNOCK reveals how he tried to poach striker Troy Deeney, 27, from Watford when he was boss of Crystal Palace.