United, Chelsea both want Feghouli

The winter window gets closer with each passing day and the transfer rumour mill is starting to pick up steam. As always, Transfer Talk has the latest and greatest. See all the summer deals here.

TOP STORY: LVG and Mou both want Feghouli

Manchester United and Chelsea are set to do battle over Valencia winger Sofiane Feghouli, reports the Sun.

Stories out of Spain say the Red Devils and the Blues have already been in contact with the 25-year-old Algerian, who will be available for free after refusing to sign a new deal with the La Liga side.

With speculation swirling about Eden Hazard possibly exiting Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho’s men will need a suitable replacement, and Feghouli could be that man.

According to the report, Chelsea are said to be readying for a renewed bid from Paris Saint-Germain for their Belgian, and Feghouli, with his ability to play wide and through the middle, could be a perfect fit for the Portuguese’s system.

It won’t be an easy fight, however, as the paper promises Loui van Gaal, always on the lookout for fresh attacking options, has Feghouli on his wish list as well.

Sanchez set for big payday

Arsene Wenger knew what he was getting when he purchased Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona for £33 million: a bonafide world-class forward.

The Chilean has not let down the Arsenal boss either, bagging 22 goals in 47 appearances for the club since joining in July 2014.

Now, according to the Mirror, the 26-year-old is set for a bumper new deal at the Emirates — just 18 months after moving to North London.

Why you ask? WELL Real Madrid have reportedly made a few noises about signing Sanchez and Wenger has absolutely no interest in losing his talisman.

All of which means that the Copa America winner will soon get a nice little pay bump from £130,000-a-week to around £150,000, PLUS a few major bonus incentives thrown in for good measure.

In even better news for Gunners fans, the paper says that after tying down Sanchez, extending Mesut Ozil’s contract is next up on Arsenal’s agenda.

Thursday’s Daily Mirror back page: Sanchez gets real big deal #tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/uCH0PjhXZa

– Nick Sutton (@suttonnick) November 18, 2015

Spurs starlet on the market

Top Tottenham academy product Milos Veljkovic won’t be following former grads Harry Kane and Ryan Mason into Spurs’ first team.

The 20-year-old defensive midfielder is set to be sold by the club in January as talks surrounding a new contract “have completely broken down,” according to the Independent.

The Serbian youth international has made just three first-team appearances with Spurs, and was part of the team which won the Under-20 World Cup in New Zealand. However, when opportunities failed to present themselves after his country’s historic triumph, the relationship between the two parties grew cold and Veljkovic now views his future as being elsewehere, likely in the Bundesliga or back in Serbia.

Howe warns Man United off Ritchie

Things are getting tough for Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe. Not only is he facing a long battle against relegation this season, but now he has to fight of some of the Premier League’s big boys who are circling round some of his stars!

The Mirror says that Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal is eyeing a shock move for Cherries winger Matt Ritchie, but Howe put the kybosh on that in his news conference on Wednesday:

Is it ever ‘too late’ for the Zlatan?

Sweden talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in fine form on Tuesday both on and off the field. On the field, Ibra scored twice as Sweden held off Denmark in their two-legged playoff to win 4-3 on aggregate and earn a spot in the Euro 2016 finals in France.

Off the field, the Zlatan was equally on his game as a sound-bite machine, saying of his Danish rivals: “There was the thought that this would send me into retirement. I sent their entire country into retirement.”

Now 34, retirement and next steps are something Ibra has to consider. Rumours have swirled around the PSG man that he might make a move to MLS in the near future, or perhaps he might like to play in the Premier League before he hits the end of the line.

As for the latter, the Zlatan says it’s “too late” for him to consider a move to play in England’s top flight and that he’s happy for now with Laurent Blanc in Paris.

We’ll take the big Swede at his word, but it’s hard not to imagine what kind of pure comic gold might come out of say, a Jose Mourinho-Zlatan Ibrahimovic presser at Stamford Bridge.

Tap-Ins

– Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could be tempted to take his dazzling goal-scoring abilities elsewhere, but there are two things standing in the way of a move away from Dortmund, according to Bild. The first is price: BVB reportedly want no less than £42 million for the Gabonese.

The second sticking point could be the real stumbling block. Aubameyang apparently has a pact with his Dark Knight partner in crime Marco Reus, who’ve promised one another they won’t leave the club as long as the other one is there. Both are regular mentions in the transfer pages and both have just signed new long-term deals to stay with Thomas Tuchel’s team, so we’ll just stay tuned on this one for now.

– A host of teams, including Manchester United, are on high alert on the future availability of one Neymar Jr. That’s because Neymar Sr. recently revealed that the tax issues plaguing his son in Spain could force him to leave Barcelona. “We are talking about renewing but there are things outstanding still to resolve, which have us a bit worried,” Neymar Sr. said.

– After scoring for England in a friendly vs. France and showing fine form thus far for Mauricio Pochettino with Tottenham this campaign, it seems Dele Alli has caught the eye of Ligue 1’s top club. PSG have been monitoring the midfielder, according to sources, but apparently neither the player nor the team have any interest in a White Hart Lane departure.

– Inter Milan president Erick Thohir has branded Andrea Pirlo a “great player,” fuelling speculation that the 36-year-old might take a loan “holiday” from New York City FC and MLS to help Inter in their ongoing bid for Serie A’s top prize. However, Pirlo played down that possibility last month, saying: “I do not think I will go to Europe. It would not be fair to my club.”

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