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LIVE: City look to seal Isco deal

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LIVE: City look to seal Isco deal

1:56 PM GMT

The winter window opened Jan. 2, and, as always, Transfer Talk has its finger on the pulse when it comes to all the latest rumours and gossip. See all the latest deals here.

TOP STORY: City closing in on Isco

Manchester City are the highest scorers in the Premier League this season, which is no surprise given their strength in depth in the attacking midfield positions. New summer signings Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling have scored an impressive 10 league goals and assisted in a further 11 between them, but with the fixtures coming in thick and fast, Manuel Pellegrini’s looking to add another playmaker to their ranks.

Real Madrid’s out-of-favour midfielder Isco is being touted for a Premier League move and given how he’s already worked alongside the Pellegrini, he’s being hotly tipped to link up again with his former boss. The Daily Star reports that the Manchester club are hopeful of completing a £35m deal later this week.

Meanwhile, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s sensational goal-scoring form for Borussia Dortmund this season — notching 24 goals in 23 games — have attracted attention from all over. However, it’s Arsenal who are looking the most likely to secure the Gabon forward’s services, with The Sun reporting the London outfit are eyeing a “shock £42 million” move later this month.

According to the paper: “An intermediary has made contact with Dortmund about Pierre-Emerick making a move to Arsenal. Wenger knows the fee is very high — yet this is a striker who can make a massive difference for him and help win the title for the first time in 12 years. But there is a lot of interest in him.”

LIVE BLOG

13.56 GMT: Derby County have been linked with a club record swoop for Wolves striker Benik Afobe, according to the local Derby Telegraph. The former Arsenal man has scored 10 times in 27 games this season.

13.35 GMT: FourFourTwo are reporting that Porto’s Gianelli Imbula could be on the move again, just six months after his ¬20m (£14.7m) transfer from Marseille. AC Milan and Stoke City are linked.

13.20 GMT: According to a report from Spanish publication AS, West Ham’s Mauro Zarate is attracting attention from La Liga outfit Malaga.

13.05 GMT: Is Memphis Depay the worst signing of 2015? Ruud Gullit seems to think so.

12.52 GMT: Liverpool targets Giuseppe Rossi and Mario Saurez “will only leave on loan if we find replacements”, according to Fiorentina President Mario Cognini.

12.35 GMT: Bojan joined Stoke from Barcelona back in 2014 following spells at AC Milan, Roma and Ajax. Fast forward to 2016 and the Spaniard is once again a potential transfer target as the Daily Star reports there’s a 10m buyout clause in his contract.

12:20 GMT: Everton forward David Henen has extended his loan with League One side Fleetwood Town until the end of the season.

12.13 GMT: DONE DEAL – PSV have signed 18-year-old Peruvian prodigy Luiz Humberto Da Silva on a free transfer.

11.45 GMT: Crystal Palace have recalled Jonny Williams from loan at Nottingham Forest.

11.30 GMT: Sam Byram‘s Championship player of the month nomination has caused a stir among potential Premier League suitors, with both Liverpool and West Ham interested in the 22-year-old according to The Telegraph.

11.14 GMT: One of the players who could make way for Juve is Stefano Sturaro. However, while Crystal Palace’s two bids for the midfielder have been rejected, West Ham are also keeping tabs on the Italian according to The Mirror.

10.51 GMT: And it’s not just Oscar who Juventus are after, Moussa Dembele is high on their list, too.

10.42 GMT: Juventus are looking to lower the age of their playing squad, and they’re looking to start doing that by signing 24-year-old Oscar from Chelsea, according to The Daily Mail.

10.30 GMT: Aston Villa look to start a possible transfer splurge with signing Bordeaux’s Wahbi Khazri, reports the Birmingham Mail.

10.08 GMT: Ezequeil Lavezzi‘s PSG contract is up at the end of the season and his agent has warned clubs around Europe that his departure “could happen very quickly”. Juventus and Inter are both interested, according to Eurosport.

09.32 GMT: With Arsenal waiting on a work permit for Mohamed Elneny, could this be the clearest sign yet that the Basel midfielder is very close to signing for the Gunners?

09.00 GMT: Hugo Lloris has credited Mauricio Pochettino with saving his Tottenham career, admitting he was “asking himself questions” before the Argentine’s move to north London.

07.07 GMT: We kick today’s Transfer Talk off with the news that injury-plagued Middlesbrough defender Rhys Williams has joined Charlton Athletic on loan.

PAPER ROUND

Mane drama sparks Manchester transfer bonanza

The quickest way of engineering a move to another club is to deliberately antagonise your manager, and Sadio Mane is going along that path after the 23-year-old Southampton forward was dropped for Saturday’s defeat at Norwich just two hours before kickoff after arriving late for a team meeting.

Saints boss Ronald Koeman angrily described his player’s action as “unacceptable” after the game, but the British media have done the work of Mane’s agent for him by suggesting a stalled move to Manchester United could be back on.

The Mirror reports that the Red Devils are still keen on a £25 million deal for the wantaway forward, while the Mail says United are on “red alert.” The Sun gives Louis van Gaal an estimate of the cost, with a fee (£30m) and wages of £125,000 a week for five years set to cost United £65m in total.

But the Star says Mane (£30m) could be just one expensive piece of a “£100m-transfer bonanza” in Manchester, with Felipe Anderson again linked with United in a £35m deal and Man City closing in on Real Madrid midfielder Isco (£30m).

The Mail reports that Madrid are “anticipating” a bid from City, but will only sell Isco for £30m with Juventus’ interest set to keep the asking price healthy.

The Mirror suggests that Isco’s arrival could mean the end of Samir Nasri’s season, and potentially his City career, given Premier League squad restrictions. With City’s foreign player quota limit reportedly full, Nasri — out injured until March — is “most likely to miss out” when Pellegrini resubmits his City squad later this month.

Poaching prized Potters

Mark Hughes’ Britannia revival hasn’t gone unnoticed around the rest of Europe; the Stoke City boss is likely to spend most of January fighting to keep hold of some of his prized assets. Bojan Krkic is just one of those to find form with the Potters this term, but the Mirror reports that the former Barcelona starlet could be leaving in a cut-price deal this month, with a “£10m buy-out clause in his contract that leaves him up for grabs to any interested parties.”

As if that wasn’t enough for Stoke fans to stomach, the Mirror also reports that Marko Arnautovic is a wanted man — and Paris Saint-Germain are the suitors. Given that the Ligue 1 champions could well lose the brilliantly egotistical, tattooed man-bun of an enigma that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic this summer, it seems PSG are looking for a ready-made replacement in the eerily similar hipster mould of Arnautovic to the tune of £7.5m.

Speaking of Zlatan — the Swedish forward will not be leaving Paris Saint-Germain in January, but his agent Mino Raiola insists the striker would be perfect for the Premier League.

Liverpool priced out by Barca?

Liverpool’s defeat at West Ham was by no means Simon Mignolet’s fault, but Jurgen Klopp’s No. 1 goalkeeper did little to convince the German coach that he should hold onto that jersey in the long term. Barcelona backup Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been linked with a move to Anfield in recent days, though the Mirror reports that any potential move could be “wrecked” by the clubs’ respective valuations of the keeper.

The paper suggests Liverpool are prepared to offer Barca around £12m — a small profit on the £10m the Blaugrana paid Borussia Monchengladbach in summer 2014 — though Luis Enrique’s side “are in no rush to sell” a young player with potential, and see a £20m price tag (less than a third of his £65m buyout fee) as a “fair valuation.”

Meanwhile, the Mirror also suggests that Liverpool are keen to complete a deal for Fulham starlet Moussa Dembele following the 19-year-old forward’s superb Championship displays, but Liverpool face competition from Man United, Arsenal and Tottenham for the £12m-rated talent.

Saints, Magpies to do battle

With Mane a potential departure from Southampton this month, the Mirror reports that the Saints could rival Newcastle United for QPR striker Charlie Austin. Both clubs were interested last summer but failed in their pursuits, though with Austin’s contract up at the end of the season, QPR may well panic to spark a bidding war.

The Mirror also reports that both the Magpies and the Saints could move for Bordeaux midfielder Henri Saivet, with the 25-year-old available for around £3.5m. And this one’s just for St Mary’s fans: Young Malaga midfielder Ignacio Camacho could be on the south coast this year, though Ronald Koeman may have to wait until the summer to land the promising 21-year-old.

TAP-INS

– Swansea could be interested in both Chelsea’s Patrick Bamford and QPR’s aforementioned striker Austin if Bafetimbi Gomis and Jonjo Shelvey leave this month, according to the Star.

– Defender Matty Foulds has completed his move from Bury to Premier League club Everton.

– Leicester City have agreed to sign Birmingham City winger Demarai Gray, sources confirmed to ESPN FC. The Premier League title hopefuls have triggered the 19-year-old’s buy-out clause of £3.75 million and look set to win the race for the highly rated attacker.

– Crystal Palace have had two bids rejected for Juventus midfielder Stefano Sturaro, says the Mirror: one a loan deal for a fee of around £2.2 million; the other a direct switch for £8.8m.

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