Gossip: Luiz to Man Utd; Newcastle eye Barca star

Ian Watson

MOURINHO EYES LUIZ REUNION
Both the Daily Star and Daily Express dubiously claim this as an exclusive but on each of their back pages is the story that Jose Mourinho is lining up a January move for David Luiz.

The Chelsea defender has seen his arse after being dropped by Antonio Conte for the clash with United almost a fortnight ago, with the Chelsea manager said to have lost patience with the centre-half after a series of misdemeanours. Reacting badly to being subbed against Roma at home before putting on a horror show in the return meeting are a couple of the strikes against Luiz’s name, but having his tactical decisions questioned by the 30-year-old in a team meeting is said to be the third and final out.

Luiz, apparently, is peeved that the Chelsea hierarchy haven’t backed him up, but no matter how pally he is with Roman Abramomovic, did he really expect the owner to rule in his favour against the title winning manager? At this time, Luiz is simply far more expendable than the boss.

So Mourinho is understood to be keeping an eye on the fallout with a view to a January move. According to the Daily Star, Chelsea would prefer Luiz to return to the continent but they have shown they are willing to sell to United by gift-wrapping Nemanja Matic for Mourinho. Arte Chelsea meant to have been encouraged by how that’s turned out?

 

JASPER CARROT DANGLED IN FRONT OF RAFA
Newcastle wanted a keeper in summer but Rafael Benitez wound up deciding that he would muddle through to January with Rob Elliot and Karl Darlow. Apparently, though, Barcelona could make Benitez’s wait worthwhile…

Marca claims the Toon could land Holland international Jasper Cillessen for just £9million. The former Ajax keeper moved to the Nou Camp last summer at the same time as Marc-Andre ter Stegen but the Germany stopper has made the No.1 spot his own, leaving Cillessen to make do with just a solitary Cop del Rey appearance so far this season.

Barca are apparently looking to trim the wage bill so they are prepared to let Newcastle take the 28-year-old on the cheap.

 

LIVERPOOL ENCOURAGED OVER VAN DIJK
Liverpool have apparently ‘been given the green light to make a January bid for Virgil van Dijk’. By who, however, is anyone’s guess.

The Mirror claims Liverpool’s interest is set to be rekindled after they made such a balls up of their last approach that they were forced into a humiliating apology.

Their story, though, seems to be based on Mauricio Pellgrino’s comments on Thursday when he said that he could not guarantee that Van Dijk would still be with the Saints come the end of the January window.

It’s a fair presumption that Liverpool will still be interested given Jurgen Klopp stuck all his eggs in Van Dijk’s basket before the start of the season. The question now seems to be: will the Reds stump up enough cash to make the Saints  soften their anti-Liverpool stance?

 

AND THE REST
Manchester United have no concerns that José Mourinho could leave next summer…Swansea boss Paul Clement is set for crunch talks with the club’s American owners this weekend…Sporting Lisbon have told West Ham they could be open to offers of £28million for William Carvalho in January…Sunderland have turned their attentions to Chris Coleman after failing with an attempt to lure Michael O’Neill…Real Betis believe they are close to pulling off a massive coup by convincing Jack Wilshere to move to Spain.

Wales boss Chris Coleman is interested in taking over as manager of Sunderland…West Brom manager Tony Pulis could have just two games to save his job…Claude Puel is interested in bringing PSG winger Hatem Ben Arfa to Leicester…Everton and AC Milan will fight for Dynamo Kiev defender Domagoj Vida…Chief scout Steve Rowley is negotiating his exit from Arsenal, with Borussia Dortmund counterpart Sven Mislintat in the frame to take his place…Marcus Tavernier’s displays for Middlesbrough and England have caught the attention of a number of Premier League clubs. The 18-year-old has drawn particular interest from Everton and Arsenal. (Daily Mail)