Gossip: Herrera, Muller, Costa, Neves

HERRERA WANTS SHOWDOWN TALKS
Poor Ander Herrera. The Spaniard is currently injured, but he was enduring a difficult time to persuade Louis van Gaal to hand him a regular starting place beforehand. Herrera has played fewer Premier League minutes than Ashley Young and Memphis Depay this season, and only 54 more than Luke Shaw, who has been out since September.

The midfielder has discussed his relationship with his “very demanding” manager previously, but the Daily Star think Herrera is after another talk with Van Gaal. ‘Showdown talks’, no less.

In their EXCLUSIVE, they claim Herrera ‘reckons his career has stalled’ under Van Gaal’s leadership, with a source adding: “Ander is worried about his lack of progress at Manchester United under Louis van Gaal. He feels like he’s lost his identity as a player and doesn’t know what his role is anymore. His situation appears to be getting worse and he’s worried his career is going backwards, so there will have to be a chat with the manager.”

A chat is rather different to ‘showdown talks’, but we digress. Herrera has made 41 appearances for United since signing in the summer of 2014, and is firmly behind Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin and Michael Carrick in a reserved role, with Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata ahead of him in the pecking order for the No 10 role. Wanting a ‘chat’ is understandable.

CHELSEA CORNER MULLER
Two lines now from the Daily Mirror. They claim, along with most of the British press on Tuesday morning, that Diego Costa will not be punished for his bib-related petulance on Sunday, but that Chelsea are stepping up their hunt for a new striker. The latest man linked is Thomas Muller.

Muller, who was recently crowned the world’s happiest footballer, has scored 20 goals in 21 appearances for Bayern Munich so far this season, and is behind only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga scoring charts. He’s quite good, basically, and Chelsea have noticed.

A few points, however:

• Because Muller is quite good, Bayern will want to keep him and have no inclination to sell.
• It will take a lot to tempt Muller to leave his boyhood club where he plays lots of games, scores lots of goals and wins lots of trophies.
• FFP is still a thing (is FFP still a thing?) and Chelsea will need to fund a move for a player who Manchester United reportedly had a £75million bid rejected for in the summer.

It probably won’t happen.

ARSENAL IN FOR NEVES
Will Arsene Wenger replace his broken Coq in January? It’s the question on everyone’s lips, with Francis Coquelin ruled out for three months and Arsenal struggling without him. Wenger has been typically evasive with regards to whether he will sign a replacement, but The Sun have the inside scoop.

Their man Daniel Cutts has a sexy exclusive, which is that the Gunners are interested in Porto midfielder Ruben Neves. The club captain has been scouted by Chelsea, Liverpool, West Ham and Real Madrid so far this season, is only 18 and is really rather good.

According to Cutts, Arsenal believe a bid of £22million, with £12million offered up front, will prove sufficient. It won’t; he’s worth far more.

AND THE REST
Tottenham are reportedly willing to offer Harry Kane a new contract, and double his wages to £70,000 a week, to ward off interest from Manchester United and Chelsea…Cristiano Ronaldo’s mum Dolores wants her son to join Manchester United over Paris Saint-Germain if he leaves Real Madrid…Jamie Vardy has all-but ended Manchester United and Chelsea’s hopes of signing him in January by saying he wants to stay at Leicester…Southampton want to sign Brighton wonderkid Solly March…West Ham will step up their interest in Ivory Coast star Gohi Bi Cyriac with fears growing over Diafra Sakho’s long-term fitness…Aston Villa rejected an approach from Birmingham to loan Libor Kozak…Chelsea will not be able to send Radamel Falcao back to Monaco, who are reluctant to accept him back…Tottenham’s Andros Townsend is set for a January exit with Aston Villa, West Brom, Newcastle, Leicester and Swansea interested…Emmanuel Adebayor is set to return to England to find a club, with Chelsea and Watford options.