Tuesday’s news and transfer rumour gossip.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, 27, has sparked speculation that he wants to join Chelsea – (Daily Mail)
Tottenham will test Aston Villa’s resolve with a £3m January bid for England midfielder Fabian Delph, 25 – (Daily Mirror)
Javier Hernandez will be sold by Manchester United at the end of the season when the 26-year-old’s loan deal at Real Madrid ends – (Daily Telegraph)
Tottenham and Liverpool are ready to do battle for the £20m signature of West Brom striker Saido Berahino, 21 – (Independent)
Chelsea’s pursuit of Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric is set to end in disappointment with the 23-year-old choosing Leicester City instead of the Blues – (Sky Sports)
Chelsea have beaten Arsenal and Liverpool in the race to sign Saint-Etienne’s young midfielder Rayan Souici, 16, who has been dubbed the “new Paul Pogba” – (Daily Express)
Sunderland could pay Celtic as much as £8m for defender Virgil van Dijk, 23 – (Daily Mail)
Wilfried Bony has told Swansea City he would be interested in moving to a Champions League club this month. The 26-year-old, who will be part of Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations bid in January, has interested Premier League champions Manchester City – (Daily Telegraph)
Manchester City could lose Micah Richards to Chelsea this summer. The defender, 26, is on loan at Fiorentina but is out of contract at the end of the season – (Guardian)
Inter Milan have beaten Liverpool to sign 23-year-old Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri – (talkSPORT)
Southampton are considering a move for Porto defender Bruno Martins Indi. The 22-year-old was a target for Saints boss Ronald Koeman in the summer – (Daily Mail)
Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed the club are interested in signing midfielder Wesley Sneijder, 30, from Galatasaray – (Guardian)
Leeds United have offered 17-year-old midfielder Lewis Cook a new contract to fend off interest from Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham – (Daily Star)
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has been fined £20,000 for smoking in the showers after the New Year’s Day defeat at Southampton – (Daily Mirror)
Johann Cruyff has told Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal to stop moaning about the lack of a winter break in England. Van Gaal voiced his displeasure as United were forced to play twice in under 48 hours between Christmas and New Year – (Daily Mirror)
Former England boss Steve McClaren and ex-Lyon coach Remi Garde are the leading contenders for the vacant manager’s job at Newcastle – (Daily Mail)
However, former Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel topped a vote of all candidates for the Newcastle job in the Newcastle Chronicle. The 41-year-old got 20% of the votes and the paper believes Glenn Hoddle, Real Madrid coach Paul Clement and Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe are also under consideration – (Chronicle)
Current interim boss John Carver does not know if he’ll be in charge for the Magpies’ game against Chelsea on Saturday – (Daily Star)
Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez could replace Brendan Rodgers at the end of the season, admitting he has offers on the table and is unsure of his future at current club Napoli – (Daily Express)
Lionel Messi is fed up with Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, and feels his boss does not listen to colleagues – (Marca)
With Arsenal incredibly keen to sign Loic Perrin from Saint Etienne, the press in France are claiming that they will also attempt to sign Raphael Guerreiro from Lorient – (Metro)
Roberto Martinez has vowed to guide Everton out of their current slump and says he “trusts” chairman Bill Kenwright to keep faith with him – (Daily Mirror)
Schalke chief Clemens Tonnies has warned the Premier League big boys that Julian Draxler is going nowhere this month – (Daily Star)
Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal has admitted that he may not pick Wayne Rooney for every game – (Daily Express)
Burnley are in talks with Manchester United over signing Michael Keane on a permanent deal – (Sky Sports)