Here are the top headlines and transfer-related stories in Thursday’s newspapers…
Liverpool are in advanced negotiations with Adam Lallana over a new four-year contract worth a reported £150,000-a-week. (Daily Telegraph)
Paris Saint-Germain are determined to lure Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez to the French capital at the end of the season. (Daily Mirror)
Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk will snub moves to Liverpool, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain to STAY at St Mary’s next season. (Daily Star)
Mesut Ozil will be better off leaving Arsenal and joining Bayern Munich if he wants to win major titles, according to the former Germany and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack. (Daily Mail)
Man United goalkeeper David de Gea and Chelsea glovesman Thibaut Courtois are both eyeing up a summer move to Real Madrid. (The Sun)
Jose Mourinho will sign a one-year contract extension as Red Devils manager in the summer. (The Sun)
Arsenal are interested in signing Manchester City’s out-of-favour goalkeeper Joe Hart as a replacement for Petr Cech. (Daily Mail)
Tottenham winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou could leave after just one season at White Hart Lane, with the 21-year-old a summer target for former club Nantes. (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool are lining up a move for Middlesbrough’s 26-year-old Uruguay midfielder Gaston Ramirez. (Tuttomercatoweb)
Hull striker Abel Hernandez is attracting interest from Everton, West Brom and three Chinese Super League clubs, claims his agent. (Tuttosport)
Former Netherlands star Ronald de Boer admits he has been surprised by the ‘unbelievable progress’ Virgil van Dijk has made
Kevin Phillips has supported Leicester’s backing of manager Claudio Ranieri but admits the owners have shown they are capable of being ruthless
Listen to talkSPORT’s interview with Coventry City chairman Tim Fisher, as he discusses the club’s first Wembley final in 30 years, supporter protests and the Sisu ownership
Sergio Aguero has emerged as a shock target for AC Milan, where he could be reunited with former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini
Chelsea and Manchester United target Stefan de Vrij has not closed the door on staying at Lazio beyond the summer
AS Monaco and Bayer Leverkusen are seeking to steal a march on Premier League duo Crystal Palace and Sunderland in the chase for Soualiho Meite
PRESSURE on the Football Association to reform how it runs the national game is set to grow today as a group of MPs ramps up its threat to force change upon the governing body.
Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) select committee chairman Damian Collins has secured a backbench debate in the Houses of Commons to consider a “no confidence” motion on the FA’s ability to reform itself.
Whether the motion will be voted on or not depends on the Speaker of the House John Bercow but the debate will effectively start the lobbying process for a draft bill on FA reform that the CMS committee is preparing.
Collins said sports minister Tracey Crouch had given the FA, and other national governing bodies, until the end of March to meet a new governance code or risk losing public funding.
“We do not believe the FA will comply voluntarily: it can survive easily without the government’s contribution of money to grassroots sport, and there are powerful vested interests that refuse to accept the right of all those involved in football to play a role in the governance of the sport,” said Collins.
“We are therefore preparing a draft bill to bring the structure of the FA, especially its board and council, more into line with modern company practice and the government’s guidelines for sports bodies.”
Under the Coalition Government, the CMS committee published two reports calling for greater representation at the FA for fans and the grassroots game, as well as more diversity in positions of authority.
It also wanted to dilute the perceived dominance of the Premier League.
Calls for reform at the FA, however, date back almost 20 years and the glacial progress is the real cause of Collins’ frustration.
That feeling is shared throughout the game and in government but the FA is annoyed at the debate’s timing, as it believes it is working hard to meet Crouch’s demands and criticism of its day-to-day work has been exaggerated.
It is understood Crouch sympathises with this view and during the debate she will state the government’s position that the FA deserves the chance to properly respond to her challenge to reform itself.
Newly-installed FA chairman Greg Clarke has promised to step down if he fails to convince Crouch the governing body can change.
But in a 700-word open letter, Clarke also strongly rejected the idea the FA was not fit-for-purpose.
“Our governance needs changing. We do need to be more diverse, more open about decision-making and we do need to better represent those playing the game,” wrote Clarke.
“But we are not sitting idly by. The FA has a set of proposals to improve our governance which we will ratify and then take to the minister of sport in order to get her approval. Change won’t be easy, but I am confident it will happen - and it will be substantial.
“If the Government is not supportive of the changes when they are presented in the coming months, I will take personal responsibility for that. I will have failed. I will be accountable for that failure and would in due course step down from my role.”
Clarke then listed the FA’s record levels of investment in facilities and grassroots football, particularly the push to promote women’s football, and asked for more time for the investment in St George’s Park to pay off in terms of results for England’s various representative teams.
But what he referred to as the “perennial challenge” of reform remains an open goal for the FA’s critics. There is currently only one woman on the 12-strong board, with just two independent directors, and only eight women out of 122 members on the FA council, the game’s so-called parliament.
Press Association Sport understands the FA is planning to expand the board to 14 with two more women and introduce more diversity to the council.
But after so many promises, Collins and his colleagues on the increasingly active CMS committee are determined to maintain the pressure on both government and the FA, with this debate being the next stage in a move towards draft legislation if Clarke’s proposed reforms fall short.
THE man who first scored against Saints 14 years ago is the biggest threat to Claude Puel’s men this weekend.
Former England striker Jermain Defoe took his career English league record to 186 goals with a brace in Sunderland’s incredible 4-0 romp at Crystal Palace last Saturday.
The 35-year-old now has 14 Premier League goals to his name this term - more than Saints’ four frontline strikers have scored between them, writes SIMON CARTER.
Charlie Austin (6), Jay Rodriguez (4), Shane Long (2) and Manolo Gabbiadini (1) have shared 13 league goals between them in 2016/17.
Despite the fact he plays for the division’s bottom club, only four players have scored more league goals than Defoe this term - Romelu Lukaku (16), Diego Costa (15), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (15) and Alexis Sanchez (15).
Since the start of last season, only three men have scored more top flight goals than Defoe’s total of 29 - Harry Kane (39), Sergio Aguero (35) and Lukaku (34). Jamie Vardy has also scored 29 (24 of them in 2015/16).
Five of Defoe’s goals this term have come via the penalty spot - including one in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw at St Mary’s back in August.
Defoe’s superb form has not gone un-noticed. Only last month West Ham - the club where he began his career in the late 90s - made a failed £6m bid to bring him back to east London.
It has been 14 years since Defoe first scored against Saints, for the Hammers at St Mary’s in April 2003.
Since then, he has commanded fees of over £30m. Signin g for Tottenham in January 2004 for £7m, he scored 22 goals in his first full season at White Hart Lane in 2004/05 - including a hat-trick against Saints in Harry Redknapp’s second game in charge, a 5-1 loss in north London.
Redknapp, who had been Defoe’s first manager at West Ham, was back in charge at Pompey when he signed Defoe for £7.5m in the January 2008 transfer window.
Twelve months later - and after 15 top flight goals in 31 Pompey appearances - Redknapp signed him again, this time for Tottenham whom he rejoined for £15m.
In 2009/10 he netted 24 goals for Spurs, including a Premier League record equalling five in a 9-1 hammering of Wigan. He also struck a hat-trick in a 5-1 win at Hull and in a 3-1 FA Cup success at Leeds.
In September 2010 he scored another hat-trick - this time for England in a 4-0 European Championship qualifying win against Bulgaria at Wembley. His last international appearance was against Chile in November 2013, the game where Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Fraser Forster all won their first caps.
In all, Defoe scored 19 times for his country in 55 appearances (A good record, certainly, but not as impressive as his former Pompey and Tottenham strike partner Peter Crouch, who netted 22 England goals in only 42 appearances).
Upon leaving Tottenham for a second time in the summer of 2014, Defoe moved to Canada to sign for MLS outfit Toronto.
Unsurprisingly, he continued to do what he has always done - score goals. And after netting 11 times in 19 appearances for Toronto, he was back in the Premier League.
Then Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce paid what can be considered a bargain £6m to bring Defoe back to England in the 2015 January transfer window.
Then, as now, the Black Cats were deep in a relegation battle. Defoe provided them with an impetus, though, and scored four times in 19 appearances as Sunderland stayed up.
HARRY Redknapp has “no doubt” Cherries will steer clear of trouble – and the club’s former boss says he admires Eddie Howe’s refusal to sacrifice his footballing principles as the survival battle hots up.
Howe’s commitment to his adventurous philosophy has come under the microscope during a spell which has seen Cherries concede 31 goals in 12 Premier League matches.
But Redknapp is convinced his old team boast enough quality to secure the four wins he believes would prevent them from being sucked into a relegation dogfight.
Asked if he believed Howe was right to stick to his attacking guns, Redknapp said: “Absolutely, that’s what has made Bournemouth what they are.
“They’ve not come into the league and tried to bore everybody to death by hanging on for results.
“They’ve taken it to other teams and they’ve beaten good teams – big teams.
“That’s how they play. They’re not set up to change, that’s the way they are and long may it continue.
“Some of the football they’ve played again this season has been incredible. I love watching them play.”
Cherries’ run of one win from their past eight Premier League games has seen them slide from eighth to 14th in the table – and just six points above the drop zone.
Ex-Saints boss Redknapp added: “Eddie runs a tight ship. They will stick together, that’s what’s made them what they are.
“They probably need four wins – and perhaps a couple of draws – and they’ll be safe.
“There is enough quality in the team to pick up those results, no doubt.”
GASTON Ramirez has returned to the Middlesbrough fold in Spain as he attempts to rebuild his reputation on Teesside.
The 26-year-old former Saints record signing handed in a transfer request last month with champions Leicester attempting to lure him away from the Riverside Stadium.
However, Boro swiftly rejected the Foxes’ overtures and insisted the Uruguyan midfielder, who has missed the last six games with a knee injury, was not for sale.
Head coach Aitor Karanka insisted as the saga unfolded that Ramirez would not be leaving and would eventually be assimilated back into the squad.
That process began in earnest this week when the Spaniard and his players, including the South American, headed off on a four-day warm-weather training break on the Costa Blanca.
Karanka said at the time: “He is and he will be an important player in this team and he knows that.”
Ramirez, who was given a few days off last week to clear his head, has not made a senior appearance since the 0-0 Premier League draw with Leicester on January 2 and Boro have taken just two points from a possible 12 in his absence to slip to within a point of the relegation zone.
Karanka has been delighted with the player’s contribution since his permanent capture during the summer following a successful loan spell and is confident he can make an impact once again as he attempts to steer the club away from trouble.
Southampton defender Ryan Bertrand admits his side face a tough task to stop Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe from scoring when the two sides meet on Saturday.
FORMER Saints star Adam Lallana believes Liverpool’s lack of “winning” experience in the squad has cost them over the last month.
Jurgen Klopp’s side have yet to win a Premier League match in 2017 and their run of two points from a possible 12 has seen them slip outside the top four for the first time since September 24.
In addition, they also crashed out of the League Cup semi finals to Lallana’s former club Saints - failing to score in either leg.
Liverpool’s only league defeats this season have come against Burnley, Bournemouth, Swansea and Hull - all teams currently in the bottom nine.
None of the Reds’ top-four rivals have a similar record with Chelsea losing only to Arsenal, Tottenham and Klopp’s side.
Antonio Conte’s side have dropped just two points in 12 matches against the bottom 10 - grinding out 1-0 wins at Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Sunderland - and Lallana believes Liverpool need to discover something similar.
“You can see they have a lot of experience and that they are used to winning,” said Lallana.
“They know how to win games even when not at their best. You don’t have to always win by scoring five or six.
“Maybe that’s an area we need to improve on. We maybe need to realise how good we are at times.
“Milly (James Milner) is probably the only one in our group who has that type of experience because it only comes from winning silverware like he did at Manchester City.
“Myself and the other players haven’t won titles or loads of cups so we need to learn from him and listen to him because that type of experience is vital.
“We need to learn and get back to winning ways in the league as soon as possible.”
Lallana needs to be reminded that the Saints side that beat Liverpool in the League Cup was hardly blessed with serial ‘winners’ either!
Jason McCarthy of Walsall wins PFA Fans’ League One Player of the Month for January
Jason McCarthy of Walsall has won the PFA Fans’ League One Player of the Month award for January.
The defender picked up the prize for his performances in January after collecting 35 per cent of the public vote.
Chuks Aneke of MK Dons finished second with 22 per cent of the votes with Bury’s James Vaughan third following a poll on Sky Sports’ digital platforms.
Cian Bolger of Fleetwood, Josh Morris of Scunthorpe and Mark Marshall of Bradford were also shortlisted for the award.
The shortlist was chosen by our panel, which included Sky Sports pundits Paul Merson and Peter Beagrie, Mike Riley - general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials and Malcolm Clarke - chairman of the Football Supporters’ Federation.
One voting fan in each division will win the chance to meet and present the award to each PFA’ Fans’ Player of the Month.
The right back has enjoyed an impressive loan spell at Walsall so far this campaign, with January being his best month yet.
McCarthy netted three goals in four games last month, including an impressive late brace in a 3-3 draw away at Bury.
The 21-year-old saw off competition from Chuks Aneke (MK Dons), James Vaughan (Bury), Josh Morris (Scunthorpe), Cian Bolger (Fleetwood) and Mark Marshall (Bradord) to pick up the gong.
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 