In among all the misery of Moyes on the back pages, there is still a wee bit of room left for some juicy rumours.
The sports pages do not make great reading for David Moyes, or Manchester United fans, this morning. From Jose Mourinho declaring that United are now out of the title race to Nemanja Vidic pretty much doing the same, it is a very Blue Monday for the Old Trafford faithful.
And the transfer rumours don’t bring them much joy either, with the Express saying that United target Yohan Cabaye is all but on his way to PSG, for a fee of £26million. United could surely match, or better, that offer but the report goes on to say Cabaye wants to return home, and if that is true, he won’t be headed Manchester’s way.
Away from the turmoil at Old Trafford and table toppers Arsenal appear in a few bits of gossip today. The most interesting centres on out-of-favour defender Thomas Vermaelen. The big Belgian, the Gunner’s club captain, has become a peripheral figure as Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have formed a rock-solid defensive duo. With the World Cup approaching, it is understandable that Vermaelen would want to play for someone to guarantee his ticket to Brazil. Yesterday the defender was linked with Manchester United and today he is mentioned as a target for West Ham. Sam Allardyce’s quotes suggest the move won’t happen though.
“So I don’t think there’s any chance we’ll get somebody of his quality. It would be nice if I we could.” Fair enough.
As for incoming players to the Emirates, it seems that Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata is staying at the Bernabeau, scuppering Arsenal’s hopes of a loan move.
One long rumoured move that seems to be progressing is Liverpool’s chase of Basle winger Mohamed Salah, with the Telegraph saying a formal bid is about to go in for the player who is valued at £12m.
Elsewhere the names floating around the rumour mill are not going to get too many pulses racing. Stoke and Fulham want Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton (Sun), the Cottagers are also after Swansea’s Neil Taylor (Times) and Crystal Palace are on the tail of Danish forward Simon Makienok (Daily Mail).
And the man most in demand today is goal-shy striker Danny Graham. Seriously. The Sunderland striker, currently on loan at Hull, has just one goal to his name all season but he is being pursued by Bolton, Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest according to today’s papers.
