Football gossip: Mourinho, De Jong, Ozil, Higuain, Van Aanholt, Moses
- Published
Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward feared a number of players would try to force their way out of the club if manager Jose Mourinho had not been sacked. (Mirror), external
Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, 30, sent his Manchester United team-mates a WhatsApp suggesting he had won a £20,000 bet on Mourinho losing his job. (Sun), external
Switzerland forward Xherdan Shaqiri, 27, says he got messages from his friends saying he was to blame for Mourinho's sacking, after scoring twice as Liverpool beat United in the Portuguese's final game. (Guardian), external
Real Madrid are not looking to bring back former Manchester United boss Mourinho, 55, in the short or long term. (Marca), external
Liverpool will rival Bayern Munich for the signing of 22-year-old RB Leipzig and Germany striker Timo Werner. (Abendzeitung, via Metro), external
Chelsea have revived their interest in AC Milan's 31-year-old Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain. (Mail), external
Manchester City face a battle with Barcelona and Paris St-Germain for £60m-rated Ajax and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie de Jong, 21. (Mirror), external
Arsenal want to sell their highest-earning player Mesut Ozil, who is under contract until 2021, but may find it difficult to offload the 30-year-old former Germany midfielder. (Mirror), external
Roma are preparing to make a £25m January move for Crystal Palace's 28-year-old Netherlands defender Patrick van Aanholt. (Sun), external
Crystal Palace are hopeful of re-signing Nigerian former utility player Victor Moses, 28, from Chelsea in next month's transfer window. (London Evening Standard), external
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis says Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly, 27, will not be sold to Manchester United next month but the Italian may have to accept a future offer. (Corriere del Mezzogiorno, via Star), external
West Ham will make a decision next week over whether to offer French midfielder Samir Nasri, 31, a short-term deal, manager Manuel Pellegrini has revealed. (London Evening Standard), external
Welsh former West Ham defender James Collins, 35, tore up a £50,000 contract at Aston Villa after injuring himself in training an hour after signing it. (Mirror), external
Brazil midfielder Fred, 25, is determined to fight for his Manchester United future, having been frozen out by former manager Jose Mourinho. (Telegraph), external
Director of football Marcel Brands says Everton will not pay £30m for PSV's 23-year-old Mexico winger Hirving Lozano. (Voetbal International - in Dutch), external
Leicester boss Claude Puel has hinted that he may allow English midfielder Hamza Choudhury, 21, to go out on loan to continue his development. (Leicester Mercury), external
Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka has told English winger Joe Lolley, 26, to focus on maintaining his improvement - and not to concern himself with transfer speculation or potential contract talks. (Nottingham Post), external
Manchester United academy coach Neil Ryan is confident the club can "fight the hype" surrounding prolific 17-year-old striker Mason Greenwood, who scored a hat-trick in the Youth Cup against Chelsea. (Manchester Evening News), external
England defender Danny Rose, 28, says Tottenham were motivated for their Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Arsenal after the Gunners "celebrated like they won the league" following their 4-2 Premier League victory this month. (London Evening Standard), external