Rena: Why are Manchester United looking to offload Varane and Casemiro? Both players seemed pivotal to their success last year, what happened?

Phil: Think it is a combination of very expensive wages, the fact they are both at the veteran stage and are now too prone to injuries. They have both been high-class players but can see why United are trying to at least recoup some of their financial outlay.

Paul, Rotherham: Morning Phil. Just reading the list of potential United players being sold. Sancho, arguably the biggest prospect in world football beforehand, reduced to nothing. Varane, one of best CB in world football reduced to nothing, Casemiro, one of best holding midfielders reduced to nothing, we could argue that Martial was the biggest prosect in his time, reduced to nothing. Reduced to nothing may sound harsh but what do you think has happened? I understand not all players fit into everything but there has to be something deeper within the club regarding quality of coaches etc which is also letting the club and these players down.

Phil: Hi Paul. I think there is a deep malaise within the club that just changing the manager will not solve. I think it is the result of years of decay and stagnation. I think this has had an impact on players as well.

In the case of Sancho he has simply failed to produce and Ten Hag clearly feels there is an attitude problem there. He has proved to be an expensive and poor purchase. Martial has always been inconsistent, unless you count his habit of being disappointing as consistency.

I think the problem with Casemiro is his very expensive salary and now too many injuries for a player with a lot of miles on the clock. He was tailing off last season, although he did play a big part in United getting into the Champions League.

Varane showed his quality at Liverpool but he is expensive, much nearer to the end of his career than the beginning and is out with injury too often.

Right, here we go...

We asked for your questions to put to BBC Sport's chief football writer Phil McNulty and you have delivered some really good ones so far - do keep them coming via X, WhatsApp or text.

Let's get into them.

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Manchester United, Fulham, West Ham and AC Milan had scouts at Allianz Arena on Sunday to watch Stuttgart's 27-year-old Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy in his side's 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich. (90min), external

Read the full gossip column here.

West Ham United

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West Ham beat League One Lincoln 1-0 in round three with Tomas Soucek scoring for the Premier League club.

They were handed a tougher assignment in round four against Premier League leaders Arsenal, but still managed to prevail.

A Ben White own goal and strikes from Mohammed Kudus and Jarrod Bowen sealed a 3-1 win at London Stadium to set up a last-eight tie with Liverpool.

The Hammers have never lifted the League Cup, finishing runners-up in 1965-66 and 1980-81.

West Ham United

West Ham won the Europa Conference League in June but haven't lifted a major domestic trophy since 1980 when they won the FA Cup.

The Hammers have the opportunity to book their spot in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup tomorrow when they travel to Liverpool.

We will bringing you all the top lines from today's news conference shortly.

Nottingham Forest

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Ken: It's not on Steve Cooper - it's on the recruitment team that gave him absolutely zero back-up if Taiwo Awoniyi got injured. The players he has simply aren't good enough. Average will never win Premier League games - world class does and not one of ours are world class. They should keep Cooper because if/when we get relegated, we will need him to get back up. Not his fault.

John: We were the equal of Spurs. Deserved at least a point, and should have got it if Anthony Elanga hadn’t strayed offside (again) and Mat Turner hadn’t gifted their second. But generally pleased with our attitude and how we played - hopefully we are turning a corner. Cooper in and stick with that formation until we steady the ship.

Andrew: Steve Cooper is a fantastic coach and he moulded a side last season to stay up. There is more expectation this year to do the same but the expensive players he has been bought- not by Cooper in my opinion - have not lived up to their expectations. Only one genuine striker isn’t helping either. If any manager/coach can turn this poor run around, it is Steve Cooper!

Nick: Another game, another loss. After the Christmas games, which I can't see us getting any points in, we'll be in the relegation zone and struggling, again, to stay up. This is just embarrassing now. We couldn't even beat 10 men! Get Graham Potter in before Manchester United get him. Enough is enough.

Get all the latest Forest news and views on our dedicated club page

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Nottingham Forest fell to a 2-0 defeat at home against Tottenham on Friday and they sit 17th, five points clear of the bottom three.

They have not won in six games, losing five, and have only registered three wins all season.

Forest are back in action on Saturday when they host Bournemouth at 15:00 GMT and, despite seemingly being under pressure within the club, Steve Cooper appears to still have the backing of the fans.

Cooper has some difficult games on the horizon with Newcastle, Manchester United, Brentford and Arsenal also to come before the end of January.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport

A lot of noise is swirling around Nottingham Forest at the moment, with manager Steve Cooper's future still uncertain.

Former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo has emerged as someone else who is under consideration by the Forest hierarchy should they decide to make a change.

Nuno was sacked by Saudi Pro-League club Al-Ittihad earlier this year.

Former Eintracht Frankfurt manager Oliver Glasner has also been mentioned as a likely candidate if Cooper went.

Forest have won one game in 13 Premier League games, have taken eight points in that time and have taken one point from their last six matches.

They are five points ahead of third-bottom Luton, who have a match in hand.

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The full-back is arguably the position that has evolved the most in football in the past decade.

Historically, full-backs have been positioned as the widest members of a back four and tasked with being strong in their one-v-one defensive duels against the opposition winger and providing overlapping support to their own winger - an 'up-and-down' type of role.

However, there has been an increasing demand on what full-backs do in possession of the ball, both during build-up play in their own half and also contributing to attacking patterns in the final third.

Look at John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Trent Alexander-Arnold - the role of full-back has changed unrecognisably from the days of Gary Neville and Ashley Cole marshalling the flanks.

Former Germany and Bayern Munich full-back Philipp Lahm was one of the first players to be used as an 'inverted full-back', as then manager Pep Guardiola pioneered the trend in 2013.

Lahm, who won 21 major trophies at Bayern - including the Champions League - and the World Cup, helps us look at the rise of the modern-day full-back.

Read more here.

Former Celtic and Chelsea striker Chris Sutton refereed a grassroots football game earlier this year and spoke with 18-year-old Megan, who recalled the abuse she's received over the three years she's been doing it.

Tuesday's Football Association Annual Grassroots Disciplinary Review is the first of its type.

There were 3,636 allegations of serious misconduct - up 9% from 2021-22 - with 82% of charges proved.

Allegations of discrimination were up 10%, with an average of a seven-match suspension for proven charges.

In November, the FA launched its 'Enough Is Enough' campaign, external to raise awareness of discriminatory behaviour in grassroots football.

Abuse of officials has been a big talking point in elite football in recent times too.

On Monday, Manchester City were fined £120,000 after their players surrounded referee Simon Hooper in the latter stages of their 3-3 Premier League draw with Tottenham on 3 December.

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Allegations of serious offences against match officials in grassroots football increased in 2022-23 from the previous season, according to new FA data.

There were 1,451 allegations, up by 1%, with 72 about an actual or attempted assault, 391 about actual or attempted physical contact and 988 relating to threatening a match official.

There were 42 proven cases of assault or attempted assault.

New rules were brought in during the summer to counteract the issue.

Grassroots clubs in England could be deducted points for "repeated offences of serious misconduct" designed to tackle abusive behaviour towards players and match officials.

They apply at step seven and below of the men's game, and tier three and below in the women's game.

A trial of referees wearing body cameras in adult grassroots football will be doubled to cover eight county associations in 2024 following "encouraging" results.

There were no incidents of abuse recorded in about 500 matches under the trial last season.

Read more here.

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La Liga surprise package Girona beat Alaves to move back to the top of La Liga.

Artem Dovbyk headed in their opener, Portu doubled their lead and Ukraine striker Dovbyk converted a penalty for his 10th La Liga goal of the season.

The Catalan side, who have never won a major trophy, are nine points above neighbours Barcelona in third place and two clear of Real Madrid in second.

Girona could seal top spot at Christmas - and the halfway point of the season - if they win at Real Betis on Thursday.

Read the report here.

So, here is how Tuesday is shaping up.

• West Ham news conference
• Liverpool news conference
• Phil McNulty Q&A
• Build-up for tonight's three EFL Cup ties
• Build-up to Man City's Club World Cup debut

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The appointment of Wayne Rooney as Birmingham manager raised a few eyebrows in October.

The Blues sat sixth in the standings when his predecessor John Eustace was sacked and, having won just two of the following 11 fixtures, they have slumped to 17th with a 10 point gap to the play-off places.

Rooney told BBC Sport: "I'm very disappointed to lose. For 30 minutes, we were very good, had control and created chances but we were naive in our defending in their first two goals.

"They scored from two counter punches - and Leicester showed the reason why they're top of the league.

"They've got some very good players. And we got punished.

"I already knew Jordan James was a good finisher. And I've been very pleased with all his performances."

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After relegation to the Championship, Leicester gambled on manager Enzo Maresca over the summer but the Italian is doing a fine job at the King Power.

Monday's win at Birmingham puts Leicester three points clear of Ipswich at the top of the standings, and 13 points ahead of Leeds in third as they look for an automatic route back to the top flight.

Maresca told BBC Sport: "I'm very happy. We do not always try to counter-attack but sometimes we use that.

"Stephy [Mavididi] was very good. It's what we expected of him. And Abdul [Fatawu] too.

"But Stephy needs to improve his behaviour, which was not correct.

"I am pleased to be 13 points clear of third place, but we are in December. We still have many games to play."

The Daily Star

There is more from Bernardo Silva in the Star as he insists Manchester City are ready to come from behind again to win the Premier League.

There is also a line on Kevin de Bruyne, who is set to return from injury despite being told that his mansion in Belgium had burgled when he arrived in Saudi Arabia.

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Daily Mirror

The Mirror also leads on Bernardo Silva's warning that Manchester City should not be written off in the race for the Premier League title.

They also mention Eddie Howe doing his best Scrooge impression. The Newcastle boss has cancelled the team's Christmas party because the team have too busy a schedule to be "dressing up as superheroes."

Image source, Mirror