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Transfer Talk: Tottenham turn to West Ham's Andy Carroll amid injury crisis

The transfer window for Europe's biggest clubs is open again. Transfer Talk has been scouring the world's media and setting our correspondents loose to see who could be heading to/out of your club this month.

TOP STORY: Carroll a surprise target for Spurs

Tottenham have identified West Ham's Andy Carroll as an option to add to their threadbare striking stocks, according to the Sun.

After Dele Alli injured his hamstring in Sunday's last-gasp 2-1 win over Fulham -- joining Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min on Spurs' long list of absentees -- Mauricio Pochettino only has Fernando Llorente to call upon up front. And he missed a few chances in the narrow win over Fulham...

The paper says Carroll could be available for as little as £2 million, but with West Ham facing their own striker shortage -- Marko Arnautovic appears to be on his way to China -- a quick deal between the London rivals is far from certain.

LIVE BLOG

23.11 GMT: That's going to bring Monday's live edition of Transfer Talk to a close. Thanks very much for joining us, and be sure to check back in a few short hours when we return with the best headlines pulled from Tuesday's back pages.

21.45 GMT: Chelsea starlet Callum Hudson-Odoi is set to reject the club's latest offer of £85,000 a week, has no desire to extend his stay in West London, and is keen on a switch to Bayern Munich, according to Sky Sports.

20.58 GMT -- DONE DEAL: Barcelona have confirmed that Kevin-Prince Boateng will join the club on loan from Serie A outfit Saddsuolo on loan for the remainder of the season. Read the full story.

20.11 GMT: Corriere dello Sport is reporting that Paris Saint-Germain will offer of €50m plus a lucrative Qatari sponsor to try to persuade Napoli to sell Allan this month, and Aurelio De Laurentiis is scheduled to travel to Paris today.

19.24 GMT: Tottenham are looking for around £15m for wantaway striker Vincent Janssen, who has attracted tentative interest from clubs in MLS, China and Europe, sources have told ESPN FC.

18.37 GMT: Well, it's hard to see U.S. international Matt Miazga's loan stint at Nantes lasting too much longer. The Ligue 1 club have tweeted out quotes from manager Vahid Halilhodzic saying that the 23-year-old centre-back returned to Chelsea without the club's permission, and that he wants to leave the French outfit.

17.50 GMT: Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva has been speaking to TF1's Telefoot about Adrien Rabiot's future at Parc des Princes.

"I am not saying it is a mistake. I think Adrien and PSG have both decided," he's quoted as saying about Rabiot's reported decision to join Barcelona and PSG's stance to freeze him out of the first team. "It is a shame as he is a good boy, but he has chosen and we must respect it. Now we need a new midfielder as I think it is over with Adrien."

17.03 GMT -- DONE DEAL: Derby County have announced that Ashley Cole has reunited with former Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard and joined the Rams manager at Pride Park.

16.15 GMT: Winger Yannick Bolasie will return to Everton after Aston Villa manager Dean Smith opted to cut his season-long loan deal short, the Telegraph reports. Bolasie was brought to Villa Park in the summer by the club's former manager Steve Bruce.

16.00 GMT: Another new deal, this one at Turf Moor -- Burnley winger Dwight McNeil has committed his future to the club until 2023.

15.45 GMT: Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has signed a new contract that will keep him at United until 2023.

McTominay had a breakthrough campaign last season, playing 23 times for the first team, and has played eight times this season, featuring twice under Solskjaer.

15.20 GMT: Norwich outcast Nelson Oliveira is poised to join Reading, with whom he has been linked in the past, according to reports.

Oliveira, 27, has not played for the Canaries this season, and Reading's Portuguese coach Joe Gomes is keen to sign his compatriot.

14.55 GMT: Fiorentina could add to their signing of Luis Muriel by bringing in Roberto Gagliardini from Inter Milan, Il Corriere dello Sport reports.

14.32 GMT: Sticking to Serie A, Genoa forward Krzysztof Piatek is not playing in the clash with AC Milan, who he is set to join -- but the reason he is not starting is simply because of a ban following an accumulation of yellow cards.

14.11 GMT: There could be a potential hold-up in any hope Juventus have signing Matteo Darmian, according to Tuttosport, which reports that Leonardo Spinazzola is not interested in a loan move.

Juventus have high hopes for Spinazzola and would like him to leave on loan to get more minutes, with Darmian targeted as an ideal back-up for Alex Sandro. However, Spinazzola, who made his debut for the Bianconeri in the Coppa Italia clash with Bologna recently, does not want another loan deal.

13.50 GMT: Arsenal have confirmed that head of recruitment Sven Mislintat will leave next month.

Last week, a source told ESPN FC that the 46-year-old would leave the Emirates Stadium after a series of disagreements over the Gunners' organisational structure and transfer strategy.

13.30 GMT: It seems as though confirmation of Alvaro Morata's departure from Chelsea will soon be arriving - Sky reports that the striker will join Atletico Madrid until the end of the season, with Atleti having the option to buy in the summer.

13.05 GMT: Sassuolo midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng could be off to Barcelona on loan, with the Italian club's sporting director Giovanni Carnevali reported to be heading to the Camp Nou to discuss a deal.

Boateng, 31, who joined Sassuolo in the summer, is reported to be keen on a move to Spain, where he played for Las Palmas in the 2016-17 season.

12.50 GMT: Ex-Arsenal, Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole is set to move to Derby, managed by his former Stamford Bridge teammate Frank Lampard, later in the week, Sky Sports reports.

12.20 GMT -- DONE DEAL: League One Walsall have signed defender Dan Scarr from Birmingham on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

11.55 GMT: Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa is considering whether to bring Dijon midfielder Mehdi Abeid to Elland Road, France Football reports.

11.35 GMT: Sky Sports reports that Arsenal are "unlikely" to sign a replacement for defender Hector Bellerin despite fears he could miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury against Chelwsea on Saturday.

10.50 GMT: New Nottingham Forest manager Martin O'Neill wants to sign Stoke winger James McClean, with whom he worked while in charge of Republic of Ireland, according to reports.

10.30 GMT: A deal to take Nice striker Mario Balotelli to Marseille made "significant progress" over the weekend and could be completed within 24 hours, L'Equipe reports.

Balotelli has not featured for Nice since the turn of the year and is set to sign a six-month contract with Marseille.

10.15 GMT: Anthony Martial is moving closer to a new deal at Manchester United, sources have told ESPN FC.

Protracted talks that have lasted more than a year are nearing a conclusion and, although final details are still to be agreed, United are confident that the France international will sign a new five-year contract.

10.07 GMT: According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus are close to reaching an agreement with Manchester United to take Matteo Darmian on loan until the end of the season, with an option for the move to be made permanent in the summer.

Sources told ESPN FC that United extended Darmian's contract amid interest in the Italian defender, but the move reportedly hinges on whether Juve's Leonardo Spinazzola is sold/loaned out, with Massimiliano Allegri confirming that is the club's intention. 

09.44 GMT: Mauro Icardi's wife and agent Wanda Nara has told Mediaset TV that she is "certain" he will sign a new contract with Inter Milan, adding: "We've never made any demands to Inter. When the club call us, I'll answer. Hopefully this will be the decisive week."

09.41 GMT: New York Red Bulls' Romero Gamarra admits negotiations between his side and America are ongoing. "We are waiting to see what happens," he told Rollo Deportivo.

09.24 GMT: PSG forward Neymar is keeping his transfer plans close to his chest (though we all really know what they are...)

He told Canal+: "There is always speculation about me. Since I became a professional football player, there has been speculation that I was going to leave one club for another -- not always concrete. As soon as something is certain, rest assured, I will speak with everybody."

09.04 GMT: Diario AS report that FC Porto defender Eder Militao has a verbal agreement with Real Madrid to join the European champions for the 2019-20 campaign.

According to the Madrid-based sports daily, Real Madrid will pay the 21-year-old's €50m release clause and were keen to reach an agreement with the Brazilian as his release clause will rise by 50 percent to €75m if the negotiation is not completed by July 15.

Militao, a reported target of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona, will reportedly sign a contract with Los Blancos until June 2025.

08.31 GMT: Michy Batshuayi has denied reports he is in Monaco with a view to completing a loan move to the Ligue 1 side.

The Chelsea striker, who joined Valencia on a season-long loan but is expected to leave this month, did not train on Sunday with the club's permission. Local reports claimed the Belgium international had travelled to Monaco on Sunday to undergo a medical but Batshuayi denied it by posting a photograph on social media which shows him celebrating by eating a chocolate and cream dessert with Brussels and Belgium written on the photo.

Batshuayi, a reported target of Everton, last trained with Valencia on Friday and has been left out of his team's last three games in order to speed up his departure. The 25-year-old has scored just three goals in 23 appearances for Valencia and has only found the back of the net once in 15 league games.

08.00 GMT: Carlos Vela has told ESPN that he is "happy" at LAFC and didn't expand on whether he could be headed to Barcelona, with rumours swirling that he is an option for the Catalan side in this January transfer window.

"They are issues for the clubs and agents," Vela told ESPN on Sunday in an interview. "I'm relaxed, working on the preseason and the most important thing is to be happy in the place you are. In the future we'll see what happens."

PAPER TALK (By Mark Thompson, Footballwhispers)

Teaching the old dogs new tricks

Huddersfield's first major transfer of the January transfer window will be their new manager, Jan Siewert, the Mirror reports.

Siewert is -- or, soon to be, was -- Borussia Dortmund's reserve team manager, and the Terriers will have to pay the Bundesliga club £265,000 in compensation for him.

The 36-year-old will be glad to hear that his survival in the job doesn't hinge on keeping the side up, according to the report, with Huddersfield now 10 points from safety.

Higuain to be a Blue

Gonzalo Higuain is set to join Chelsea on Tuesday, according to the Daily Star.

The loan deal will cost £9m, as well as the Argentine's £270,000 per-week wages, and, if Chelsea want to, they'll be able to buy Higuain permanently from Juventus in the summer for £35m.

The 31-year-old is currently on loan at AC Milan but has been left out of the Rossoneri squad to face Genoa on Monday -- signalling that a move is surely nigh.

According to reports, Chelsea could offset some of this cost by selling full-back Emerson Palmieri to the Serie A holders.

Ilaix, don't do it, when you want go to it

Higuain might be the bigger name, but Chelsea are also making a move for Barcelona teenager Ilaix Moriba, according to Spanish outlet Sport.

The club have met with the 16-year-old midfielder's agent and made a better offer than was on the table from Barcelona or Manchester City, who are also interested.

Moriba turned 16 on Saturday, the age where a player can make a transfer between two European countries, which is why moves are being made now. Nothing is finalised, but it could develop quickly.

Ozil not an outcast

There's still a place for Mesut Ozil at Arsenal, despite rumours that the club were willing to pay some of his wages to get him a move, according to the Evening Standard.

The German returned to the squad but was an unused substitute against Chelsea, as Arsenal proved again they could win without him.

However, Emery has said that he had full confidence that Ozil would have delivered if he'd been called upon, casting some doubt on the strong rumours of the World Cup winner's departure.

Nothing to see at Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp won't be tempted into the transfer market by the club's right-back injury woes, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez were already injured before the weekend's match against Crystal Palace in which Fabinho, another option, went off with a hamstring injury.

With Nathaniel Clyne on loan at Bournemouth, that leaves James Milner and not much else. It's impressive depth to still have a decent option as fifth-choice, though.

Football Whispers' top five emerging whispers

Krzysztof Piatek to AC Milan: 4.9

Piatek's move to Milan is pretty much set in stone, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. The Italian newspaper says that the Polish striker is set to be announced as an AC Milan player on Tuesday.

Diego Godin to Inter Milan: 4.7

Inter's CEO Giuseppe Marotta and defender Stefan de Vrij have both been coy in recent days about Diego Godin's rumoured transfer to the club. Earlier this week, Spanish radio station Cadena Ser reported that the Atletico Madrid defender had agreed a deal, and Marotta and De Vrij's comments have put extra fuel on the rumour fire.

Matteo Darmian to Juventus: 4.0

Darmian has been linked with a move back to his native Italy for much of the window, and the latest news is that Juventus may bring him in on loan with an option to buy, reports the Guardian. Sources have told ESPN, however, that Man United have have triggered a one-year option in Darmian's contract in order to keep him at the club,

Adrien Silva to Bordeaux: 2.7

Silva, who was ineligible to play for Leicester for half a season after his transfer went through 14 seconds late, has a loan move lined up to go to Bordeaux, reports L'Equipe. However, the transfer would need to be given the green light by Claude Puel, who, according to Silva's father, has blocked moves in the past.

Philippe Coutinho to Chelsea: 1.9

Chelsea have enquired about the possibility of buying Philippe Coutinho, according to the Daily Express. The Blues have reportedly been quoted a price of £100m -- a good deal less than the £142m that Barcelona spent on the Brazilian a year ago.

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