SPORTS: Transfer News, Rumours And Gossips

Javier Hernandez will be sold by Manchester United at the end of the season when the 26-year-old’s loan deal at Real Madrid ends. (Daily Telegraph) (external)

Chelsea’s pursuit of Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric is set to end in disappointment with the 23-year-old choosing Leicester City instead of the Blues. (Metro) (external)

The Blues have beaten Arsenal and Liverpool in the race to sign Saint-Etienne’s young midfielder Rayan Souici, 16, who has been dubbed the ‘new Paul Pogba’. (Daily Express) (external)

Sunderland could pay Celtic as much as £8m for defender Virgil van Dijk, 23. (Daily Mail) (external)

The Chronicle has run a vote on which candidate for the vacant Newcastle job the public would like

Wilfried Bony has told Swansea City he would be interested in moving to a Champions League club this month. The 26-year-old, who will be part of Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations bid in January, has interested Premier League champions Manchester City. (Daily Telegraph) (external)

Manchester City could lose Micah Richards to Chelsea this summer. The defender, 26, is on loan at Fiorentina but is out of contract at the end of the season. (Guardian) (external)

Inter Milan have beaten Liverpool to the signature of 23-year-old Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri. (Talksport) (external)

Southampton are considering a move for Porto defender Bruno Martins Indi. The 22-year-old was a target for Saints boss Ronald Koeman in the summer. (Daily Mail) (external)

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed the club are interested in signing midfielder Wesley Sneijder, 30, from Galatasaray. (Guardian) (external)

Leeds United have offered 17-year-old midfielder Lewis Cook a new contract to fend off interest from Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham. (Daily Star) (external)

OTHER GOSSIP
Former Mainz manager Thomas Tuchel topped a vote of all candidates for the vacant Newcastle managerial position in the Newcastle Chronicle. The 41-year-old got 20% of the votes and the paper believes Glenn Hoddle, Real Madrid coach Paul Clement and Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe are under consideration. (Chronicle) (external)

Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has been fined £20,000 for smoking in the showers after the New Year’s Day defeat at ­Southampton. (Daily Mirror) (external)

Jamie Carragher was quick to point out the significance of Steven Gerrard’s FA Cup brace against AFC Wimbledon

Johann Cruyff has told Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal to stop moaning about the lack of a winter 

break in England. Van Gaal voiced his displeasure as United were forced to play twice in under 48 hours between Christmas and New Year. (Daily Mirror) (external)

Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez could replace Brendan Rodgers at the end of the season, admitting he has offers on the table and is unsure of his future at current club Napoli. (Daily Express) (external)

GLOBAL GOSSIP
Lionel Messi is fed up with Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, and feels his boss does not listen to colleagues. (Marca) (external)

BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was quick to highlight Steven Gerrard’s contribution (external) in the Reds’ FA Cup win over AFC Wimbledon. Gerrard scored twice in a 2-1 victory less than a week after announcing he will leave the club this summer.

Lukas Podolski will wear the number 11 at Inter Milan
Barcelona striker Lionel Messi fuelled rumours of a potential £200m move to Chelsea by following the 

Premier League leaders and some of their players on Instagram. (external) The four-time world player of the year, 27, followed ex-Barcelona team-mate Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis, while his girlfriend followed the Blues on Twitter.

It would appear ex-Newcastle forward Hatem Ben Arfa is glad to be back in France. After signing an 18-month deal at Nice following the termination of his contract at St James’ Park, he began life at his new home by doing a bit for local tourism. “Discover the city at night to finish the day,”tweeted the club (external)along with a vine of Ben Arfa on a Ferris wheel.

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey sent a good-luck wish to Lukas Podolski, who completed a loan move to Inter Milan on Monday. Podolski moves to the San Siro until the end of the season. Ramsey tweeted: (external) “Changing room will be a bit quieter without him in it! Good luck Lukas Podolski with your loan move at Inter, going to be missed.”

AND FINALLY…
Manchester City centre-back Martin Demichelis has been filmed scoring a stunning volley which former Netherlands striker Marco van Basten would be proud of.(Metro) (external)

Serie A side Sampdoria adopted an unusual kick-off routine in their 3-0 defeat at Lazio on Monday, when nine players lined up along the halfway line. (101greatgoals.com) (external)

Sampdoria lost 3-0 at Lazio despite their unvonventional kick-off routine