BBC
Manchester United are eyeing a January move for Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Elliot Anderson, 22. (Teamtalk), external
Arsenal are advancing in talks to extend the deals of England winger Bukayo Saka and France centre-back William Saliba, with the pair, both 24, out of contract at the end of the 2026-27 season. (Teamtalk), external
Cameroon keeper Andre Onana, who is close to a loan move to Trabzonspor, turned down offers from a number of clubs - including Monaco - in the summer as the 29-year-old was told he would be Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim's first choice this season. (The i Paper - subscription required), external
Manchester United and Netherlands left-back Tyrell Malacia, 26, could be set for a season-long loan at Turkish Super Lig side Eyupspor. (Sun), external
Liverpool and Manchester United are among a host of top clubs tracking Ajax's teenage Dutch defender Aaron Bouwman, 18. (Teamtalk), external
Hamburg have an option to turn 25-year-old Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira's loan move from Arsenal into a permanent switch for €20m (£17.3m). (Bild, via Goal), external
Spain international and former Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte, 31, is waiting to find out if Fifa will allow his move to Athletic Bilbao from Al-Nassr to go through after it fell through in the summer transfer window. (AS - in Spanish), external
English midfielder Josh Brownhill, 29, has completed a medical at Al-Shabab and is set to join the Saudi club on a free transfer having left Burnley at the end of last season. (Fabrizio Romano), external
Brazil midfielder Casemiro, 33, had been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia but Manchester United could keep him until his contract expires next summer as he has become an important part of manager Ruben Amorim's team. (Caught Offside), external
Inter Milan showed an interest in Canada striker Jonathan David before the 25-year-old joined Juventus on a free transfer following his departure from Lille in the summer. (Gazzetta dello Sport - in Italian)
Sky Paper Talk
THE SUN
Turkish Super Lig side Eyupspor have made contact with Man Utd about a season-long loan deal for Tyrell Malacia.
Andre Onana's wife Melanie Kamayou has been pictured leaving Manchester as the goalkeeper prepares for life in Turkey.
DAILY MAIL
Txiki Begiristain will return to Manchester City for the first time since leaving as director football at this weekend's derby.
THE GUARDIAN
Ivan Toney believes that if Al Ahli were in the Premier League, they would be close to the top four.
DAILY MIRROR
Serbia are set to be hit with a huge fine following their fans' "dangerous" use of a laser against England.
Manchester United co-owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos Energy, has declared they are withdrawing their funding in the UK and shifting their investments to the US.
SCOTTISH SUN
Brendan Rodgers will hold urgent talks with Daizen Maeda to see where Celtic's main striker's head is at after he publicly stated his desire to quit the champs.
Nico Raskin will return to Rangers first-team training - but knows he has to earn his spot back in the side.
Newcastle United supporters are fuming after 45 tickets for their clash with Barcelona were purchased by a private school 184 miles away in Dundee.
The Athletic
West Ham fan protests: ‘We’ve had enough. It’s time for change’
By Roshane Thomas
West Ham United fans are no strangers to voicing their frustrations at the club’s board.
This time, a supporters group is opting for a different approach, urging fans to make the point with their feet.
Hammers United has called on fans to protest against the owners before another home league match against Crystal Palace on September 20, before boycotting another Premier League game at the London Stadium, against Brentford on October 20, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK.
The move from Upton Park to the London Stadium in 2016, the anger at how the board is handling the club and the controversy over concession tickets are some of the mitigating factors behind the discontent.
“The current owners don’t have the ability to take us to the next level as they promised,” Hammers United’s Stephen Cross tells The Athletic. “The best leaders put smarter people around them but this club doesn’t do that. This is the core of the problem.
“We’re a poorly run club. That’s why the FAB (fan advisory board) wrote a letter to the club’s board issuing a vote of no confidence. This hasn’t been an overnight thing. The ill feeling has been brewing for a long time. Change is needed.”
In response, West Ham said that Hammers United is represented on their FAB, which met with club representatives, including Brady, before the start of the season. The club say that no planned protest was referenced in that meeting.
A petition set up by disgruntled fans in May to force out Sullivan and Brady has amassed more than 14,000 signatures. Hammers United, which is affiliated with the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA), believes the club is dying under a board that includes stakeholders Sullivan, Brady, Daniel Kretinsky, Vanessa Gold (the daughter of David Gold) and Tripp Smith.
West Ham’s official FAB, which represents more than 25,000 supporters, made public its disapproval.
Fans had initially circled this Saturday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur for protests, but Cross says a march led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson is expected to occupy the police.
“The Metropolitan Police consider the Tottenham match to be a Category A game,” Cross says. “If you’re going to do these things, the best way is to bring the police along. In our previous protest, we had roughly 9,000 fans along the Greenway footpath (next to the London Stadium) and there wasn’t one arrest. A supporter let off a green flare but that was it. We did it peacefully and made our point.”
Problems go deeper than results, according to Cross, who believes fans should make their voices heard, even if Graham Potter’s side build on the win against Forest.
“The biggest risk to the protest is we beat Spurs and Palace and everyone goes, ‘Give Sullivan and the board a break. It’s not that bad, it could be worse. We should be careful what we wish for.’ My argument is we can’t keep papering over the cracks. We’re at a point where people have had enough.
“Most supporters don’t feel a connection to the club anymore. They feel commercially exploited and there have been many issues, including stewarding and away supporters sitting with the home fans. I gave up my season ticket the year we won the Conference League (in 2023). I’d rather pick and choose the games I attend.
“I haven’t found the football entertaining for quite some time. For most fans, it’s an enjoyable experience making your way to the game, but often, the match and atmosphere will be underwhelming, then it takes ages to leave the ground.
“When we reached out to the fanbase to get their concerns, lots complained about the club losing its identity, the stadium, atmosphere and the concessions, which typified the club’s position.”
In August 2024, the club withdrew concession season tickets in bands one to four, the prime seats. Unless they were willing to sit in bands five or six, the seats furthest from the pitch, anyone purchasing a new season ticket would have had to pay a flat adult price. Tickets for the over-66 and under-21 categories saw an average rise of 7.5 per cent. The following month, fan groups from West Ham and Liverpool united against the ticket prices.
West Ham later made tweaks to the policy but fans felt alienated.
West Ham have removed new concession season tickets in areas of the stadium (Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)
There have been other acts of discontent over the years. In 2020, there was a march from the Victoria Tavern pub, a three-minute walk from Plaistow station, to the London Stadium in protest against the board. The polarising decision to move to West Ham’s current home nearly a decade ago is high on the list of issues.
“They sold off the Boleyn Ground and moved us to an athletics stadium, voted by many as the worst football ground in the country, which we don’t even own. We rent it,” said Hammers United chairman Paul Colborne last week. “We are all for progress but not at the expense of our identity. We all want a stadium we can be proud to call our home.
“We were promised a ‘world-class stadium for a world-class team’ when we left our beloved Upton Park but 10 years later, we have neither.”
In July, Hammers United reported its findings from a matchday experience survey. Nearly 8,000 fans participated, with season ticket holders representing more than half (62 per cent) of the respondents. Seven in 10 (71 per cent) rated the London Stadium as a poor or very poor stadium, while the vast majority (95 per cent) said the atmosphere was worse than the Boleyn Ground. Nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) have considered no longer attending due to the poor atmosphere.
“Could you imagine any other business — a supermarket, an airline, or a retail outlet — having the opportunity to engage with its supporter and opting not to do so?” says Cross. “Those findings were damning but are we really surprised?
“Other clubs are leaving us behind. I fear for the future. I’ll never forget that 2021-22 season when we reached the semi-finals of the Europa League after challenging for a top-four spot. Had we shown a bit more ambition and invested in the squad, it would’ve strengthened our chances of qualifying. But that will never change as long as the board remain at the club.”
(Top photo: West Ham fans with a banner protesting against the owners back in 2017; Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Inside Futbol
West Ham Will Track Star Who They Considered Summer Move For
West Ham United‘s scouts will keep monitoring Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller, despite not having pursued his signature in the summer transfer window.
A slow start to the transfer window, which saw Mohammed Kudus sold, raised question marks about West Ham’s squad, but the Hammers picked up the pace near deadline day and notably signed two midfielders.
Soungoutou Magassa was landed from Ligue 1 side Monaco, while Mateus Fernandes joined from Southampton to give Potter new engine room options.
Stiller was also firmly on West Ham’s radar though despite the midfielder not having been keen to swap clubs in the summer.
The Stuttgart man felt moving clubs in a World Cup year would be risky and did not want to put his Germany squad spot in the balance.
The 24-year-old had just come off an impressive season with the German club and had helped them earn a place in the Europa League by virtue of winning the German Cup.
The West Ham board thought of making a concrete offer to try to change Stiller’s mind in the final days, but a move for him became dependent on the departure of Guido Rodríguez.
It was even suggested that the Hammers could offload Rodriguez on a free transfer to Spain to make space in the team.
Nothing eventually materialised, despite Rodriguez’s agent travelling to Spain on deadline day to be ready.
Now, according to German outlet Fussball Europa, West Ham have not forgotten about Stiller and the scouting department will keep monitoring him over the ongoing season.
West Ham are just one of a number of clubs keen on Stiller though, with Liverpool widely linked, so much so that the German side’s sporting director was forced to deny contact at the start of the summer.
Stiller can leave for €40m next summer, unless Stuttgart pay him €4m to take the release clause out of his contract.
