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ESPN staff 7y

Monaco reject €50m from China for Falcao, Costa set for summer exit

The winter transfer window is now in full swing! As usual, Transfer Talk has its finger on the pulse when it comes to which rumours are picking up steam. Check out all the latest deals here.

TOP STORY: Tianjin Quanjian eye Falcao, Costa set to leave in summer

L'Equipe brings news that Monaco have rejected a €50 million bid from Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian for Radamel Falcao, but the former Manchester United and Chelsea striker could still leave the Ligue 1 leaders this month.

Falcao flopped in the Premier League, but with Monaco flying will the Colombian be persuaded to cash in and move to Asia? 

One man certainly attracting interest from China is Chelsea's Diego Costa.

There have been plenty of headlines surrounding the Spain striker in recent days after he was dropped from the squad that won 3-0 at Leicester but sources close to the player said he does not intend to follow Oscar and John Obi Mikel to China.

Now, according to the Sun, Costa "is ready to call a truce with Chelsea and stay until the end of the season" but is reported to have told friends he will not sign a new deal.

The Spain international is under contract until 2019, but "recent events have convinced him that his future lies elsewhere," it reports. And it says that although Antonio Conte will hold talks with Costa in the coming days, the discussions "will only delay his inevitable departure in the summer."

The Telegraph has since reported that Conte is prepared to sell his star striker in the summer once adequate replacements can be found.

LIVE BLOG:

22.08 GMT: That's going to do it for this live edition of Transfer Talk. Thanks very much for joining us, and please check back in a few short hours when we return with the best gossip pulled from Tuesday's papers.

21.55 GMT: Sunderland have lodged a bid reportedly in the region of £10 million for Norwich City midfielder and Republic of Ireland international Robbie Brady, according to the Mail.

21.33 GMT: While Real Madrid and Arsenal have been credited with an interest in Brazil's latest sensation, 16-year-old Flamengo starlet Vinicius Junior, Manchester United have already attempted to work out a deal on the youngster's first option, reports the Independent. That offer was duly rejected.

21.11 GMT: Manchester United are tracking Celtic's £10 milllion-rated left-back Kieran Tierney, according to the Mirror. The Red Devils are reportedly considering a January bid, but likely will wait until the summer to move for the 19-year-old Scot, who's also attracted interest from Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.

20.48 GMT: Mexico international and Benfica striker Raul Jimenez is the subject of interest from the Chinese Super League, ESPN Mexico cites Portuguese outlet Record as reporting. The club's sporting president Luis Filipe Vieira is reportedly in China talking over the deal, which would apparently have to be more than $50 million if it is to go through.

20.26 GMT: Leicester City have been told they'll need to pay Ludogorets £8.8 million for Jonathan Cafu, TalkSPORT cites A Bola as reporting.

20.04 GMT: Paris Saint-Germain right-back Serge Aurier says he is not paying attention to recent transfer rumours linking him with the likes of Barcelona. Full story.

19.41 GMT: Manchester United winger Ashley Young has been offered a £10 million-a-year contract by Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng, writes the Sun. West Bromwich Albion, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Watford all have reportedly enquired about the 31-year-old's availability, but United are said to have rejected them all thus far.

19.19 GMT: Arsenal have been scouting Porto striker Andre Silva, TalkSPORT cites Portuguese outlet Record as reporting, though the Gunners may find themselves priced out of a move by the 21-year-old's £52 million release clause.

18.56 GMT: A Diego Costa update from the Telegraph, who reports that Antonio Conte is expected to offload the Spain international in the summer, when a top-class replacement can be found. The Blues courted Alvaro Morata and former starlet Romelu Lukaku all summer, and are expected to return to both as potential alternatives, while they will monitor ever closer the contract situation across London between Arsenal and Alexis Sanchez.

18.34 GMT: West Ham were "insulted" by Marseille's latest £22 million bid for Dimitri Payet, according to the Telegraph, as the latest round of negotiations between the clubs lasted just 10 minutes. Sources have told ESPN FC that the East London club would be prepared to sell at a price of £35m.

18.12 GMT: Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian have made contact with Inter Milan over a potential deal for captain Mauro Icardi, CalcioMercato cites Sky Italia as reporting, but were rebuffed. The Argentine, however, reportedly has a €110 million buyout clause that could be triggered between June 30 and July 15.

17.49 GMT: Sevilla president Jose Castro sounded pessimistic about the possible departure of Monchi, the mastermind behind Sevilla's successful run that has seen the club win nine trophies since he took over in 2000, who intended to leave Sevilla at the end of last season for "personal reasons" but the club did not allow him to break his contract which runs until 2020.

"You cannot force someone to be where they do not want to be," Castro said.

17.27 GMT: AC Milan forward M'Baye Niang has caught the attention of Arsenal, Corriere dello Sport reports. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has apparently asked his club "to do anything" to sign Niang at the end of the season.

17.16 GMT: Paul Pogba has said he ignored interest from both Barcelona and Real Madrid to return to Manchester United from Juventus last summer. "I could have also gone to Real Madrid or Barcelona, they were interested," he said. "I chose to return, because I had that in my heart. It was my feeling that brought me here." Story here.

17.06 GMT: West Ham and Marseille were reportedly due for talks today to thrash out a deal for Dimitri Payet... Well, according to Sky Sports News, the Hammers have now rejected a second bid from the French club for their midfielder.

16.56 GMT: Manchester United are tracking Sheffield United striker David Parkhouse as they continue plans to revamp their youth setup, sources close to the club have told ESPN FC. Story here.

16.41 GMT: Deportivo La Coruna have said that Gael Kakuta is expected to pass his medical with the club on Tuesday ahead of a move from Hebei China Fortune...

16.26 GMT: DONE DEAL Ipswich Town have signed former West Ham player Jordan Spence on a six-month contract...

16.10 GMT: West Brom, Leicester and Aston Villa are all keen on signing Burnley youngster Josh Ginnelly, sources close to the player have told ESPN FC.

15.49 GMT: Sticking with Arsenal, former Gunners winger Serge Gnabry has opened the door to a possible return to the club, though he says he does not think he will leave Werder Bremen at the end of the season. "As of today, I do not intend to change in the summer," he said. "But what happens in the future depends on my performances. What if Chelsea or Arsenal come knocking?" Story here.

15.29 GMT: Alexis Sanchez has still yet to commit to a new contract with Arsenal -- but perhaps his latest comments suggest he is close to extending with the Gunners after all... "I feel really happy and comfortable at the club," he told Arsenal's YouTube channel. "I want to give the fans a new title."

15.13 GMT: Simone Zaza has been unveiled as a Valencia player after joining the Spanish club on loan on Sunday...

14.55 GMT: Christian Benteke's agent has played down suggestions that the Crystal Palace striker will join Paris Saint-Germain... "There are a lot of rumours at this time, and I haven't been contacted either directly or indirectly by PSG," Eris Kismet said. Story here.

14.43 GMT: Speaking while on international duty with Gabon at the African Nations Cup, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang says he doesn't want to leave Borussia Dortmund in the immediate future.

"It's not the time to discuss it even more so because I feel great at Dortmund," he said. "As things stand today, I will stay at Dortmund."

14.30 GMT: Reading could finally be set to confirm their deal to sign Tiago Ilori from Liverpool.

14.17 GMT: West Brom are after Jake Livermore, Press Association Sport claims, and have offered Hull City £10 million for the midfielder...

14.11 GMT: A DONE DEAL at Aston Villa, where Aly Cissokho has left to join Olympiakos on loan until the end of the season, with the Greek club having the option to make the move permanent...

14.02 GMT: Could Robbie Keane be set for a return to English football? The Sun seems to think so, claiming that Preston North End have registered their interest in the striker, who is a free agent after leaving LA Galaxy.

13.48 GMT: DONE DEAL Florian Grillitsch will leave Werder Bremen in the summer for Hoffenheim on a free transfer... The 21-year-old Austrian joined Werder from St. Polten in 2013 and has gone on to make 42 appearances for the Bundesliga club.

13.32 GMT: Carl Jenkinson seems to be edging closer to joining Crystal Palace, with Eagles boss Sam Allardyce having this to say about the right-back today... 

13.17 GMT: DONE DEAL Spartak Moscow have signed their former midfielder Alexander Samedov from Lokomotiv Moscow. "I feel huge nerves but at the same time happiness to return to my first club after 12 years," Samedov said.

13.01 GMT: Bayer Leverkusen will only allow Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez a move away this month if a club were to offer "crazy money," sporting director Rudi Voller has said. "Of course, we are a club which at least has to consider crazy offers," Voller said. Story here.

12.37 GMT: And talking of Arjen Robben, Bayern Munich have just announced that the Dutchman has put pen to paper on a new deal to keep him at the club until 2018... Story here.

12.20 GMT: Sky in Germany reports Arjen Robben has extended his Bayern Munich contract by another year until 2018.

12.03 GMT: With River Plate's Lucas Alario -- the preferred option of Paris Saint-Germain director of football Patrick Kluivert -- unavailable until the summer, the French champions are being forced to look elsewhere for a striker to play backup to Edinson Cavani.

ESPN FC's PSG correspondent Jonathan Johnson ranks the five best options to have been linked so far this January.

11.51 GMT: Marseille fans have told Didier Drogba he should stop claiming he wants to return to the club, accusing him of being a "crybaby."

Drogba, who has had spells at Shanghai Shenhua, Galatasaray and a second stint at Chelsea since first leaving the Blues in 2012, has repeatedly suggested he would love to return to Marseille.

At Sunday's Ligue 1 game against Monaco, however, the Stade Velodrome home fans unveiled a banner stating unambiguously that they do not want their former hero back.

11.36 GMT: L'Equipe brings news that Monaco have rejected a €50m bid from Chinese Super League side Tianjin Quanjian for Radamel Falcao, but the former Manchester United and Chelsea striker could still leave the Ligue 1 leaders this month.

11.24 GMT: More from Schalke, where Phil Neumann will leave Schalke for Ingolstadt at the end of the season after agreeing a three-year deal which will run until 2020.

The 19-year-old central defender is yet to make an appearance for Schalke's first team, but has featured eight times for the under-23 side in the Western Regional League.

11.15 GMT: Confirmation of a DONE DEAL from the Championship where Ipswich Town have completed the relevant paperwork required to sign Kieffer Moore from Forest Green Rovers.

A 24-year-old striker, Moore has scored 10 goals in 14 appearances this season and will compete with Brett Pitman, Freddie Sears, David McGoldrick and Leon Best for a place in Mick McCarthy's team.

11.07 GMT: Schalke defender Junior Caicara is leaving the Bundesliga for Turkish side Basaksehir, the German club reports.

11.02 GMT: Paris Saint-Germain could return to Wolfsburg, after signing Julian Draxler from the Bundesliga side, by making a move for left-back Ricardo Rodriguez, France Football claims.

10.44 GMT: Lucas Piazon has extended his loan deal with Fulham until the end of the season, the Daily Mail reports.

10.31 GMT: Borussia Dortmund have denied reports that a deal is complete for Adrian Ramos to join Chinese Super League club Chongqing Lifan for a transfer fee in the €10m region.

The 31-year-old Colombian could join Granada on loan before making his way to China after that.

10.18 GMT: Robbie Kruse has left Bayer Leverkusen to complete his move to FC Liaoning Whowin for a reported transfer fee of €500,000, according to reports.

Kruse, 28, is set to leave the Bundesliga more than six years after joining Fortuna Dusseldorf from Melbourne Victory in 2011. The Socceroos forward had his medical at Lianoning Whowin on Saturday, and the transfer to the lucrative Chinese Super League is set to be completed soon.

10.03 GMT: Does West Ham chairman David Gold have a point or is he only saying that because of the Dimitri Payet situation?

09.51 GMT: Harry Kane doesn't think any Tottenham Hotspur players or manager Mauricio Pochettino would be tempted to swap the Premier League for the Chinese Super League, given the opportunity.

"The future is very bright," he said. "We've got one of the best managers in the world, if not the best. I'm pretty sure he'd stay [if a Chinese Super League club came in for Pochettino], he's started a project here, we've got the stadium coming, so the future is very bright.

"I'd be very surprised if any of our players went out there, especially within the next couple of seasons. What we've got going on here is something very great and I think it would be silly for the players here whoever maybe come and go not to be part of it.''

09.35 GMT: Fiorentina sporting director Pantaleo Corvino has hinted that Nikola Kalinic could still leave the Serie A club this winter to move to China.

"As you all know, there is this Chinese wave spreading over Italy and it does have an influence over us," Corvino said. "But we honestly have not received any offer. Everybody knows he has a release clause valued at €50 million and we are not thinking of anything else. We don't know if anything will happen."

09.22 GMT: Meanwhile Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud and Andoni Zubizaretta, the Ligue 1 club's sporting director, will be in London on Monday to thrash out a deal for Dimitri Payet, L'Equipe reports.

OM will need to improve on their initial offer of €22m plus a €3m bonus if they are to bring the 29-year-old, who has already agreed to join OM, back to the Stade Velodrome.

09.08 GMT: Some interesting insight into the Dimitri Payet situation at West Ham. Club captain Mark Noble said after the 3-0 Premier League win against Crystal Palace that he hasn't spoken to his French teammate for several weeks.

"I have always said that he is up there with one of the best players I have ever played with and I had -- and I say had because I haven't really spoken to him for the last two or three weeks -- a great relationship with him," Noble said.

"I don't know his reasons and am not going to comment on why he wanted to leave, but I do know that if someone doesn't want to play for the team then he's better off not even playing."

08.40 GMT: Reported Manchester United target Fabinho has extended his contract with Monaco while Tiemoue Bakayoko, a target for United and Chelsea, looks set to do the same, according to the Ligue 1 leaders' vice-president Vadim Vasilyev. Story here.

"I've just extended Fabinho's contract, and we're doing the same with [Thomas] Lemar, Bakayoko and [Valere] Germain," Vasilyev told Canal+ on Sunday."

08.17 GMT: Chelsea will be waving goodbye to one striker today. According to reports, Patrick Bamford is set for a medical with Middlesbrough ahead of a permanent move.

08.02 GMT: Good morning and welcome to Monday's Transfer Talk live blog. Unsurprisingly the big headlines lead off Diego Costa, with several outlets reporting the Spain international turned down a new contract.

The Times claims that deal was worth £200,000-a-week, while the Daily Star adds a move to China could be off because of new restrictions on a quota of foreign players that could be introduced.

PAPER TALK: Hammers ready to say au revoir to Payet?

Is there a shift of mood in the saga surrounding West Ham United and Dimitri Payet?

The Guardian thinks so, reporting that the Londoners -- who have previously insisted the France international will not be sold -- are now prepared to let him go if the right offer, of somewhere around £30 million, arrives.

That offer could come from Payet's former club Marseille, but the report says the player's agent, Jacques-Olivier Auguste, has refused to comment on claims in France that Marseille officials will have imminent discussions with their West Ham counterparts.

With Payet having said he will not play for West Ham again, Hammers co-chairman David Sullivan wrote in his programme notes for Saturday's game against Crystal Palace that the 29-year-old would not be sold in January.

But the Guardian says "it is understood that was written on Thursday and his attitude has since softened" and adds that fellow co-chairman David Gold "has conceded privately that Payet is expected to move back to Marseille, partly because of his family's unhappiness with life in London."

Benteke emerges as PSG target

French champions Paris Saint-Germain have been linked with Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi in recent days, but if they can't get him they will turn their attention to another London club, according to the Sun.

It reports that Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke is the player in PSG's sights, despite the insistence of new Eagles boss Sam Allardyce that he is not for sale.

Benteke, a £27 million summer signing from Liverpool, has also been linked with a move to the Chinese Super League.

The Sun, citing reports in France, says PSG have identified the Belgium international as "a viable alternative if they don't make any progress with attempts to sign fellow Belgian Batshuayi."

Tap-ins

-- Hull City midfielder Robert Snodgrass has been linked with both West Ham and West Brom in recent days, but the Mail says the Scotland international just wants to focus on helping the Tigers fight for their Premier League status.

Snodgrass, reported to have been the subject of a formal bid from the Hammers, said he was happy to "let people talk" and added: "It's up to the club, really. I've got a job to do, trying to create and score goals. I can always do better."

-- There hasn't been any shortage of players linked with Aston Villa since the arrival of Steve Bruce as manager, and here's another one -- Watford midfielder Adlene Guedioura.

The Sun reports that Bruce "is making a £3 million move for Watford's Algerian star" as part of his shakeup of the Villa squad. Guedioura could find his chances limited following the loan arrival of Tom Cleverley at Vicarage Road.

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