While the identity of the player who doused José Mourinho with milk and water in Sunday’s post-match tunnel bust-up at Old Trafford has yet to be revealed, the Rumour Mill can’t help but hope that Luke Shaw took advantage of the melee to exact a modicum of revenge on his own manager. The Manchester United full-back has been traduced, disparaged and belittled by his own manager on a regular basis since the Portuguese took over at the club and despite getting a rare run-out against CSKA Moscow last week, is believed to want to leave in January. He won’t go cheaply, mind – reports today suggest the 22-year-old is looking for a £5m severance package to compensate for any loss of earnings he might incur should his next club fail to match his current £130,000-per-week wages. Newcastle and Southampton are both interested in giving Shaw a fresh start.
While Mourinho may not rate Shaw, reports over the weekend suggest he thinks highly enough of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to pay the thick end of £100m for the Lazio and Serbia midfielder next summer. The Serie A side paid Belgian club Genk £16m for Milinkovic-Savic, commonly known as Sergej, two years ago but will expect close to £100m from potential suitors.
By heck? Bye Héctor, more like. According to Italian newspaper Tuttosport that’s what Arsenal fans could be saying next summer if Juventus get their way and sign Héctor Bellerín. The Spaniard is one of several full-backs the Old Lady is hitching her skirts at with a view to replacing Stephan Lichtsteiner, who’ll be shown the door when his contract expires in June. Atlético Madrid’s Croatian right-back Sime Vrsaljko and his Paris Saint-Germain counterpart Thomas Meunier have also caught the eye of Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.
Olivier Giroud has been told he needs more first-team football to cement a place in France’s World Cup squad and has made no secret of his desire to go on loan in January to get it. Goal-shy clubs such as Southampton, West Ham and Crystal Palace were falling over each other to get him on their books, but Arsène Wenger has let it be known that the man who came off the bench to bag Arsenal’s late equaliser against Southampton is going nowhere. “Is it up to him or up to us?” asked Wenger of the ladies and gentlemen of the Fourth Estate when the subject of Giroud’s future arose yesterday. “It’s up to us. It’s a remarkable achievement what he has done again today. He will start games.”
CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin is wanted by Chelsea, who will offer the Russian club £15m for his services in the January transfer window. The 21-year-old from Kaltan in Siberia can play in any midfield position and cites N’Golo Kanté as his favourite defensive midfielder. He also claims to be a fan of Real Madrid and Arsenal; the latter outfit were linked with a move for him last summer and may still be interested in bringing him to the Premier League.
And finally, Nedum Onuoha is wanted by Burnley, but QPR are hoping their captain will sign a new and improved deal to stay with them before his contract expires next summer. Renowned as a model professional who has turned down previous offers to play elsewhere, The Chief returned to action for QPR’s weekend defeat at the hands of Leeds after three months out with a hamstring injury.