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The Nigeria international has this month been linked with Premier League rivals Leicester, who are thought to have had rejected their £15.1million opening bid. CSKA are reportedly holding out for at least £18.9m for the pacey striker, who has 10 goals to his name this term. The Foxes are expected to up their bid before the January window expires, but now face competition from United for the 23-year-old's services. The Red Devils have scored the least amount of goals out of the top eight teams in the Premier League this season and Louis van Gaal is desperate to add more fire power to his front line. While Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has made no secret of his desire to sign a striker to boost his side's title bid after loaning out Andrej Kramaric to Fiorentina. The Italian said: "It's important to have two players for every position. Our strength is to play with high intensity. ‘’ It's not possible to play with that intensity for all the season. ...

West Ham and Norwich have asked about taking Davide Santon on loan from Inter Milan. The 25-year-old former Newcastle full back is available after making just nine Serie A appearances this season. The Hammers are keen to strengthen in defence after Carl Jenkinson suffered a serious knee injury during Saturday's 2-2 draw with Manchester City. Jenkinson's loan deal is expected to be terminated early as he returns to Arsenal for treatment. Canaries boss Alex Neil is also in the market for a versatile defender as he looks to lead the club to Premier League safety following the arrivals of Steven Naismith, Ivan Pinto and Timm Klose. Santon only joined Inter on a permanent deal last summer but he has struggled for playing time under Roberto Mancini since November.

Andros Townsend wants to prove a £12million bargain for Newcastle – and forget all his torment at Tottenham. The England winger   admits the big price-tag means he will have to be better than ever to match his   Newcastle transfer fee . But Townsend says he had to move on from   Tottenham   and play ­regularly – because it is almost two years since he completed 90 minutes in the Premier League. He said: “Of course, £12m is a lot of money, I know that. “But, if I can reach my potential and play to the ability I know I have, I am sure, as quickly as people are saying it is a lot of money, they will be saying it is a bargain. “If I put in a few good ­performances, it will look like money well spent.” Coach Mauricio ­Pochettino had banished Townsend to the U21s for the last two months. But he said: “I hold no grudges with the manager. He has a 35-man squad, 11 play, seven on the bench. He has no problem with me on a personal level. He made his ­decisio...

John Stones will be at centre of a £50m transfer scramble in the summer, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and Chelsea all keen to sign him. Everton turned down the opportunity to sell their highly-rated centre half last summer, rejecting a £38million bid from Chelsea. But the interest in Stones has intensified since then, with Rafa Benitez having asked Real Madrid to sign him when he was manager at the club. Though Benitez has since been sacked, Real Madrid have maintained their interest and plan to move in the summer if an appeal against their FIFA transfer ban means that their embargo on signings is lifted. But Barcelona are now also monitoring Stones, though may baulk at the £50m price and Manchester City, who are planning for Pep Guardiola’s reign at the club, also want to sign the player and have already demonstrated their willingness to pay huge sums for top English talent. City have struggled in central defence with Vincent Kompany often injured w...

Didier Deschamps has emerged as a shock contender to be the next   Chelsea manager. The current France coach will lead the host nation into this summer’s Euros but his contract expires after the tournament. Blues owner   Roman Abramovich   is determined to appoint a new boss who can offer a long-term strategy. The Russian billionaire has been forced to bring in short-term replacements like Guus Hiddink, Rafa Benitez and Avram Grant in recent seasons. Abramovich wants no more quick-fix solutions and is consulting his trusted advisor Marina Granovskaia and technical director Michael Emenalo to find the right man. Deschamps, 47, is under consideration and has been joined on the short-list by Mark Hughes. Deschamps, who speaks good English, played for Chelsea for one season up to 2000. He had an illustrious playing career as part of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. But it is his impact as a coach that makes him more attractive. ...

Manchester United are believed to be in talk with Real Madrid ace James Rodriguez.  Even though the Spanish giants are under the threat of a two window transfer ban it appears they could be prepared to sacrifice the unsettled 24-year-old Colombian international. Rodriguez fell out with former Bernabeu boss Rafa Benitez but relations with new manager Zinedine Zidane are said to already be strained. Zidane isn’t happy with the player’s attitude in training and wouldn’t be against Rodriguez leaving. Significantly super agent Jorge Mendes is looking after Rodriguez and   he has been in talks with a number of interested parties including  Manchester United . United enjoy a good working relationship with the Portuguese fixer and have discussed ways of trying to make the deal happen in this transfer window. Real Madrid who signed Rodriguez from Monaco in July 2014 for a fee of £63million would demand a similar package for United to be successful in their desi...