Man Utd want £30m old boy; new Cesc suitors

Manchester United are being linked with a shock £30m swoop for one of their former midfielders, while another La Liga side has emerged as serious contenders to sign Cesc Fabregas in January, according to Wednesday’s newspapers.

MOURINHO WANTS £30M DRINKWATER BACK AT UNITED

Leicester’s Danny Drinkwater is a shock £30m January transfer target for Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
The Sun claims the former United academy star is on Mourinho’s radar as he bids to toughen up his midfield.
The Manchester United boss spent his £150million summer budget on Paul Pogba, Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitarayan, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic came in on a free.
But there is still money for Mourinho to chase Leicester and England ace Drinkwater.
And it could mean a return home for the Manchester-born midfielder to a club that rejected him four years ago.

Drinkwater is at Old Trafford on Saturday with Leicester for the lunchtime game.
He was at the club from the age of nine but never made a first-team appearance.
He was farmed out on on loan to Huddersfield, Cardiff, Watford and Barnsley during his time at United before joining the Foxes in a permanent deal in January 2012 for a nominal fee.
The moved would mirror that of Paul Pogba who left United after a handful of sub appearances and came back this summer all be it in a world record £89million move.
Mourinho believes Drinkwater is the man to sit in front of the back four and give the likes of Pogba more freedom to push on.
Drinkwater will not be easy to prise away from the King Power Stadium having just signed a new five-year deal in the summer worth £90,000 a week.
The paper, however, believes Drinkwater would be hugely tempted by the move back to Old Trafford and there would also be United’s improved contract terms of £150,000 a week.

SEVILLA JOIN FABREGAS RACE

Sevilla are the latest side to enter the race for Chelsea outcast Cesc Fabregas, according to reports.
The Spaniard is yet to start a league match under new boss Antonio Conte this season, with Oscar and Nemanja Matic generally preferred in midfield, though the player did make a telling contribution on Tuesday night as the Blues advanced to the last 16 of the League Cup with a 4-2 win at Leicester after extra time.
Fabregas was strongly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge during the summer transfer window but opted to stay and fight for his place.
However, Conte is unlikely to hand the ex-Arsenal ace a lifeline as he looks to turn Chelsea into a solid defensive unit, and a January switch is now on the cards.
AC Milan and Juventus are still interested after attempting to sign Fabregas on loan in August.
And back in Spain, Valencia and Atletico Madrid are said to be keen to bring the player back to La Liga.
However, newspaper AS claims Sevilla could be the team to rescue Fabregas from his west London nightmare.
Jorge Sampaoli saw midfield maestro Ever Banega depart on a free to Inter Milan, and although he managed to land Brazilian playmaker Ganso and Manchester City misfit Samir Nasri, the new gaffer is yet to get things ticking in the centre of park.

AND THE REST

Real Madrid have been warned off Thibaut Courtois after sending a bizarre fax message to the Chelsea goalkeeper (The Sun)
Man Utd’s Luke Shaw has suffered a groin tear – but wants to play through the pain (The Sun)
Manchester United will not be loosening their purse strings for Jose Mourinho in January – unless an exceptional target comes on the market (Daily Mirror / The Independent)
Manchester City rejected the chance to sell Yaya Toure in the summer – because they didn’t want the Ivory Coast midfielder to come back to haunt them (Daily Mirror)
Barcelona have made the signing of Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin their top priority for next summer’s transfer window (Daily Mail)
John Obi Mikel is open to talking to other clubs as he waits to see whether he will be offered a new Chelsea contract (Daily Mail)
West Ham rejected France winger Dimitri Payet’s wish to talk to Paris St-Germain and Real Madrid over a possible move after Euro 2016 (Squawka)
West Brom boss Tony Pulis is still deciding whether to sign former Arsenal and Crystal Palace forward Marouane Chamakh, 32, but will not be following up an interest in ex-Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko, 31, following a trial spell (Express and Star)
Billy Davies has held talks with St Mirren chairman Gordon Scott about the vacant manager’s job (Daily Record)
Hearts boss Robbie Neilson reckons the club will tie down Alim Ozturk and Sam Nicholson after it was revealed the key duo have opened talks (Daily Record)
Hamilton Academical will not be offering former Arsenal right-back Justin Hoyte a permanent deal (Daily Record)
Stoke forward Bojan Krkic, capped once by Spain, hopes to gain clearance from Fifa to switch his allegiance and play international football for Serbia (Calcio Mercato)