Thursday’s papers put a queue outside Bournemouth’s door and a familiar name at the front of someone else’s. Arsenal have joined Chelsea and Liverpool in contacting the south-coast club about Alex Scott, the 23-year-old England midfielder whose contract runs to the summer of 2028, according to i Sport. Three of the division’s biggest clubs asking about the same player in the same window usually means the price goes up rather than down.
The other story with real consequences sits across the Atlantic. Talksport report that if Mauricio Pochettino does leave for Manchester United, US Soccer want Pep Guardiola to take the United States job. Whether Guardiola has any appetite for international management is a separate question entirely, but the federation apparently intends to ask.
Zubimendi says he has heard nothing
Chelsea, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid are all keeping an eye on Martin Zubimendi, the Independent says, with January pencilled in as the window. The 27-year-old’s own version, given to Marca, is shorter and flatter: he is happy in London, he was surprised by the rumours, and he has not contacted anybody about going anywhere. Players deny things that later happen all the time. This one at least came with a reason attached.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are preparing new terms for Trey Nyoni. GiveMeSport report the 19-year-old England Under-20 midfielder will be rewarded for how he has played this season, which is the sort of housekeeping that rarely makes a back page but matters more than half the transfer speculation around it.
United keep adding defenders to the list
Manchester United’s shortlist at centre-back has grown again. The Mail say Brentford’s Nathan Collins, 25, and Fulham’s Calvin Bassey, 26, have been added to a group that already contained Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, 24. Collins captains the Republic of Ireland, Bassey plays for Nigeria, and all three would cost a serious fee. A list that long normally means nothing has been decided.
Elsewhere, Bournemouth, Everton and Nottingham Forest are chasing Vasco da Gama’s Andres Gomez, with the Brazilian club valuing the 24-year-old at around £17m (ESPN). Brentford are ready to turn down everything Liverpool offer for 21-year-old left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf (Football Insider). And Aston Villa are weighing a move for Romeo Lavia, the 22-year-old Chelsea midfielder, with Unai Emery said to be a long-standing admirer (Fussball News via Teamtalk).
Two clubs, one left-back
Rayan Ait-Nouri is wanted in two places at once. Gazzetta dello Sport report Juventus want the 25-year-old Manchester City and Algeria left-back on loan in January; Sport in Spain say Barcelona are interested too, because Alejandro Balde could leave in the winter window. Barcelona also have a longer-term eye on Levi Colwill, though Football Insider add that Chelsea are telling everyone the 23-year-old England defender is not for sale.
Transfer context: All items in this round-up are press reports collated by BBC Sport’s gossip column on Thursday 12 November 2026, with each original source named in the text. None has been confirmed by the clubs involved.
0 Comments