Sporting Lisbon chief Frederico Varandas has denied reports linking the Portuguese club with a move for Cristiano Ronaldo, 37, saying a bid for the Manchester United and Portugal forward was never discussed. (RTP3, via Sun)
A mural of Ronaldo was removed from the side of Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium hours before his interview with Piers Morgan was aired on Wednesday. (Mirror)
Contract negotiations between England midfielder Mason Mount, 23, and the Chelsea owners are ongoing and a breakthrough has been made “in the past few weeks”. (Athletic – subscription required)
Eden Hazard’s admission that he may leave Real Madrid in January could be good news for Newcastle United, who have previously been linked with a move for the 31-year-old Belgium midfielder. (Express)
France midfielder Adrien Rabiot, 27, says he feels “lucky” not to have completed a transfer from Juventus to Manchester United in the summer. (Gazzetta Dello Sport, via Metro)
Chelsea target Endrick, 16, has revealed he is preparing to move to a Champions League club and the Brazilian has been learning English. The Palmeiras striker is wanted by a host of Europe’s top clubs. (Gazzetta – in Italian)
Barcelona president Joan Laporta says his club were interested in signing Colombian forward Luis Diaz, 25, before he joined Liverpool from Porto. (Mundo Deportivo, via 90min)
Arsenal midfielder Charlie Patino, 19, whose contract runs out next summer and is currently on loan at Blackpool, is being tracked by Barcelona. (Calcio Mercato, via Express)
Shakhtar Donetsk want 100m euros (£87.75m) for Ukraine winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, 21, who has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Manchester City and Newcastle United. (Athletic – subscription required)
Former Argentina defender Martín Demichelis, 41, who spent three years at Manchester City, has left a coaching role at Bayern Munich to become new head coach at River Plate. (Fabrizio Romano)
