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HOT FOOTBALL GOSSIP: Costa, Higuain, Cahill, Hummels, Nasri, Isco

It’s wasn’t immediately clear what Jose Mourinho was furiously screaming at Diego Costa from the touchline during their lover’s tiff in Chelsea’s Champions League win at Maccabi Tel Aviv, but we can now reveal it was something like: “You must not know about me, you must not know about me. I could have another you in a minute. Matter of fact, he’ll be here in a minute, baby.”

And even if Mourinho didn’t quote Beyonce to the letter, she pretty much summed up the gist of what the Blues manager was getting at, if today’s Guardian is anything to go by. The paper reports that Costa is far from irreplaceable at Chelsea, who will spend the next few weeks in the lead-up to January “considering their options” in the centre-forward department. And the names in the frame for a move to Stamford Bridge range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

The Guardian claims that Antoine Griezmann and Gonzalo Higuain would be the top targets, but they’re unlikely to be available in January. The Blues have therefore asked to be “kept abreast” of Saido Berahino’s availability, and if that doesn’t work out they will consider a loan move Robin van Persie. But best of all, there’s another player who is very much available and who worked with Mourinho at Real Madrid: it’s Emmanuel Adebayor. Now there’s a move that would be very much to the left, to the left field.

Gary Cahill’s Chelsea future is also in doubt, according to the Times, which reports that the Blues will only offer the England centre-back a one-year contract extension if a new deal is not agreed before his 30th birthday on 19 December.

Manchester United are “keeping a close eye” on Germany defender Mats Hummels, who Talksport says is ready to quit Borussia Dortmund. The 26-year-old’s contract expires in 2017 so Dortmund could be forced to cash in on him in the summer.

The Mirror says that Manchester City have rejected a £10m bid from Juventus for Samir Nasri, which may explain why Talksport believes Juve are set to move for Real Madrid’s Isco instead.

This could annoy Arsene Wenger, who has reportedly been lining up Isco for months. Or maybe the Arsenal manager won’t care, because his priority is now a more defensive-minded midfielder, such as Bayer Leverkusen’s Lars Bender. Italian media claim the Gunners are closing in on Bender, although we’re not sure what makes them experts on transfers between German and English clubs.

Wenger has also apparently met with the Corinthians director of football to enquire about forward Alexandre Pato, claims the Metro. Which sounds quite formal until we learn that the director in question is former Gunners midfielder Edu, and that he and Wenger simply had lunch.

Elsewhere, Newcastle are interested in England aces Andros Townsend and Jonjo Shelvey, Crystal Palace are considering a £14m move for Sporting Lisbon striker Islam Slimani and flying winger Gerard Deulofeu says he wants to stay at Everton “for a lot of years”. So by Premier League standards, that’s about one.

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