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With West Ham sitting just one place and one point above the Premier League’s relegation zone, Irons manager Slaven Bilic is already likely to be looking ahead to the upcoming January transfer window, where he will hope to strengthen his squad.

Some of the Croatian’s summer signings, such as Simone Zaza and Gokhan Tore, have struggled to make an impact with the club, and Bilic and the Hammers’ owners will want to keep their options firmly open as they look to steer the side clear of the bottom three in the coming weeks.

January is known for its inflated transfer fees, but some of the best value can be found in players whose deals run out in the summer, and there are a number of those in the English top flight that are free to talk to other clubs and sign pre-contract agreements next month.

Here are three potential out-of-contract bargains West Ham should target in January…

Branislav Ivanovic

The experienced Chelsea defender looks set to leave the club next summer when his contract at Stamford Bridge runs out, and West Ham should be one of the clubs taking a look at the 32-year-old.

Bilic was linked with a move for the Serbia international earlier in the season, and Ivanovic would certainly provide a solution to the Irons’ right-back problem, where winger Michail Antonio has often been deployed out of position because of injuries.

Robert Snodgrass

Hull may be struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League table, but one of their standout performers has been their Scottish winger.

The 29-year-old has scored five goals in 14 top-flight appearances this term as well as providing two assists, and with his contract with the club running out next summer – and no contract extension agreed – there could be a tussle for his signature, and Bilic should be taking a look at a player who could boost his team in the final third.

Saido Berahino

West Ham have brought in striker after striker in recent years but aside from the injury-prone Andy Carroll, they have struggled to find a long-term option up top.

One player they – and a number of other Premier League clubs – are likely to be keeping tabs on is West Brom’s Saido Berahino, who looks set to leave The Hawthorns in the summer after failing to agree on a new deal with the Baggies.

The 23-year-old has become known as something of a controversial character but he is a goalscorer and that is something that Bilic and the Hammers need.

Yes, it’s that time of year again. You and 45 family members squeezed into a dining room with barely the elbow room to scratch your nose, never mind pull a Christmas cracker.

Thank goodness then that our digital version has everything you need in it, sparing you from elbowing your great auntie Elma in the face, spilling the gravy boat over your toddler cousin and ruining Christmas for everyone, all in the name of getting a sharpener and a joke you’ve heard a thousand times out of what is essentially a cardboard cylinder with crumpled edges.

A devilish teaser to annoy your Dad with (tip: never give him the answer), a mind blowing goal to try and impress your nephew with (even though he’s seen it 25 times before playing FIFA) and a stat that in all honesty would make Santa himself tip his sled in amazement – our digital Christmas cracker has a bit of everything.

So let’s get to it shall we? Have a pull on our Manchester United Christmas Cracker!

The Teaser – Name Them

Alex Ferguson is the greatest Manchester United manager of all time. He was also Scottish. Name the 5 other Scottish managers who have taken the manager’s hot-seat throughout the club’s history.

Click through to last page to reveal the answer.

The Glorious Goal – Ronaldo’s Rocket

This goal was so good and from so far out that the match director nearly missed picking it up on the cameras.

This Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the Quarter Finals of the UEFA Champions League gave the Old Trafford side a 2nd leg away win to put them through on their way to a final defeat vs. Barcelona.

This was Ronaldo fulfilling his potential and showing the world-class ability we’ve come to expect every time he takes the pitch for Real Madrid.

If the goal had no nets, this shot would still be travelling through the air.

The Stat – Zlatan Is Timeless

As this stat from Squawka shows, even at the age of 35, Zlatan Ibrahimivoic is amongst the top players in Europe at getting himself on the end of chances.

No player in Europe’s top 5 leagues has exceeded his total of 49 shots on target. With 13 goals this season, his shots are as lethal as ever too.

Did  anyone think he would be this good in a United shirt when he joined the summer? If he continues this form he could end up having one of the best seasons of his career. At 35, in one of the world’s top leagues, that would be a phenomenal achievement.

The Answer – Scottish Managers

The five Scottish managers, in addition to Alex Ferguson, who have taken charge of Manchester United are:

John Chapman: 1921-1926

Scott Duncan: 1932-1937

Matt Busby: 1945-1969, 1970-1971

Tommy Docherty: 1972-1977

David Moyes: 2013-2014

Perhaps it was cruel to have reminded you of David Moyes’ time at the club, but Scottish managers have in fact brought great success to Manchester United throughout their history.

The legendary Matt Busby won five league titles, two FA Cups and of course that first European Cup triumph in 1968. Scott Duncan won a second division title and so did Tommy Docherty, with the latter also managing an FA Cup win in 1977.

Alex Ferguson, of course i,s peerless with 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two European Cups, one European Cup Winners Cup, one European Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA World Club Cup.

David Moyes’ Community Shield doesn’t really stack up in comparison, does it?

Football is a place laden with narratives and clichés. The sport loves them. Whether it be about ‘he should have scored’ or that playing the ball long shows some sort of engrained passion, they often need to be challenged. The thing is, they are often false, or at least a little misguided.

One of the most commonly peddled tales in the Premier League is that there is no value in the January transfer market. Now, this is clearly wide of the mark. Come on, there is value to be found, it might be harder to find good deals or players that clubs will sell on, but it can surely be worth it. So often you hear managers or pundits talk of the January window as a time for clubs who are panicking, or managers who are throwing their last pennies in desperate hope of keeping their job.

Some teams need the January window. Whether it be to force a push for the title or to strengthen ahead of the relegation jostling, the January window can provide clubs with the opportunity to sign players that define their seasons. They may be a little trickier to pin down, but with the correct scouting and shrewd negotiating, clubs can still acquire players for good value. And, really, its hard to tell if a higher percentage of transfers turn out to be howlers in January or not.

Marginally greater risk may be attached to the addition of a player during the winter months (often because the team will have rushed into a signing) but the rewards can be sensational. Take Liverpool this season, for instance, they will unlikely have as good a shot at the title as they do now in the next few years. A couple of the right signings could help Jurgen Klopp secure their first league title in the Premier League era. It may cost them marginally more – just because of the premium attached to taking a team’s player during the middle of the season – but it is unquestionably worth it.

Liverpool are a fine example of the ups and downs of January. Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll and Philippe Coutinho are among their recent January additions; spot the odd one out. While Carroll may have not cost quite such a ludicrous sum if Liverpool waited to the summer, he was not the right player for the club – a factor irrelevant of the timing of the signing. Suarez, meanwhile, remains one of the great bargains in Europe footballing history. That’s right, a bargain on January deadline day. Whether out of fortune or finally having the cash to stump up for a long-term target its hard to tell, but the January window is no minefield.

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The premium put onto transfer fees must be balanced against the short-term need for the buying club. West Ham desperately trying to sign any player for a rock-bottom fee is foolish and not only because of their recent embarrassments. Despite the loss of several players, the Irons have no place in the January market. Slaven Bilic’s side are playing for little in the second half of this season and paying the winter tax on transfers offers no realistic reward in the short-term. They can just wait until summer, evaluate the market properly and find players who are at better value. Competing teams and struggling teams, though, do need reinforcements in the short-term and paying an extra £5 million for that striker or £3 million for that central defender could be the difference between Champions League football or not, or even the difference between relegation and safety.

As with anything, the January market can work in a club’s favour if they are sensible and balance the risk versus the reward. A blanket ban on January signings – as some clubs seem to function with – is reckless. It can jeopardise a season. Several Premier League clubs should be active in the January market in 2017, it could prove to be definitive at both ends of the table.

There was some worrying news for West Ham United fans this morning when manager Slaven Bilic revealed that Dimitri Payet no longer wants to play for the club.

Arguably the Hammers’ best player stunned in the Premier League last season by helping the team finish seventh in the table.

The playmaker, who joined the East London club from Marseille in 2015, scored nine goals and bagged 12 assists in the top flight last season.

Payet has not exactly set the world alight this season, scoring two goals and making six others in 18 appearances during a dismal campaign for West Ham.

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Slaven Bilic’s side sit 13th in the standings after winning six, drawing four and losing 10, and their new stadium in Stratford has not brought them much luck.

In this morning’s press conference, Bilic dropped the bombshell that Payet has given up on West Ham, but the boss insisted that the Frenchman will not be sold. BBC Sport  quotes the Croatian as saying:

“We have said we don’t want to sell our best players but Dimitri Payet does not want to play for us. We are not going to sell him. I spoke to the chairman and this is not a money issue. We gave him a long contract because we want him to stay.”

After Bilic revealed the news, fans flooded onto Twitter to give their views on the dire situation.

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Aston Villa have landed Conor Hourihane from Barnsley as their fifth signing of the January transfer window, confirming the deal on their official website.

What’s the word?

Raiding Championship rivals Barnsley for the second-time this week, Steve Bruce has added influential midfielder Conor Hourihane to his side as he seeks to land Aston Villa an immediate return back to the Premier League.

After capturing 19-year-old right-back James Bree from the Tykes earlier this weekend, Bruce has returned to capture the side’s captain in a deal worth around £3m and the pair join Birkir Bjarnason, Henri Lansbury and Manchester United loanee Sam Johnstone as new faces at Villa Park.

One of the stand-out players in the Championship this season, Hourihane’s arrival brings a wealth of optimism to the club and he was clearly delighted with his move.

What was said?

“I’m really pleased to be here. Aston Villa are a massive club and I’m looking forward to a new chapter in my career and developing further as a player under Steve Bruce.”

“I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone connected to Barnsley Football Club; from the owner, to the Head Coach, the backroom staff, and of course to the supporters who have been amazing to me throughout my time at Oakwell.”

How important will he be?

With six goals and eleven assists in his 25 appearances for Barnsley in the Championship this season, Hourihane has excelled with a Tykes side overachieving in their expectations this season; currently sat eighth, four points off the play-offs and ahead of Villa in 13th.

After a poor start to the season, Aston Villa have fought back under Steve Bruce but still have work to do, sitting nine points off the play-offs, but Bruce’s January activity has been excellent and will have raised confidence.

Potentially lining-up alongside Henri Lansbury, who had six goals and three assists in seventeen league games with Nottingham Forest, Villa now boast two of the league’s finest midfielders and the duo can fire the club back into the top-flight.

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Plenty of Arsenal supporters have given manager Arsene Wenger the thumbs up for deciding to keep faith with goalkeeper David Ospina for tonight’s Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.

The Colombian has started all six of the Gunners’ European fixtures this season, with Petr Cech being used in the Premier League.

Due to the huge importance of the last-16 first leg at the Allianz Arena, questions were raised over who would get the nod to start in between the sticks.

Ospina, who has also started both FA Cup games, has been given the green light by Wenger, who confirmed the news in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

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Cech has faced criticism on a handful of occasions throughout the season, and he made headlines a fortnight ago when he sent the ball directly to Cesc Fabregas, who hammered the final nail in the coffin with a goal in Chelsea’s 3-1 triumph.

Despite Ospina making just eight appearances in all competitions, he could be a safe bet to start against Bayern given that he made some crucial saves against Paris Saint-Germain during the group phase.

Since Wenger revealed who will be in goal against the German champions, Arsenal fans gave there reactions on Twitter.

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We often forget footballers are human beings. Transfers are treated like formalities when families are often being uprooted to move to new countries and continents, while the pressure that comes with the slightest mistake being magnified on television and debated for hours on end by thousands of fans is huge. Sure, most are financially compensated to a staggering level, but they are people after all.

Kerry Dixon, to this day a Chelsea legend, had it all back in his playing days but lost his way, and ahead of the release of his film series ‘Legends Live – Kerry Dixon’ in two weeks’ time, the eight-time England international has spoken frankly about his fall from grace and offered a helping hand to any young footballers struggling with the pressures and demands of the beautiful game:

“Football can bring its privileges but they are young men first and foremost and while they should be chasing their dreams at every opportunity, they are still young men and can make mistakes.

“People will look a me and say: ‘he had it all, and lost it all’, but I am fighting back and want to help young footballers see what can happen, and what might happen, and if they are concerned then ‘pick up the phone and I’ll be there.’”

The film of Dixon’s remarkable life story will be premiered at the Sanctum Soho cinema with several big name legends attending to support the ex-Chelsea man in his continuing rehabilitation quest.

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Money is unlikely an issue for Manchester City starlet Leroy Sane, but he has shown that he can appreciate the frustration when a football fan misses out on a big payout from a bookie.On this occasion, a punter in Germany was 13 minutes away from scooping €34,200 (£28,858) on a €2 bet, but Sane ruined the dream when he scored in the 82nd minute of City’s win over Monaco at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night.It was a frantic match as the North-West outfit came from behind twice to claim a 5-3 victory and give themselves a two-goal cushion heading into the second leg of their last-16 tie in the Champions League.[ad_pod id=’now-tv’ align=’centre’]Sane was delighted to net his fourth goal of the season but in complete contrast, the fan in Germany would have been raging.Everything was going to plan for the punter, who bet that Atletico Madrid would defeat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2, and his 4-3 prediction for the City game looked like the right shout when John Stones nudged the English club in front, but it was not to be.Sane found out about the fans’ misery and offered his apologies on Twitter.

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Leeds United fans have promised manager Garry Monk that they will create a wall of noise in this weekend’s cash against Brighton at Elland Road.

The former Swansea City boss has called on the supporters to make the difference following two frustrating results.

The Whites suffered an injury-time late equaliser against Fulham at Craven Cottage on March 7, and they followed that up with a stalemate at home to Queens Park Rangers.

Neither team could find the back of the net and they were forced to settle for a point, but Monk wants much more this weekend.

Leeds remain in a strong position in the Championship given that they are fourth in the table, five points clear of seventh-placed Fulham.

It is highly unlikely that Monk’s men will break into the automatic promotion spots due to Newcastle and Brighton having an 11-point advantage over them, but a route into the Premier League is still visible.

Ahead of Saturday’s game at Elland Road, Monk urged the fans to crank up the noise.

The Yorkshire Evening Post quotes Monk as saying:

“What I have written in my programme notes this week is that it’s time to crank up the noise. The fans have been fantastic, there have been amazing atmospheres and I have spoken to people that have been here for many years that have seen the atmospheres at Elland Road and they say it’s been a long time since they have seen the types of atmospheres that we have had here.

“That’s great to know, it’s great confidence for the players and it’s great for the fans as well. That’s what we all want, but it’s time to crank it up. It’s time for everyone to be together.”

After Monk’s comments, fans took to Twitter to inform the manager that they will be at their loudest for Leeds, who are on course to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

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Newcastle United are believed to be among the pack chasing after Swansea City star Gylfi Sigurdsson, and the fans are very happy about it.

The Sun reports that Magpies manager Rafael Benitez is eager for club owner Mike Ashley to part with £15m to sign the creative midfielder.

Sigurdsson has impressed for the Welsh outfit this season, despite the club fighting against relegation from the Premier League.

So far in the campaign, the 27-year-old has provided 11 assists and scored eight goals of his own in 29 Premier League appearances.

The likes of West Ham United and Everton have been named as possible summer destinations for the Iceland international, so Newcastle could face a fight to land his signature.

The North-East outfit’s case would be helped along if they manage to earn promotion back into the top flight, and they are on course to do so given that they reside at the summit of the Championship, seven points clear of the playoffs.

After news emerged of Newcastle’s new rumoured transfer target, fans took to Twitter to deliver their opinions.

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