Transfer news live: Barcelona urged to sign Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, Manchester United target Inter star

Good morning and welcome to today's Independent transfer live blog.

The winter transfer window is now just around the corner with some of world football's biggest names possibly on the move.

Neymar smashed the world transfer record by swapping Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer but with money seemingly to burn January could be the biggest ever with many closer to home possibly following the Brazilian in making multi-million pound moves.

We'll bring you all the latest news, done deals and breaking rumours throughout the day right here so don't touch that dial.

Let's take a look around today's papers shall we?

Barcelona's bid to sign Liverpool star Philippe Coutinho continues, but the Catalan giants are unwilling to let the issue run throughout the transfer window, according to the Mirror. The paper says reports in Spain suggest club bosses have decided that if a deal cannot be done by the end of December, then they will need to move on. They could then look to sign Arsenal's Mesut Ozil, the paper adds.

However, according to the Daily Mail, Ozil favours signing for Manchester United over Barcelona should he leave Arsenal. The paper says the Germany international has made it plain to friends that he is eyeing a switch to United, while Jose Mourinho is said to be watching his situation closely.

Newcastle are reportedly eyeing Liverpool striker Danny Ings and Manchester United defender Luke Shaw. The Daily Star claims manager Rafael Benitez wants to bring in the two players as he bids to avoid the drop, and will make a move if the club's takeover goes through.

Bournemouth are demanding £15million for striker Benik Afobe, The Sun reports. The paper says West Brom and former club Wolves are interested in the 24-year-old, but Eddie Howe wants more than the £10million they splashed out on him two years ago.

Manchester United now see Juventus' Alex Sandro as their primary left-back target for January, as there is a growing belief it could be difficult to prise Danny Rose out of Tottenham Hotspur.

Jose Mourinho is determined to solve a position that has been a problem for a long time at Old Trafford, even allowing for Ashley Young's impressive displays there is a stand-in, and sees it as his main task for the mid-season window.

It had for a long time looked like Rose could be that option, given the has fallen out of favour at Spurs due to injury and the connected issues of a controversial interview about the club's transfer policy at the start of the season.

Manchester City will return with a big offer for Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez in January, as they attempt to finally clinch the deal thatPep Guardiola was desperate for in the summer.

While City have been in supreme attacking form despite the failure to land the Chilean on deadline day in August, Guardiola is said by sources to feel that the unbeaten Premier League leaders can do a double of domestic title and Champions League this season, so wants to press home with the purchase and add real strength in depth to his squad to seize the opportunity.

Arsene Wenger's position is still that Arsenal do not want to sell despite the 28-year-old's contract running out at the end of the season, but that stance was shown to be malleable in the summer when the London club ultimately agreed to sell the striker on the provision that they would be able to bring in a replacement.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed Arsenal are continuing to try and tie Mesut Ozil down to a new contract with Manchester Unitedwaiting in the wings.

The 28-year-old's current deal runs out at the end of the season and he is yet to show any real willingness to remain at the Emirates beyond this campaign.

United want to sign him on a free transfer next summer and manager Jose Mourinho recently publicly refused to rule out such a possibility ahead of their meeting a fortnight ago.

Wenger confirmed the club are continuing their efforts to keep one of their star men.

Senior figures at Atletico Madrid and Manchester United now believe Antoine Griezmann will go to Barcelona in the summer, in a mega-money deal.

The French star has been widely expected to leave the Spanish capital club in the next year after a deal with United fell apart in June in the wake of Atletico's transfer ban, and Barcelona have now surged well ahead in the pursuit of his signature.

The Catalans, who are intent on undertaking a major team restructuring after the controversial exit of Neymar, badly want to add more mobility to their attack and see Griezmann as one of the best potential options.

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Real Madrid are considering changing strategy over their next goalkeeper, in a development that could be welcomed atManchester United but not at Chelsea, as the European champions believe Thibaut Courtois could be much easier to sign than David De Gea.

One plan now being mooted at the top levels of the Bernabeu right now is to try and sign Athletic Bilbao’s Kepa Arrizabalaga in January and for the future, before moving for Courtois in the summer.

Both Courtois and De Gea see their current contracts run out in June 2019, but after years of Real pursuing the United keeper, the view is that the Belgian would be less complicated to sign.

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Wonder no more.

Kyle Scott is in stalemate with Chelsea over a new contract, The Sun claims, with a host of clubs keeping a watchful eye on him.

The paper reports that the 19-year-old midfielder, who has 18 months to run on his current deal, has impressed Leicester and Huddersfield, but Chelsea are keen for him to stay.

Eric Bailly may require surgery that could threaten the remainder of his season. The defender has not played for Manchester United since the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on November 5 and his manager, Jose Mourinho, admitted he could offer no guarantees as to his return.

Bailly injured his ankle while playing for Ivory Coast in their World Cup qualifier against Mali in October, but although he returned to play against Tottenham at the end of that month, he broke down again. He has now missed eight matches for Manchester United.