Wayne Rooney could line up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic for Paris Saint-Germain if French club pay £35m for Manchester United star



Rooney worried about his prospects at OId Trafford under Louis van Gaal

United striker could struggle to make first team if other forwards sign

Hugo Lloris is ready to quit Spurs and Barcelona are keen on the keeper

Frank Lampard is hoping to sign a new one-year deal at Chelsea

Michael Laudrup in the frame to replace Sam Allardyce at West Ham

Swansea midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is a summer target for Newcastle



Paris Saint-Germain will consider a summer move for Wayne Rooney.

Should Louis van Gaal's appointment as Manchester United manager go through this week, Rooney’s future at the club will be cast into doubt.

Already there have been rumours Rooney is worried about his prospects if the Dutchman gets the job.

VIDEO Scroll down to watch Rooney and Zlatan star in World Cup advert



Dream duo: Could Wayne Rooney (right, mocked up in a PSG kit) link up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Paris?

With Van Gaal in charge Robin van Persie, who was set to quit the club in the summer, is likely to be persuaded to stay.

And an Gaal, who will manage Van Persie with Holland at the World Cup, is set to make his compatriot the main man up front and perhaps even offer him the captaincy.

With other forwards likely to be signed, Rooney could well face a struggle for a place in the starting line-up.

Certainly his nose will be put out of joint just a few months after committing his future to United on a massive £300,000-a-week deal.

But that deal means that the club will now be able to command a decent price for Rooney – had he not signed then his fee would have dipped under the £10million mark this summer, given that he only has a year left on his contract

Glum: Rooney could be marginalised should Louis van Gaal take over and make Robin van Persie his main striker

But United could ask for around £35m for the 28-year-old England striker.

Chelsea are unlikely to be interested any longer and no other English club would want to meet Rooney’s transfer fee and wages. PSG though would, despite them facing sanctions from UEFA (in the Champions League) under Financial Fair Play regulations.

The ambitious French club were poised to make a move for Rooney in January but United decided to meet his pay demands.

It is believed the player is reluctant to leave the Premier League but a move to PSG may prove his best option if he is no longer central to Van Gaal’s plans.

In the meantime, Rooney is battling to be fit for the World Cup.

It is feared a lingering groin injury which has kept him out of action could actually be a hernia problem which requires surgery.

Missing: Rooney scored twice in Ryan Giggs' first match in charge but was absent for the defeat by Sunderland

Y-FACTOR Why are referees forced to ensure that after a player has been treated he has to leave the field of play and then, almost farcically, waved back on almost immediately? The routine was originally brought in to stop time wasting. But the whole process of a player taking a long slow walk to leave the pitch only to allowed to return almost straight away wastes time.



Laudrup in the mix to replace Allardyce at West Ham

Michael Laudrup has been identified as by West Ham as a potential replacement for Sam Allardyce.

Despite Saturday’s 2-0 win over Tottenham, which dampened a growing anti-Allardyce campaign among West Ham fans, the club’s board will have a meeting at the end of the season to determine the way forward.

The Hammers are in a quandary as they look ahead to the best strategy to lead them into the Olympic Stadium the season after next.

On the hand they recognise that Allardyce’s pragmatism is a safe bet to make sure the club stay in the Premier League ahead of the move.

But against that they realise more and more fans are fed up with Allardyce’s often dour tactics - and that with one game to go a return of 40 points, which is enough to make West Ham safe this season, is merely the edge of respectability.

Success: Michael Laudrup won the League Cup last season with Swansea but was sacked earlier this season

Safety first: West Ham will stay up but fans are not happy with Sam Allardyce (right) and Laudrup may replace him

The club want better than that as they seek to convince their fans to move with them to a new ground and, more to the point, attract more season-ticket holders.

Laudrup’s work and the style of play he promoted before being sacked by Swansea earlier this season has impressed the West Ham board.

The Dane would be seen as manager who would promote a brand of football more in keeping with the Hammers’ traditions.

Former Cardiff manager Malky Mackay would be another contender if the club decide to part company with Allardyce.

Lloris set to quit Spurs... and Barca are ready to pounce

Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris is set to quit the club at the end of the season.

The France No 1 wants Champions League football and Spurs have missed out again.

Barcelona are set to make a move as they seek to replace Victor Valdes.

And off the pitch Frank De Boer, who is a target to become Tottenham’s next manager, could be lured by Barca.

Should the Spanish club part company with current boss Gerardo Martino then Ajax boss De Boer would be on their shortlist.

Former Barca midfielder Luis Enrique would be another contender.



Spurred on to move: Hugo Lloris (second right) is set to quit Tottenham in the summer and interests Barcelona

I am hearing that

Arsenal may make a move for Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel.

I am also hearing that



The secret of 41-year-old keeper Mark Schwarzer’s longevity is a special protein-based diet which sees him eat steak and rocket salad for breakfast.

Schwarzer, who joined the club on a free transfer from Fulham last summer, has been outstanding when deputising for Petr Cech.

The Australian wants to stay for one more season and assuming Cech fully recovers from a shoulder injury, it could mean Chelsea will delay bringing back Thibaut Courtois from Atletico Madrid for another year.



A NEW TOON FOR SHELVEY?

Swansea’s Jonjo Shelvey will be a summer target for Newcastle.



Lampard hopes for another year at the Bridge

Frank Lampard is hoping to sign another one-year contract with Chelsea.

It had been assumed this would be Lampard’s last season but he feels he is fit enough for one more campaign, albeit with more cameo roles.

This season the 35-year-old midfielder has not been a regular but he has generally been outstanding when drafted in for big games.

Roy Hodgson is likely to take Lampard to the World Cup and Jose Mourinho could well advise the club to give him and John Terry new one-year deals.

Thumbs up for another year: Frank Lampard looks likely to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea, meanwhile, believe they have finalised the signing of Atletico Madrid Diego Costa and it could well be announced after the European Cup final.

The Blues may also challenge Manchester United for PSG striker Edinson Cavani.

iSay



Mon: Images of Barcelona’s Dani Alves responding to a racist at Villarreal by picking up a banana thrown at him and eating it go viral and set a trend as fellow players from around the world pose for pictures doing the same. A brilliant way to make a mockery of those morons who do things such as hurl bananas.

Tues: Real Madrid trounce Bayern Munich and expose the myth that tiki-taka is the best way to play and somehow superior. Variety is the spice of footballing life – besides, the system worked so well at Barcelona because they had an exceptional generation of players of a certain style with Lionel Messi, when at his best, on a different planet. Bayern’s squad is better suited to a more thrusting game.

Demolition job: Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Gareth Bale celebrate as Real Madrid trounce Bayern Munich

Wed: Chelsea get a taste of their own medicine as Atletico Madrid play the rope-a-dope trick with a knockout punch to reach the European Cup final. For once Jose Mourinho seems lost for words as HE is outwitted by Diego Simeone.

Thur: Roberto Martinez calls for a change in the loan system so that players can play against the clubs who ‘own’ them. Atletico Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois’ displays against Chelsea prove a player will perform to a top level against his ‘own club’. But loans of players between sides in the same league simply should not happen.

Fri: Manuel Pellegrini assures Roy Hodgson that he won’t use any of his England players in post-season friendlies. It is to be hoped other managers follow the Chilean’s lead.



iBet On the face of it looks like two home bankers when Arsenal take on West Brom and Chelsea play Norwich on Sunday. But both away teams need a wins as they strive for survival and at least one could pull off a shock. So the Baggies at 10-1 or Norwich at a massive 14-1 are worth a few quid.



Libero

am Allardyce has lost the support of a big chunk of West Ham fans not just because of the dour, predictable, one-dimensional style of play he promotes but because of an ugly attitude.

Having done what he was brought into to do - get the club promoted back to the Premier League then stay there in the first season - there was a general acceptance that the ‘Bolton Way’ would do.

But the hope the team would kick on and play with a bit more style and verve has not materialised. Saturday’s comfortable win over of Tottenham, to ensure safety, was very much the exception to the rule.

The season has been a long grim struggle and many of those who were prepared to see Allardyce’s way of thinking have turned against him because he has virtually laughed in their face and mocked their notion of the ‘West Ham way’. And 40 points with a game to go is hardly something to crow about.

Nor is the Allardyce approach the best way to woo new fans to the club when they move into the Olympic Stadium the season after next.

The wrong way: The majority of West Ham supporters are disgruntled with Allardyce's style of play

Now, in one sense Allardyce has a point, because there are some myths about the ‘West Ham way’ and the club’s status as the ‘Academy of Football’.

After all, it’s a long time since the Hammers have actually played anything approaching the ‘West Ham way’.

There was a spell under Harry Redknapp when the club did play some silky, thrilling football in the tradition of the teams he was brought up playing for in the Sixties and Seventies, but Redknapp left Upton Park 13 years ago.

Since then West Ham have hardly played with the philosophy Ron Greenwood brought the club at the start of the Sixties and John Lyall carried on through in the Seventies and Eighties.

In those days, even when the team struggled in the league, which was often, they did put smiles on their fans’ faces with a brand of football that was also often appreciated by the opposing supporters - although that was often because of West Ham’s soft centre, which ensured they often lost.

That is a point that Sam likes to make.

But with cultured stars like Bobby Moore, Trevor Brooking and Alan Devonshire, the Hammers did play with a special brand of football that made their fans proud that their smallish club had something special that some of the bigger teams did not. Soul.

Grim it to win it: Allardyce smiles as the Hammers score in Saturday's victory over Tottenham

So what is the ‘West Ham way’ meant to be ?

In an nutshell at its best it was a brand of football developed from the Hungarian model of the Fifties, quick movement and passing, with intelligent use of space, variety of movement, pace and final ball.

If there was one thing that showed West Ham at their best it was innovation of the near post cross.

This is best illustrated in this footage of Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst combing to score two goals, each setting up the other, in a 2-0 win over Manchester City in 1967. Greenwood then explains it in coaching terms.

VIDEO: See Peters and Hurst score for West Ham v Man City in 1967





Now, of course, the usual delivery into the box is just a high ball floating into Andy Carroll. It can cause damage but has become so predictable opponents know what is coming.

That Allardyce slavishly sticks to the same old routine and rigid formation is, combined with his miserable rhetoric, what has really turned so many fans against him because the most important part of the ‘West Ham way’ is, win or lose, to at least play the game with a smile on your face.

On Saturday there were smiles as a league double was completed over Spurs but in almost smirking Sam didn’t help his cause to win over those who want their West Ham back.

FOTB

The word coming from Germany is that Pep Guardiola could part company with Bayern Munich in the next few weeks.

It seems Manchester United are poised to finalise the appointment Louis van Gaal as their new manager.

But I would suggest that the United hierarchy put their foot on the ball until the season is over.

It could well be that suddenly Guardiola, who many believe was the first choice to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson, could become available.

Play the waiting game: Manchester United should see whether Pep Guardiola (left) becomes available before finalising the appointment of Louis van Gaal as manager



Van Gaal has an impressive record as coach but his confrontational style could go one way or the other very quickly and in wanting to bring so many of his own backroom staff he could alienate the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville, who should retain major coaching roles.

Guardiola would be far more likely to keep the infrastructure and also nurture an attractive style of play.

Surely it’s worth waiting just a couple of weeks to see whether Guardiola, more of a long-term option than Van Gaal, is available.

BTW:

Brendan Rodgers would appear a shoo-in for the LMA’s Manager of the Year. Rightly so.

Even if Liverpool don’t win the title their transformation under Rodgers into contenders and a Champions League side for next season has been impressive not least given the attractive style they have done it with.

Tony Pulis, though, deserves a massive mention for the brilliant rescue job he has done at Crystal Palace.

Shoo-in: Brendan Rodgers is the leading candidate to be named the LMA's Manager of the Year

And Steve Bruce’s great work in guiding Hull to mid table safety and the FA Cup final should also be recognised.

Assuming it is Rodgers who makes the acceptance speech at the LMA Awards ceremony, one hopes he re-discovers his public poise.

Rodgers threw a bit too much of a tantrum when Chelsea beat them 2-0 at Anfield last week.

Moaning about Jose Mourinho parking two buses and his strategy being easy to coach was nonsense.

It was down to Rodgers to come up with alternative tactics during the game to counter Chelsea’s blanket defence.

Given how he has developed over the past few years as a coach Rodgers is likely to learn from his mistakes. That is one of his strongest traits.

And, by the way, it wasn’t the ‘buses’ that Chelsea parked that were Liverpool’s problem.

It was that the Liverpool fans, and perhaps subliminally the players, assumed the game would be the first stage of an open-bus title tour.

A Chelsea insider told FG this week that the emotional side of Mourinho’s team talk was driven by the triumphalist attitude that confronted the Chelsea team as their team bus weaved its way into Anfield.

‘The players couldn’t believe the attitude as they turned up to the ground,’ the insider said. ‘It was like it was game over. It really wound them up and fired their desire to win. It was just the inspiration a much changed team needed.’



Backheel

Next Saturday West Auckland of the Northern League have shot at glory when they take on Sholing in the FA Vase final at Wembley.

It's about time the club had something to shout about - after all they were once world champions. Well sort of.

We all regard the 1966 World Cup victory as the greatest achievement in English football history

But in a small corner of County Durham, they will tell you something different.

In 1909, West Auckland - a team of miners - were invited to compete for the prestigious Sir Thomas Lipton trophy in Turin, a precursor to today's World Cup.

English businessman Lipton wanted a tournament involving teams from England, Italy, Germany and Switzerland but the FA refused to nominate a side.

The World Cup! Well, OK, its forerunner, the Sir Thomas Lipton trophy, won by West Auckland in 1909

Legend has it that Lipton wanted the then Woolwich Arsenal to take part but it is said that when he sent a letter to his secretary to sort the matter out he only put the initials WA, which was taken to be lowly West Auckland.

The motley crew turned up in Turin and stunned everybody by winning the tournament, beating Stuttgart then Swiss side FC Winterthur.

Two years later they won it again, thrashing Italian giants Juventus 6-1 in the final.

It’s one of the great romantic sport stories and its worth finding a DVD of the 1982 film A Captain’s Tale starring Dennis Waterman, which depicts the rags-to-riches tale. It’s one of the best football films ever made.

Who writes his scripts? Dennis Waterman (centre) in the 1982 film A Captain's Tale

Halsey walking the walk in aid of charity



Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey is to make a comeback in a fortnight when he takes charge of a legends tournament involving former stars from Tottenham, West Ham, Chelsea and Arsenal at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road ground on May 18.

And Halsey is likely to be in better shape than most of the ex stars such as Glenn Hoddle, Paolo Di Canio, Ian Wright and Gianfranco Zola after walking the length of the country for charity

Halsey and seven others will be walking continuously from Land’s End to John O’Groats and could be joined for some of the challenge by West Ham manager Sam Allardyce.

The eight walkers are completing the challenge for the Steve Prescott Foundation — a charity set up by the former St Helens and Great Britain rugby league star, who died in November from a rare form of abdominal cancer.



Walking the walk: Mark Halsey will complete a charity trek from Land's End to John O'Groats and then referee the legends tournament at Brisbane Road

The charity supports the Christie Hospital, the Rugby League Benevolent Fund and the Oxford Intestinal Unit and has so far raised more than £500,000.

Mr Halsey, who himself has battled throat cancer and is currently in remission, said: ‘I met Steve a few times at dinners and events and when Martin Blondel, who is heavily involved in the foundation asked me to be an ambassador, I felt honoured and privileged and said yes.

‘Steve did an unbelievable amount for charity and so in his honour we are taking on this challenge — it will be really tough to walk the distance in just 12 days.’

The walk will begin at the Land’s End Hotel on May 5 and all being well, the intrepid walkers will cross the finish line at John O’Groats on May 16.



Saint and a winner: Steve Prescott (front) was a St Helens legend before his tragically early death

They could be joined by some big names at different stages along the way, with former Bolton boss Allardyce and fellow football managers Neil Warnock and Peter Reid expected to make appearances.

For more information on the challenge click here.

