Amorim wants Gyokeres at Man Utd with Zirkzee set for loan away

Manchester United are willing to sell Joshua Zirkzee on loan in January as Ruben Amorim considers bringing Viktor Gyokeres over from Sporting, the Daily Mail reports.

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Tuchel timing blamed for England withdrawals Brighton dismiss scouts

Zirkzee, 23, joined United for £36.5m in the summer from Bologna, but struggled to impress under Erik ten Hag and may struggle for game-time under his new manager as well.

The Mail adds: “The former Bayern Munich man has only netted a solitary goal in 17 appearances since joining the club.

“And it seems new boss Amorim, who arrived in Manchester on Monday to assume his position, is not too keen on the Dutchman either.

“It is believed that the former Sporting manager is keen on bringing the Portuguese side’s star man, Gyokeres, with him to Old Trafford.

“If that is the case, Zirkzee would potentially become the third-choice centre forward at the club and would struggle for minutes.”

Tuchel timing blamed for England withdrawals

The eight withdrawals from the men’s England squad have been put down to Thomas Tuchel’s late arrival as the incoming head coach, the Daily Mail reports.

Premier League clubs are said to be privately blaming the fact Tuchel will not take over in the New Year as a reason for a host of players to pull out, as there is no need to impress the new boss in the upcoming Nations League matches.

Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and Aaron Ramsdale have all dropped out.

The Mail adds: “Mail Sport understands that at least two of the withdrawals are precautionary rather than because of injuries that would prevent their participation in one or both of this week’s games.

“The large number of players named in the original squad to become unavailable this week has not come as a shock to leading figures at top-flight clubs, who believe the Football Association’s agreement with Tuchel that he starts work on January 1 has led to the raft of casualties.

“Previous head coach Gareth Southgate successfully nurtured a culture during his eight-year reign that saw players fear dropping out of squads because they felt their place maybe at risk in the future.”

Brighton dismiss scouts

Brighton have undergone a major restructuring and dismissed the majority of their full-time recruitment scouts, the Telegraph reports. Brighton have become a Premier League mainstay largely based on their impressive recruitment and scouting network, which has been the envy of clubs around them and earned the Seagulls more than £200m in player sales.

The Telegraph writes: “Staff at Brighton, whose owner Tony Bloom relies heavily on a secretive data model, were last week told that recruitment and the identification of players will now operate differently with three full-time scouts being dispensed with. Others may have been redeployed.

“The move underlines how successfully the club, who are sixth in the Premier League table, level on points with third-placed Chelsea, have used data in their recruitment, although club insiders insist they will be no more reliant on it than they have been.

“It is understood that the excellent work of the scouts who have left has been recognised by Bloom and that Brighton plan to make appointments as part of the restructuring to take the total recruitment staff headcount back up to near its previous level.”