Liverpool eye 26-goal forward, United chase £20m star, Arsenal find £12m Vermaelen replacement

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Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal all feature.

11 days down, 20 to go until the Transfer Window re-opens. Here is our midnight round-up of the top five stories...

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1) Fresh from a Champions League win over Shakhtar, United boss David Moyes took a trip to Atletico Madrid to watch them take on Porto. It has been claimed by The Metro he was scouting attacking midfielder Koke, who has a £20 million release and scored in the match. However the 21-year-old only signed a new contract in September until 2018, so may take some persuading to leave a club who are flying high in La Liga and also through to the Champions League last 16.


2) Two former Tottenham targets have sealed deals elsewhere today. Keiszuke Honda was unveiled officially as an AC Milan player on a free transfer, while Brazilian striker Leandro Damiao has moved for £11 million from Internacional to Santos.
3) Liverpool have identified Ola Toivonen of PSV as a January transfer target, write the Mirror. Toivonen scored 26 goals last season for the Dutch side, and the Reds are aiming to sign him witho barely paying a penny. Toivonen's contract runs out next summer, and the paper report Liverpool want to sign him on loan in January, for a 'small fee', and allow him a chance to impress and 'earn' a free transfer.

4) Chelsea have been linked with a sensational swap deal for Julian Draxler. German magazine SportBILD write that the Blues and Schalke are considering a move which would see Kevin de Bruyne move in the opposite direction. However as HITC's German correspondent Markus Hanfler explains the De Bruyne situation is far from clear with varying reports also linking Atletico Madrid, Wolfsburg and Bayer Leverkusen with a transfer. The Belgian played just 10 minutes against Steaua in the Champions League tonight.

5) Arsenal may have one of the strongest defences in Europe but they are keen to strengthen it report The Mirror. They claim the Gunners want to sign Kurt Zouma from St Etienne, as they hedge their best over Thomas Vermaelen wanting a move. Zouma has been serving a 10 game ban for injuring an opponent of late, while Chelsea are also interested. The centre-back is valued at £12 million but is ineligible to return to action in France until mid-January.