Man United could lose Rooney to Monaco after bagging Falcao

Man United strikers Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao could end up forging a long-term partnership if Monaco succeed in the their wish to prise Wayne Rooney away from Old Trafford.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the French outfit are keen on bringing in Rooney, having apparently lost the services of Falcao to United on a full time basis.

The paper says that the club's vice-chairman, Vadim Vasilyev, "has given the strongest indication yet" that the club still hope to sign Rooney, even though he is only a few months into a new five-and-a-half year contract worth £300,000-a-week. But it might not take much to secure Rooney's services, says the paper. Monaco were "on the cusp" of signing Rooney during last year's summer transfer window, with the offer of a tax-free wage deal.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In related news, Talksport reports that Radamel Falcao is enjoying life so much at Manchester United that he wishes to remain at the club beyond this season. The 28-year-old Colombian – who arrived last month from Monaco on a short-term deal - scored the winner for United in their weekend win against Everton, and in an interview with MUTV he said: "Me and my family are happy here, and we would like to stay for many years at Manchester United."

A battle royal is looming between Liverpool and Arsenal, with Anderson Talisca the prize for the winner. According to the Daily Mirror the 20-year-old Brazilian striker has "made the best start to a season ever by an import" in Portuguese football scoring six goals in his first seven games for Benfica.

Describing Talisca as a "sensation", the Mirror claims that the Reds and the Gunners are both "scouting" the youngster and had their spies in Portugal at the weekend as Talisca again found the net in the 4-0 trouncing of Arouca. Signed from Brazilian club Bahia for a paltry £3m earlier in the year, the Brazil Under-20 international apparently has an £18m buy-out clause and the Mirror says that the two Premier League clubs are prepared to meet that figure in January such are Talisca's sharpshooting skills

In other news website Caughtoffside reports that Tottenham are "set to enter the race" for Newcastle United midfielder Chieck Tiote. Last week the no-nonsense Ivory Coast international was linked with a move to Arsenal but now it's the turn of their north London neighbours to have their name mentioned in the same breath as the 28-year-old.

With Newcastle's future looking as bright as Kim Jong-un's, it's only a matter of time before Tiote flies the Magpies' nest and he's stated recently his desire to remain in England. Caughtoffside claims that Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino is "keen" on the defensive midfielder and will table a bid in the new year, which in all likelihood will be substantially more than the £3.5m that Newcastle paid FC Twente in 2010.

Meanwhile Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has rubbished suggestions he could be tempted back to Old Trafford, says Goal.com. The 27-year-old Spaniard was rumoured to be mulling over a possible move away from the Camp Nou after slipping out of the Barcelona starting XI, but the gossip linking Pique with a return to Manchester United has proved to be a bit like Mesut Ozil – idle. "I love it here," declared Pique, who made a handful of appearances for United between 2004 and 2008. "I am at the best club in the world right now. I have no intention of leaving now or later. I've just signed a new contract and I want to retire a Blaugrana."

Finally the Daily Star says that Liverpool's hopes of signing Xherdan Shaqiri have died a death. The Reds had been pursuing the 22-year-old Swiss winger with singular determination in recent months – but now it seems the player is resigned to being at Bayern Munich for the foreseeable future, even though he's complained in the past about his lack of regular game time. "I've still got a contract until 2016 and the club have already told me I won't be going anywhere so I've just got to accept that," explained Shaqiri. "For as long as I am here, I will give everything I've got... I think everybody could see how hungry I am to play football."