Cairney could leave Fulham in swap deal, Sun claim

The stories in Friday’s newspapers involving the area’s clubs…

Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri is prepared to swap club captain Tom Cairney for Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, The Sun claim.

It is claimed that Ranieri wants to bring in a deep-lying midfielder and that West Ham’s Pedro Obiang could be another option for a swap deal.

Newcastle and West Ham have previously expressed an interest in Cairney and The Sun suggest either club could snap him up during next month’s transfer window.

He has fallen out of favour under Ranieri, who is said to have told Fulham that he wants to bring in a different kind of midfielder.

Meanwhile, Joe Cole will take up a coaching role at Chelsea in the new year, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The former England star, who made 183 Premier League appearances for the Blues during a seven-year spell at Stamford Bridge, recently retired from playing.

The Telegraph say he will be offered a role in Chelsea’s academy and eventually be assigned a specific age group to coach.

Cole, 37, has suggested that he would like to work with young players now his playing days are over.

And Chelsea continue to be linked with striker Gonzalo Higuain.

The Argentine, who played under Blues boss Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, is currently on loan at AC Milan from Juventus.

The Sun have picked up on reports in Italy suggesting that Higuain is set to tell Juve he wants to leave Milan and join Chelsea instead.