An astonishing day at Manchester United took an incredible twist last night when it emerged Wayne Rooney has asked to leave Old Trafford at a time when the club are close to securing the return of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Also: Manchester United supporters wondering today just when their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, chose his retirement date need to go back almost a year.
THE SUN
Alex Ferguson wants David Moyes to succeed him as manager of Manchester United.
Andre Villas-Boas admits Tottenham's Champions League hopes are teetering on the brink.
DAILY MIRROR
David Moyes will be named Manchester United manager today after being handpicked by Sir Alex Ferguson himself.
Chelsea last night gatecrashed Bayern Munich's attempt to sign Wayne Rooney.
DAILY STAR
David Moyes is set to be confirmed today as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor as Manchester United manager.
Gyfli Sigurdsson netted a late equaliser to keep Tottenham in the hunt for the Champions League - and make Chelsea sweat on their own top four hopes.
DAILY EXPRESS
David Moyes will become Manchester United's new manager in the next 48 hours after Sir Alex Ferguson told the club he should be his successor.
Also: Gylfi Sigurdsson controversially earned Andre Villas-Boas a face-saving draw on his return to Chelsea but that was not enough to keep Spurs' Champions League hopes in their own hands.
THE GUARDIAN
David Moyes's first challenge on succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager will be to persuade Wayne Rooney to stay at the club after the striker asked to leave a fortnight ago.
Andre Villas-Boas urged Tottenham Hotspur's supporters to 'keep the faith' after his team surrendered the initiative to Arsenal in the pursuit of Champions League qualification despite twice coming from behind to frustrate Chelsea.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
David Moyes will be confirmed as the next Manchester United manager but one of his first tasks will be to retain the services of Wayne Rooney.
Manchester United's appointment of David Moyes as Sir Alex Ferguson's successor could be concluded as early as today, after weeks of work under a cloak of secrecy by the club to ensure a smooth transition at Old Trafford.
The Football Association, chairman David Bernstein, has cast doubt on an immediate England return for John Terry, saying that he considered the former captain still to be in retirement.
THE TIMES
David Gill insisted last night that succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson was 'not an impossible job' as Manchester United prepare to announce the appointment of David Moyes as their new manager today.
Wayne Rooney has been told by Manchester United that he will not be sold this summer, although it remains to be seen whether David Moyes wants to keep the player with whom he had a difficult relationship at Everton.
First job for David Moyes: shifting Wayne Rooney. Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
It's another one of those mornings. The ones where you awake to suddenly remember what happened. That no, it wasn't all a dream, the events of the day before really did occur, and now nothing will ever be the same again.
You know the kind: you finally told her you love her; you lost patience and smacked him in the mouth; you've made off with the contents of the till and you're stuck in some godforsaken motel a couple of hours outside Phoenix, Arizona; you were cleaning the Higgs boson collider, you were only trying to help, and now you're being chased around by a supermassive black hole, if only you'd learned the lesson of the first time and just let the damn thing gather dust.
Fergie's done one, as well, of course, which means the particles would have probably been acting in an erratic fashion anyway. Everything's started moving around independently of everything else, bereft of moorings. It's chaos. It's like we're living in a rogue state two hours after the latest coup. It's like a county council meeting with two new Ukip members acting up at the back. If nothing else, Fergie at least brought order. The Mill misses Fergie. The Mill is suffering from Stockholm syndrome.
David Moyes is going to be the new boss of Manchester United for at least 44 days, and while everything stays the same, everything changes. He'll give Phil Neville a place on his coaching team, as well as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, and he'll take Leighton Baines with him from Goodison.
But the very first thing Moyes will do, unless he's going to drain a bottle of Bells and set fire to Fergie's desk in the car park, is get rid of Wayne Rooney. He's got no beef with his former Everton charge, despite having once taken him to court, but business is business. And after telling the young man that he only got all of the healthy follicles on the top of his head by cheating, he'll pack him off to Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain or Bayern Munich.
His place in the Manchester United side as creator supreme will be taken by returning hero Cristiano Ronaldo. Sounds great, but never go back, is our advice. Unless the covering defender's committed himself.
Everton need a new manager too and are looking for a man capable of filling Moyesy's shoes, which were approximately 50 sizes smaller than Ferguson's the last time everyone got their feet measured. Roberto Martínez heads the chase, although Michael Laudrup, Neil Lennon, Vitor Pereira of Porto, Martin O'Neill, Mark Hughes and Gus Poyet are also in the frame.
As indeed is the aforementioned Phil Neville, which suggests that even old theatrical warhorses like Bill Kenwright get starstruck by what they see on TV, and if brother Gary had managed to go the whole hog and work a song-and-dance routine or two into his circling-defenders-and-making-them-go-back-and-forth-a-bit Sky Sports act, Phil would also be in the running to replace the Queen, the pope, and Ant & Dec.
In other news, Daniel Agger will turn down a move to Barcelona but Pepe Reina might go; Costel Pantilimon wants away from Manchester City; and Arsenal are planning a bid for QPR striker Loïc Rémy. All of which would usually get much more prominence, but how jaded would we have to become not to cite exceptional circumstances? Our brevity shows we still care
Thumbs up: Andy Carroll (left) and Kevin Nolan leave the nightclub following West Ham's celebration Dressed to impress: Carlton Cole (left) and Joe Cole were also among the Hammers players out till late
Wistful: Mark Noble heads home after West Ham held their end-of-season awards dinner Club colours: Carroll (left) has yet to learn where his future lies but Jack Collison (right) has no such worries Winston wins: Reid was named Hammer of the Year Impressive: Reid has been excellent at the back for the Hammers this season Fireworks: Sky Sports presenter Ben Shepard (left) hands Reid the award Plenty of laughs: West Ham boss Sam Allardyce (right) delivers a speech
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Hammer time! Nolan and Carroll lead from the front as West Ham hit London nightclub
West Ham celebrated long into the night as they look forward to another season in the Barclays Premier League.
Having held their Awards Dinner - where Winston Reid was named Player of the Year - Hammers stars including Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll ensured the party didn't stop there.
The players were seen leaving Mahiki nightclub - a frequent haunt of the rich and famous - on Mayfair in central London at 3.30am
West Ham look set to finish the season as the best of the three promoted clubs but have remaining games against Everton and Reading to overcome as they look to clinch a place in the top 10.
Sam Allardyce's men visit Goodison Park on Sunday for what is likely to be an emotionally-charged affair as David Moyes takes charge of Everton for the final time in front of a home crowd before he takes over from Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Meanwhile, the West Ham squad were quick to pay tribute to award winner Reid.
'He's been exceptional all season, a real rock at the back for us,' said winger Matt Jarvis. 'He puts himself about on the pitch, diving around in front of all sorts to stop the ball going in the net.
'He's a leader, pulling us all back into shape and making sure that everyone's doing their jobs. He leads by example.'
Joe Cole added: 'He's solid, a proper centre half and I've been very impressed with him since he's come back. He's had a great season and deserves the award.
