Dimitri Payet didn't speak to his West Ham teammates for eight weeks before his £25 million move back to Marseille, according to co-chairman David Sullivan.

The Hammers were initially unwilling to sell their talisman but Sullivan admitted it became near-impossible to keep Payet at the London Stadium.

“I think for the last six or eight weeks, he's not been talking to anybody in the squad,” Sullivan told BBC Radio 5Live.

“He's gone to the corner of a room for his meals and isolated himself from everybody. Before that, he was bubbly and happy, shakes everyone's hand before the match.

“Either it was a tactic or something in his head had changed. The team wanted him out. The manager, with the greatest reluctance, wanted him out. And as much as we didn't want him out, you can't go against the consensus of the team and manager.”

Payet also paid West Ham back his January wages.

Wayne Rooney will not be allowed to leave Manchester United before the end of the current season.

Rooney has been the subject of interest from clubs in China's Super League.

After Morgan Schneiderlin was sold to Everton and Memphis Depay to Lyon, Mourinho does not want his squad to be further depleted, especially as United are still competing in four competitions.

Asked if the captain will still be at the club at the campaign’s close, Mourinho said: “Yeah. We don’t have players in, we don’t have players out, we lost two players from the squad. You can say Memphis Depay and Morgan Schneiderlin did not play a lot, but the reality is they played some matches, and when they did, others didn’t, and when they played, others were rested. When Schneiderlin played, it meant [Paul] Pogba, [Michael] Carrick or [Ander] Herrera didn’t.

“You lose players and sometimes it does not look important because they were not first-choice players, but in the end they’re important if someone is going to have a difficult season. I hope that’s us and we’re in the cup competitions.

“We have the Manchester City match postponed [because of the EFL Cup final], we have the Blackburn Rovers match [in the FA Cup] and if we win we will have another match to be postponed. We are in the Europa League with more matches, so our situation is really difficult.”

Jese Rodriguez will take a huge pay cut in order join Las Palmas on loan from Paris Saint-Germain for the remainder of the season.

Las Palmas president Miguel Angel Ramirez announced on Monday that his club are on the verge of signing the Spanish forward, who is under contract with PSG until June 2021, on a six-month deal.

"Our intention is to unveil Jese on Tuesday afternoon at the Gran Canaria stadium," Ramirez told his club's official radio UD. "Jese's deal is almost completed. There is a total agreement."

Jese, 23, has made just nine Ligue 1 appearances for PSG, with only one of those a start.

Southampton have agreed a deal with Napoli to sign Manolo Gabbiadini for £14.6 million ($18.2 million) with a further £2.6 million in performance-related bonuses.

The 25-year-old Gabbiadini has found his opportunities limited at Napoli this season.

Gabbiadini joined Napoli from Sampdoria in 2015 and has scored 15 goals in 55 league appearances for them.

Southampton have been in need of a striker since Charlie Austin was ruled out in mid-December for three to four months with a shoulder injury.

Jose Mourinho alleges he rejected "a big offer" to manage in China.

Mourinho said: "If you are negotiating a new contract with one of your players and you offer him £5 million per year and they offer £25 million then you have a big problem. Maybe the player takes £5m because he prefers football. Or £25m because he prefers money.

"I have already refused a big offer to go to China, but I don't criticise anyone who decides to do it. It's their choice, their life. Only they can decide what they need for their future.

"Other managers in the Premier League have been critical, but I am no critic. I am worried, because they can offer contracts that are impossible to offer in Europe. But, in the end, the player who wants to go is a player that maybe you don't want to keep."

Michael Bradley, captain of the United States, has criticized Donald Trump's executive order banning travel to the US from seven Muslim-majority countries.

When Trump won the presidential election in November, Bradley said it was important “to give our president support”. However, Trump’s latest decision caused Bradley to speak out in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl and then on his Instagram page.

“A few hours ago ago I gave an interview to Grant Wahl,” wrote Bradley, who has made more than 125 appearances for the men’s national team. “After 15 minutes of an interview that was centered around soccer and our national team, he asked me my thoughts on President Trump’s ban on Muslims ... I gave an answer where I tried to make it clear that while I understand the need for safety, the values and ideals of our country should never be sacrificed. I believe what I said, but it was too soft.

“The part I left out is how sad and embarrassed I am. When Trump was elected, I only hoped that ... President Trump would be different than the campaigner Trump. That the xenophobic, misogynistic and narcissistic rhetoric would be replaced with a more humble and measured approach to leading our country. I was wrong. And the Muslim ban is just the latest example of someone who couldn’t be more out of touch with our country and the right way to move forward.”

Arsene Wenger has been given an immediate four-match touchline ban for remonstrating with officials in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Burnley.

Wenger will now be forced to sit in the stands for Arsenal’s FA Cup trip to Southampton on Saturday.

“It was alleged that in or around the 92nd minute, he [Wenger] used abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official,” read an FA statement. “It was further alleged that following his dismissal from the technical area, his behaviour in remaining in the tunnel area and making physical contact with the fourth official amounted to improper conduct.

“The Arsenal manager, who was also fined £25,000, admitted the charge and requested a personal hearing which took place before an Independent Regulatory Commission today [Friday 27 January 2017].”

Sebastian Giovinco has confirmed that Barcelona were once interested in signing him, but he wasn't interested in joining a team where he would rarely play.

Giovinco told Sky Sports Italia that he did not want to serve as a reserve at Barcelona while also ruling out a return to his native Italy. Giovinco does have interest, however, in China.

"It's true, in the past there was interest from Barcelona, but I'd have been a ball boy there. With those three stars in attack, I wouldn't play at all," Giovinco said.

"I wasn't interested because I wanted to play. Neymar, Leo Messi and Luis Suarez would've played even with one leg and still made the difference, so there was no point in me being there."

Mauricio Pochettino insists Tottenham Hotspur will only dip into the January transfer market if a “special player” becomes available.

He told reporters:  “I told you from the first day of the month that we are not thinking to sign players.

“If some special player becomes available who is a very good option, then maybe, but it hasn’t happened yet.

“Nothing is impossible because a player can arrive at the last moment but I don’t believe we will sign anyone.”

Jose Mourinho issue a stark warning that Anthony Martial must improve his performances.

Martial was not even among United’s substitutes in their 1-1 draw at Stoke City on Saturday and Mourinho admitted being dissatisfied with the player’s form since challenging him in November to re-establish himself as a mandatory first-team pick.

“I don’t think he lost his focus,” said Mourinho, preparing for the second leg of United’s EFL Cup semi-final against Hull City. “I just think he didn’t catch with both hands a big opportunity he had. When we spoke about Memphis Depay [leaving United] we spoke about it being the only position where we have an over-booking of players.

“We have still five players for this position. I cannot give one player chances to play and kill the others. To kill the others, I think I already did that with Memphis by considering him the last option and by not giving him any option. But with the other guys I think you would be asking me why Mata is not playing or why Marcus Rashford doesn’t have a chance, or why Jesse Lingard, a national team player, is not playing.

“We have Rashford, Lingard, Mata, Mkhitaryan and Martial, and I cannot give the same player chance after chance after chance and not consider the effort of the others.

“Anthony played against Liverpool, a big match for us and a big match for him, too. Then the next game I went to Mata and Mkhitaryan. This is the situation.”

Martial signed for an initial €36 million from Monaco in 2015.