While he may be the wealthiest, most witless and thoroughly unpleasant person to have done so, Elon Musk isn’t the only high-profile individual to have raised eyebrows with a highly controversial and very public salute in the past six months. While the tragic billionaire tech bro used just one arm to give back-to-back fascist-like salutes in front of a gathering of Trump supporters at yesterday’s beginning-of-the-end-of-the-world inauguration in Washington, Jhon Durán famously crossed both of his on a live Social Media Disgrace feed last July in what he thought was a fun and harmless pledge of allegiance to his new club, West Ham.

Sadly for Jhon, he was still an Aston Villa player at the time and the proposed deal for him to move to That There Big London would quickly fall through, leaving him desperate to weasel his way back into the affections of Villa fans who were hugely unimpressed with what they saw as a show of disloyalty to their club. The young Colombian has done exactly that to devastating effect, scoring 12 goals in 27 appearances this season, despite his regular position as second fiddle to Ollie Watkins. The fact that several of his strikes have been absolute worldies suggests any Holte End animus prompted by his premature declaration of loyalty to West Ham has long since been forgotten by Villa fans, if not by the powers that be at West Ham.

On Monday it was reported that the Hammers had submitted another bid to sign Durán from Villa, despite him having inked a new-and-improved deal tying him to the club until 2030 only three months ago. Incensed by what they saw as the lowball nature of an offer believed to be in the region of £57m, not to mention its timing to coincide with Villa’s crucial Bigger Cup match in Monaco, club suits rejected it out of hand with a couple of back-to-back metaphorical V-signs of their own. Indeed, so outraged were they by West Ham’s impertinence that the London club are not expected to return with another new-and-improved bid.

Unable to join a pantheon of prolific West Ham greats including Albian Ajeti, Simone Zaza, Jonathan Calleri, Sébastien Haller, Jordan Hugill, Ashley Fletcher, André Ayew, Emmanuel Emenike, Nikica Jelavic, Diafra Sakho and Nicklas Füllkrug signed by the club to such good effect over the past decade, it’s probably fair to say that Durán has unwittingly dodged another bullet in not being granted a move to a place where strikers go to die. However, quite what effect Villa’s latest refusal to let him leave will have on a youngster whose head can be turned more easily than that of Regan in The Exorcist movie remains to be seen. Far from his arms being crossed, Villa fans will be hoping to see them raised in celebration as Villa secure their place in the Bigger Cup knockout stages later.

Join Barry Glendenning at 5.45pm (GMT) for red-hot updates of Monaco 0-0 Aston Villa in Bigger Cup, while John Brewin will be on clockwatch duty at 8pm for the rest of the night’s action.

There are some really dark days. I thought as a big, strong man, I was going to cruise through it; there were days when I would collapse but then see my phone with 20 messages of support. You need that” – Tony Mowbray, who returns to the dugout with West Brom at Middlesbrough tonight, on the power of positivity while he was receiving treatment for bowel cancer.

It’s David Squires with a lovely tribute to Denis Law.

Big Website’s bookshop has a host of great new tomes, just waiting to be added to your online basket. There’s Do You Speak Football by Tom Williams and David Squires’ latest brilliant collection of cartoons: Chaos in the Box. Get shopping!

I can’t say I pay much attention to Serie A, ever since the sad demise of Football Italia and watching someone sitting outside a cafe with an ice cream holding the front page of pink newspaper to camera (I wonder what happened to him?), but I couldn’t help but take notice when reading Juventus were unbeaten although outside the Bigger Cup places, having ‘won only six of 19 matches’ and with ‘pressure building on the manager’? Surely, I’m not the only one hoping that Juventus go the whole season unbeaten in the league and then fire the manager, just to prove that Arsenal’s so-called ‘Invincibles’, who, apropos of nothing, lost six games that season (once in the FA Cup, twice to Middlesbrough in the Milk Cup and three times in the Big Cup), really weren’t all that” – Noble Francis.

The younger me would’ve taken the p!ss out of Gerry Francis’s hair (yesterday’s Memory Lane –full email edition) but the older me is more concerned about the health and safety of that sun lounger on wheels, someone sitting on it and it and them rolling backwards head-first into the pool. Precarious. Then again I guess Gerry was a risk taker: look at that hair!” – Antony Train.

Thanks for the inspiring glimpse of Wayne Bridge in a boxing ring (yesterday’s Quote of the Day). Where’s John Terry when you need him?” – David Newton.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day is … Noble Francis, who wins some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

Just imagine the hangover, the hang-xiety. Getting drunk on red wine presents a special kind of morning punishment, but a José Mourinho hangover would be something different altogether. Now, reader, you don’t have to imagine! Introducing Mourinho’s official new vino, called (of course) ‘The Special One’. “As someone who values parking the bus, eye gouging opposition coaches and banging on about my achievements of yesteryear precision, quality, and excellence in every endeavor, I am proud to present The Special One. Handpicked from one of my favourite regions in Portugal, this wine reflects the spirit of my homeland and my relentless desire to enjoy every moment in life,” roared the 61-year-old, who has seemingly failed to enjoy a single day of his life since the 2022 Conference League final. “Crafted with passion and care, it is a gift from one special one to another. Whether you’re celebrating a victory or spending time with people you care about, this wine is meant to be shared with someone truly special.” Absolute goosebumps.

A Cambridge fan who made monkey gestures towards Peterborough striker Ricky-Jade Jones has received a three-year football banning order and a £100 fine.

Ibrahima Konaté is the latest ­Liver­pool player to admit that he is finding it hard to pick up a pen and write his name on a new contract to keep him at Anfield.

Nottingham Forest have thrown in a cheeky £22m bid for Yoane Wissa, which Brentford are having none of.

Matildas defender Alanna Kennedy is flamin’ leaving Manchester City, with Angel City her next expected port of call.

Manchester City’s men are continuing in their effort to plug the holes in their leaky dam by bringing in 19-year-old defender Vitor Reis from Palmeiras for £29.6m.

Wolves boss Vitor Pereira is miffed with captain Matheus Cunha for looking like he couldn’t give a flying one in the 3-1 defeat at Chelsea. “I don’t like his body language,” he growled. “I want a captain to try to help the team with running, suffering and fighting together.”

Former England defender Wayne Bridge has located his dignity and pulled out of a boxing match with b@nterific YouTuber KSI. “I was fully prepared to train hard and have some fun,” said Bridge. “But I feel like what was said on Saturday crossed a line. I will no longer be fighting on March 29.”

Hollywood film director Joe Russo has joined the board of Sheffield United. We can’t wait to see Chris Wilder taking sandwich-eating officials to task in an upcoming documentary.

And Rangers of Andorra were bathing in online attention after going viral for signing Andrés Iniestra. Yep, as you would imagine, it took us a few scans to see that extra “R”, too.

Six years after Emiliano Sala’s death, Cardiff chairman Mehmet Dalman wants a shakeup in transfer rules. Ben Bloom reports.

Here’s Ben Fisher on how Youri Tielemans has proved the sceptics wrong by becoming the beating heart in Aston Villa’s resurgence.

Sarah Rendell was at Ashton Gate as Bristol City Women piloted a scheme allowing fans to drink Tin in the stands while watching the match. “If you can take a coke out there, why not a beer?” asked season-ticket holder Andy Payne.

And are Manchester United about to seal a deal for Lille’s Patrick Dorgu? The Rumour Mill asks this and more questions that it doesn’t answer.

A selection of Panini sticker album covers from the 1980s. Come on, how many of these did you own?