Saturday's gossip column


TRANSFER GOSSIP 

AC Milan's Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has claimed Manchester City want to sign him this summer. (Daily Mirror) 
Liverpool will not be following up their interest in Valencia's David Silva unless the asking price comes down from £30m. (The Times) 
Winger Ricardo Quaresma wants to make his loan deal at Chelsea a permanent move from Inter Milan. (Daily Mirror) 
Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart expects to join Chelsea this summer. "I hope the signing will be closed soon," said the Dutchman. (Daily Mail) 
Bayern Munich boss Uli Hoeness is expecting a "brutal fight" to keep midfielder Franck Ribery, with Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea all chasing the Frenchman. (Various) 
Arsenal are trailing Cameroon youth goalkeeper Tangouatio Thierry after watching him in an Under-17s tournament. (Daily Mirror) 
Manchester City and Tottenham are interested in signing Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro when his contract ends at Real Madrid in the summer. (Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP 

Guus Hiddink looks likely to continue his dual role as Chelsea and Russia coach beyond this season after the Russian Football Association said it is happy to discuss the idea. (Various) 
Alternatively, Chelsea are set to ask Hiddink to stay on as director of football rather than manager. (Various) 
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that former Gunners striker Thierry Henry rejected the chance to join Manchester City from Barcelona last summer. (The Times) 
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has dismissed speculation that his position is in jeopardy and insists he will be "driving the club forward at pace". (Daily Mail) 
Middlesbrough captain Emanuel Pogatetz has denied reports he wants to leave the club, insisting he wants to sign a new deal. (Various) 
Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky has admitted for the first time that he feared he would never play football again because of his knee injury. (Various) 
Uefa president Michel Platini has vowed to block the Premier League's plans to play competitive matches outside of England. (The Times) 
 
AND FINALLY 

Such is the interest in the late Brian Clough in the wake of The Damned United film that three books about the legendary manager fill the top spots in the latest best-seller list for football books sold on amazon. (Daily Mail)

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