Saturday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is to use the £30m generated from the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid to make a bid for Spain striker David Villa.(The Sun) 
And Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani could be signed for £15m if, as expected, Alonso completes his move to Spain. (Daily Mail) 
Everton have made a bid for Arsenal centre-half Philippe Senderos, hinting that they have agreed a deal with Manchester City to sell Joleon Lescott.(Daily Mirror) 
City have made a £22m take-it-or-leave-it offer to Everton for Lescott, and will go for Newcastle's Sebastien Bassong or Alex of Chelsea if the answer is no.(Daily Mail) 
Everton are so keen to keep Lescott at Goodison Park that even a bid approaching £30m would be turned down.(The Independent) 
AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo is preparing to demand a transfer so that he can force a switch to Chelsea, who have had a bid of £14m plus Claudio Pizarro rejected.(The Sun) 
Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano is set to stay at Anfield after Barcelona, who were interested in the Argentine, ruled out any more big-name signings this summer following the capture of Zlatan Ibrahimovich.(Daily Star) 
Portsmouth have not given up hope of signing Hajduk Split striker Nikola Kalinic despite talks breaking down this week when Pompey insisted on paying the fee over six years. The 21-year-old is now talking to Porto.(The Sun) 
However Blackburn are trying to hijack Porto's attempts to sign Kalinic, and are rushing through a £6m offer.(Daily Mirror) 
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has hinted that midfielder Patrick Vieira could make a shock return to the club.(Various) 
And Wenger is ready to splash the cash following the sales of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to Manchester City, with Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh (£6m), St Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi (£6m) and Roma forward Mirko Vucinic on the list of targets. (Daily Mirror)
West Ham will find out next week if they will be able to sign former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who is now at Barcelona.(The Sun) 
Manchester United is preparing a £3.5m offer for Bursaspor striker Sercan Yildirm.(Daily Star) 
Hull are hoping to complete a deal for Newcastle full-back Habib Beye next week.(Daily Mail) 
Portsmouth are close to signing Australian striker Mark Viduka from Newcastle. (The Times)
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is in talks with Sporting Gijon about a £2m deal for midfielder Michel. (Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester City's Brazalian star Robinho has revealed how he tried to persuade manager Mark Hughes not to sell compatriot Elano to Galatasaray.(Daily Mirror) 
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has fallen out with Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc after the Frenchman claimed that the Black Cats are not a big enough club for striker Marouane Chamakh.(Daily Mail) 

AND FINALLY

Not content with splashing the cash on the Premier League's great and good this summer, Manchester City are also spending lavishly elsewhere. Apparently, £2m was spent on setting up the club website.(Daily Mail)
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