Thursday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Liverpool will take Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones on loan, with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer. This would enable both clubs to carry the impact of the transfer on their balance sheets into the next tax year, which begins in April.(Daily Mirror) 
West Ham are set to make Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy the first signing of the David Gold/David Sullivan era after lodging a £1.2m bid.(Daily Star) 
Chelsea and Manchester City have both made offers to 18-year-old Spanish midfielder Sergio Canales, who is out of contract and free to leave current club Racing Santander this summer.(www.imscouting.com) 
Manchester City remain hopeful of signing Rubin Kazan left-back Cristian Ansaldi.(Daily Mail) 
Celtic have intimated they are willing to sell winger Aiden McGeady to Birmingham but only if the Midlands club stump up £11m.(Daily Mirror) 
Stoke have made a £2m bid for Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.(Daily Star) 
However, West Ham have also made enquiries about former Manchester United striker Van Nistelrooy.(www.imscouting.com) 
Bayern Munich midfielder Arjen Robben has advised teammate Franck Ribery not to join Real Madrid. Robben spent two years with Madrid before joining Bayern last summer.(www.imscouting.com) 
Portsmouth goalkeeper David James' on-off move to Stoke is back on. The clubs have re-opened negotiations after the transfer collapsed on 15 January because the Potters were not prepared to pay the proportion of James's salary that Pompey wanted from them.(Daily Mirror) 
Alternatively, Stoke boss Tony Pulis is keen to sign Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Lee Grant for £2m.(Daily Star) 
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has made a move to sign out-of-favour Stoke striker James Beattie.(Daily Mirror)
Everton boss David Moyes is ready to sell striker James Vaughan in the January transfer window.(Daily Mirror) 
Moyes has resurrected a move to sign Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos on loan, six months after they pulled out of a deal to sign the Swiss international.(The Times) 
Liverpool midfielder Ryan Babel is set to perform a u-turn and agree to a £9m move to Birmingham after initially rejecting a move to St Andrews.(The Sun) 
Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is eyeing a £1.75m swoop for Sheffield United centre-back Matthew Kilgallon.(The Sun) 
Bolton boss Owen Coyle wants to snap up Jamie O'Hara from Tottenham - but the move will require Fifa's permission as the move would mean the midfielder playing for his third club of the season, which is not allowed.(Daily Mirror) 
Derby boss Nigel Clough is in talks with Arsenal to sign French striker Gilles Sunu on loan for the rest of the season.(Daily Mirror) 
Derby are ready to snap up Millwall's highly-rated left winger Dave Martin in a £150,000 swoop.(Daily Mirror) 
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez is ready to make a £4m swoop for Mallorca's highly-rated striker Aritz Aduriz to boost his attack.(Daily Mirror) 
Hull are considering offering a lifeline to out-of-favour Sunderland striker David Healy.(Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester City forward Robinho insists he has not fallen out with manager Roberto Mancini and has vowed to prove his worth at the club. The Brazilian was taken off during the 2-0 defeat at Everton on Saturday after having come on as a substitute.(Daily Mirror) 
The agent of Russian national team manager Guus Hiddink says that a number of clubs, including Liverpool, have sounded him out about the availability of his client.(The Sun) 
Portsmouth manager Avram Grant says the Premier League are going against the spirit of football by refusing to lift the transfer embargo imposed on the south-coast outfit because they have outstanding debts to other English clubs.(The Sun) 
Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta hopes to make his comeback from a cruciate ligament injury in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool on 6 February. The Spaniard has been sidelined for a year.(The Sun) 
Manchester United defender John O'Shea's season appears to be over because of complications to the leg injury he sustained playing for the Republic of Ireland in France two months ago.(Daily Mirror) 
Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor is set to return for the Carling Cup semi-final second leg at Manchester United next week, after being given compassionate leave since he was caught up in the gun attack on the Togo team bus at the Africa Cup of Nations. (The Sun) 
Striker Daniel Cousin says he wants to quit Hull because he cannot stand manager Phil Brown. "The gaffer and I don't have a good relationship. It's difficult to stay. I want to leave," said Cousin.(The Sun) 

AND FINALLY

Manchester City's Carlos Tevez claims his ear-cupping celebration after scoring against Manchester United in the Carling Cup was not a dig at Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson for refusing to sign the striker last summer but was a tribute to a popular Argentine children's puppet Topo Gigio. (Daily Mirror)