Wednesday's gossip column

BREAKING GOSSIP

West Ham are considering a move to take out-of-favour striker Jo from Everton. The Brazilian is currently on a season-long loan at Goodison Park from Manchester City. (Daily Post) 
Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford has been linked with a summer move to Everton, who are reported to have agreed a pre-contract with the striker, whose contract expires at the end of the season. However, Whites manager Simon Grayson said: "Pre-contract agreements aren't binding so both parties could pull out at any time. If he bangs in another 20 goals, there might be bigger teams than Everton coming in for him." (Press Association) 

TRANSFER GOSSIP

West Ham's new owners could try to lure Fulham striker Bobby Zamora back to Upton Park, 18 months after he left the club.(Daily Mirror) 
And Tottenham full-back Alan Hutton could also be on his way to West Ham, with Bordeaux's Mathieu Chalme his replacement in the Spurs defence.(Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth defender Younes Kaboul could be in line for a return to Tottenham as Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate's injury troubles continue.(The Guardian) 
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will move for Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy - but only if he can offload misfit Roman Pavlyuchenko.(Daily Mirror) 
Chelsea could be forced to go back on their "no transfer window signings" pledge if midfielder Michael Essien's knee injury rules him out for an extended period of time.(The Independent) 
Manchester United and Chelsea are battling it out to sign 18-year-old Spanish attacking midfielder Sergio Canales, who can leave Racing Santander in the summer when his contract runs out.(Daily Mirror) 
Blackburn want to take Uruguay international midfielder Sebastian Eguren on loan from Spanish club Villarreal, where he has fallen out of favour.(Daily Mirror) 
But striker Benni McCarthy could be heading out of Blackburn, with Turkish side Galatasaray keen to sign him.(Daily Mail)
Galatasaray are also monitoring Ryan Babel's situation at Liverpool after the winger fell out with manager Rafael Benitez.(The Times) 
Liverpool's Fernando Torres has urged Benitez to sign either of the striker's international colleagues David Villa or David Silva from Valencia to partner him in attack.(Daily Mirror) 
Midfielder Mathieu Flamini could become yet another ex-Arsenal player to join Manchester City - on loan from AC Milan.(Daily Mirror) 
AC Milan striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar could also be heading to England in a bid to get regular first-team football ahead of the World Cup, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham likely to be interested.(Daily Mail) 
Fulham and Hull are weighing up former Tottenham striker Mido, who is still officially a Middlesbrough player but is on loan at Zamalek where he has been since last summer.(Daily Mail) 
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has tabled a £4m bid for Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O'Neil.(Daily Mail) 
Middlesbrough may use some of that cash to sign striker Leon Best from Coventry.(Daily Mail) 
Celtic manager Tony Mowbray has shocked Scott Brown by telling the Scotland midfielder he has no future at the club and will be sold during January. (Daily Record) 
Celtic are locked in a five-way battle with clubs in Italy, Spain and Ukraine to sign 18-year-old Sporting Lisbon attacking midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim. (Daily Express)
Celtic will pay £200,000 in compensation when they sign 19-year-old Norway Under-21 centre-half Thomas Rogne, formerly of Staebek. (Various) 

OTHER GOSSIP

West Ham technical director Gianluca Nani will be sacked on Wednesday, only 24 hours after David Sullivan and David Gold took over the club. (Daily Star)
Portsmouth have 21 days to pay their £7.5m tax and VAT bill or face a winding-up petition in the High Court on February 10. With no new investment in sight the club are likely to have to sell players to raise the money or risk becoming the first Premier League club to go into administration.(The Sun) 
Football Association director of football development Sir Trevor Brooking has warned England does not have enough depth of young talent and he does not know where the next Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard will come from.(Daily Mirror) 
Newcastle midfielder Alan Smith has called on owner Mike Ashley to splash the cash this month to bolster the club's promotion bid.(Daily Star) 
Brazil legend Pele has tipped Spain to win this year's World Cup, saying they are the best team in the world at the moment, and he predicts that Argentina will struggle.(Daily Mail) 
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill says the current crop of players at the club is the best for 20 years.(The Times) 
Plymouth Argyle have ordered Aberdeen and Hearts target Steven MacLean to train with their youths in an attempt to force him out of the club. (Daily Record)
Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith has angrily denied claims by his New Zealand counterpart that they had asked for £250,000 to play a friendly, saying that manager Craig Levein did not want the match at all. (Various) 

AND FINALLY

Arsenal new boy Samuel Galindo (on photo) has been caught up in an elaborate spoof, when a Bolivian TV station claimed it had a copy of his passport stating he was 20 years old and not 17 as was said when the midfielder joined the Gunners. (Daily Mirror)

England captain John Terry has secretly put his mansion and his mum's home up for sale, hoping to raise £11.5m to fund his life as a country gent. He is hoping to use the money to buy a country pile.(The Sun)

www.bbc.co.uk