Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

European champions Barcelona will test Manchester City's resolve to keep Brazilian forward Robinho by offering to take the player on a six-month loan should the Blues reject a £32.5m bid. (Daily Mirror) 
Alternatively, Barca will offer City French striker Thierry Henry in exchange for Robinho. (Daily Star) 
Hull City boss Phil Brown is tracking Aarhus' Danish international midfielder Jakob Poulsen ahead of a transfer window move.(Daily Mirror) 
Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari has insisted he will not be leaving Italy to join Tottenham this summer. (The Sun) 
Atletico Madrid have reiterated their desire to sign Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Eboue, a move which could embroil them in a "tapping-up" row. (Daily Mirror) 
The Gunners also face a fight to keep hold of young Spanish midfielder Fran Merida who is wanted by Sevilla.(Daily Mirror) 
Chelsea will attempt to sign Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson next summer if their appeal against their transfer ban, imposed for tapping up, is successful.(The Times) 
Leeds are set to sign Wolves striker Sam Vokes on loan until January.(Daily Mail) 
Stoke want defender Ryan Shawcross to sign a new four-year deal to ward off interest from Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton, who are all considering January bids for the player.(The Sun) 
Portsmouth are hoping to sign on-loan Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara on a permanent basis. The 22-year-old's temporary deal at Fratton Park expires in January. (The Sun) 
Sheffield United are weighing up a £2m bid for Blackburn's third-choice keeper Mark Bunn.(The Sun) 
Sheffield United defender Matthew Kilgallon is being tracked by Bolton, Wigan and Burnley after contract talks between him and the Blades broke down.(Daily Mail) 

OTHER GOSSIP

LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham has played his way into Fabio Capello's squad for next year's World Cup, as has Peter Crouch.(The Sun )
New Birmingham owner Carson Yeung has promised to go on an £80m spending spree next year with half available to manager Alex McLeish in January and half the following summer.(The Sun) 
Newcastle caretaker boss Chris Hughton has admitted he wants to take the reins at St James' Park on a permanent basis.(Daily Mirror) 
The representative of referee's union Prospect says that Sir Alex Ferguson's apology to referee Alan Wiley for labelling him "unfit" shows that managers can no longer get away with abusing officials.(Daily Mirror) 
Bolton have complained to referee's chief Keith Hackett that striker Kevin Davies is being victimised by officials because of his previous poor disciplinary record.(Daily Mirror) 
Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron has warned his national coach Diego Maradona has got eight months to save the country from World Cup humiliation. Argentina scraped through to the 2010 finals in South Africa via a nervy 1-0 win over Uruguay last weekend.(Daily Mirror) 

AND FINALLY

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has joked that his controversial decision to pick David Beckham as man-of-the-match for Wednesday's England match against Belarus was because two-goal striker Peter Crouch rejected a summer move to the Stadium of Light.(Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham midfielder Wilson Palacios is set to miss Spurs' game at Portsmouth on Saturday after Interim Honduras President Roberto Micheletti told the national team's players, including Palacios, to stay in the country and party following their qualification for the 2010 World Cup.(Daily Mirror)
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Thursday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has cast doubt on his future at the Gunners by telling a Spanish radio station he does not know where he will be playing next season. (Daily Mail)
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate is attempting to sign Everton striker James Vaughan on loan. (Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth look to have won the race to sign former Sheffield United striker Danny Webber, who is a free agent. (Daily Mail) 
Former Celtic and Manchester United midfielder Liam Miller is set to join Hibernian this week. (Scottish Sun) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Scotland manager George Burley says he will not quit his job, despite his side's failure to qualify for the World Cup. (Daily Mail) 
Hong Kong billionaire Carson Yeung's proposed takeover of Birmingham City has been delayed until 5 October. (Daily Star) 
Aston Villa may be without defender Curtis Davies until the new year following surgery to cure a shoulder injury. (Daily Mail) 

AND FINALLY

Bok of the net! (Daily Mirror), 3 Lions in Africa (Daily Mirror), Get de beers in (The Sun), Ooh-aah Africa! (The Sun), We can win it (Daily Express), Watch out world (Daily Star), World class (Daily Mail) and Job done (The Independent) are some of the newspaper headlines after Fabio Capello's England side secured World Cup qualification on Wednesday night.
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