Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United's interest in Gremio's Douglas Costa is cooling after the Brazilian club demanded £20m for the teenage forward.(The Times) 
Manchester City have tested Everton's determination to hang on to defender Joleon Lescott by submitting a £15m bid to Goodison Park. (Various)
City will make a £30m move for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan if they fail to agree personal terms with Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor. (Daily Mail) 
Real Madrid are confident that an improved bid of around £32m will be enough to prise Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso away from Liverpool.
If Alonso does depart for the Bernabeu, Valencia midfielder David Silva would be top of Reds' boss Rafael Benitez's shopping list. (Daily Mirror) 
Bayern Munich coach Louis van Gaal has told clubs in pursuit of midfielder Franck Ribery that it is now too close to the start of the season for the France midfielder to leave. (Daily Telegraph)
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has denied that there has been any approach for winger Ashley Young after rumours that Tottenham and Chelsea were mulling over £25m bids.(The Times) 
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has entered the £12m race for Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch.(The Sun) 
Hodgson is also considering a move for Columbia international forward Fredy Montero who plays for Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders. (Daily Star) 
Tottenham are poised to add to their forward line with the signing of Real Madrid's Alvaro Negredo.(The Sun) 
Spurs are also holding out hope of landing Real Madrid and Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar despite Stuttgart already having had a £17m bid accepted for the player. (The Times) 
Sheffield United pair Kyle Naughton and Kyle Walker, both right-backs, will move to White Hart Lane in a deal worth a total of £8m after Tottenham stole a march on Everton who were also interested.(The Independent) 
Leeds' highly-rated midfielder Fabian Delph (on photo) has attracted an offer from Tottenham, but is also being chased by Fulham.(The Times) 
Arsenal will attempt to lure defender Brede Hangeland from Fulham with the offer of Philippe Senderos as part of a deal worth around £10m. (Daily Star)
Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has claimed that a move to Arsenal would be "perfect". (Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth centre-back Sylvain Distin is ready to take a pay-cut in order to seal a £2m move to Aston Villa.(The Sun) 
Chelsea have told Portugal international defender Ricardo Carvalho that he will be staying at Stamford Bridge after a possible move to Inter Milan fell through.(The Sun) 
Carvalho could be joined by Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic who is close to tying up a £5m move from MFK Kosice to Chelsea.(The Sun) 
Blackburn are ready to splash £2.5m on Rapid Vienna forward Erwin Hoffer as a replacement for Roque Santa Cruz. (The Sun) 
Valencia targetman Nikola Zigic is also in Blackburn's sights, but there are 15 clubs in the hunt for the Serbia striker according to his agent.(The Independent) 
Wigan Athletic are in negotiations with Crystal Palace over a possible switch for £5m-rated midfielder Victor Moses.(The Times) 
Midfielder Dean Whitehead could be on his way from Sunderland to Stoke in a £5m switch. (Daily Star)
Birmingham are keen to sign £5m-rated midfielder Craig Gardner from Aston Villa ahead of their return to the Premier League. (Daily Star) 
Hamilton's 18-year-old midfielder James McCarthy is set to sign for Wigan after turning down a move to Wolves. (The Sun) 
Sporting Lisbon are back in talks with Manchester City over a possible loan move for striker Felipe Caicedo.(The Sun) 
Sheffield Wednesday forward Marcus Tudgay is ready to to submit a transfer request to try and force through a £2m move to Burnley. (The Times) 
Sunderland's attempts to sign defender Nathaniel Clyne from Crystal Palace have been frustrated with the Eagles holding out for £5m. (The Sun) 
Out-of-contract winger Jerome Thomas could be thrown a Premier League lifeline by Hull City after an ill-fated spell at Portsmouth. (Daily Mirror)
St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes is hopeful of bringing former Millwall colleague Filipe Morais to McDiarmid Park. (Daily Record) 

OTHER GOSSIP

LA Galaxy and England midfielder David Beckham has revealed that he would only move back to the Premier League with Manchester United. (Various)
Beckham also believes that John Terry will not turn his back on boyhood club Chelsea to move to Manchester City. (Various) 
Chelsea's Joe Cole will miss the start of the season after the midfielder underwent surgery on his troublesome knee. (Various)
Former Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson has turned down an offer to coach Iranian Premier League side Persepolis Theran to stay as a Manchester United ambassador. (Daily Mail) 
Striker Carlos Tevez has revealed that big-spending Real Madrid made an approach for him before he finalised his move to Manchester City.(Daily Telegraph) 

AND FINALLY

Oasis's Noel Gallagher does not want Chelsea captain John Terry at his beloved Manchester City. "He's got funny eyes and he's a cry baby," he said. (Daily Mirror)
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Tuesday's gossip column

BREAKING GOSSIP

Valencia are in talks to sell David Villa to Barcelona but not for less than 50m Euros (£43m).(Marca in Spanish) 

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Tottenham want to sign former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira and have opened talks with the Inter Milan player. Spurs could capture the Frenchman on a free transfer and pay-as-you-play deal. (Daily Mail) 
Manchester City are on the brink of signing Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor for £25m and wages of £130,000 per week. (The Sun) 
Or, the fee will be £30m and the Togo striker will pick up wages of £170,000 a week. (Daily Star) 
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could use the cash from the sale of Adebayor to sign Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh. (The Sun) 
Chelsea captain John Terry wants the club to make him the highest-paid player at Stamford Bridge if he turns his back on Manchester City. Terry has been offered £250,000 a week by the Eastlands outfit. (Daily Star) 
Arsenal are set to poach 17-year-old Chelsea winger Frank Nouble after he turned down professional forms with the Blues. (Daily Mirror) 
West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola wants to sign Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen on a season-long loan deal. (Daily Star) 
Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has told Reds boss Rafael Benitez that he wants to join Real Madrid - but stopped short of handing in a transfer request. (Daily Star) 
Aston Villa are aiming to complete a £24m double move for Tottenham striker Darren Bent and Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing this week. (Daily Star) 
Villa are also set to bid £7m to land Leeds midfielder Fabian Delph, who is also wanted by Everton. (Daily Mirror) 
Hull are set to make a £10m raid on Cardiff to sign winger Joe Ledley and striker Ross McCormack. (The Sun) 
Sunderland have launched a £5m raid for West Ham centre-back James Collins. (Daily Mail) 
Marseille midfielder Lorik Cana says he will move to Everton and back out of a deal to join Hamburg if the Toffees make a last-minute £6m bid for him. (Daily Mail)
Fulham are on the verge of signing West Brom midfielder Jonathan Greening in a deal that will see them hand the Baggies £2.5m, plus winger Hameur Bouazza.(The Sun) 
Tottenham have offered £11m to sign Sheffield United full-backs Kyle Walker and Kyle Naughton.(Daily Mirror) 
Sheffield United are keen to capture Manchester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.(Daily Mirror) 
Everton boss David Moyes wants to take Port Vale teenager James Lawrie on trial. (Daily Star)
West Ham winger Julien Faubert is wanted by Bayer Leverkusen. (Daily Mirror) 
Fulham are also weighing up a move for South African midfielder Kagiso Dkigacoi, who currently plays for Golden Arrows. (Daily Star)
Everton have been offered Benfica midfielder Hassan Yebda for £3m. (Daily Mirror) 
Stoke are lining up a £750,000 bid for Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana in an attempt to beat Wolves to his signature. (Daily Star) 
Burnley are set to sign right-back Richard Eckersley after he turned down a new deal at Manchester United. (Daily Mirror) 
Leicester are closing in on £1.5m-rated Gillingham striker Simeon Jackson. (The Sun)
Newcastle defender Habib Beye has insisted he must leave the club in order to save his career - Blackburn are believed to be among those interested in signing him. (The Sun) 
Preston are ready to sign Norwich midfielder Darel Russell in a deal that could result in North End winger Simon Whaley going the other way. (Daily Star)
Burnley are set to tie up a deal for Hamilton full-back Brian Easton for an initial fee of about £400,000. (The Sun) 
Yeovil are giving a trial to striker Dean Bowditch, who has been released by Ipswich. (Daily Star)
Striker Lee Hughes is set for talks with Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster after leaving Oldham. (Daily Star) 
Norwich have taken former Sunderland and Leeds striker Michael Bridges and ex-Rangers forward Chris Craig on trial. (Daily Star)
Bristol City are set to sign Derby defender Lewin Nyatanga in a deal worth about £500,000. (Daily Star) 
Stockport have handed former Manchester United midfielder Floribert N'Galula a trial as he looks for a move from Sparta Rotterdam. (Daily Star)

OTHER GOSSIP

Arabian billionaire Sulaiman Al Fahim is close to completing a takeover at Portsmouth after all the relevant checks were made. (Daily Star)
Stiliyan Petrov is the dressing room favourite to become Aston Villa skipper. Boss Martin O'Neill needs to choose a new captain following the sale of Gareth Barry and the retirement of Martin Laursen. (Daily Mirror)
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Leeds 1-1 Millwall (agg 1-2)

Jermaine Beckford missed a penalty as Millwall drew with Leeds to reach the play-off final 2-1 on aggregate.
With so much at stake it was inevitable the match would be a full-blooded affair and Millwall's Adam Bolder wasted little time in picking up the first booking of the match for a crunching tackle on Robert Snodgrass in the first minute.
Leeds had the better of a lively first half, with Beckford and Fabian Delph denied by a double save by David Forde. 
Beckford had another chance from the spot when Sam Sodje was pulled back in the box but Forde saved his effort. 
Luciano Becchio put Leeds ahead after 53 minutes before Djimi Abdou poked home Lewis Grabban's cross to level the game after 74 minutes and win the tie. 

Leeds: Ankergren, Douglas, Sodje, Naylor, Parker, Delph, Snodgrass, Howson, Kilkenny, Beckford, Becchio. Subs: Lucas, Marques, Grella, Johnson, Robinson.

Millwall: Forde, Dunne, Whitbread, Craig, Frampton, Henry, Abdou, Bolder, Martin, Alexander, Harris. Subs: Pidgeley, Robinson, Grabban, Barron, Laird. 

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
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