Wednesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Chelsea are closing in on the £40m signing of Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero. (Daily Telegraph) 
AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso is hoping to secure a January transfer move to Manchester City. (Daily Mirror) 
Manchester City are interested in Tottenham winger David Bentley and could bid £8m for the 25-year-old.(Daily Mirror) 
City could tempt Tottenham with a swap deal involving Martin Petrov and cash, in a bid to land former Blackburn winger Bentley. (Daily Star) 
Tottenham are set to beat Manchester United to the signing of Plymouth's young defender Jamie Richards. (Daily Mirror) 
Barcelona will ask to take Manchester City forward Robinho on loan first before deciding whether to sign the Brazilian permanently.(Daily Mirror) 
However, Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has claimed that the Brazilian is not needed at the Nou Camp. (The Sun) 
Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham could have their plans to sign Mahamadou Diarra in January scuppered by the African Cup of Nations. (Daily Star) 
Brighton are hopeful of keeping Arsenal right-back Gavin Hoyte on loan until January.(The Sun) 
Liverpool could be forced to sell as many as four players in the January transfer window in an attempt trim the wage bill at Anfield. (Daily Mirror) 
Everton have renewed their interest in Standard Liege's Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic.(Daily Mirror) 
Wigan are lining up a move for Olimpia's Honduran defender Johnny Palacios, who is the younger brother of Tottenham midfielder Wilson. (Daily Mirror) 
Swansea City are set to move for Sheffield United winger David Cotterill. (Daily Mirror)

OTHER GOSSIP

Former Birmingham City owner David Sullivan has demanded a free 50% stake in West Ham - in return for saving the club. (The Sun) 
Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou and West Brom defender Abdoulaye Meite were kicked out of the Ivory Coast squad after coming to blows in training. (Daily Star) 
Crystal Palace will be forced to sell their top stars in a bid to avoid administration with Victor Moses, Sean Scannell and Nathaniel Clyne among the players set to leave. (Daily Star)

AND FINALLY

At least five other Premier League players have tried the same controversial placenta cure treatment in Belgrade that Arsenal striker Robin van Persie is undergoing. (Daily Mail) 
Manchester United winger Gabriel Obertan has revealed he was made to water hanging baskets, prune rose bushes and wash staff cars at the club's Carrington training ground when he first arrived at the Premier League club. (The Sun) 

Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez is finally learning English, by watching television drama Coronation Street. (Daily Star)

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Monday's gossip column

BREAKING GOSSIP

Manchester United have an agreement in place with Bordeaux to sign 20-year-old winger Gabriel Obertan(on photo), according the French club's president.
"It's actually a great possibility," said Jean-Louis Triaud. "United want him and we would be delighted to see Gabriel develop in such a club. We will make it official when the moment comes." L'Équipe (in French) 

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TRANSFER GOSSIP

Chelsea are willing to sell captain John Terry to Manchester City, if the Eastlands club offer £40m for the England defender.(Various) 
New Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti will seek face-to-face talks with Terry as the Italian officially takes charge at Stamford Bridge on Monday morning. (Various) 
Only days before Manchester City had a £30m bid for Terry rejected, the Blues defender and Eastlands manager Mark Hughes stayed at the same hotel complex in Dubai.(The Sun) 
If he fails in his bid to sign Terry, Hughes will turn his attentions towards 31-year-old Barcelona defender Carles Puyol. (The Sun) 
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is keeping tabs on Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure amid growing concerns over the fitness of Owen Hargreaves. (Daily Mail) 
Arsenal have put a £40m price tag on midfielder Cesc Fabregas as they prepare themselves for a bid from Barcelona or Real Madrid.(The Sun) 
Chelsea are set to complete the £18m signing of CSKA Moscow winger Yuri Zhirkov after the Russian flew to London for a medical.(Various) 
Tottenham and Aston Villa are both interested in Sweden Under-21 striker Marcus Berg after his manager at Dutch club Groningen, Hans Nijland, admitted that "there is serious interest from two clubs".(The Sun) 
Steve Bruce is closing in on his first signing as Sunderland manager, 29-year-old Paraguay defender Paulo Da Silva.(Various) 
Bruce is also looking to bolster his striking options and is reportedly keen to sign Tottenham's Darren Bent and Portsmouth's Peter Crouch. (The Guardian) 
Tottenham have held talks with Real Madrid about signing 23-year-old striker Alvaro Negredo, who has also been linked with Liverpool in a possible swap deal with midfielder Xabi Alonso. (The Times) 
Birmingham are willing to pay £25,000-a-week to take Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton on loan for the season - but that is less than half of what the 26-year-old earns at St James' Park.(Daily Mirror) 
Mark Viduka's agent has said the 33-year-old striker is "mulling over two offers from two very good sides" having left Newcastle United.(The Times) 
Burnley manager Owen Coyle is interested in 29-year-old French winger Fabrice Pancrate, who is a free agent after his contract with Paris St Germain expired. (Daily Mirror) 
Wisla Krakow forward Pawel Brozek is in talks with Fulham over a possible £3.5m move to Craven Cottage. (The Times) 
Former Liverpool forward Luis Garcia is wanted by Fulham, West Brom and Blackburn after being given permission to leave Atletico Madrid. (The Times) 
Hull City are on the verge of signing former Portsmouth and Arsenal full-back Lauren, who is without a club after being released by Pompey.(Various) 
The future of Fulham defender Brede Hangeland is in doubt after the Norwegian rejected a new contract worth double his current salary.(Daily Mirror) 
Celtic, Hull, West Ham and Fulham will learn on Tuesday who has won the race to sign £3.8m Nancy striker Marc-Antoine Fortune. (The Herald)


OTHER GOSSIP

Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who has joined Real Madrid in an £80m deal from Manchester United, says La Liga is now better than the Premier League because of the quality of players arriving in Spain.(Various) 
Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Cech has denied claims by former Blues manager Luiz Felipe Scolari that he helped get him sacked, saying he "always had huge respect" for the Brazilian. (The Independent) 
Fabio Capello is planning a training camp in Austria next summer to help prepare his England players for playing at altitude at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.(Various) 
England are planning a friendly with Brazil in Qatar in November, which threatens to anger Premier League clubs during an already crowded season. (Various) 
Manchester City winger Martin Petrov believes the money available to manager Mark Hughes will help City break into the Premier League's top four and compared their situation to that of Chelsea before Roman Abramovich took control at Stamford Bridge.(Daily Mirror) 
The Scottish Premier League is ready to accept a television deal from Sky and ESPN worth less than half the £139m they would have received from failed broadcaster Setanta. (Daily Express) 
The Scottish Premier League is set to scrap its reserve league at its annual meeting on 16 July because of squad cutbacks. (Daily Record)

AND FINALLY

England midfielder David Beckham has splashed out £100,000 so he and wife Victoria are the only guests on North Island in the Seychelles, which doubled as Tracy Island in the hit TV show Thunderbirds, for their wedding anniversary.(The Sun)