Thursday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United have made Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric their number one target this summer and are preparing a £25m bid for the Croatian 24-year-old. (The Sun) 
United's Wayne Rooney has been linked with a move to Real Madrid after his representatives requested that the striker recorded two versions of a commercial in Barcelona: one wearing a red kit and the other in a white strip as worn by the Spanish side.(Daily Mirror) 
The Red Devils are said to be interested in signing Borussia Dortmund's Serbia centre-back Neven Subotic.(imscouting.com) 
Former United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has urged current club Real Madrid to sign Old Trafford left-back Patrice Evra. (imscouting.com) 
Italian side Roma are ready to offer Brazil goalkeeper Doni, 30, to Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United in a bid to raise funds.(Daily Mail) 
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger's head talent spotter, Steve Rowley, ran the rule over their summer targets at Blackburn - defender Phil Jones, 18, and midfielder Steven N'Zonzi, 21, while scouting Rovers ahead of Arsenal's trip to Ewood Park. (Daily Mail) 
The Gunners are leading the chase to sign Roma's £10m-rated centre-back Philippe Mexes.(caughtoffside.com) 
Tottenham are battling it out with Arsenal to sign Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland. 
(caughtoffside.com) 
Liverpool have emerged as favourites to sign Rangers highly-rated 18-year-old defender Danny Wilson.(imscouting.com) 
The Reds are also keeping tabs on Rangers' Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra who is valued at £5m. (Daily Mail) 
Andrey Arshavin's agent says the forward is committed to Arsenal despite the Russia star recently saying that he would like to join Barcelona.(Daily Telegraph) 
Benfica's £25m-rated defender David Luiz has issued a come-and-get-me plea to Premier League suitors Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City. (goal.com) 
Manchester City are also tracking Lazio defender Stefan Radu, who is said to worth £8.7m.(footylatest.com) 
Birmingham, West Ham and West Brom are interested in Portsmouth keeper David James. (footylatest.com) 
Midfielder James Milner's future at Aston Villa will be decided after the World Cup and hinges on whether manager Martin O'Neill stays at the club. (Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham are keeping tabs on Bayern Munich midfielder Hamit Altintop who is out of contract this summer.(Daily Star) 
West Ham are plotting a cut-price summer move for Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, while the Hammers are also on the trail of Cardiff winger Peter Whittingham and Burnley winger Chris Eagles.(Daily Mail) 
Meanwhile the Hammers, along with Blackburn, have been priced out of the market for former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse. The Panathinaikos striker is currently valued at around £12m.(Daily Mail) 
West Ham are also hoping to sign Tottenham's Jamie O'Hara. O'Hara is currently on loan at Portsmouth and the Hammers are prepared to offer either Matthew Upson or James Tomkins to help land the midfielder. (Daily Telegraph) 
Newcastle are facing a fight to keep Slovenia youngster Haris Vuckic, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool ready to make bids for the 17-year-old forward.(Daily Mirror) 
Reading are ready to cash in on goalkeeper Adam Federici and midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson. Federici is linked with Tottenham and Liverpool, while Sigurdsson is a £2m target for West Brom and Wolves.(Daily Mail) 
Derby County will sell striker Rob Hulse, 30, in the summer with Coventry and West Bromwich Albion interested.(Daily Mirror) 
County are battling it out with Bristol City for Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper, who is rated at around £1.5m. (Daily Mirror) 
Wolves are set to offer relegated Burnley £3m for defender Andre Bikey. (The Sun) 
Southampton are hoping to take advantage of rivals Portsmouth's financial problems by launching a £1m bid for midfielder Hayden Mullins. (Daily Mail) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Cristiano Ronaldo says he does not expect to be at Real Madrid for the rest of his playing career. "I spent several years wanting to play in Madrid but I don't see myself here at 40. Football is all about cycles - if you have already won everything with a team you have to change." (The Sun) 
England boss Fabio Capello has turned down the chance to take over at Juventus to concentrate on England's World Cup campaign.(Daily Mail) 
Juventus are also keen on Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, who fears the Merseyside club are trying to force him out of Anfield.(the Sun) 
Benitez has admitted that with his future at Liverpool in doubt and claims no-one has asked him to stay at the club. (the Times) 
Former Manchester United striker Andrew Cole has urged Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson to launch a summer bid for Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema.(Daily Star) 
Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has held clear-the-air talks with his employers and is poised to commit his future to the club.(Daily Mail) 
Uefa president Michel Platini believes Bordeaux boss Laurent Blanc should be the next France coach.(Daily Mirror) 
England legend Geoff Hurst says Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes should be tempted out of international retirement and go to this summer's World Cup. (the Sun) 

AND FINALLY

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton, 27, has given up alcohol and says he lives "a monk-like existence" in an attempt to avoid trouble and reproduce his best form on the pitch.(Daily Star) 
Manchester United fans are being urged to boycott the purchase of season tickets to demonstrate their opposition to the ownership of the club by the Glazer family. The Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association has written to its members asking them not to renew their season tickets this summer. (the Guardian)
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Wednesday's gossip column

BREAKING GOSSIP

Barcelona star Lionel Messi expects Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas to join the Catalan giants in the near future. The duo played together in the Blaugrana youth team before Fabregas left for north London.(Daily Express) 

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TRANSFER GOSSIP

England's footballers will sleep in special altitude tents to help their bodies acclimatise to conditions above sea level in South Africa for this summer's 2010 World Cup. (Daily Mail) 
Manchester United could make a shock £14m move for midfielder Stephen Ireland from rivals Manchester City.(Caughtoffside.com) 
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will not change his training methods - despite claims from star striker Carlos Tevez that the players are "not happy" with his regime.(The Guardian) 
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger insists captain Cesc Fabregas will not be leaving the club amid speculation the midfielder is set for a return to Barcelona, where the 22-year-old started his career.(Daily Mail)
West Ham have joined Wolves and Newcastle in the race to sign Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara, who is currently on loan at Portsmouth.(Daily Mail) 
Stoke and Blackburn are leading the chase to sign Cardiff winger Joe Ledley. (Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth defender Marc Wilson is being targeted by Newcastle as Magpies boss Chris Hughton seeks to boost his squad after clinching promotion to the Premier League. (Daily Mirror) 
Hughton is also considering a move for Swindon's Charlie Austin after sending scouts to check on the 20-year-old striker in Monday's 1-1 draw with Exeter.(Daily Mail) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon has given England coach Fabio Capello a World Cup scare by breaking down in training, further delaying his return to first-team action following a groin injury.(Daily Mirror) 
Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has 10 days to decide whether he wants to join Italian giants Juventus. (The Sun) 
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes striker Robin van Persie would have been talked about in the same bracket as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney if his season had not been ruined by injury.(Daily Mail) 
Former reserve coach Willie McStay is back at Celtic Park to help caretaker manager Neil Lennon after quitting as manager of Ujpest. (Various) 
Former Celtic manager Tony Mowbray, assistant Mark Venus and coach Peter Grant have made little progress in negotiating compensation payments of nearly £1.4m following their sacking in March. (Daily Mail) 
Celtic hosted their lowest-ever Scottish Premier League crowd - less than 28,000 - for Tuesday's 2-1 win over Motherwell. (Daily Record) 
The attendance at Celtic Park for Tuesday's win over Motherwell was actually a paltry 15,000. (The Times) 

AND FINALLY

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson took time out from his fight to win the Premier League title by drawing a self portrait of what resembles a clown to help music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.(Daily Mirror)
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Tottenham Hotspur - Portsmouth

Spurs are 4^th and thankfully to City’s failure against Everton, have two points advantage and they’re closest to CL spot. Second half in mid-week game vs. Fulham showed they can cope with the missings of some key players. They look very strong at home with 10 wins out of 15 games (2 draws and 3 defeats). I’m not concerned by the fact 2 of 3 defeats came from Stoke and Wolves (both were very, very lucky to win 1-0). Wolves thankfully to life display by goalie Myhill kept the clean sheet (0-0). Spurs attack in waves and look very safe and consistent. They have four competitive wins in a row at home and 3 of them were with 2 or more goals margin. Spurs’ target is Champions League, they’ll be focused and fully motivated. Very good news is Tom Huddlestone is returning to the squad. Some rumors say Defoe could play, but I don’t expect him in game except in case of negative result. Excellent Pavlyuchenko (9 goals in his last 8 appearances) is in doubt, but close to appear. Bassong, Palacios and Walker will have a late fitness test. Corluka is out along with Jenas, King and Lennon.

 

Nothing much to say about Pompey. They have no worries as they’re sure travelers to Championship. Big boost came from FA as they got a permission to sell the players before the regular transfer market. Players’ motivation will surely be higher, but on the other hand we can expect plenty of individual efforts in attempt to impress the scouts. They’re poor travelers, lost 11 out 14 games and scored just 8 goals (conceded 29). Their game against top sides all look the same, early conceded goal, heads down and few more goals till the end. They conceded 4 goals at Anfield and Emirates and 5 at Old Trafford ( 5 at home at mid week vs. Chelsea). Also, no one knows which players will appear as the injury/unavailable list looks endless. Belhadj, Ben Haim, Utaka, Boateng, Diop,Yebda, Dindane, O'Hara, Rocha, Smith. 10 players! The biggest miss is best player at the moment, Jamie O’Hara (have lost 6 out of 7 without him), who can not play against his parent club. Grant was disabled in intention to save the club from relegation, he’ll have a chance to do something in Cup on Wembley (also vs. Spurs) and maybe he’ll try to keep his cards as a secret. That should mean nothing else than easy defeat today.

 

To make a good result at White Hart Lane, team should have very strong defensive abilities. Pompey currently don’t look even competitive. Defensive line with James on goal (made a sensational error vs. Chelsea) doesn’t promise anything more than another defeat with big margin. My bet is -2 ah. Pinnacle offer 2.11.  

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Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Birmingham are keen on signing Portsmouth striker Frederic Piquionne after failing to land the Frenchman in the January transfer window.(Daily Mirror) 
Egypt and Borussia Dortmund star Mohamed Zidan was watched by Arsenal scouts in the 3-1 defeat to England, according to the 28-year-old striker. Zidan, who scored their only goal at Wembley, said: "My agent told me about Arsenal's interest. He asked me to try to impress them and become the first Egyptian to play for the Gunners.(imscouting.com) 
Sunderland are keeping tabs on Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara, who is on loan at Portsmouth, with a view to making a summer swoop for the 23-year-old.(The Times) 
Lokomotiv Moscow will resume their efforts to prise striker Roman Pavlyuchenko away from Tottenham in the close season. (Daily Mail) 
Everton are hoping to extend American Landon Donovan's loan deal, which is set to expire after Saturday's match at Birmingham but will not pursue the matter if it threatens to upset their good relationship with the forward's team Los Angeles Galaxy. (The Times) 
Chelsea midfielder Miroslav Stoch is a target for Dutch giants Ajax and PSV Eindhoven. The 20-year-old is currently on loan with Steve McClaren's side Twente Enschede and has impressed with 10 goals in 36 appearances this season.(imscouting.com) 
Fulham are eyeing Shakhtar Donetsk centre-back Yaroslav Rakytskyi as a possible summer target after the 20-year-old impressed against the London side in their recent Europe League clash.(imscouting.com) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Arsenal defender William Gallas could face another month on the sidelines after the former captain, out since mid-February, injured his calf muscle in training. (Daily Mail) 
Gallas, meanwhile, will have to accept a drop in wages if he wants to extend his Gunners contract beyond the summer.(The Times) 
Middlesbrough striker Jeremie Aliadiere is in danger of missing the remainder of the season as he recovers from a broken toe suffered in the weekend defeat by Cardiff. (Daily Mail) 
Premier League managers are preparing for action in protest at the recent decision by football's international governing body Fifa to drop experiments with goal-line technology.(Daily Mirror)

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