Monday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester City are set to make an offer of about £24m for Aston Villa midfielder James Milner. (Daily Mail) 
Manchester United have made further enquiries about Benfica winger Angel di Maria, who is valued at about £38m and is also wanted by Real Madrid. (Daily Mail)
Liverpool are lining up a bid of about £11m for Sampdoria's Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini as manager Rafael Benitez looks to bring in new attacking options. (caughtoffside.com) 
Benitez is also reportedly interested in bringing talented Sevilla winger Jesus Navas to Anfield.(caughtoffside.com) 
Liverpool and Aston Villa have joined the race for West Ham striker Carlton Cole after it emerged that the Hammers rejected a £10m bid for the striker from Birmingham. (Daily Mirror) 
If the Hammers lose Cole, they will move for Everton striker Yakubu.(Daily Mail) 
Neil Lennon, who was given the role of Celtic caretaker manager until the end of the season, is hoping to secure the job permanently this week - with Crystal Palace's goalscoring midfielder Darren Ambrose his first transfer target.(Daily Mirror) 
Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has made an £8m bid for Wigan winger Charles N'Zogbia.(Daily Mail) 
Defender Steven Caldwell is preparing to team up with his brother Gary at Wigan after being released by Burnley.(Daily Mail) 
Manchester United are considering a move for Marseille winger Hatem Ben Arfa this summer with Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson known to be an admirer of the 23-year-old French international.(caughtoffside.com) 
West Ham are set to snap up Lyon winger Sydney Govou on a free transfer.(The Sun) 
Bolton will make a sensational £5m bid for Real Madrid's Spain Under-20 internationals Marcos Alonso, a left-back, and Rodrigo Moreno, who is a striker. (Daily Mirror) 
West Brom are trying to pip Fulham to Portsmouth defender Marc Wilson with a £2.5m bid. (Daily Mail)
Leicester are keen on signing Everton striker James Vaughan on a permanent deal for a fee of £1m. (Daily Mail) 
Preston hope to sign Wycombe winger Matt Phillips for £450,000. (Daily Mail)

OTHER GOSSIP

Chelsea's Petr Cech has hailed goalkeeping rival David James as England's number one after the Portsmouth player's performance in Saturday's FA Cup final, which the London club won 1-0.(Daily Mirror) 
Lord Sugar has announced he is ready to to take charge at the crisis-hit Football Association, replacing Lord Triesman, who resigned on Sunday. (The Sun) 
Sheffield United coach Gary Speed has emerged as a managerial candidate for Hull. (Daily Mail)


AND FINALLY

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola hailed Lionel Messi as "the best [player] I've ever seen" after the Argentine forward scored twice in Sunday's win over Real Valladolid, equalling Barca's 34-goal league record and taking his tally to 47 in all competitions this season. (Daily Mail) 
England's stars have agreed to give their World Cup match fees to charity for the first time. (The Sun) 
Chelsea defender John Terry has set his sights on winning the Treble next season but says the Wembley pitch, which will host next year's Champions League final, must be improved.(Daily Mirror)
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Tuesday's gossip column

BREAKING GOSSIP

Spurs are keeping tabs on 17-year-old Cameroon striker Steve Leo Beleck who currently plays for Greek side Panthrakikos Komotini.(imscouting.com) 

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has blocked a £10.5m move back to Russia with Lokomotiv Moscow for out-of-favour striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. (Daily Mail) 
West Ham are eyeing a deal for Paraguay's 16-year-old striker Juan Iturbe. The Cerro Porteno player has been on the shopping list of Real Madrid and Manchester United, with the Hammers looking at a £2m deal at the end of the season.(Daily Mirror) 
Birmingham want to begin talks on keeping hold of keeper Joe Hart, who is on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season. Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said: "Joe loves his team-mates and he loves the club. When you have a feelgood factor, then players can give their best form and play without fear."(Daily Mail) 
Derby manager Nigel Clough has revealed he wants to sign a striker on loan this week, with either Arsenal's Gilles Sunu or Everton's James Vaughan in his sights. (Daily Mail) 
Sunderland are the latest club to be linked with West Brom's £6m-rated Scottish midfielder Graham Dorrans. (Daily Mail)
Real Mallorca defender Ivan Ramis has not given up hope of winning a move to Celtic in the summer. (Daily Record) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Goalkeeper Petr Cech has said he wants to stay at Chelsea for another 10 years - providing he can maintain the high standards he has rediscovered in the last month. (The Guardian) 
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is odds on to leave Anfield if the Reds fail to finish in the top four of the Premier League, while Arsenal captain and midfielder Cesc Fabregas will walk out on the Gunners if they do not win the title or the Champions League.(Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon is being lined up for a return to action against Wigan on Sunday having been sidelined with a groin injury since the end of December. (The Sun) 
Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho claims Chelsea are not as good as they were when he was manager. He left in 2007 and speaking ahead of the Champions League clash with the Blues next week, Mourinho said: "You should have stuck with me if you wanted to win more titles." (Daily Mirror) 
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney had a police escort to see him through passport control after arriving at the airport only 35 minutes before the flight to Italy for the Champions League match against AC Milan.(The Sun) 
Former Arsenal striker Dennis Bergkamp has completed his coaching badge course with the Dutch football federation (KNVB). The clearly ambitious Dutchman said last year: "I would advise everyone to work in England, as a player or a coach, it just breathes football. It is fantastic for the game."( imscouting.com) 

.

AND FINALLY

A Premier League club is mulling over a purchase of an Indian Premier League team. Cricket's shorter format is expanding rapidly and IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said: "I can confirm an English Premier League club has approached us about buying a team. They are probably one of the most famous football clubs."(The Times)
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Monday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Blackburn winger Morten Gamst Pedersen has his heart set on a January move to Scottish Premier League side Celtic as he is desperate to play in the Champions League. (Daily Mail) 
Aston Villa are leading the chase to sign £4m-rated Scottish midfielder Graham Dorrans from Championship outfit West Brom. Birmingham City, Everton, Sunderland and Stoke City have also shown an interest in the 22-year-old.(The Mirror) 
Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is preparing a £3m January bid for Wigan midfielder Paul Scharner.(The Mirror) 
West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola is hoping to sign Brazilian striker Adriano on the cheap in January in a bid to help lead his team away from the relegation zone.( The Sun) 
Former France international midfielder Camel Meriem is hoping to swap Monaco for Blackburn Rovers in January - as long as he can prove his fitness in a trial at the club this week.(The Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United owners the Glazers have issued a firm "not for sale" response to claims a Bangkok-based Chinese consortium were preparing a £1bn takeover bid.(Daily Star) 
Arsenal were spurred on to their come-from-behind victory over Liverpool on Sunday after being ripped into by "furious" manager Arsene Wenger at half-time, the Frenchman telling his players they were "not fit to wear the shirt". (Various) 
Tottenham defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto must offer an apology to the club and its supporters if he hopes to play for the Londoners again following an angry confrontation with a fan during Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Wolves.(The Sun) 
Former Burnley manager Steve Cotterill is the front-runner to succeed Brian Laws, who left the Owls over the weekend, as Sheffield Wednesday manager.(The Mirror) 
Chelsea keeper Petr Cech has hit out at the club's supporters after they jeered the players at the end of Saturday's 3-3 home draw with Everton. "I was very surprised to hear the boos because this was our first Premier League draw at home all season. I don't understand it."(The Sun) 
Manchester City boss Mark Hughes believes referee Mark Clattenburg's dislike of Craig Bellamy as a person influenced his decision to send the striker off in Saturday's 3-3 draw with Bolton.(The Mirror) 
League Two outfit Notts County could be forced to sell the likes of Kasper Schmeichel and Lee Hughes in January after their change of ownership, while uncertainty still surrounds the future of director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson.(Daily Mail) 

AND FINALLY

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has revealed how he flouted England coach Fabio Capello's strict dietary rules by sneaking a bottle of tomato ketchup into the national side's training camps. "Fabio is a disciplinarian. You need to live by his rules or you will not be involved. But I didn't know how strict the diet was. I was dying and needed something on my pasta."(The Sun)

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Sunderland 2-3 Chelsea

Sunderland were beaten by Chelsea but avoided relegation only for their manager Ricky Sbragia to resign.
Nicolas Anelka put Chelsea in front with a 22-yard shot but keeper Petr Cech missed a cross and Kieran Richardson lashed in an equaliser. 
Salomon Kalou drove in a shot to put Chelsea ahead again before Ashley Cole slotted in the visitors' third. 
Kenwyne Jones headed in late on for the Black Cats, who stayed up after rivals Newcastle lost 1-0 at Aston Villa. 
The Magpies' result came through after the final whistle and will have provided extra satisfaction for the Stadium of Light faithful as, along with Hull losing to Manchester United, it made sure they stayed in the top-flight.
Sunderland manager Ricky Sbragia's future was as uncertain as the club's Premier League status before the game and, although the Black Cats survived, he stood down after the match. 
He achieved his primary goal of keeping the club in the top flight but would have achieved that aim a lot easier if Sunderland had shown the same sort of endeavour, energy and enthusiasm as they did for the most part against Chelsea. 
The visitors put out a strong line-up with only Frank Lampard and Alex missing but any thoughts they would be distracted by having one eye on next Saturday's FA Cup final proved ill-founded.

Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink:

"We finished off with a good win and especially with a world class goal from Nicolas Anelka. 
"My time here has been amazing. Every minute there was good work. The boys responded to what we wanted. 
"I challenged them and they responded very well. They are big names and were very good in their attitude." 

Sunderland: Fulop, Bardsley, Davenport, Ferdinand, Collins, Malbranque (Healy 78), Whitehead, Tainio (Reid 65), Leadbitter, Richardson (Murphy 87), Jones.
Subs Not Used: Colgan, Edwards, Cisse, McShane. 
Booked: Bardsley. 
Goals: Richardson 53, Jones 90. 

Chelsea: Cech, Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Ashley Cole, Essien (Kalou 65), Mikel (Mancienne 78), Belletti (Ballack 27), Malouda, Drogba, Anelka.
Subs Not Used: Hilario, Di Santo, Sinclair, Stoch. 
Booked: Ashley Cole. 
Goals: Anelka 47, Kalou 74, Ashley Cole 86. 

Att: 42,468 
Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire).
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