Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to throw Manchester United into turmoil and demand a move out of Old Trafford. The 24-year-old forward is a £50m target for Real Madrid. (The Sun) 
Although Ronaldo will go on holiday before making a decision on his United future. (Daily Telegraph) 
However the prospect of Ronaldo joining Real Madrid may have receded with the Spanish side opting for the £40m signature of Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery. (Independent) 
In fact, Real Madrid will reject Ronaldo this summer as club president elect Florentino Perez has targeted Milan forward Kaka and Ribery instead.(Daily Express) 
Ribery was Chelsea boss-in-waiting Carlo Ancelotti's first-choice summer signing but the Blues have lost out to Real Madrid. Ancelotti may look to CSKA Moscow's Russian left-back Yuri Zhirkov. (The Times) 
Chelsea have been told they will need to put up £20m for AC Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo. Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti is keen to take the 30-year-old to Stamford Bridge when he is named Chelsea boss next week. (Daily Telegraph) 
If Manchester United do not complete the permanent signing of Argentine striker Carlos Tevez this summer they will turn their attentions to Lyon striker Karim Benzema and Wigan's Antonio Valencia. (Daily Express) 
Manchester City and Liverpool are among five clubs who are willing to meet the £25m price tag for Tevez.(The Times) 
Tevez said a tearful goodbye to his Manchester United team-mates before leaving Rome alone after the Champions League final. (The Sun) 
Paul Scholes must decide if the Champions League final is to be his final game for Manchester United. Stoke want the 34-year-old midfielder as a player-coach. (Daily Mail) 
Sir Alex Ferguson may ditch Nani and Ji-Sung Park as the Manchester United boss reshapes his squad while Polish goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak will also leave this summer. (Daily Mirror)
Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry is holding out for a summer move to Arsenal. Gunners boss Arsene Wenger is considering a £12m bid for the 28-year-old. (Daily Star) 
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson will try to bolster his defence by moving for AC Milan defender Digao, the younger brother of Brazilian forward Kaka. The 23-year-old has been on loan at Standard Liege. (Daily Mirror)
Bolton are lining up a £6m bid for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso. (Daily Mail) 
Portsmouth defender Djimi Traore hopes to make his loan move to Birmingham permanent. (Daily Star)
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has lined up a £2m bid for 20-year-old Manchester City striker Ched Evans. (Daily Express) 
Portuguese defender Nuno Valente will leave Everton this summer but the 34-year-old will play on for another year elsewhere.(The Times) 
Greek side Panathinaikos have bid £1.5m for Sunderland keeper Marton Fulop. (Daily Star) 
Birmingham will step up their pursuit of Middelsbrough's David Wheater, 22, after the £6m-rated defender successfully came through a knee operation. (Daily Star)
Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins is being linked with an £8m move to Italian side Fiorentina. (Independent) 
The Magpies have warned the clubs chasing defender Sebastien Bassong that they will not take anything less than £15m for him. (The Sun) 
Sheffield United have rejected a £2m bid from Aston Villa for defender Kyle Naughton. The Blades have put a £6m price tag on the full-back. (Daily Express) 
Leeds have joined West Brom, Celtic and Leicester in the battle for Swindon striker Simon Cox. (Daily Star)

OTHER GOSSIP

Former England and Mexico boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is favourite to become the new Portsmouth manager.(The Times) 
Alan Shearer is expected to discover today if he will become the permanent manager of Newcastle United.(The Times) 
Wigan manager Steve Bruce will be named Sunderland boss in the next 48 hours. (Guardian) 
The Premier League will test out its strengthened fit-and-proper-persons rules on Portsmouth's new owner Sulaiman Al Fahim. (Guardian) 
Croatia coach Slaven Bilic wants to be considered for the vacant managerial post at Sunderland. (Daily Star)

AND FINALLY 

Everton's Marouane Fellaini believes his lucky hairstyle will help the Toffees defeat Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
The 21-year-old, who cost Everton £15m from Standard Liege last summer, has scored nine goals this season and he's hoping that his Afro-style hair will inspire him to add to that tally on Saturday at Wembley. (Daily Mail)
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Sunday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP 

Manchester United are set to beat Barcelona to the services of French midfielder Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich this summer. (News of the World) 
After missing out on Kaka, Manchester City are eyeing up another big-money transfer with Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o top of their list. (Mail on Sunday) 
Chelsea are keen on taking on Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson with £5m of Roman Abramovich's cash set to be released. (News of the World) 
Despite Newcastle's relegation battle worsening with defeat against Chelsea, striker Michael Owen has pledged his future to the club. (News of the World) 
Barcelona want to improve their funds by encouraging Manchester City to step up their interest in French forward Thierry Henry. (Sunday Times) 
Julien Faubert looks likely to return to West Ham this summer after being left out of Real Madrid's squad, despite injuries to two other wingers. (News of the World) 
Hull are planning a raid for Manchester City stars Darius Vassell and Tel Ben Haim. (News of the World) 

 OTHER GOSSIP 

Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson has said reports about a training ground bust-up between himself and striker Wayne Rooney are "absolute nonsense". (Observer) 
Liverpool are negotiating a £450m takeover with American owners set to sell all or a majority of their investment to the 49th richest man in the world - Kuwait's Nasser Al Kharafi. (Sunday Express) 
Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is being sounded out as a replacement for Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia. (News of the World) 
Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez will lower his wage demands in a bid to keep his permanent move to Old Trafford on track. (News of the World) 
Ryan Giggs could be paid the ultimate tribute when he hangs up his boots with his club considering retiring their no.11 shirt. (News of the World)  

AND FINALLY 

Fabio Capello is worried about his England players this summer. "It may be difficult to keep them focused if they go on holiday." (Various)
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Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester City have made an approach for Atletico Madrid's former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan but have been told they must pay £30m for the 29-year-old Uruguayan. (Daily Mirror) 
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is reportedly interested in signing Genoa striker Diego Milito, 29, after flying out to Italy to watch the Argentine. (Daily Express) 
Rangers' Cyprus Under-21 international Georgios Efrem, who has impressed on loan at Dundee, is wanted by Fulham, Bolton, Middlesbrough and Reading. (Daily Star) 
Burnley striker Ade Akinbiyi is being targeted by Major League Soccer side Houston Dynamo. (Daily Mirror) 
Watford manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed he is interested in signing Ipswich midfielder Veliche Shumulikosi, 27. (Daily Star) 
Republic of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni has confirmed that Bayern Munich are leading the £9m hunt for Celtic winger Aiden McGeady to replace Franck Ribery who it is believed is interesting Barcelona and Manchester City. (The Sun) 
Former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat says he is ready to bring Ibrox skipper Barry Ferguson to Zenit St Petersburg to replace the outgoing Anatoliy Tymoschuk who is bound for Bayern Munich. (Daily Mail) 
Dundee United manager Craig Levein is being patient as he looks for a goalkeeper to replace the Celtic-bound Lukasz Zaluska in the summer. (The Herald)

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United fear Cristiano Ronaldo could quit English football because of a lack of protection from referees. (Daily Mail) 
Newcastle's players believe the current caretaker management duo of Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood is not good enough to keep the club in the Premier League and want former England boss Terry Venables brought in as an emergency manager. (The Sun) 
Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has blasted Fabio Capello's decision to call-up Ledley King to the England squad as he can barely train with the Spurs squad due to a persistent knee injury. (Various) 
King himself has pleaded with Capello not to pick him and said he may retire from international football in order to save his career. (Daily Star) 
Manager Rafael Benitez's former assistant and chief scout at Liverpool, Paco Herrera, has revealed the secrets behind his Anfield success. He claims the Spaniard has 70 scouts, a players' database of more than 14,000 professionals, that it was his idea to build a hotel at the club's Melwood training ground and he has access to DVDs from all the top leagues in the world. (The Sun) 
Hundreds of players in the Championship, League One and League Two are in danger of being out of work this summer as up to 10 clubs could go bust because of the economic crisis. (Daily Mirror) 
Liverpool co-owner George Gillett could strengthen his position at the club if he decides to sell his ice hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens. (Various) 
Or, Gillett is edging towards the Anfield exit door after instructing a finance company to look at his assets. (Various) 
Former Arsenal favourite Freddie Ljungberg has warned that Gunners boss Arsene Wenger may leave the club if he is offered a bigger budget to work with elsewhere. (Daily Mirror) 
Chelsea and Russia manager Guus Hiddink will hold talks with the Russian Football Federation to clarify that he has no intention of staying at Stamford Bridge beyond the summer. (The Sun) 
Even though Hiddink may not be at Chelsea next season, Blues owner Roman Abramovich has asked the Dutchman to draw up a list of summer targets amounting to £100m. (Daily Express) 
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will not face any further punishment over his reaction after being sent off against Fulham on Saturday. (Various) 
Barcelona and former Arsenal forward Thierry Henry believes England can win next year's World Cup in South Africa. (The Sun) 
Liverpool stars Jamie Carragher and Albert Riera believe Manchester United are starting to feel the pressure after the Reds closed the gap to one point at the top of the table. (Various) 
United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is so concerned about his side's recent slump that he has refused an offer from Sky to bring the Premier League match with Aston Villa on Sunday, 5 April forward 24 hours to give the Red Devils more preparation time for their Champions League quarter-final with Porto on 7 April. (The Guardian) 
Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock wants to ban James Scowcroft from training after the striker refused to go out on loan. (Daily Mirror) 
Barry Ferguson and David Weir are set to join Stephen McManus on the Scotland sidelines for this weekend's World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands. (Daily Record) 
Kenny Miller is also out of Saturday's match after reporting to the team headquarters with a hamstring injury. (The Herald) 
Dutch star Arjen Robben has warned Scotland his Real Madrid and international team-mate Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is in the form of his life. (Daily Express) 
Wolves manager Mick McCarthy says his club's defender Christophe Berra can replace the injured Stephen McManus, Kirk Broadfoot or David Weir should they not make the big game in Amsterdam. (Daily Mail)

AND FINALLY

Scientists have come up with a formula for taking penalties that, if followed correctly, has a 100% success rate. The shot should be 65mph, you need a run-up of five to six paces from the edge of the area, approach the ball at an angle of 20 to 30 degrees and the ball must cross the goal-line at exactly 0.5m below the crossbar and the same distance inside the post. (The Sun)
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