Monday's gossip column

BREAKING GOSSIP

Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain, 22, has been tipped to leave Real Madrid with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United all interested.(imscouting.com) 
Barcelona believe an offer of £40-50m will be enough to tempt Arsenal into selling captain Cesc Fabregas after the World Cup. The other tactic Barcelona may employ is an offer of £25m plus midfielder Yaya Toure.(imscouting.com) 
Former England coach, Steve McClaren, who recently led FC Twente to the Dutch Eredivisie title, will take over at German Bundesliga side Wolfsburg next season. (imscouting.com) 

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is ready to quit Anfield and join Manchester City in a £40m move.(Daily Mirror) 
Liverpool expect to sign Rangers defender Danny Wilson, 18, in the next 48 hours for £2.5m. (Daily Mail)
Athletic Blibao midfielder Javi Martinez is being tracked by Chelsea and Real Madrid but the Spanish side will not sell for less than £15m. (Daily Mirror)
Birmingham plan to end Ben Foster's Manchester United misery with a £6m move for the goalkeeper.(Daily Mail) 
Arsenal are ready to take England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips from Manchester City for £5m.(the Sun) 
Everton are targeting £3m-rated 1860 Munich striker Peniel Mlapa and are also weighing up a deal for midfielder Aleksandar Ignjovski.(Daily Mail) 
Wolves, Fulham and Birmingham are checking out 17-year-old Shrewsbury forward Tom Bradshaw. (the Sun)
Leeds boss Simon Grayson will make a bid for Sheffield United forward Jamie Ward this week, with the offer likely to be worth about £400,000.(Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

England manager Fabio Capello has sent e-mails to 45 players, including Fulham striker Bobby Zamora, advising them they are under consideration for this summer's World Cup, while Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is set to be named in Capello's 30-man squad on Tuesday. (Daily Telegraph)
Sunderland striker Darren Bent and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves are also on Fabio Capello's e-mail list of players being considered for a World Cup place. (the Times) 
Fulham boss Roy Hodgson wants Uefa to consider postponing Wednesday's Europa League final against Atletico Madrid in Hamburg if volcanic ash causes more travel chaos. (the Sun) 
Arsenal defender William Gallas has rejected a new two-year deal at the Emirates because the offer does not include a pay rise.(Daily Mirror) 
Former Portsmouth boss Tony Adams is being lined up to manage Azerbaijan side Gabala FC in a £1m-per year deal. (Daily Star)
Ian Dowie's nine-game spell as Hull manager ended on Sunday but the former Crystal Palace boss wants to stay on at the KC Stadium.(the Sun) 
Middlesbrough manager Gordon Strachan plans to make Celtic's caretaker manager Neil Lennon his number two if the Northern Irishman fails to get the Celtic job full time. (the Sun)
Burnley want Northern Ireland boss Nigel Worthington to take over from Brian Laws after the Clarets were relegated to the Championship. (the Sun) 
Newcastle boss Chris Hughton has been warned there is no money to spend as the club prepares for life back in the Premier League.(Daily Mail) 
Aston Villa right-back Luke Young, 30, and centre-back Curtis Davies, 25, will meet club officials this week to discuss their futures at Villa Park.(Daily Mirror) 

AND FINALLY

Match of the Day presenter and Leicester City fan Gary Lineker could end up cooking dinner on Sunday after making a bet with wife Danielle Bux that the Foxes will beat her beloved Cardiff in the Championship play-offs - the Welsh side are 1-0 up after the first leg.(the Sun)
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Sunday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Barcelona are budgeting for a £60m summer deal for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. (Sunday Mirror) 
Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has revealed he snubbed offers to join Chelsea and Manchester City last summer.(News of the World) 
Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic could be a summer target for Manchester City.(Sunday Times) 
And United are believed to be lining up Palermo's £10m-rated Danish defender Simon Kjaer as a replacement for Vidic. (News of the World) 
Also attracting United's interest is Bolton midfielder Mark Davies - although they face a battle with Liverpool for the 21-year-old.(News of the World) 
Yet another transfer target for United is striker Karim Benzema, who appears to be out of favour at Real Madrid and could be available for £18m. (News of the World) 
Blackburn are interested in Manchester City striker Benjani, who is currently on loan at Sunderland. (News of the World)
Everton boss David Moyes has put Nedum Onuoha at the top of his wanted list, and is ready to offer £4m for the Manchester City defender. (News of the World) 
Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips' future is up in the air after a breakdown in contract talks at the club. (News of the World)
Arsenal have beaten Liverpool and Tottenham to the signing of Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, who will join them in the summer on a fee transfer but will still cost them £16m in wages and add-ons. (Various) 
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is hoping to secure a permanent deal for on-loan striker Christian Benitez to ward off interest from West Ham.(The People) 
Hull are lining up a double swoop for Derby's right-back Nicky Hunt and midfielder Paul Green. (The People) 
Blackburn are chasing Standard Liege's Congo international striker Dieumerci Mbokani. (The People)
Lokomotiv Moscow are planning to make a take-it-or-leave-it offer for Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko . (The People) 
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed he would happily splash £20m on Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli in the summer. (Daily Star)
Mancini is also chasing Fiorentina defender Alessandro Gamberini, who plays at centre-back and has seven caps for Italy. (Daily Star Sunday) 
West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami has yet to sign a new deal at the club and could be tempted to return to Italy with Palermo. (Daily Star Sunday)
Portsmouth are interested in signing ex-Blackburn striker Shabani Nonda, who has left Galatasaray. (Daily Star Sunday) 
Arsenal defender William Gallas has been targeted by AC Milan, with the Italians hoping to land the centre-back on a free transfer in the summer. (Daily Star Sunday)
Birmingham and Wigan are fighting it out to sign Real Mallorca striker Aritz Aduriz. (Daily Star Sunday) 
Chelsea are monitoring 16-year-old Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku, despite his father insisting his son will not be allowed to leave Belgium before he turns 18.(Mail on Sunday) 
The Blues are also keen on Newcastle centre-back Steven Taylor and are ready to pay £9m to secure his signature. (Sunday Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United's 39-year-old goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar looks set to sign a new one-year contract worth £5m.(Mail on Sunday) 
West Ham co-owner David Gold has come out in support of rivals Portsmouth, saying the Premier League should not let the south coast club go out of business.(Mail on Sunday) 
Stoke City's Matthew Etherington admits to having squandered £1.5m gambling on horse racing, greyhounds and in card schools.(Mail on Sunday) 
Everton have put a £30m price tag on teenager Jack Rodwell in a bid to keep interest from Manchester United at bay.(Sunday Mirror) 
Wayne Bridge is set to snub John Terry and refuse to shake his hand when the pair come face-to-face for Chelsea's home match against Manchester City. Only 24 hours later, the pair are due to meet up again for an England squad get-together. (The People) 
Neil Warnock is ready to walk out on crisis club Crystal Palace to take over as a manager of QPR. (The People) 
Gianfranco Zola is considering his future as West Ham manager as he is so incensed by remarks made by the club's new co-owner David Sullivan over wage cuts.(The People) 
Wigan's Paul Scharner is ready to quit the club when his contract runs out in the summer, with Fulham and Stoke believed to be keen on him. (The People) 
Hull midfielder George Boateng is to be rewarded with an offer of a new deal at the club after turning around his season since he was stripped of the captaincy. (The People)
Portsmouth could be sold off for as little as £1. New owner Balram Chainrai is desperate to offload the club and wants only to recover the £17m he is owed and to ensure that other debts of £60m are met.(Sunday Express) 
City banker Keith Harris is confident funds can be raised to buy the Glazer family out of their ownership of Manchester United by the end of the season - if the Americans are willing to sell.(Mail on Sunday) 
Former Scotland boss Craig Brown is on being targeted by Nigeria, who are looking for a manager to lead them in this summer's World Cup in South Africa. (Star on Sunday) 

AND FINALLY

Ronaldo says never say never to a return to Manchester United as he reveals how he misses his Old Trafford "family". (News of the World) 
Football could become the first sport in the country to be controlled by a state-appointed regulator in the wake of a run of financial crises that have beset a number of leading clubs. (Sunday Telegraph)
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Saturday's gossip column

WORLD CUP GOSSIP

The World Cup draw has given England the "best group since the Beatles" according to one newspaper as they face Algeria, Slovenia and the US.(The Sun) 
US star Landon Donovan says he will wind up LA Galaxy team-mate David Beckham ahead of their two countries' World Cup group clash.(The Sun) 
And Beckham is also facing flak from Luis Figo, who says the joint Portugal-Spain bid for World Cup 2018, which he fronts, will beat the former Manchester United star's campaign to host the tournament in England. (Daily Express)
Beckham may have cause to sweat, as some reports liken the England 2018 bid's promotional video to "a budget version of South Park".(The Independent) 
Slovenia, meanwhile, have chosen Wayne Rooney as their wind-up target, according to defender Bostjan Cesar. (The Guardian) 

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Veteran midfielder Paul Scholes is set to leave Manchester United in the summer. (Various)
Manchester City will move for AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso after he turned down a new contract.(Daily Mirror) 
Neither City nor Chelsea are interested in Gattuso, according to AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani.(The Independent) 
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has told City they will never get their hands on John Terry.(Daily Star) 
Bordeaux say they have no intention of selling striker - and Arsenal target - Marouane Chamakh in January.(Daily Mirror) 
Former Manchester United target Adam Ljajic is "in psychological shock" after the club pulled out of a £9m deal to sign the Serbian.(The Guardian) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United's owners, the Glazer family, are having trouble refinancing part of the club's £700m debt.(The Times) 
Tottenham have overlooked Ledley King's knee problems to offer the defender a new £70,000-a-week contract.(The Sun) 
Liverpool believe a persistent groin injury may deprive Fernando Torres of the chance to play for Spain at the World Cup.(The Times) 

AND FINALLY

Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips keeps in touch with old Chelsea team-mates John Terry and Frank Lampard by playing Call Of Duty against them on the Xbox games console.(The Sun) 
David Moyes says he is considering naming himself in the Everton team to face Tottenham, as the club's injury crisis mounts.(The Independent)
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