Wednesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Chelsea are preparing a £25m bid for Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.(Daily Mirror) 
New Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is contemplating a surprise move to bring Michael Ballack to Spain.(Daily Mail) 
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is lining up a move for Germany playmaker Mesut Ozil, with the Gunners considering a £12m bid for Werder Bremen's 21-year-old. (www.caughtoffside.com) 
Robinho's representatives will officially tell Manchester City next week that the £32.5m British record signing no longer wishes to play for the club under coach Roberto Mancini.(Daily Mail) 
Robinho's camp has expressed a desire to move to Barcelona, with Manchester City possibly offering the Brazilian in a swap deal for midfielder Yaya Toure.(The Guardian) 
The agent representing Juventus striker Vincenzo Iaquinta says the Italian will be heading to Tottenham this summer.(The Sun) 
West Ham co-owner David Gold says England goalkeeper Robert Green is up for grabs this summer. The 29-year-old's contract expires next year and Gold revealed: "At this stage we are not going to have talks with him about a new deal."(The Sun) 
Rafael Benitez's first move when he is finally unveiled as Inter Milan manager will be to return to England and his former club Liverpool in an attempt to take Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano to the San Siro. (Daily Mirror) 
West Ham have had a £2m bid for defender Onyekachi Apam rejected by Nice.(The Times)
Arsenal defender William Gallas is wanted by Greek side Panathinaikos.(Daily Mirror) 
Fulham are close to completing the signing of Standard Liege striker Dieumerci Mbokani for a fee of £8m.(Daily Mail) 
Aston Villa lead a long list of clubs wanting to sign winger Martin Petrov, who has been released by Manchester City. Everton, Stoke, West Ham and Bolton are also interested in the 31-year-old.(Daily Mirror) 
Barcelona president Joan Laporta is "totally sure" the Catalan club will sign Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.(Daily Mirror) 
Italian club Fiorentina are weighing up a £3.5m bid for Liverpool's 21-year-old left-back Emiliano Insua. (Daily Mail) 
Blackburn and Sunderland are set to battle it out for the signing of Stoke forward Tuncay.(Daily Mirror)
Rangers have lined up a £500,00 move for Lens striker Toifilou Maoulida.(Daily Record) 
Blackpool manager Ian Holloway is mulling over a bid for Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, even though the 24-year-old only managed two goals in the 2009/10 campaign.(Daily Mail) 
Tottenham are preparing an improved £8m offer for Ipswich's England Under-17 international Connor Wickham.(Daily Mail) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Liverpool will make a formal approach for Fulham manager Roy Hodgson to become their new manager within the next 48 hours.(Daily Mirror) 
However, Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish (on photo) has put himself forward to take over at Liverpool and has withdrawn from the panel to select the next boss. (Daily Express) 
England manager Fabio Capello wants to hold talks with Wayne Rooney to tell the Manchester United striker to curb his temper.(Daily Mirror) 
Former England skipper Terry Butcher says if he was a United States defender he would "belt" Rooney in order to wind him up.(The Sun) 
England's players have told Capello that they want David James to be the number one goalkeeper during the World Cup as they feel his communication skills are better than his rivals.(Daily Star) 
The Finnish Football Association is trying to stop their national boss Stuart Baxter joining Celtic. The Glasgow club want Baxter in an advisory capacity, while he still keeps his job with Finland.(Daily Record) 

AND FINALLY

United States players had a pep talk from Commander Dan Jollota, the helicopter pilot who inspired the film Black Hawk Down, ahead of their opening World Cup game against England on Saturday.(Daily Mirror)

www.bbc.co.uk

Holland, Scotland - two games

Veendam - Eindhoven (Monday)

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Both teams have no problems with scoring goals.From some reason that I don’t fully understand,Eindhoven desperately need one point here.From that same reason,they rested 7 regular players at friday and lost vs. Omniworld,1-3 on the road.Eindhoven have talented coach and a bunch of PSV youngsters.Defense line doesn’t look good.It smells on goals,again.Over 2.5.1.57  at  Expekt.

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Greenock Morton - Inverness Caledonian  (Tuesday)

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First thoughts when you hear the name Terry Butcher are broken legs and bloody noses.But,when one club has him for a manager it only means fighting spirit and ambition.He has signed a new contract today with the club and announced promotion (next year more likely).Also should be mentioned,his assistance is another big name Maurice Malpas.

Statistics look good.888sport offer 2.00.Away win.
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Thursday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Liverpool's Dutch winger Ryan Babel wants to join Ajax on loan as he says being left out of the team at Anfield could cost him a place at the World Cup. (The Sun) 
Spartak Moscow were put off buying Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko on deadline day because Spurs wanted almost £4m more than they paid for him a year ago. (Daily Star) 
West Ham are looking at strikers Mark Viduka and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who are both available as free agents (Daily Express).
They also tried to sign Benjani from Manchester City on deadline day but could not track down his agent (Daily Mail). 
Hull are also interested in signing former Celtic striker Vennegoor of Hesselink (Daily Mirror).
Middlesbrough striker Afonso Alves has not yet joined Qatari club Al Saad but remains hopeful as their transfer window is still open until 15 September. (The Guardian) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Injury-plagued Owen Hargreaves has been named in Manchester United's Champions League squad. (The Sun) 
Portsmouth goalkeeper David James has been told to keep his mouth shut and carry on playing after complaining that being at the Premier League's bottom club could cost him a place at next summer's World Cup. (Daily Star) 
Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner turned down Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich to sign a new deal at the Emirates, says his father, who is also his agent. (Daily Mirror) 
New Aston Villa signing Richard Dunne says he believes the team is good enough to earn a Champions League spot. (Daily Telegraph) 
West Ham's business strategy under their former Icelandic owners was "fundamentally flawed", says the club's finance director. (The Guardian) 
Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon says many players would consider the two-match ban given to Arsenal's Eduardo for diving a price worth paying for the potential rewards a dive may bring their team (Various). 
Accrington must pay a back tax bill of £308,000 in the next eight weeks or they face a winding-up order (Daily Star).
Barnsley are interested in MK Dons' boss Paul Ince as their next manager (The Sun). 

AND FINALLY

New Bolton signing Ivan Klasnic has had two kidney transplants (The Times) 
Injury-prone Celtic defender Mark Wilson says he cannot believe the club gave him a new deal after his injury record (Daily Record). 
Scotland assistant coach Terry Butcher (on photo-right) says their vital World Cup qualifier against Macedonia on Saturday is a bigger game than England's 1990 World Cup semi-final against West Germany. (The Guardian)
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