Friday's Football gossip column

by GD Fri 19 Dec 2008, 5:31 pm

Friday's gossip column

Friday's Football gossip column Gossip_466

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano has emerged as the £20m hot favourite to join Chelsea after talks with Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei Arshavin hit financial stumbling blocks. (Daily Star)
Elano's Manchester City misery may end with a loan move to Spanish club Espanyol or Italian outfit Lazio. (The Sun)
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez may have to fend off a £19m double bid from Juventus for forward Ryan Babel and defender Daniel Agger. (Daily Telegraph)
Should West Ham sell Matthew Upson be sold, boss Gianfranco Zola could be in competition for Spartak Moscow's Martin Stranzi. (Daily Telegraph)
Manchester City are reeling after Spanish giants Valencia quoted them an amazing world record £120m fee for top target David Villa. (Daily Mirror)
Portsmouth want Le Mans keeper Yohann Pele if David James quits for Tottenham. (Daily Mirror)

Meanwhile, Pompey defender Lauren claims striker Jermain Defoe will make a sensational return to Spurs and says England right-back Glen Johnson will also leave the south-coast club. (Daily Star)
Bolton manager Gary Megson has left the door open for new Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce to make a transfer raid on his former club in January, with striker Kevin Davies thought to be a target. (Daily Star)
Wigan boss Steve Bruce has warned Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp to forget about landing winger Luis Valencia on the cheap. (The Sun)
Striker Leroy Lita, who is on loan at Norwich, could be allowed to leave Reading in January for only £300,000. (The Sun)
CSKA Moscow striker Vagner Love, who is rated at £12m, has revealed that Everton are leading the race to sign him - but insists that he still wants to join Real Madrid. (Daily Star)
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes he has unearthed his next young star and is duly keeping tabs on Boulogne defender Steven Mouyokolo after impressive scouting reports. (The Sun)
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will sign Espanyol right-back Steve Finnan, initially on loan, in the January transfer window. (Daily Mail)
West Brom manager Tony Mowbray is making a move for Paris St Germain's £1m French international striker Peguy Luyindula. (Daily Mail)
Wigan boss Steve Bruce has agreed a £4.5m deal for Columbian scoring sensation Hugo Rodallega Martinez, who plays for Necaxa in Mexico. (Daily Mail)
Manchester United's Angolan striker Manucho could be set for a loan move to French side Le Havre for the rest of the season. (Daily Telegraph)
Chelsea striker Ben Sahar could cut short his loan spell at Portsmouth to join FC Utrecht. (Daily Telegraph)
Celtic will have to stump up £2.5m next month to land Szabolcs Huszti as Hannover get tough over the Hungarian playmaker's future. (Daily Record)

OTHER FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Interim Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear believes Michael Owen will make a decision on his future in the next 48 hours. The striker is mulling over a new three-year deal with the Magpies but Everton and Manchester City are ready to pounce. (The Sun)
In the week that Blackburn axed boss Paul Ince, Stoke boss Tony Pulis has said that he fears the managerial sack race has reached new levels of madness. (The Sun)
Chelsea captain John Terry believes he has another decade at the top of the game and is desperate to clinch Champions League glory before he retires. (Daily Express)
The introduction of a quota for home-grown players in the Football League has been dismissed as a public relations gimmick by Grimsby Town manager Mike Newell. (Daily Mail)
Fabio Capello believes that he has lifted the spirits of the nation during his first year as England manager, helping players, journalists and supporters alike recover from the "depression" caused by failing to qualify for Euro 2008. (Various)
Slaven Bilic has been installed as the new bookmakers' favourite to become new Sunderland manager, but is not thought to be among the leading contenders to succeed Roy Keane. (The Times)

Celtic skipper Stephen McManus has insisted the furore over Aiden McGeady will not cost his side the title. (Daily Record)

AND FINALLY

Blackburn players will be hoping new boss Sam Allardyce does not get hold of the dressing room stereo system - when a player at Sunderland he used to cause groans of disgust among team-mates by playing Barry Manilow cassettes on the team bus. (Daily Express)
Injury-hit West Ham midfielder Kieron Dyer, who last played competitively in August 2007, has had to put his long-awaited comeback on hold - because of flu. (Daily Star)