Barcelona are lining up a �30m deal bid - involving cash plus Portuguese midfielder Deco - for Chelsea and England star Frank Lampard. (Various)

Birmingham winger Jermaine Pennant is wanted at Liverpool by the club's England stars, Steven Gerrard and Peter Crouch. (The Sun)

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is set to discover if he has a chance of landing France World Cup star Franck Ribery from Marseille. (Various)

Lyon have rejected a bid of nearly �700,000 from Rangers for 21-year-old Jeremy Clement. (Various)

Fulham boss Chris Coleman is offering Birmingham swap deals for Emile Heskey after joining the chase for the striker's signature. (Daily Mirror)

Bolton have offered to double the wages of defender Tal Ben Haim in a bid to keep him at the club. (Daily Mirror)

Charlton at set to win the race to sign Reading star Steve Sidwell in a �2m deal. (Daily Mirror)

Carlisle want out-of-favour Hearts midfielder Chris Hackett. (Various)

Marseille could move for Celtic target Niko Kranjcar if the Hajduk Split midfielder impresses for Croatia during the World Cup. (Daily Express)

Welsh striker John Hartson has rejected a �500,000 move to West Brom after they only offered half his �28,000-per-week wage with Celtic. (The Sun)

Wolves' Joleon Lescott will complete his move from Wanderers to Everton next Tuesday. (Daily Star)

Turkish side Besiktas are offering Wigan striker Jason Roberts a 50% pay rise in a bid to lure him to the club. (Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp has confirmed his interest in West Brom defender Curtis Davies. (Various)

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes is looking at Marco Materazzi of Inter Milan and Matteo Ferrari of Roma. (The Times)

Livingston goalkeeper Roddy McKenzie is set to invoke a clause in his contract allowing him to leave after their relegation from the SPL. (Various)

Frank Lampard says England's players will regard anything other than World Cup victory as a failure. (Various)

David Beckham says his World Cup nightmare would be to face Germany in a penalty shoot-out. (Various)

England will be facing Paraguay in their opening game in temperatures in excess of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit). (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira was given permission by Portugal to fly back to his home country for the birth of his first child on Wednesday. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg says he is desperate to beat England - because he is fed up of getting ribbed by his English team-mates. (The Sun)

Brazil's 1970 World Cup-winning captain Carlos Alberto - who called Michael Owen a "midget" last year - says the Newcastle striker is capable of being a major star at the World Cup. (Various)

Paraguay's star striker Roque Santa Cruz says Peter Crouch would be more suited to playing basketball than football. (Various)

Simon Clifford, the owner of Garforth Town of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, has succeeded where the Football Association failed, and convinced Luiz Felipe Scolari to come to England.

The Daily Express says the Portugal head coach rejected the chance to take over England, but will visit at the end of July for Clifford's Brazilian Soccer Schools annual meeting.

Clifford has form when it comes to attracting big names - he once convinced Brazilian legend Socrates to come out of retirement and play for his side

England goakeeper Paul Robinson saw his preparations for Saturday's World Cup opener against Paraguay disrupted when he received a call telling him that his dog Tyson had escaped from a pet-sitting service in London.

Happily, the Guardian reports, the boxer was found later that day wandering the streets of Harrow.

In other canine-related news, The Sun has revealed that Japan's lucky mascot is a Dachshund and the Asian champions are unbeaten in the 18 games when the dog, who was hit by a delay in quarantine before joining up with the squad, has been present.