Aston Villa are set to sign former Celtic utility player Didier Agathe after he impressed in a trial at the Midlands club. (Daily Mirror)

Julio Baptista, currently on loan at Arsenal, is keen to sign a permanent four-year deal. (Daily Telegraph)

Matt Jansen is back training with Bolton despite being released at the end of last season. (Daily Mirror)

Ghana World Cup star Stephen Appiah, who is at Fenerbahce, wants to join Portsmouth when the transfer window reopens in January. (Daily Mirror)

West Brom are tracking Middlesbrough striker Malcolm Christie, with a view to a possible loan deal. (Daily Mirror)

Dundee United have renewed their interest in Franck Matingou after the Congo midfielder was released by Bastia. (Daily Express)

A number of clubs - including Arsenal, Chelsea, Seville, Roma and Portsmouth - turned down the chance to take Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez as they were unwilling to agree to the terms of the deal.

Tevez and Mascherano must play in every game and can be sold at any point for a profit that will go to the company that owns the players - Media Sports Investment. (The Independent)

Russian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishhvilli would be interested in investing in West Ham (The Sun)

Darlington boss David Hodgson faces the sack after chairman John Sotnick was filmed booing the manager's decision to sub Julian Joachim. (Daily Mirror)

Former Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe is lining up a takeover of Bournemouth. (Daily Mirror)

Uefa want the British Government to investigate the businessmen targeting English clubs. (Daily Telegraph)

Andriy Shevchenko, who joined Chelsea in May, turned down a move to the Blues in 2003 after meeting owner Roman Abramovich. (The Sun)

Wayne Rooney will overtake Rio Ferdinand as the highest paid player at Manchester United if the club agree to his wage demands. (Guardian)

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger says that international football is becoming a turn-off for fans because of the one-sided matches and "congestion of international matches". (The Sun)

France and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has warned his country and Italy to beware of the threat of Scotland in their Euro 2008 qualifying group. (Daily Record)

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard believes defender Ashley Cole will cope with the criticism he faces over his controversial move from Arsenal to the Blues. (Daily Express)

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd has criticised the transfer window and claimed it is a "restraint of trade". (The Independent)

England goalkeeper Paul Robinson did not touch the ball for a total of 42 minutes 51 seconds during Saturday's stroll against Andorra. His spell of inactivity stretched from a goal-kick shortly before half-time to a picking up a pass from Ashley Cole just before full-time. (The Times)