Manchester United have offered Atletico Madrid �5m as a down-payment to secure the �26m transfer of striker Fernando Torres next summer. (Daily Star)

Chris Sutton is on the verge of joining Aston Villa. (Various)

Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder is interested in Eintracht Frankfurt defender Alex Vasoki. (Daily Mirror)

West Ham boss Alan Pardew will tell the club's board on Wednesday that he could let Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano leave in January. (Daily Mail)

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is keen to sign FC Lorient striker Andre-Pierre Gignac. (Times)

Raith Rovers have promised to make Lee Wilkie the highest-paid player in the club's history if he joins Craig Levein's side. (Daily Record)

Livingston have turned down Plymouth's bid to take James McPake on a week's trial. (Daily Record)

Steve McClaren has told Frank Lampard he is still England's penalty-taker even though he has lost that role for Chelsea. (Daily Star)

Didier Zokora will escape FA action for his dive against Portsmouth which earned Spurs a penalty. (Daily Star)

Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton will be fined for mooning at Everton fans but is unlikely to face police charges. (The Sun)

West Ham's board will tell Kia Joorabchian to prove he has the money to buy the club or pull out of takeover talks. (The Sun)

Carlos Tevez's brother has been arrested in Buenos Aires. (Daily Mirror)

Norwich want their former defender Mark Bowen as manager after Nigel Worthington was sacked. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann is on the verge of agreeing a new one-year deal. (Independent)

Luiz Felipe Scolari has denied speculation that he could take over as West Ham boss. (Daily Telegraph)

Blackburn defender Ryan Nelson has revealed he has had holes drilled into a bone in his bottom to relieve a hamstring injury. (Daily Mirror)

Pedro Mendes reckons he is the unluckiest footballer in Britain. The Portsmouth midfielder gave away a penalty against Spurs - even though he did not touch Didier Zokora. Six weeks ago, he was knocked out by Manchester City's Ben Thatcher and last year, while playing for Tottenham, he had a goal from the halfway line ruled out even though it blatantly crossed the line. (The Sun)

Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney will not shave until he scores again. (Daily Mail)

Portsmouth keeper David James has been recruited by athletics coach Colin Jackson to give advice to young athletes on what it is like to have "pundits constantly criticising you in public" because he is an "expert on that".