Chelsea will sign Manchester City star Micah Richards for �18m in January to solve their defensive crisis. (Various)

The Stamford Bridge outfit are planning a �7m bid for Birmingham defender Matthew Upson. (Daily Mail)

Upson has pleaded with the Birmingham board to allow him to leave in January. (The Sun)

Javier Mascherano could end his West Ham nightmare with a �6m move to Juventus in January. (The Sun)

Newcastle are set to offer Peter Crouch an escape route from his Liverpool troubles. (The Sun, Mirror)

Atletico Madrid are preparing a �14m swoop for Liverpool's Xabi Alonso. (Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth are expected to try and sign Robert Earnshaw from Norwich. (The Times)

Norwich will demand �5m for star striker Earnshaw. (The Sun)

Meanwhile, Pompey will launch a �6m bid to sign on-loan defender Glen Johnson from Chelsea. (The Sun, Mirror)

Motherwell have booted out a �300,000 bid from Southend for striker Scott McDonald. (Daily Record)

Newcastle have been alerted to the form of defender Jonathan Woodgate at Middlesbrough and could make a move for him in January. (Daily Mail)

Gareth Bale will not be sold by Southampton next month - even for �7m - according to manager George Burley. (Daily Mail)

David Prutton is set to complete a return to Nottingham Forest as part of a triple swoop by manager Colin Calderwood. (Daily Mail)

Cardiff have joined Watford in the bidding for Rotherham's �2m-rated striker Will Hoskins. (Daily Mirror)

Hibs are considering a January move for Hull City striker Darryl Duffy. (Scottish Sun)

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was planning to use Didier Drogba as an emergency defender, but cannot because it would leave him short up front with Andriy Shevchenko's out of form. (Daily Star)

Celtic star Bobo Balde will almost certainly miss the rest of the season with a broken leg. (Daily Record)

Dunfermline are in pay-off talks with injured striker Noel Whelan amid fears he may never play again. (Daily Record)

Liverpool's move to a new 60,000-seater stadium could be further delayed if their prospective new owners proceed with their plans to redevelop Anfield. (The Independent)

Sylvain Distin has rejected a final contract offer from Manchester City because the club are refusing to meet his �50,000-a-week salary demand. (The Guardian)

Former Portsmouth owner Milan Mandaric has substantially lowered his offer for Leicester. (The Times)

Phil Parkinson is set to become Alan Pardew's number two at Charlton - after turning down the chance to manage Northampton. (Daily Star)

Gary Megson is to be offered the vacant job with the Cobblers following the departure of John Gorman. (Daily Mirror)

Les Reed's thoughts appeared in the programme for Charlton's game against Fulham last night - even though he was sacked by the club on Christmas Eve. Reed, who lasted just 41 days in the job, said: "Join me and take these early steps in the long journey to success." (The Guardian)

Celtic's Japanese star Sunsuke Nakamura has revealed that he stole the idea for his wonder goal against Dundee United from the internet. (Daily Record)

Former England captain David Beckham will make a sneak visit to Tokyo on Friday to appear at promotional events. The 31-year-old Real Madrid midfielder will fly in by private jet and pop up at three unannounced spots during the day trip. (Sports Nippon)