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Last Updated: Wednesday, 9 May 2007, 05:27 GMT 06:27 UK
Wednesday's gossip column
` Transfer rumoursOther gossipAnd finally ...News image

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o is Manchester United's top transfer target. (Daily Mail)

Manchester United want to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder Nani in a �17.5m swoop. (Daily Mirror)

A �9m release clause in Newcastle forward Michael Owen's contract has alerted Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. (Various)

Barcelona are set to make a �15m bid for Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. (Daily Star)

Chelsea are chasing West Ham striker Carlos Tevez. (Daily Star)

Tottenham are determined to hang on to striker Dimitar Berbatov, despite growing interest from Manchester United. (Daily Mirror)

Berbatov's agent Emil Dantchev says the forward is likely to remain at Spurs. (The Guardian)

Everton are ready to make a �5.5m cut-price bid for Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton. (Various)

Andy Todd has been told he can leave Blackburn, with Wigan and Rangers linked to the defender. (Daily Mirror)

Jose Reyes is trying to find a club in Spain to avoid a return to Arsenal, who are ready to recall the winger because Real Madrid are not convinced they should make his loan move a permanent one. (The Sun)

Injury-prone midfielder Kieron Dyer is likely to be one of the first players sold if former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce becomes the new Magpies manager. (The Independent)

Real Zaragoza defender Gaby Milito has pleaded for the chance to join Liverpool after they lined up a �10m player-plus-cash deal involving Mark Gonzalez. (Daily Mirror)

Birmingham boss Steve Bruce will find out next week how much cash there will be available to spend on players after the club's promotion to the Premiership. (The Sun)

Sunderland manager Roy Keane wants to make on-loan Manchester United defender Danny Simpson a permanent signing. (Daily Mirror)

Charlton have admitted that they face a massive fight to hang on to Darren Bent after being relegated to the Championship, with Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle and West Ham all keen to land the striker. (Various)

Liverpool are keeping tabs on Palermo's Brazilian-born striker Amauri. (The Sun)

Reading midfielder Steve Sidwell is set to resist interest from Newcastle and move to Chelsea this summer. (The Guardian)

Portsmouth are battling with Juventus to sign �6m-rated Reggina striker Rolando Bianchi. (Daily Star)

Andy Webster's proposed switch to Rangers has been placed in jeopardy after Fifa ordered the defender to pay former club Hearts �625,000 in compensation for breach of contract. (Daily Record)

Norwich will not have to sell top scorer Robert Earnshaw after a �2m cash injection from new directors Andrew and Sharon Turner. (Daily Star)

Kilmarnock midfielder Peter Leven will leave in the summer after rejecting a final contract offer. (Daily Record)

Tottenham face competition from Newcastle, Manchester City and Charlton in their bid to sign Hertha Berlin midfielder Kevin Boateng. (Daily Mail)

Marseille winger Franck Ribery has said that Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea and AC Milan are clubs he "dreams" of joining. (The Independent)

Sevilla striker Kepo Blanco, who is on loan at West Ham, claims that Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Newcastle have offered him the chance to play for them next season. (The Independent)

James McCarthy has rejected a move to Liverpool that would have earned Hamilton Accies �1m for the 16-year-old midfielder. (The Sun/Mirror)

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has predicted that AC Milan will beat Liverpool in the Champions League final and if the Italians do triumph he will open a bottle of wine given to him by Milan head coach Carlo Ancelotti after the Red Devils were beaten in the last four. (The Sun)

Ferguson will not field a weakened team in the final Premiership game of the season against relegation-threatened West Ham on Sunday. (Various)

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has apologised to winger Cristiano Ronaldo for condemning the Manchester United winger's upbringing. (Various)

Mourinho has given a strong indication he will remain at the helm next season by saying he will not need a bigger squad for the next campaign, while winger Arjen Robben is set to stay at the club. (The Guardian)

Newcastle's Michael Owen will be allowed to play in England's Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia in June because the Premiership club's manager-in-waiting Sam Allardyce would allow it, even though the Magpies and the Football Association are in a compensation battle over the striker's 2006 World Cup injury. (The Sun)

Former Newcastle boss Sir Bobby Robson has urged the fans to unite behind the next manager at St James' Park following the resignation of Glenn Roeder. (Daily Telegraph)

Manchester United remain confident their pre-season Asian tour will go ahead, despite criticism from the president of the Asian Football Confederation Mohamed bin Hamman over the schedule clash with the Asian Cup. (Daily Telegraph)

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack has called for an end to the backbiting he feels has undermined his first year at Stamford Bridge. (Various)

Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko has held talks with captain John Terry to explain his injury problems because he was concerned about rumours that he was not giving his all for the club. (The Sun)

The Premier League went into emergency session on Tuesday to draw up plans to write new clauses into players' contracts outlawing third-party ownership following criticism over its handling of the Carlos Tevez saga at West Ham. (Daily Express)

The Premier League has defended its handling of the Tevez affair and has warned the 'Gang of Four' - Sheffield United, Wigan, Charlton and Fulham - that their legal threat over the failure to dock points from West Ham is doomed to failure. (The Times and The Independent)

A statement on the fate of the Lord Stevens' bung inquiry is likely to be postponed until next week because of the legal threat to the Premier League by four clubs. (The Guardian)

The FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United on 19 May will be bigger and better than ever, according to Football Association chief executive Brian Barwick. (Daily Express)

Coventry managing director Paul Fletcher says a takeover deal could be struck by the end of this month after a United States-led consortium agreed to buy the club in February. (The Sun)

A surge in the value of Newcastle's plc shares has led to speculation that someone is acquiring a significant stake in the club, possibly a potential new bidder. (Daily Express)

Motherwell striker Scott McDonald has pleaded with the Scottish Football Association to overturn his red card against Dunfermline. (Daily Record)

The Irish Football Association has confirmed that talks over Northern Ireland boss Lawrie Sanchez's future at Fulham - where he is caretaker manager - will begin after the weekend. (The Independent)

Aston Villa are still in with a chance of playing in Europe next season because, with Tottenham leading the Fair Play League but set to qualify automatically for the Uefa Cup, Villa are next in line to go into the draw with nine other European clubs for the final two places in that competition.

Motherwell are on the verge of a �10m takeover by Lanarkshire property developer Tommy Coakley. (The Sun)

Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc has apologised for flying a champions flag at the end of Saturday's defeat by Rangers at Ibrox. (Daily Record)

Rangers midfielder Charlie Adam is poised to be called up to the Scotland squad to face Austria. (The Sun)

Hibernian reserve team coach Mark Proctor is on the shortlist to be Livingston manager. (The Sun)

Aberdeen striker Craig Brewster and former Partick Thistle boss Dick Campbell top the candidates for the Ross County manager's job. (Daily Record)

AND FINALLY

Manchester United's players were not on huge incentives to win the Premiership title because Old Trafford chiefs believe they are so well paid they do not need large bonuses to pick up trophies. They shared a pool of �1m, which was based on appearances and amounts to four days' extra pay (�68,000) for the likes of winger Cristiano Ronaldo. (The Sun)

Helsingborg striker Henrik Larsson, who spent three months on loan at Manchester United this season, will be the Premiership club's guest of honour at this month's FA Cup final against Chelsea. United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: "I told him, if we got there he would come to the final as our guest." (The Sun)

Liverpool's players could pick up �100,000 each in bonuses if they beat AC Milan in this month's Champions League final. (Various)

Ricky Hatton joked that Manchester United's Wayne Rooney bottled out of a visit to the boxer's gym because the striker feared he might be dragged into the ring. Instead, some of Rooney's team-mates turned up to pick up tickets for Hatton's next bout in June - against Jose Luis Castillo in Las Vegas. (The Sun)

Joseph Yobo will equal Kevin Ratcliffe's 1987 record of playing in every second of Everton's league campaign if the Nigerian defender completes 90 minutes at Chelsea on Sunday. (Daily Star)



SEE ALSO
Tuesday's gossip column
08 May 07 |  Gossip
Transfers - April 2007
26 Apr 07 |  Gossip


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