Portsmouth are preparing a �12m "swoop" for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. (Daily Star)

Middlesbrough are on the verge of signing Luke Young from Charlton but have ruled out selling Yakubu to Manchester City. (Various)

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce will talk to Kieron Dyer about speculation linking the midfielder with a move to West Ham. (Various)

Celtic have launched a �2m bid for Paris St Germain defender Bernard Mendy. (Daily Record)

Gabriel Heinze could go to court over Manchester United's refusal to let him join Liverpool. (Various)

Boss Sammy Lee has told Nicolas Anelka he can leave Bolton if a Champions League club comes in for him. (Daily Star)

Tottenham have failed with a �4m bid for Hertha Berlin's 20-year-old midfielder Kevin Boateng. (The Sun)

And Curtis Davies' move to Spurs is on hold because of West Brom's �8m valuation of their defender. (The Sun)

Manchester City will beat Tottenham to the signature of Atletico Madrid's Martin Petrov for �6m. (Daily Mirror)

Wigan are set to sign Fulham's Michael Brown in a �2.5m deal in the next few days. (Daily Mirror)

Birmingham will go back to Tottenham, just days after agreeing a fee for Egyptian Mido, to also sign his compatriot Hossam Ghaly. (Daily Star)

Derby are set to sign Portsmouth defender Andy Griffin in a �500,000 deal. (The Telegraph)

Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez is waiting to learn if his offer for Cork City forward Rory O'Donovan has been successful. (The Telegraph)

Manchester City want Liverpool's Peter Crouch and/or Bayern Munich's Roque Santa Cruz. (The Telegraph)

Middlesbrough claim they are still in with a chance of landing Manchester United striker Alan Smith in a �6m deal. (The Telegraph)

Sunderland have failed to sign Bobo Balde from Celtic. (The Telegraph)

West Ham are ready to splash �26m on Roma winger Mancini, Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen and Newcastle midfielder Kieron Dyer. (Daily Express)

Rangers are prepared to make a final �1.5m offer for Kilmarnock's Steven Naismith, but it's a take-it-or-leave-it offer. (The Sun)

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone is about to join the battle to buy Arsenal. (Various)

Fifa are still waiting to receive a formal request from either West Ham or Manchester United regarding the Carlos Tevez transfer. (The Sun)

Jose Mourinho says his Chelsea players will go easy on David Beckham if the Englishman makes his LA Galaxy debut against them on Saturday. (Daily Express)

John Pantsil missed West Ham's pre-season tour of Austria because he destroyed his passport by leaving it in his trousers when they went through washing machine. (The Sun)

Sam Allardyce's innovative training methods at Newcastle have led to problems. His vibrating muscle toner machines give players an uncontrollable urge to visit the toilet. (The Sun)