Chelsea face competition from Italian giants Inter Milan for the signature of Hamburg's �20m-rated Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart in January. (The Sun)

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has told clubs lining up a bid for striker Peter Crouch that they are wasting their time. (The Sun)

Manchester United are tracking Partizan Belgrade's Stevan Jovetic, the 17-year-old striker who could cost �7m. (Daily Mail)

Roma are preparing a January transfer window bid for unsettled Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi. (Various)

Arsenal will welcome back Mexican striker Carlos Vela, 18, in January. He is on loan with Osasuna and soon qualifies for a Spanish passport, meaning he can move to England. (Daily Mirror)

Portuguese legend Luis Figo, 35, says he could join David Beckham in Major League Soccer in the United States. (Daily Mirror)

Wolves winger Lewis Gobern is a target for Crewe. (Daily Star)

Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley is refusing to rule out a permanent �1m move to Sheffield United, where he is currently on loan. (Daily Mirror)

Kilmarnock striker Colin Nish, 26, has turned down the club's offer of a new contract and could leave at the end of the season. (Daily Record)

England's defeat in Russia almost certainly spells the end of Steve McClaren's tenure as manager. (Various)

Russia coach Guus Hiddink said he outhought McClaren tactically to earn victory in Moscow. (The Guardian)

Football Association chiefs will ignore the clamour for a homegrown boss if McClaren goes - with Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger and Jurgen Klinsmann all in the running. (Daily Mirror)

Bolton chairman Phil Gartside wants to get in Real Sociedad coach Chris Coleman to replaced the sacked Sammy Lee. (Daily Mail)

However, on Wednesday, Birmingham refused to give Gartside permission to speak to their boss Steve Bruce. (The Sun)

Actually - the Trotters want Paul Jewell to end his five-month exile from the game. (Daily Star)

Or do they? Gary Megson, Graeme Souness and John Collins are really the ones on the Bolton shortlist. (Daily Mirror)

Meanwhile, League Managers' Association chief Howard Wilkinson has accused Bolton of "burying bad news" by firing Lee on a day when England were playing. (The Sun)

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves says his injury nightmare is over and he can start to prove himself to the supporters. (The Sun)

France striker Thierry Henry broke Michel Platini's goalscoring record when he struck his 42nd and 43rd goals in the 2-0 win against Lithuania. (Various)

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce has told �6m signing Alan Smith to clean up his act - Smith is banned for Monday's game against Tottenham. (The Sun)

Chris Mort, the Magpies chairman, insists the club have never tried to prevent Michael Owen from playing for England. (Daily Telegraph)

Welsh striker John Hartson admits he could retire if his three-month loan spell at Norwich does not work out. (The Sun)

Mark Stimson will be appointed the new manager of Gillingham within the next 24 hours. (Daily Star)

Preston keeper Wayne Henderson will be out until the new year after a back operation on Wednesday. (Various)

Ian McParland - who had a caretaker spell in charge of Nottingham Forest - will be named the new boss of Notts County by the end of the week. (Daily Express)

Injured Rangers defender Steven Smith has vowed to play again, despite being out of action since December with a recurring pelvic injury. (Daily Record)

Dunfermline are threatening legal action against Hearts over �40,000 of unpaid ticket money. (Daily Record)

BBC Radio 5live commentators Alan Green, Mike Ingham and Graham Taylor were forced to describe the action from Moscow on mobile phones as their booked ISDN lines were not available.

If England fail to qualify for Euro 2008, it will cost the economy at least �1.25bn. (Daily Star)

Rio Ferdinand had gone 1,021 minutes without conceding a goal for Manchester United and England before Roman Pavluchenko struck. His next spell lasted four minutes. (The Times)