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Page last updated at 07:44 GMT, Thursday, 10 March 2011

Thursday's gossip column - transfers and rumours

TransfersOther gossipAnd finallyNews image

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Atletico Madrid will offer want-away strikers Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan to Tottenham for a combined price of £40m this summer.
Full story: Metro

Manchester United and Barcelona are locked in a battle to sign Besiktas' 16-year-old midfielder Muhammed Demirci, who is regarded as one of the best young talents in Europe.
Full story: talkSPORT

Full-back Gael Clichy has hinted he could leave Arsenal this summer as talks on extending his current contract have ground to a halt.
Full story: Metro

Arsenal and Chelsea target Philippe Mexes has still not ruled out a summer move to the Premier League. The French defender's contract with Italian side Roma expires in June.
Full story: talkSPORT

Newcastle have joined Arsenal in tracking Saint-Ettiene midfielder Blaise Matuidi, who is expected to leave the French club this summer.
Full story: insidefutbol.com

Meanwhile, Magpies boss Alan Pardew is keen to make midfielder Stephen Ireland's loan move from Aston Villa permanent at St James' Park.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Newcastle are also weighing up a move for Espanyol striker Jose Maria Callejon.
Full story: Daily Mail

Chief executive Steve Walton insists Sunderland are under no financial pressure to sell star players such as striker Asamoah Gyan and midfielder Jordan Henderson, who has been linked with Manchester United and Chelsea.
Full story: Metro

Stoke are set to make a £4m summer swoop for out-of-favour Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Real Madrid are ready to cut their losses on Kaka this summer - and Chelsea and AC Milan are currently leading the chase to sign him. The midfielder has struggled for form and fitness since moving to Spain from Milan for £56m in 2009.
Full story: talkSPORT

Manchester City are set to make a significant loss on striker Felipe Caicedo by selling him to Levante in the summer for £850,000. The Spanish side - who can sign the 22-year-old for a reduced fee as part of the loan deal agreed with City last summer - will then immediately put the player up for sale for £4m. City signed Caicedo for around £5m in February 2008.
Full story: Daily Mirror

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson is set to battle it out with Everton for Leicester's Andy King this summer - providing the Baggies stay in the top flight.
Full story: the Sun

Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen - a target for Liverpool - says Barcelona are the only club who could tempt him away from Ajax.
Full story: Daily Mail

Inter Milan are considering a summer-move for Tottenham's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric.
Full story: talkSPORT

Promotion-chasing League One side Huddersfield are eyeing a loan move for Bolton winger Danny Ward.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Ipswich are monitoring Coventry striker Marlon King's contract situation after talks over a new deal stalled. King, 30, is in demand as a free agent in the summer having scored seven goals this season.
Full story: Daily Mail

OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United winger Nani faces up to a month on the sidelines as the gash suffered to his knee during the 3-0 loss at Liverpool is worse than first thought.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly broken the media silence he has kept since he was charged by the Football Association for criticising referee Martin Atkinson. Cbsport.org, a regional sports website, quoted Ferguson as saying Arsenal were leaders United's main threat in the Premier League title race, while the Scot added he had "no excuses" for their "poor performance" in their 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Sunday. The website comments, however, were later removed.
Full story: Daily Telegraph

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has been given a vote of confidence by chairman Dave Whelan, despite the club slumping to the bottom of the Premier League.
Full story: Daily Star

Liverpool fear captain Steven Gerrard will require surgery on a troublesome groin injury and could miss much of the season run-in. The midfielder has been left out of the squad that travelled to Portugal to face Braga in the Europa League on Thursday . Full story: Daily Mirror

Former Chelsea boss Gianluca Vialli has tipped Carlo Ancelotti to lead the club to the Champions League final this season. "They have got a great side with great players, experienced players. They are very hungry to win the Champions League because they have been so close for so many years. They deserve to get at least to the final and I'm sure they will," said Vialli.
Full story: talkSPORT

A number of Barcelona players have criticised the way Arsenal played in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 second leg at the Nou Camp, which the Spanish champions won 3-1 to beat the Gunners 4-3 on aggregate. Xavi says he was surprised Arsenal did not play with "more joy, more attacking flair" while fellow midfielder Sergio Busquets criticised Wenger's side for a "lack of ambition".
Full story: Daily Mirror

Manchester United could be boosted by the return of winger Antonio Valencia to their match-day squad for Saturday's FA Cup tie with Arsenal at Old Trafford.
Full story: Daily Mail

England boss Fabio Capello is being courted by Juventus, who want the Italian to return to his homeland to become their technical director after the 2012 European Championships. Capello won three Italian league titles as a player with Juve and was their manager between 2004 and 2006.
Full story: the Sun

AND FINALLY

England defender Rio Ferdinand hailed Massimo Busacca as the world's best referee on his Twitter account - before the Italian showed Arsenal's Robin van Persie a second yellow card for kicking the ball away in their defeat at Barcelona. Ferdinand later stood by his initial assessment of Busacca, tweeting: "... still the best referee for me, 1 decision doesn't change that."
Full story: Daily Mail

A top sports scientist believes football stars such as Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney are geniuses who naturally excel at maths and science and develop an intuitive understanding of geometry which allows them to perfect the beautiful game.
Full story: Daily Mirror



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see also
Wednesday's gossip column
09 Mar 11 |  Gossip
Tuesday's gossip column
08 Mar 11 |  Gossip
Tuesday's Scottish gossip
08 Mar 11 |  Scotland
Monday's gossip column
07 Mar 11 |  Gossip
Monday's Scottish gossip
07 Mar 11 |  Scotland
Transfers - February 2011
01 Feb 11 |  Football


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