Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester United and Real Madrid are both keen on Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic, who scored twice against Liverpool in the Champions League this week, but the Italian side are set to offer the Montenegro star a new five-year contract. (The Sun)
Bolton boss Gary Megson insists defender Gary Cahill will not leave the Reebok Stadium in the January transfer window despite interest from Manchester United and Tottenham.(The Sun) 
Birmingham City winger Gary McSheffrey is poised to join Sheffield United on a three-month loan deal. (Daily Mail)
Reading boss Brendan Rogers plans to send Dave Mooney, Julian Kelly, Scott Davies, Michail Antonio and Jay Tabb out on loan.(Daily Mirror) 
Former Everton and Manchester City left-back Michael Ball has turned down a three-year deal at Notts County and could join Portsmouth or Turkish giants Galatasaray.(The Sun) 
Oldham Athletic hope to sign out-of-favour Hull City midfielder Bryan Hughes on loan.(Daily Mirror) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Notts County's players called in the Professional Footballers' Association after the League Two club failed to pay them their win bonuses.(Daily Mirror) 
Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has secured a £5m cash injection from Saudi property magnate Ali Al-Faraj that will allow the Fratton Park side to pay their players. Storrie and Al-Faraj were part of a rival consortium that lost out to Sulaiman Al Fahim for control of the club.(Daily Mail) 
The Premier League is ready to take over at Portsmouth to stop the club from slipping into administration.(The Independent) 
Football Association chief executive Ian Watmore has called for a crackdown on "hostile and abusive" chanting as part of a campaign against disorder in football grounds. (The Times) 
Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov admits he has been a failure at Old Trafford since his £30.75m move from Tottenham in August 2008 and says his poor form caused him sleepless nights.(The Sun) 
Liverpool forward Ryan Babel says being dropped by the Netherlands ahead of next summer's World Cup finals has scared him into trying to salvage his Anfield career. The 22-year-old has struggled since joining the Reds for £11.5m from Ajax in 2007.(Daily Mail) 
Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is facing the sack at Uzbekistan side Bunyodkor after they were knocked out of the Asian Champions League. The Brazilian, who is the highest paid manager in the world on £12.5m a year, will get a huge compensation package if he is forced out. (The Independent) 
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner claims only divine intervention saved his life when he crashed his car on his way to training on Sunday. The Danish star says it is a "miracle" that he is still alive, but hopes to face Blackburn this weekend.(Daily Mirror) 
Under-fire Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate says he will not quit the Riverside despite being criticised by fans.(Daily Mail) 
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres says he would never join Manchester United because of his respect for the Anfield club's fans.(The Sun) 
Hotels in South Africa are raising their prices by up to 440% for next summer's World Cup finals.(Daily Mirror) 

AND FINALLY

Gillingham boss Mark Stimson says referees would get less stick if they went back to wearing black rather than multi-colour outfits. Stimson said: "They get enough abuse as it is. As soon as they walk out with pink shirts on, people laugh at them." (The Sun)
Preston legend Sir Tom Finney has told National Football Museum bosses that he wants all his memorabilia back if they leave Deepdale to move to Manchester. (The Sun)
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