TRANSFER GOSSIP
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is planning for life without England midfielder James Milner, who has been linked to Manchester City, and has launched an £8m bid for Mbark Boussoufa of Anderlecht.(Daily Mirror)
Inter Milan hope a combined bid of £33m will be enough to persuade Liverpool to sell Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano and Netherlands forward Dirk Kuyt.(Daily Mail)
Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov has branded Barca's Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic a "failure" and insists he will end up at Manchester City.(Daily Mirror)
Bolton defender Andy O'Brien is wanted by Championship newcomers Leeds.(The Sun)
Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has put a £15m price tag on Arsenal and Aston Villa target Hugo Rodallega.(Daily Mail)
Wolfsburg manager Steve McClaren has entered the race to sign Michael Ballack after the Germany midfielder was released by Chelsea.(Daily Mail)
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has confirmed the Gunners are interested in signing Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and has hinted defender William Gallas will leave the club after failing to get the two-year contract he wanted.(Daily Star)
Benfica midfielder Angel di Maria is closing in on a transfer to Real Madrid after telling the Portuguese club he is reluctant to move to England.(Daily Mail)
New Celtic manager Neil Lennon says he would like to speak to Robbie Keane again after the Tottenham striker's successful loan spell at the Scottish club last season and also said Sol Campbell, who finished the season at Arsenal, had "shown interest" in joining but there was still "a bit of work" to do. (Daily Record)
Fulham hope to see off late interest from Birmingham and West Ham to sign Standard Liege's Congo international striker Dieumerci Mbokani for £8m.(Daily Mail)
Newly promoted Blackpool are weighing up Portsmouth forward Danny Webber, Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, and Burnley defender Clarke Carlisle, who began his career at Bloomfield Road. (Times)
OTHER GOSSIP
Liverpool remain keen to offer their vacant manager's position to Fulham boss Roy Hodgson, despite Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish's interest in returning to the post.(the Guardian)
Chelsea's French international striker Nicolas Anelka has agreed a two-year extension to his current deal, which has one year left to run. The new contract is worth £90,000 per week. (Daily Mirror)
France's World Cup plans have been thrown into turmoil by divisions within their squad over whether Barcelona striker Thierry Henry should start against Uruguay on Friday.(Daily Mirror)
Property developer Andrew Ellis's bid to buy Rangers is not as much of a done deal as has been reported, with no price agreed or time set for the conclusion of talks. (Daily Record)
United States coach Bob Bradley says he has spent time at Manchester United observing Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson's management techniques as part of his World Cup build-up.(Daily Express)
Former Notts County manager Steve Cotterill will be named as Portsmouth's new boss next week and Rangers defender Kirk Broadfoot could be one of the first new arrivals at the club (Daily Express).
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted Theo Walcott's omission from the England World Cup squad came as a "massive surprise" but has urged the 21-year-old to put it behind him and concentrate on his future instead.(Daily Telegraph)
AND FINALLY
Brazilian Carlos Eugenio Simon, who will referee England's first World Cup group C match against the United States in Rustenburg on Saturday, and his assistants have been given a list of 20 English swear words as part of a crackdown on abusive language.(The Times)
www.bbc.co.uk
