Archive for the ‘EPL Gossip’ Category

EPL Gossip Thursday July 24th

Thursday, July 24th, 2008



Tottenham are ready to let striker Dimitar Berbatov join AC Milan for a cut-price £25m to stop the Bulgarian going to Manchester United. (The Sun)

Don’t exactly consider £25m a cut rate price. Makes sense that Tottenham would love to give Manchester United the finger after signing Michael Carrick and now unsettling Dimitar Berbatov.

Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel is in limbo over his £2.5m switch to Aston Villa. The American’s transfer hinges on Rovers getting the green light to sign Spurs’ Paul Robinson. (The Sun)

Robinson has some big holes to fill. Yes he is younger and a former England number 1 but made too many mistakes both at Tottenham and for England. Mistakes that Friedel has rarely made playing for Blackburn.

Emmanuel Adebayor fears he has blown his move to Barcelona as the Spanish club are unimpressed by the Arsenal striker’s attitude and will not pay the £37.5m asking price. (The Sun)

Wouldn’t you also be unimpressed with his attitude? He has strung Arsenal along all summer flip flopping on almost a daily basis.

Furious Everton boss David Moyes will delay Andy Johnson’s £10m move to Fulham until he finds a replacement after the striker pulled out of a pre-season friendly at the last minute. (Daily Star)

But Moyes is already planning to spend the money from the Johnson sale on £20m-rated CSKA striker Wagner Love. (The Sun)

Would love to see Wagner Love play in the EPL just to be able to say Wagner Love more often. Just a great name.

Liverpool and Aston Villa remain at loggerheads over the transfer of Gareth Barry, with Villa boss Martin O’Neill maintaining that he still wants £18m straight cash for the England midfielder. (Daily Express)

Neither side appears to be blinking anytime soon. Martin O’Neill can’t back down in this spot. He’ll need to get every last penny wanted for Barry or else it will set the example in the dress room that Aston Villa is a stepping stone to a top four team and not a team that itself can become a top four team.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is making a £6m move for Celtic’s Ireland winger Aidan McGeady. (Daily Mirror)

About two weeks to late. Stiliyan Petrov cost Villa £6m and that was two years ago. You can easily make the case that McGeady is worth double then what they received for Petrov.

West Ham plan to offer teenage striker Freddie Sears a long-term deal in a bid to stave off interest from Arsenal and Tottenham. (The Sun)

West Ham produces some of the best young British players. Too bad most of them end up playing for other teams.

EPL Gossip Wednesday July 23rd

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008



Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is set to make a shock bid to bring former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse, now at Marseille, back to the Premier League. (Daily Mirror)

Makes sense, new signing Jo is off to play in the Olympics for Brazil and Benjani is an injury doubt. Mark Hughes is going to want depth at the striker position to ensure he gets City off to the best start possible.

However, others say Hughes will make a £15m move for Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz. (Various)

Blackburn should sell Santa Cruz. The is a nice return for a striker that cost 3 million last year. Last year Blackburn kept Benni McCarthy despite Chelsea snooping around, a year later Blackburn has to have some regret not cashing in on McCarthy. The same could easily apply 12 months from now with Santa Cruz.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is set to shatter his signing record with a £10.75m bid for Everton striker Andrew Johnson. (Various)

Andrew Johnson will be no better than Brian McBride. That is a lot of money for a very average striker.

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has offered £5m plus Charles N’Zogbia for Celtic winger Aiden McGeady. (The Sun)

For which Celtic will say no too. N’Zogbia attitude won’t fly with the Celtic faithful and McGeady has committed himself to Celtic.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce is to offer Fulham £3m to bring back old favourite Jimmy Bullard to the JJB Stadium. (Daily Mirror)

Fulham can’t lose Bullard. It could of been easy for Bullard to be resigned to his faith at Fulham, not only coming back from a horrible injury but kept fighting until the last game to keep Fulham up. Teams such as Fulham need players like Bullard.

Sunderland goalkeeper Marton Fulop is the subject of a £6m bid by Stoke City. (Daily Express)

I find it hard to believe that Marton Fulop could cost almost double what West Brom paid to sign Scott Carson.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has taunted new Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari by telling him he has no chance of matching Jose Mourinho’s efforts at the Stamford Bridge helm. (Daily Mirror)

I’m sure Mourinho has sent Ferguson a thank you card for that. Scolari needless to say has some big shoes to fill.

EPL Gossip for Tuesday July 22nd

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Blackburn are willing to sell Bentley - but only if an offer of more than £18m comes in. (Times)

£18m million seems to be the magic number. First with Villa and Berry, now with Bentley. Could only imagine a foreign club calling about Bentley and laughing once that 18 million number is thrown. Not because Bentley is a bad player, just because with so much money pouring into the EPL British players become inflated.

Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho has given up hope of signing Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard. (The Sun)

Somehow I don’t think this story is over yet. It would be foolish to let Lampard rot on the last year of his deal. Chelsea should either find a way to sign him or send him on his way.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich invited AC Milan representatives on to his personal yacht - but the Italian club still refused to sell Brazilian playmaker Kaka. (Sun)

Maybe those AC Milan representatives just finished watching the Sopranos episode where Tony and crew took Big Puss out on a boat cruise.

Aston Villa are after 6ft 7in Valencia striker Nicola Zigic. He is available for £5m. (Sun)

No clue why Villa need another striker with Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor, and Marlon Harewood but I do like Zigic. He had a great season two years ago in La Liga playing at Racing but never seem to fit in at Valencia last year.

Villa will sign Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel for £2m as a short-term solution before snapping up Wayne Hennessey from Wolves in a year’s time. (Daily Mirror)

Top Five Goalies in the EPL

1. Petr Cech
2. Edwin van der Sar
3. David James
4. Pepe Reina
5. Brad Friedel

Sorry Chris Kirkland (Hurt too much) Joe Hart (give it another year) Craig Gordon (see Joe Hart) Shay Given (toughest choice to leave out)

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos has been told to increase his £16m offer for Zenit St Petersburg forward Andrei Arshavin. Zenit want £21.5m. (Sun)

The market for Arshavin has been drying up. Barcelona have gone with Hleb and haven’t gone all out to sign Arshavin. Chelsea hasn’t made a move either. Quite frankly Arshavin is just too old for that kind of transfer fee. There is no re-sell value there like signing a 23-24 year old.

Defender Lucas Neill says he is not leaving West Ham, despite being linked with a move to Galatasaray. (Sun)

That isn’t welcomed news to West Ham who want to dump his large contract. Could of gone to Liverpool in the January 2007 transfer window but signed with West Ham who doubled what Liverpool was willingly to pay so they have no one to blame but themselves.

Kevin Keegan is at loggerheads with the Newcastle board, who are ready to sell James Milner for more than £10m. (Daily Star)

King Kev appears to have his hands tied so far in the transfer market.

Newcastle boss Keegan is confident Charles N’Zogbia will stay at St James’ Park. (Daily Mirror)

But will N’Zogbia be happy at Newcastle?

Keegan is thought to be pondering a bid for former Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes, who has fallen out of favour at Atletico Madrid. (Guardian)

Mentioned this many months ago but if Reyes hated life in London he’ll loath living in Newcastle. Worth taking a gamble on however if Reyes is willing to come back to England.

Former Colombia keeper Rene Higuita’s ’scorpion kick’ has been voted football’s greatest trick in an online poll. His audacious effort in a friendly against England at Wembley beat Ronaldinho’s ‘elastic dribble’ into second place. Cristiano Ronaldo’s step-overs tied for third. (Daily Mirror)

Forgot about this. Gotta love the Rick James haircut.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has backed Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s stance against Real Madrid over winger Cristiano Ronaldo, accusing the Spanish club of being “irresponsible”. (Daily Mirror)

Don’t agree with Wenger on a lot of fronts (not that he is losing sleep over this fact) but I do agree with him here. Teams should work the phones when trying to sign a player instead of trying to work the press.

EPL Gossip for Monday July 21st

Monday, July 21st, 2008



Brazil striker Robinho has told Real Madrid he is desperate to join Chelsea. (The Sun)

Ronaldo goes to Real Madrid = Robinho being sold to Chelsea to recoup some of that transfer money spent on Ronaldo.

Ronaldo stays at United = Real Madrid offers Robinho more money to make him happy.

But forward Didier Drogba looks to be on his way out of Stamford Bridge after he was left out of the club’s tour to China. (Daily Mirror)

Barcelona are thought to be preparing a £22m bid for Drogba. (Daily Express)

Drogba should be happy at Barcelona for at least one season before the moody Drogba of last year sets in.

Inter Milan are prepared to wait for England midfielder Frank Lampard’s contract at Chelsea to run out before signing him next season. (Daily Telegraph)

Still can’t see Lampard playing out the final season of his deal in limbo. I’m sure Lampard is going to love playing in every league cup game for Chelsea next year.

Aston Villa could be back on the trail of Newcastle winger James Milner after abandoning their attempts to sign Blackburn midfielder David Bentley. (Daily Telegraph)

While it still won’t be easy Villa will have a better chance of striking a deal for Milner than Bentley.

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos will spend the £57m from the sale of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov on strikers Diego Milito (Real Zaragoza) and Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow) and wingers David Bentley (Blackburn) and Diego Capel (Sevilla). (The Sun)

Out of that list can only see Milito and maybe Bentley realistically playing for Tottenham next season.

The Toffees are ready to smash their transfer record to land £18m-rated Sporting Lisbon playmaker Joao Moutinho. (Daily Express)

Moutinho is in an interesting spot here. He isn’t good enough yet to move on to the A.C Milan’s, Barcelona’s of the world as each gave Moutinho a look before passing. He can either stay at Sporting Clube de Portugal (Damn British press, it’s not Sporting Lisbon) play in the Champions League and improve as a player in a league and team he is comfortable with. On the flip side he can go to Everton, take the money, play in the biggest league in the world but a league that isn’t a perfect fit for his style of play.

Sunderland remain hopeful of clinching a £23m deal for Tottenham’s Steed Malbranque, Pascal Chimbonda, Younes Kaboul and Teemu Tainio. (Times)

Cue the earthquake I guess.

Brazil legend Pele has told England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney he needs to “learn how to defend himself, not attack his opponent”. (Various)

Pele is alittle out there.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told striker Theo Walcott to establish himself in the first team this season. (Daily Star)

All Wenger needs to do is show faith in Walcott by starting him 3-4 starts in a row no matter how he plays. Once Walcott stops thinking that he’ll be nailed to the bench after every bad game his potential will start to show.

EPL Gossip Sunday July 20th

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

Chelsea’s world record bid to sign AC Milan forward Kaka will cost the Blues anything from £50m to £119m with 10% going to the player himself, but the Serie A side insist he is not for sale. (Various)

If I was Ronaldo I’d make sure Madrid pays Manchester United a million more in a transfer fee just to be vain.

Real Madrid forward Robinho could be another Brazilian heading to Chelsea after his agent revealed the club have proposed a firm offer. (Sunday Telegraph)

Joe Cole must be loving these recent events.

Juventus are ready to launch a £15m bid for Arsenal’s Robin van Persie, who they see as an ideal replacement for Pavel Nedved. (News of the World)

After losing Hleb there is little chance that Arsenal will want to sell van Persie.

Manchester United striker Louis Saha is wanted back at Fulham, while Sunderland and Wigan are also interested in the Frenchman. (News of the World)

Just have this weird feeling that the second Saha leaves United he’ll be fit for an entire season.

Sunderland have failed with a £4m bid for Man Utd midfielder Darren Fletcher and may increase their offer to £5m. (News of the World)

Fletcher is only 24. That should mean he’ll be happy with his role on Europe’s best team for another 2-3 seasons before pulling a Nicky Butt and moving on to find first team football.

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has said he is looking at offloading five or six players to finance a bid for Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. (The People)

Hull City hope to make Portsmouth’s Sean Davis their seventh signing of the summer for around £2.25m. (News of the World)

Another 10 million to go.

Dimitar Berbatov has been fined a week’s wages by Tottenham manager Juande Ramos for being moody on the club’s pre-season jaunt to Spain. (The People)

Shocking, a Tottenham fan should see Keane as a better loss than Berbatov.

EPL Gossip Saturday July 19th

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

Inter Milan will make a move for Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso if they fail in their bid to prise Frank Lampard away from Chelsea. (Channel 4 Football Italia, 1103 BST)

Liverpool must be happy that interest in Alonso is flaring up again after Juventus couldn’t close the deal.

Chelsea are set to sign AC Milan’s world player-of-the- year Kaka for a world-record fee of €100m (£79.2m). (The Guardian)

I love headlines that make such a difficult process seem so easy. Look at Ronaldinho and how long that transfer took. Compound that with Ronaldinho who wanted to play for A.C Milan and Barcelona were willing to sell the player. Neither of which are so easy here with A.C Milan wanting to keep Kaka and the player himself not wanting to leave.

Sunderland have had a £23m bid for Younes Kaboul, Pascal Chimbonda, Steed Malbranque and Teemu Tainio accepted by Tottenham. (Various)

However, the deal could be jeopardised after Kaboul’s agent said his client would not join Sunderland “even if there was an earthquake”. (Various)

I must admit that quote from Kaboul agent made me laugh. Not a bad return in Tottenham case for four players who will not start for them when the season starts.

Chimbonda also looks set to snub the Black Cats in favour of a move to either Newcastle or Everton. (Daily Mail)

Like I said about Sunderland, having money to spend on is one thing. Finding the right players who have both the quality and desire to play for you is another.

Aston Villa expect to sign Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel next week as Rovers boss Paul Ince faces a tough task keeping hold of his players. (The Sun)

Paul Ince have better of seen this coming. Ince must have had a plan in place with players he was going to bring in or else Blackburn will make a swift drop down the standings next years.

Arsene Wenger has blamed Arsenal’s lack of silverware last season on pure bad luck. (The Sun)

Makes for a better story then the fact that Arsenal couldn’t hold leads in key games against Liverpool in the Champions League, Manchester United and Chelsea in the league. Those weren’t performances of champions as the special one would say.

EPL Gossip Friday July 18th

Friday, July 18th, 2008

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is convinced he will land Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov before the start of the season. (The Sun)

Law of the jungle applies to football as well. If the Manchester United’s of the world want a player from Tottenham badly enough they will get him.

Ferguson has met United winger Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time in almost two months in a bid to stop the player joining Real Madrid. (The Guardian)

Just don’t start crying foul about how the system works when the tables are turned. Also Ronaldo causing quite a stir in Los Angeles recently it seems.

Cristiano Ronaldo hobbled into a nightclub on crutches and partied with stars including Paris Hilton. (The Sun, Daily Mirror)

One example right there.

Chelsea have rejected Barcelona’s offer of a swap deal involving Samuel Eto’o and Blues forward Didier Drogba. (The Sun)

Reminds me one of those basketball deals where one team trades their problem child for another.

Liverpool will sell Andrei Voronin to a German club for around £3m to help finance the signing of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. (Daily Mirror)

Voronin didn’t set the world on fire last year. To compound matters his form kept dropping as the year went on.

England goalkeeper Scott Carson will join West Brom from Liverpool after rejecting a move to Stoke. (Daily Mirror, Daily Star)

I saw another article today saying Stoke pulled out of the race to sign Carson. In my mind I kept thinking you didn’t pull out of the race, Butterfingers just didn’t want to play for your team.

Wigan plan to make Everton an improved offer for Andrew Johnson after having a £9m bid for the England striker rejected. (The Guardian)

With the interest and money being throw out there for Johnson I’d find it foolish if Everton at some point won’t cash in on a player that isn’t even their best striker.

Newcastle have had a £2m bid for England left-back Stephen Warnock rejected by Blackburn. (Daily Mirror)

A £2m for an above average English left back is almost insulting. Should be double in order for Blackburn to even consider the offer.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has told chairman Niall Quinn he wants money to spend on top players. (Daily Mirror)

But what top players want to play for Sunderland? Grabbing a quality player like Craig Gordan from Hearts last year are rare. There will be players that want to play for Sunderland but the trick is to find players with near top 4 talent. Those are hard to come by even less with Aiden McGeady signing an extension with Celtic yesterday.

West Ham stars are fuming at their tour from hell after a travel firm went bust. The Hammers squad are being flown economy class to their pre-season matches in Canada in two separate planes after being led to believe they were flying business class. (The Sun)

More on yesterday’s news story. It’s not like it wasn’t a direct flight from London to Toronto. Plus when I think of flights from hell I think of nears misses in the air, turbulence or losing luggage etc none of which happens.

EPL Gossip Thursday July 17th

Thursday, July 17th, 2008



Real Madrid and Holland midfielder Wesley Sneijder has said the Spanish champions do not need Cristiano Ronaldo as he will “disrupt” the squad. He also accused the Portuguese winger of going missing in big games and said his wages will cause a dressing room revolt at the Bernabeu. (Various)

Let the Galáctico part two era begin. Happy times, Happy times.

Frank Lampard will be allowed to leave Chelsea if Inter Milan stump up £20m for the England midfielder. (Daily Star)

That would be a nice return on a 30 year old player entering the last year of his contact who openly wants out.

Newcastle and Everton are battling for Tottenham full-back Pascal Chimbonda who will cost about £4m. (The Sun)

Talent has always been there with Chimbonda. Usually when teams are willingly to sell a player at a knock down rate attitude becomes a question mark.

Claude Makelele will be the first high profile name to leave Chelsea this summer as he eyes a move to Paris St Germain. (The Sun)

You can argue that with all the money Chelsea has spent on transfers, Makelele’s move from Real Madrid was the most important one in their history.

Sevilla winger Diego Capel has admitted he would consider leaving the Spanish club to join Tottenham who have been linked with a £12.5m bid for 20-year-old. (Various)

If Seville refused to let Tottenham speak to Capel even after meeting his release fee with the Spanish club that would be a pretty good sign that Seville has no intention of selling him to Tottenham.

Magpies boss Kevin Keegan has also had a £3m bid for Blackburn full-back Stephen Warnock rejected. (The Times)

Seems to be open season on Blackburn players with the departure of Mark Hughes.

Fenerbache goalkeeper Volkan Demirel has been linked with a move to Manchester City. (The Times)

What about Joe Hart? He was fine as Manchester City’s number one last season. Demirel is the Turkish number 1. Sure he’d love to play in the EPL but not as a backup.

A group of Man City fans who hired a trawler to take them to watch their side’s Uefa Cup qualifying game in the Faroe Islands had to abandon their trip due to stormy seas. After an eight drive to Aberdeen, followed by an overnight ferry to the Shetland Islands, the group were forced to turn around as the eight-foot Atlantic waves got the better of them. (Various)

Now that is dedication

West Ham’s players are said to be angry after being forced to fly economy class in two separate planes for a friendly in Canada against MLS team Columbus Crew. The MLS had told West Ham they would be flown business class but the travel firm they were using went bust. (The Sun)

Shocking a British newspaper saying something bad about the MLS. I’m convince most British journalist are just bitter and negative people.

EPL Gossip for Wednesday July 16th

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

Wayne Bridge’s new contract at Chelsea will be worth £16.6m over four years as manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has made keeping the left-back at Stamford Bridge one of his top priorities. (The Sun)

There goes that rumor of him going to Portsmouth that appeared yesterday.

Stoke are poised to shatter their transfer record with the £4.5m signing of Reading striker Dave Kitson. (The Sun)

Good move by Stoke. If they have any shot at staying up Stoke will need to find players who can score goals. Kitson had a pretty good success rate scoring goals for Reading last season in the EPL with his 10 goals.

Hull boss Phil Brown is ready to break the club’s transfer record with a £5m bid for Manchester United striker Fraizer Campbell, whose goals during his loan spell last season played a part in securing their promotion to the Premier League. (Daily Mirror)

While this is nitpicking one of the few issues I can take with United is that unlike their great history of brining up young players to the first team lately the glass ceiling has started to form. Danny Simpson finds it hard to get a game. Gerald Pique left for Barcelona and players like Campbell, Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson keep being sent out on loan. If the Manchester United youth system is to keep on producing world class players, their young players have to see that they is a shot at actually being able to crack the United lineup at some point.

Midfielder Xabi Alonso’s failed move to Juventus means Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has abandoned plans to buy David Villa and David Silva from Valencia - and may have to give up hope of signing Tottenham striker Robbie Keane. (Daily Mirror)

I can understand why Alonso would want to stay at Liverpool. He is surrounded with fellow countrymen and is settled there but if I was Rafa Benitez I’d be telling Alonso what the deal is going to be. Alonso wasn’t a first team regular the latter half of the season and I’d make it clear to Alonso that staying in Liverpool will mean a lot of time on the bench. Not being able to cash in on Alonso will effect Liverpool’s transfer plans the rest of the summer.

Arsenal expect to be in a position to make an offer for Barry this week when they finally close the deal to sell their former captain Gilberto Silva to Panathinaikos (The Independent)

Gilberto to Panathinaikos is pretty much a done deal. Gilberto should of saw the writting on the wall when he wasn’t given the captaincy last year.

Lucas Neill moved a step closer to joining Manchester City after West Ham agreed a deal with Lazio right-back Valon Behrami. (Daily Mail)

West Ham haven’t exactly be masters of the transfer market in recent years but signing Behrami would be a great piece of business.

Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has blasted the summer transfer market as out of control. He said football is living in a fantasy world during a time the business community is heading for recession. (The Sun)

Again poor Arsenal. Raising the price of season tickets, playing in a new stadium with all the extra revenue, not to mention playing in a league with the largest television rights deal. Besides there hasn’t even been a transfer this season that I would say is even financially irresponsible. Blackburn can cry poor and I would feel sorry for them. A team the size of Arsenal I don’t.

EPL Gossip Tuesday July 15th

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Didier Drogba will be offered a huge new deal to keep him at Chelsea for life as new boss Luiz Felipe Scolari is desperate to hold on to the striker. (The Sun)

Drogba hasn’t been vocal lately in his wishes to leave. Add to that a market that is lukewarm at best in attempting a move for Drogba. All of this could mean that his future may still be at Stamford bridge.

Chelsea target Robinho is set to join the Blues for £48m after the Real Madrid forward claimed it would be a dream to work with Scolari. (Various)

Could see this one happening. Robinho will never live up to the expectations set upon him at Real Madrid. A fresh start with a new team would do Robinho some good.

It is a busy time at Stamford Bridge, with Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp closing in on the £5m signing of Chelsea and England left-back Wayne Bridge. (Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth is quickly becoming the Chelsea B team under Mourinho with the likes of Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra both players of quality already featuring for Portsmouth.

Tottenham have told Manchester United that Dimitar Berbatov can only go for £30m but United refuse to go above £24m for the striker and are ready to play a waiting game. (The Sun)

Did Tottenham really say this with a straight face?

Sunderland boss Roy Keane wants to sign former Manchester United team-mate Louis Saha on loan, with a view to a £3m permanent deal for the striker. (Daily Star)

How many more favours is Roy Keane going to ask from his old boss?

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill has confirmed that Arsenal have made enquiries about wantaway captain Gareth Barry. (The Sun)

I’m sure Martin O’Neill would love to sell Barry to Arsenal just to spite Liverpool and make Rafa Benitez look foolish.

Arsenal midfielder Gilberto has rejected the chance to stay in the Premier League with Everton and will sign for Panathinaikos when he returns from his summer break on Wednesday. (Daily Star)

Winters will be much nicer in Greece than London at least.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is ready to make an audacious bid to sign West Ham duo Lucas Neill and Craig Bellamy. (The Sun)

Why is this audacious? West Ham regretted signing Neill almost from the second they got him from Blackburn in 2007 and Craig Bellamy spent almost all of last season hurt.

Manchester City are ready to sell Georgios Samaras to Celtic in a knockdown £1m deal. (Daily Mirror)

Good piece of business for Celtic at that price.

Manchester United are planning to land Sporting Lisbon coach Paulo Bento, Cristiano Ronaldo’s friend and former team-mate, as manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s new assistant. (The Sun)

Don’t think United are in any rush to name a replacement for Queiroz. That being said it wouldn’t be a bad move for Bento who could learn a thing or two million from Sir Alex Ferguson.