Tuesday's football gossip

[Scottish Mag 3]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

 

West Ham have made a dramatic £7m bid for Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg after missing out on Shaun Wright-Phillips. (The Sun)

 

But the Hammers face competition from Italian sides AC Milan and Juventus for the Swede. (Daily Express)

 

Arsenal have targeted Marseille's Franck Ribery, which is why they are prepared to let Ljungberg go. (Daily Mirror)

 

The Gunners have also been linked with Dutch international left winger Ryan Babel from Ajax. (The Independent)

 

Arsenal's right-back Lauren is another target for the struggling Hammers. (Daily Mail)

 

West Ham have told Mark Viduka they will better his wages at Middlesbrough to tempt him to Upton Park. (Daily Express)

 

Hammers boss Alan Curbishley is prepared to offer Viduka a staggering £60,000 a week. (Daily Mirror)

 

Owen Hargreaves fears Bayern Munich's "crazy" price tag has ruled him out of a dream move to Manchester United. (The Sun, Independent)

 

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has turned the screw on manager Jose Mourinho by cutting his transfer budget. (The Sun)

 

Chelsea may swoop for defender Josip Simunic - the player that referee Graham Poll famously booked three times during the World Cup. (Daily Star)

 

Birmingham boss Steve Bruce has joined the race to sign Luton striker Rowan Vine. (The Sun)

 

Newcastle are increasingly concerned that an agent-driven plan to move Obafemi Martins to Chelsea in the summer is unsettling the Nigerian. (The Guardian)

 

Teenage star Gareth Bale will snub Manchester United to stay at Southampton. (The Sun)

 

Bale has stalled on a new contract extension, prompting disagreement on Saints' board over whether to sell or not. (The Guardian)

 

Rangers will make a £1m move for Blackburn hardman Andy Todd. (Daily Record)

 

Aston Villa striker Milan Baros is a shock transfer target for La Liga strugglers Levante. (The Sun)

 

Villa have enquired about Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy and are ready to test the Reds with a £6m bid. (Daily Mail)

 

Phil Jagielka will quit Sheffield United for Liverpool in a £9m deal at the end of the season - if the Blades are relegated. (Daily Mirror, Daily Star)

 

Albert Luque has been offered a quick way out of his Newcastle nightmare by Dutch giants PSV. (Various)

 

Sheffield United, Blackburn and Portsmouth have joined the race to sign Belgian striker Emile Mpenza, who plays for Al Rayyan in Qatar. (Daily Mirror)

 

Hamilton whizzkid Jamie McCarthy is heading for Reading for talks over a £250,000 deal. (Daily Mirror)

 

Watford have put a £9m price tag on the head of star Ashley Young. (Various)

 

Wigan's David Wright is wanted by Ipswich boss Jim Magilton in a bargain £200,000 deal. (Daily Mirror)

 

Spurs are lining up a transfer window move for Kilmarnock star Steven Naismith. (Daily Record)

 

 

 

OTHER GOSSIP

 

 

Walter Smith will be confirmed as Rangers' new manager today. (Daily Telegraph)

 

Rangers will have to fork out £250,000 to have Walter Smith released from his contract. (Daily Record)

 

Former Liverpool boss Graeme Souness is making a shock bid to buy Wolves from owner Sir Jack Hayward in a £20m deal. (Daily Mirror)

 

Real Madrid are ready to offer under-fire Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho an escape route out of Stamford Bridge. (Daily Express, Mirror)

 

Chelsea's misfiring striker Andriy Shevchenko has been told he will be dropped if he cannot score against Wycombe in the Carling Cup. (The Sun)

 

The father of Pompey owner Alexandre Gaydamak has been bankrolling the club's transfers, even though he is also the owner of an Israeli team. (Daily Express)

 

 

Aaron Lennon's new five-and-a-half-year deal with Spurs is worth £11m. (The Sun)

 

Milan Mandaric will give Leicester manager Rob Kelly £3m to save the Foxes from relegation when he completes his takeover of the club this week. (The Sun)

 

Lord Stevens' bung team will tell the FA the names of the eight agents who have refused to help with their inquiry. (Various)

 

The inquiry team have already started questioning the eight agents involved in the 17 suspect transfers. (Daily Express)

 

Stevens' team attended a meeting with Scottish Football Association officials to discuss methods of obliging SFA-licenced agents to assist with their probe. (The Guardian)

 

The FA has appealed for Lord Stevens' team to reveal the Premier League clubs suspected of breaking transfer rules when they meet today. (Daily Telegraph)

 

 

AND FINALLY...

 

 

Nottingham Forest defender Julian Bennett reckons he knows all about their FA Cup fourth round opponents Chelsea after playing against them on the PlayStation. (The Sun)

 

Forest boss Colin Calderwood said he nearly crashed his car when they were drawn against Chelsea. (Daily Star)

 

Reading star Bobby Convey is praying Tuesday's game against Burnley goes ahead so his family do not have a wasted 4,000-mile trip. The Convey clan have seen the winger miss the Chelsea and Manchester United games through injury and the FA Cup tie at the weekend was called off. (Daily Star)

[JawD 99]

Aye its all going on like .....

[Guest alex]

Wouldn't be too arsed were Martins to go in the summer for a profit tbh. Can't afford to let him go in January though.

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 4042]

1/3 of the way into transfer window. I hate these things now.

[MrBass 2770]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

West Ham have made a dramatic £7m bid for Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg after missing out on Shaun Wright-Phillips. (The Sun)

 

Ignoring the fact that the source is The Sun for a second, but I thought they had agree a fee with Chelsea for SWP, what's happened?

[Dr Gloom 22382]

swp doesn't fancy a relegation battle apparently.

 

he'd come in a flash to us. shame he doesn't play left back. i reckon we'd be in for him if we didn't already have dyer, milner and nobby that can all play right wing

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Aye, I heard something on the news last night that Boro had bid £10m for SWP but that he wanted to come to us. It's silly season like.