Tuesday's Gossip

[Besty 4]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

London rivals Chelsea and Arsenal are locked in a £30m scrap for Dinamo Zagreb and Croatia midfielder Luca Modric. (The Sun)

 

Didier Drogba has told Chelsea he wants play for Ivory Coast in the Beijing Olympics next August. (Mirror)

 

Israel's Omer Golan is angling after a move to the Premier League after scoring the winner against Russia on Saturday to boost England's Euro 2008 qualification hopes. (Mirror)

 

North-east neighbours Middlesbrough and Sunderland are battling over £2m-rated Macedonia striker Ilco Naumoski who plays his club football in Austria for SV Mattesburg. (Mirror)

 

Bolton manager Gary Megson is looking at a £400,000 move for Zoltan Gera, the Hungarian midfielder he originally signed as West Brom boss. (Daily Express)

 

Reading manager Steve Coppell will be given a £10m transfer kitty for the January window, but the Royals are struggling to attract big-name players. (Various)

 

OTHER GOSSIP

 

England boss Steve McClaren may start Aston Villa goalkeeper Scott Carson against Croatia on Wednesday instead of Tottenham's Paul Robinson. (Various)

 

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes England will top their Euro 2008 qualification group by beating Croatia 2-0 at Wembley. (Various)

 

Croatia say the England player they most fear is former captain, and LA Galaxy midfielder, David Beckham. (Times)

 

Russian billionaire, and owner of Spartak Moscow, Leonid Fedun, has offered Croatia four Mercedes cars if they beat England to help Russia qualify for Euro 2008. (Various)

 

Croatia striker Mladen Petric could miss the game as he is fighting a virus (Daily Mail)

 

Manchester City and Croatia defender Vedran Corluka says there are too many foreign players in the Premier League. (Mirror)

 

The Scottish Football Association will use a trip to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup qualifying draw as an opportunity to open contract talks with boss Alex McLeish. (Various)

 

Former Wigan manager Paul Jewell is favourite to replace Steve Bruce, who is bound for the JJB Stadium, as manager of Birmingham. (Times)

 

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie has dismissed reports linking manager Harry Redknapp with Newcastle. (Times)

 

Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, 32, looks likely to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season after his agent said there are no talks planned. (Times)

 

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez wants to win the Premier League this season after turning down the manager's role at German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich. (Various)

 

Premier League clubs may lose their Nigerian players for up to seven weeks after manager Berti Vogts revealed he wants his players for two weeks before the African Cup of Nations, starting in January. (Times)

 

Blackburn will allow defender Andre Ooijer to return to Holland in the summer on a free transfer with Feyenoord keen to sign the 33-year-old. (Daily Mail)

 

Billy Davies has two games to save his job as manager of Premier League basement boys Derby. (Daily Star)

 

Tottenham midfielder Hossam Ghaly, who has not played since reacting angrily to being substituted by former boss Martin Jol last season, has been granted permission to train with Egyptian side Al Ahly. (Daily Star)

 

Andy Cole is set to launch his Premier League comeback for Sunderland against Everton this weekend. (Various)

 

Preston are expected to name Alan Irvine as Paul Simpson's successor as manager at Deepdale. (Various)

 

Plymouth boss Ian Holloway is expected to become Leicester's new manager after being offered large pay rise by City chairman Milan Mandaric. (Various)

 

However, Mandaric himself has ruled out a move for the former QPR manager saying he had not approached Argyle and had no intention of doing so. (Various)

 

Former Sunderland and Manchester City manager Peter Reid is pondering a return to management with Championship side Burnley. (Daily Mail)

 

AND FINALLY

 

Joe Cole will keep his promise and send Chelsea team-mate Tal Ben Haim on holiday after he helped Israel beat Russia on Saturday. Cole says he has brochures for Clacton-on-Sea (in Essex). (Various)

Edited November 20, 2007 by Besty

[khay 10]

Berti Vogts!?!, don't even get my started.

[Fop 1]

7 weeks. As bad as Owen.