Tuesday's gossip column

[Scottish Mag 3]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

 

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will join Inter Milan after the Champions League final on Wednesday. (Various)

 

Barcelona and Manchester United are leading the chase for Seville right-back Daniel Alves. (The Daily Star)

 

Chelsea will appoint Guus Hiddink as Avram Grant's managerial successor for next season. (The Daily Star)

 

Newcastle want to offload Emre to Galatasaray and sign left winger Arda Turan from the Turkish club, while they are also eyeing Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez. (The Daily Star)

 

The Tyneside outfit are also ready to tempt Rangers with a £7m offer for defender Carlos Cuellar. (The Sun)

 

Arsenal are close to completing the £13.5m capture of Samir Nasri from Marseille. (Various)

 

But Gunners boss Arsene Wenger faces talks with Kolo Toure, who does not want to play second fiddle to William Gallas, while Sporting Lisbon's Miguel Veloso could be drafted in to replace Mathieu Flamini. (The Sun)

 

Or, Roma £12m-rated midfielder Alberto Aquilani is being tipped to come in to replace Flamini. (Various)

 

Arsenal are one of a number of clubs interested in Fiorentina keeper Sebastian Frey. (Mirror)

 

Liverpool are close to signing Udinese's £8m-rated left-back Andrea Dossena. (Various)

 

Juventus boss Claudio Ranieri is keen to take Chelsea left-back Wayne Bridge to Italy. (Daily Mail)

 

Everton boss David Moyes will sign a new contract after being given £20m to spend in the transfer market. (Daily Mail)

 

The bulk of those funds could be used by Moyes to beat Manchester City to the signature of CSKA Moscow striker Jo. (Various)

 

Tottenham will land Crystal Palace youngster John Bostock in a deal that could rise to £5m. (Daily Mail)

 

Blackburn are preparing an £11m raid on Espanyol to sign defender Marc Torrejon and striker Ferran Corominas. (Mirror)

 

Scunthorpe have rejected a £400,000 bid from Burnley for Martin Paterson. (The Daily Star)

 

 

OTHER GOSSIP

 

 

Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez says Chelsea are under more pressure to win the Champions League than the Old Trafford side as he tries his brand of mind games. (Various)

 

John Terry wants to lead Chelsea to Champions League success to help him stake his claim to be England captain ahead of Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand. (The Daily Star)

 

Sven-Goran Eriksson has had a meeting with Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra but is still unclear about whether he will stay on as manager. (Various)

 

West Ham midfielder Freddie Ljungberg says he will be fit enough to captain Sweden at Euro 2008. (The Daily Telegraph)

 

 

AND FINALLY

 

 

Chelsea and Manchester United are each struggling to sell-out their allocation of tickets for the Moscow showpiece, despite the Luzhniki stadium's capacity being reduced to 69,500 from 85,000. (Times)

 

The Champions League final is causing things to get heated on the NBA scene. Cleveland Cavaliers star Zydrunas Ilgauskas is a Manchester United fan and accused Boston's Kevin Garnett of being a fake Chelsea fan. But Garnett said: "I straightened him out - I let him know I wasn't a fake fan." By the way, Boston have just beaten Cleveland 4-3 in the seven-match series. (The Daily Star)

 

Former Great Britain sprinter Darren Campbell has been helping train Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko but the Olympic 4x100m gold medallist is a Manchester United fan. (The Sun)

 

Lubos Michel, who ruled Luis Garcia's effort had crossed the line when Liverpool knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League before winning it in 2005, will referee the game in Moscow. He has since said of the Jose Mourinho-dubbed 'ghost goal': "If my assistant referee had not signalled a goal, I would have given a penalty and sent off keeper Petr Cech." (The Daily Telegraph)

[sammynb 3640]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

Arsenal are one of a number of clubs interested in Fiorentina keeper Sebastian Frey. (Mirror)

 

Best sideburns in football today.

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West Ham have been linked with Saha. Have they not learnt their lesson reagrding buying perma-crocks?