Saturday's gossip column: Football transfers & rumours

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TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini is ready to make a cut-price offer for 31-year-old Paris St-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Full story: Daily Mirror 
Tottenham are preparing an offer for Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, 22, but believe the £25m price tag is unrealistic.
Full story: Daily Telegraph 
Manchester City's Argentine defender Pablo Zabaleta, 28, wants to move to Italy and would like to play for Fiorentina.

Pablo Zabaleta joined Manchester City from Spanish side Espanyol in 2008

Full story: Goal.com 
Midfielder Joey Barton, 30 has reached agreement on a return to Marseilles as QPR continue with plans to restructure their squad.
Full story: The Times (subscription required) 
Wayne Rooney, 27, still wants to quit Manchester United and Chelsea believe they can land the unsettled £25m striker.
Full story: Daily Star 
Real Madrid have made a £36m bid for Juventus and Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal, 26, who is also a target for Manchester United.
Full story: talkSPORT 
Chelsea are lining up an £11.2m offer for Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi, 29, a long-term target.
Full story: Metro 
Norwich City boss Chris Hughton is plotting a £6m move for Juventus's Italy striker Fabio Quagliarella, 30.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Manchester City target Alvaro Negredo, 27, is edging closer to a move away from Sevilla, with coach Unai Emery saying it would be "best for everyone" if he left.
Full story: Manchester Evening News 
Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger has refused to rule out a move for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, 26, and is preparing to up his offer from £30m to £35m.
Full story: London Standard 

Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul is a Netherlands international

Manchester United boss David Moyes is set to turn his attentions to Lazio and Italy attacking midfielder Antonio Candreva, 26, if United miss out on Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara, 22.
Full story: Daily Express 
Arsenal could make a bid to bring Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul, 25, to North London.
Full story: Daily Star 
Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone, 26, is on the verge of joining Sunderland after the clubs agreed a £5m fee.
Full story: London Evening Standard 
Liverpool have set their sights on Galatasaray forward Burak Yilmaz, 27.
Full story: Metro
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, 25, is being lined up for a move to Premier League new boys Hull and a reunion with Tigers boss Steve Bruce after his move to Eintracht Frankfurt collapsed.
Full story: The Sun 

GLOBAL GOSSIP (from BBC Monitoring)

Manchester City have joined the chase to sign Paris St-Germain and Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 31.
Full story: L'Equipe (in French) 
However, Ibrahimovic could follow coach Carlo Ancelotti and head to Real Madrid.
Full story: Marca (in Spanish) 

OTHER GOSSIP

Jermain Defoe scored 15 goals in 43 appearances for Tottenham last season

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has held preliminary contract talks with the club, with the Frenchman also stating his long-term desire to stay with the Gunners.
Full story: Daily Telegraph 
Swansea now have seven Spaniards in their first-team squad and boss Michael Laudrup is wary of undermining their identity as a Welsh team.
Full story: Daily Mirror 
Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe, 30, has called on the club to strengthen their attacking options.
Full story: Daily Mail 
West Ham have applied for a work permit for Colombian forward Duvan Zapata, 22, to try to smooth his £6.8m arrival from Estudiantes.
Full Story: The Guardian 
Celtic manager Neil Lennon admits Gary Hooper may have played his last game for the club, with the striker unlikely to stay in Glasgow.
Full story: The Sun 

AND FINALLY

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe is such a regular visitor to St Lucia that he speaks the local French-based Creole with his family and French-speaking team-mates past and present, William Gallas and Pascal Chimbonda.
Full story: The Guardian 
Former England striker Emile Heskey has been putting a team of WAGs assembled by fiancee Chantelle Tagoe through their paces for a charity football match.
Full story: Daily Mail 

source:bbcsports  GIVE YOUR OPINIONS HERE