Thursday's gossip column
Last updated on .From the section Football
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Didier Drogba, 33, is to be offered a two-year, £80,000-a-week deal by Italian club Juventus following his departure from Chelsea.
Arsenal have joined the race to sign Lille attacker Eden Hazard, 21, and are willing to splash the £30m that they had set aside for Borussia Dortmund's Mario Gotze before he opted to stay with the German champions.
Manchester City will turn their attentions to versatile 23-year-old Athletic Bilbao star Javi Martinez after growing disillusioned with Hazard.
Newcastle United will risk losing hot property striker Demba Ba, 26, this summer as they refuse to renegotiate the terms of his contract to remove a £7m release clause.
Chelsea have had a £32.4m offer for exciting young Brazil midfielder Lucas Moura rejected, according to Sao Paulo club president Juvenal Juvenico. "Lucas is a fantastic player with great qualities who is giving so much to the team," Juvenico said of the 19-year-old, capped 11 times by his country.
Tottenham have West Brom defender Jonas Olsson in their sights and believe they can prise the 29-year-old from the Hawthorns for £3m.
Manchester United are preparing a multi-million pound offer for sought-after Montpellier goalscorer Olivier Giroud. Sir Alex Ferguson wants to start negotiations with the Ligue 1 winners before Euro 2012, in case the 25-year-old's valuation soars afterwards.
Newcastle may resurrect their interest in Switzerland and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta. The Magpies were tracking the 27-year-old 18 months ago but their pursuit stalled after he suffered a knee injury.
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has dismissed speculation that the club are ready to offer strikers Carlos Tevez or Mario Balotelli as part of a deal to land 27-year-old AC Milan star Thiago Silva.
Porto frontman Hulk, 25, wants to replace Didier Drogba as the spearhead of the Chelsea attack. Porto have demanded a minimum of £38m for their talismanic striker, but Chelsea won't stretch far beyond £30m.
Everton are already hunting a replacement for Leighton Baines, should the left-back head to Manchester United in the off-season. Manager David Moyes has identified French defender Aly Cissokho, 24, as a possible £6m target.
Alternatively, Moyes may swoop for Sunderland left-back Kieran Richardson as a replacement with the 27-year-old available for around £4m.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Holland captain Mark van Bommel has urged international team-mate Arjen Robben, 28, to seriously consider leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, after he was booed by Munich fans during their team's friendly against the Dutch. The unsettled former Chelsea winger could attract interest from Manchester United and Liverpool.
AC Milan plan to speak to Liverpool in June about on-loan midfielder Alberto Aquilani. The Italian international, 27, has failed to play 25 full games for the Rossoneri, the figure that would have triggered an instant buy-out clause from the Reds.
Manchester United are considering a move for Ezequiel Lavezzi, Napoli's Argentine forward. The 27-year-old has a £25m buy-out clause in his contract.
Full story: Journal of Naples
Manchester City striker John Guidetti, 20, could move to Swansea on loan after scoring 20 goals in 23 games while at Feyenoord last tern.
Bolton are hopeful of tempting Arsenal teenager Ryo Miyaichi to spend another season at the Reebok as they bid to bounce straight back to the Premier League. The Gunners midfielder, 19, had an impressive season despite the Trotters' doomed relegation scrap.
Birmingham's 13-year-old wonderkid Foday Nabay, who was called up for England Under-16s last summer, is attracting the attention of Manchester United and Manchester City, but Arsenal remain favourites for his signature.
OTHER GOSSIP
After suggesting he may walk away from Chelsea in the summer, Spanish striker Fernando Torres has received assurances from the club that he will be the main attacker at Stamford Bridge next season.
Chelsea's interim boss Roberto Di Matteo has warned that he will quit the club if he is offered only a one-year extension after winning the FA Cup and Champions League during his brief spell in charge.
Former England boss Fabio Capello, who quit the national team role in February, is not on the Liverpool owners' shortlist to fill the vacant managerial post at Anfeld.
After initially sounding out his representatives, Liverpool have also decided not to pursue their interest in former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas.
Tottenham have offered in-demand left-sided player Gareth Bale a new £70,000-a-week deal in a bid to stave off interest from the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Full story: the Sun
Manchester City lost £197m last season, the biggest single-year loss by a football club in history. The Premier League's 20 clubs collectively made a loss of £361m last year, after spending all of their record £2.3bn income.
Paul Lambert is the new favourite for Aston Villa, but has yet to be approached by the Midlands club. The Norwich manager could fill the post vacated by Alex McLeish at the end of the season, after Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer pulled out of the race for the Villa Park position.
Former Bolton playmaker Jay Jay Okocha says he feels his time spent at the club, helping to establish the Trotters as a top-flight team, has been wasted. "All our efforts have been thrown away. It feels like all that work was wasted," he says.
Terry Venables, who managed England to the semi-finals of Euro 1996, is to be offered a role at the Football Association's new base at St George's Park. He has been asked by head of elite development Gareth Southgate to lead some coaching seminars.
Full story: Daily Telegraph
AND FINALLY
England captain Steven Gerrard has admitted that in the past the national team might have thought too much of themselves. "Maybe in the last two or three tournaments, as a group of players, we've maybe thought we were better than we were," he said.
"Sometimes we thought we only had to turn up with England because we had a lot of top players. But we just haven't performed, we haven't clicked, we haven't gelled."
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has described the Sunderland fans who gloated as the Premier League title was snatched from his side on the final day of the season as "sad".
Despite fears over the quality of England's squad for Euro 2012, France coach Laurent Blanc is confident he knows about every one of Roy Hodgson's men, "apart from the reserve left-back, the one who plays for Everton". Leighton Baines, we assume.
Full story: the Times (subscription required)
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has made his case for inclusion further upfield for Poland at Euro 2012 with a brilliant trick-shot goal in Poland training.
