Thursday's gossip column - transfers and rumours
Last updated on .From the section Football
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is 'certain' captain Robin van Persie, 28, will stay at Arsenal despite only having 12 months left on his current contract.
Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew is set to meet striker Demba Ba, 27, this week, in a bid to thrash out the striker's future.
Manchester City are preparing a £20m bid for Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel, 27, as a cheaper alternative to Thiago Silva.
Tottenham goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, 31, wants to stay at Spurs now Harry Redknapp has left.
Norwich City are the latest club to show an interest in signing England and Birmingham goalkeeper Jack Butland, 19, which will pave the way for John Ruddy, 25, to link up with former boss Paul Lambert at Aston Villa.
Swansea are keen to sign PSV Eindhoven midfielder Otman Bakkal, 27, with the Dutchman seen as the ideal replacement for Liverpool-bound Gylfi Sigurdsson.
Yakubu is set to land a bumper £5m-a-year move to China. The 29-year-old Nigerian has quit relegated Blackburn and will join Guangzhou R&F this week.
Wolves are facing a triple-pronged attack to get England winger Matt Jarvis, 26, out of Molineux. Stoke and Southampton are lining up bids for the £6m-rated star, while West Ham are still interested despite having a £4m offer turned down.
Newcastle have entered the race for Manchester City's John Guidetti. The 20-year-old striker, who scored 20 goals in 23 games while on loan at Feyenoord last season, was watched extensively by Sunderland last season.
OTHER GOSSIP
French striker Louis Saha believes the current France coach Laurent Blanc, 40, would be a hit at Tottenham if he was to take over from Harry Redknapp.
Rangers are interested in buying League One side Bury so they can move into English football.
Roy Hodgson has admitted that he did not watch Italy's victory over the Republic of Ireland because of the likelihood that his team would be playing Spain in the quarter finals.
AND FINALLY
Wayne Rooney has revealed he is on a "hair-raising mission" to look like his England strike partner Andy Carroll.
