Thursday's gossip column - transfers and rumours
Last updated on .From the section Football
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Robin van Persie has already signed a contract with Juventus according to Fifa agent Fabio Parisi.
Barcelona have joined Chelsea and Real Madrid in the race to sign Brazilian star Neymar, 19.
Chelsea will have to bid at least £8m to land 22-year-old Spanish right-back Cesar Azpilicueta who currently plays for French Ligue 1 side Marseille.
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is believed to have made a fresh bid for Lille's 27-year-old full-back Mathieu Debuchy.
Tottenham Hotspur are making a bid for Roma's Dutch international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg, 29.
Manchester City's Slovakian winger Vladimir Weiss, 22, is set to be loaned out to Pescara in Italy's Serie A.
Birmingham City are fighting off Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Chelsea in order to keep 13-year-old midfielder Foday Nabay.
Lazio are interested in signing Newcastle's 21-year-old defender Davide Santon.
Wolves have hinted that 25-year-old striker Steven Fletcher will be sold, despite rejecting a £10m bid from Sunderland.
Fulham want to boost their forward options by moving for Huddersfield striker Jordan Rhodes and Andrey Arshavin of Arsenal.
The Cottagers midfielder Moussa Dembele, 25, is also believed to be a £10m target for La Liga champions Real Madrid.
Swansea's Joe Allen is close to agreeing a lucrative contract with Liverpool.
Full story: South Wales Evening Post
Malaga midfielder Santi Cazorla, 27, could fly into London this week for a medical with Arsenal once a £17.3m fee is agreed.
Southampton midfielder Richard Chaplow, 27, looks set to snub a move to Championship side Crystal Palace to fight for his future at St Mary's.
Everton manager David Moyes has been to Copenhagen to assess Danish left-back Bryan Oviedo, 23.
Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, released by Sunderland, is poised for a move to Serie A club Udinese.
Queens Park Rangers chief executive Tony Fernandes insists he is still in talks to sign Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng.
United States midfielder Maurice Edu has told Rangers manager Ally McCoist he wants to quit the Ibrox club before the end of the month because he does not want to play in Division Three.
OTHER GOSSIP
Liverpool insist that Andy Carroll has been left out of the squad for Thursday's Europa League game against FC Gomel because of injury.
FA chairman David Bernstein has vowed to step up the fight against racism in football.
Portsmouth manager Michael Appleton is staying calm despite the threat of the club being liquidated.
Iffy Dieke will miss the rest of Scotland's Euro 2013 qualifying campaign after the defender ruptured her anterior cruciate knee ligament playing for Great Britain against Cameroon at the London Olympics.
AND FINALLY
Michael Jamieson took silver in the 200m breastroke at the London Olympics but admits he was more stunned to hear that his race was shown at Celtic Park as his football favourites played HJK Helsinki in a Champions League qualifier.
West Brom are set to unveil a statue to immortalise the Baggies iconic Three Degrees of Cyrille Regis, Brendon Batson and the late Laurie Cunningham. The monument will be erected in West Bromwich to celebrate the achievements of the players who pioneered the way for black footballers in this country in the late 1970s.
