Christmas gossip column - transfers and rumours
- From the section Football
.jpg)
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Cristiano Ronaldo tells former Manchester United team-mates he wants to return to Old Trafford and Real Madrid officials have already discussed a transfer fee they would accept - around £122m.
Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp fears transfer target Nicolas Anelka, 33, could be out of the London club's price range. Redknapp wants to sign the Shanghai Shenhua forward in January.
Meanwhile, QPR attacking midfielder Adel Taarabt has revealed his agent is in talks with AC Milan over a possible January move, although he admits he would only be going there to engineer a transfer to either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Fulham boss Martin Jol has moved to reinforce his defence by agreeing a cut-price £800,000 deal for Standard Liege's Turkey keeper Sinan Bolat, 24.
Full story: Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch)
Southampton boss Nigel Adkins is lining up a January move for Brighton winger Will Buckley, 24.
On-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, 19, says he wants to stay at West Bromwich Albion until at least the end of the season.
Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert wants to sign Welsh striker Steve Morison, 29, from his former club Norwich.
Brazilian midfielder Denilson, 24, has said he does not know what his future holds at Arsenal once his loan deal with Sao Paulo expires at the end of the season.
Full story: Globo Esporte (in Portuguese)
Tottenham will offer American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, 41, a new contract to stop him returning to Blackburn Rovers.
Veteran striker Kevin Phillips, 39, has told his Blackpool team-mate Tom Ince, 20, to wait before making a transfer back to the Premier League as he must not risk missing out on playing regular first-team football. The England Under-21 international winger has been linked with a £4m return to Liverpool.
Celtic will battle with Premier League duo West Ham United and Norwich City to sign Kilmarnock's 22-year-old midfielder Liam Kelly.
OTHER GOSSIP
Jack Wilshere has revealed he is pestering team-mate Theo Walcott to end speculation surrounding his Arsenal future and commit to the club by signing a new contract.
Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas says his Aston Villa counterpart Paul Lambert has been courageous to drop striker Darren Bent, 28, in the face of criticism from some supporters.
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has banned full-contact training at West Ham over Christmas to try to avoid any more injuries at the club.
Reading's Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, 29, looks set for talks with the club's owners to discuss his future.
AND FINALLY
What do you buy the kids of Hollywood A-listers who have everything? Liverpool kits of course! Well at least that's what silver-screen royalty Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt did for their brood of six children, when they recently raided the Reds club shop for shirts, mugs, tracksuits and caps.