Thursday's gossip column
- From the section Football
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TRANSFER GOSSIP
Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, 26, has fuelled speculation linking him to Bayern Munich ahead of Pep Guardiola's arrival as the German side's manager by admitting he would not "automatically" reject an offer. Guardiola's brother Pere represents the Uruguay international.
Tottenham have rejected a bid from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala to take 27-year-old defender Younes Kaboul on loan until the end of the season. Anzhi are searching for a replacement for Christopher Samba, who left for QPR in January.
West Brom manager Steve Clarke wants to keep on-loan Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, 19, at The Hawthorns for another season.
Manchester City's hopes of buying Napoli striker Edinson Cavani are looking increasingly thin with Real Madrid ready to offer significant competition in the race for his signature. The Uruguayan has been earmarked as a summer replacement for Mario Balotelli by the Premier League champions, but Spanish side Real have already opened talks with the 26-year-old's representatives.
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis is keen on signing Bolton's Spanish left-back Marcos Alonso. Pulis watched the 22-year-old defender in Bolton's 1-0 win against Peterborough on Tuesday.
Cardiff City striker Robert Earnshaw, 31, is in talks to sign for MLS club Toronto on loan. He had a spell earlier in the season on loan in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
GLOBAL GOSSIP
(Sourced by BBC Monitoring)
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness says his side have regained "the dominant place in German football" after Wednesday night's 1-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-final of the domestic cup. Hoeness thanked his opponents, who won last season's league and cup double, for forcing his team to reach "another level".
Uefa president Michel Platini has called on the governments of Serbia and Croatia to address the problem of football violence. The two countries are scheduled to meet in a World Cup qualifier in Zagreb on 22 March.
OTHER GOSSIP
Paolo Di Canio's claim that his next managerial job will be in the Premier League has raised speculation that West Ham might be interested in his services. The Italian resigned as Swindon boss earlier this month.
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Arsenal are ready to relax their wage structure to strengthen their squad. No player earns more than £100,000 a week but that figure could be broken as Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is interested in Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic, 23, and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Gotze, 20.
AND FINALLY
Chelsea have brought in lawyers in a bid to get a billboard poking fun at struggling striker Fernando Torres, 28, removed from a site opposite Stamford Bridge.
Reports in Italy suggest AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli has commissioned an artist to make a statue of him in the "muscleman" pose he struck during Euro 2012.