Sunday's gossip column: Football transfers & rumours
- From the section Football
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For a list of confirmed transfers, check out our transfers page.
TRANSFER GOSSIP
Gareth Bale's future will be decided in the next 48 hours, with Tottenham's billionaire owner Joe Lewis set to demand £100m for the 24-year-old attacker from Real Madrid.
Real only want to pay £20m up front for Bale, with the rest of the world-record fee spread out in instalments.
Elsewhere, it is claimed that Tottenham will refuse to meet Real to discuss a deal for Bale.
Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas has criticised Real for making their interest in Bale public.
Spurs are considering a bid for unsettled Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Colombia international Jackson Martinez, both 26, as they plan to reinvest the income from Bale's impending transfer to Real Madrid.
Full story: Sunday Times (subscription required)
Villas-Boas's side have also had to step up their search for a new centre-half after being forced to field a makeshift pairing in the heart of their defence during a friendly at Monaco.
Striker Wayne Rooney, 27, will ask Manchester United for a transfer this week.
Chelsea are preparing an "imminent" second bid of around £40m for Rooney - and the England striker will leap at the chance to become Jose Mourinho's number one striker at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has has told a close friend "I'll get Luis Suarez" - even though Liverpool are adamant the clubs are way off a deal for the striker.
Full story: The Sun (subscription required)
But Reds boss Brendan Rodgers remains insistent Suarez is not for sale, although he adds that, if he were, the price tag would be closer to the £100m being touted for Gareth Bale.
Manchester United will set their sights on Bayern Munich's 29-year-old midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger - if a third bid for Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas, 26, fails this week.
Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse, 28, is mystified by reports linking him to Turkish side Trabzonspor.
Out-of-favour Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh, 29, has agreed to join Premier League new boys Crystal Palace on a six-month loan deal.
Goalkeeper Pepe Reina, 30, will join Barcelona - rather than return to Liverpool - after his season-long loan with Napoli is over.
Aston Villa left-back Enda Stevens, 23, has been made available for transfer by manager Paul Lambert.
OTHER GOSSIP
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes he would have been bored if he had taken the England job in 2007. "At that time my plan was just to try to motivate myself for a job that doesn't fulfil me," the 50-year-old said. "What do I do? During the day, I'm not training, so I have to go and see players train in their clubs."
Mourinho says his Chelsea team can play fantasy football this season - but claims he has never been ordered to do so by owner Roman Abramovich.
Inter Milan plan to keep an eye on Patrick Vieira's progress as head of Manchester City's elite development squad with a view to naming him head coach in the future. The 37-year-old played for the Italian side from 2006-2010.
The Football League faces a fight with Fifa to maintain the loan system that operates outside the current transfer window restrictions.
AND FINALLY
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, 34, says he does not support goal-line technology as it will take away some talking points from the sport.