WHO NOW FOR CITEH?
John Terry has said no, so what and more appropriately who now for Manchester City?
Many of the papers seem to think they're already well down the road in trying to sign Kolo Toure, and you can read more about that one here.
The only other name mentioned is Joleon Lescott, so the papers haven't come up with anything new this morning. Bah.
UNITED TO RIVAL LIVERPOOL FOR SILVA?
The Daily Mail makes the claim that Xabi Alonso seems to be 'nearing the Anfield exit' this morning, but offer absolutely nothing to back up their claim.
Far more interesting in that paper is the story that Manchester United are planned to try and gazump Liverpool's move for Valencia's David Silva.
The Mail reports that United have already made a bid for Valencia's other David - Mr Villa - and are now toying with offering the readies for Silva too.
The paper claims they are 'long-time admirers' of Silva, and could make a bid at some stage this week.
CROUCH SET FOR TOTTINGHAM
You've probably already spotted this one, but it looks like Peter Crouch is on his way to Spurs, and Darren Bent will probably make room by shuffling up north to sign for Sunderland, although The Times claims Bent is holding out for a 'better option', and drops the name 'Aston Villa'. Sunderland do have a back-up plan though, with talks ongoing with Bordeaux over a deal for Marouane Chamakh.
The paper also claims Spurs are waiting on a decision from Patrick Vieira, after 'Arry said he'd spoken to the big man.
Meanwhile, down on the south coast, Portsmouth look like they're lining up a replacement for Crouch in the shape of Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic, who will cost around £5million from Hadjuk Split.
Steve Finnan also looks like he's on his way to Fratton Park, and will cost an awful lot less than £5million from Espanyol.
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST
We know it's poor form to laugh at the misfortune of others, but excuse us for chuckling heartily at Phil Brown.
For it looks like he's failed to persuade yet another striker to join Hull, with Roy Hodgson claiming Bobby Zamora has turned down a move to Humberside.
Arf. So that's Michael Owen, Fraizer Campbell, Marc-Antoine Fortune and Daryl Murphy.
Seriously, does Brown go to these meetings in a pair of hot pants, swigging from a can of Special Brew and saying, "Yeah, we'll probably go down, but I know a brilliant tanning salon"?
AND THE REST...
Blackburn's bid to sign Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak has been hit by a £9million transfer fee...Bolton boss Gary Megson is looking to balance the books, and Gavin McCann, Danny Shittu and Nicky Hunt could all be on their way out...Leeds want £8million from Tottenham for Fabian Delph...West Brom are poised to make a shock move for Rotherham striker Reuben Reid...Steven Pienaar has rejected a new Everton contract, with Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina both interested in his signature...Sunderland, Everton and Aston Villa are back on the trail of Standard Liege midfielder Milan Jovanovic...Middlesbrough have accepted an undisclosed offer from an unnamed club for Egypt striker Mido.
The Whispering Gossip
Now let's hear what you've got to say about this item... or anything else happening in the world of football. Send in your opinions, rants, praise or abuse to: theeditor@football365.com
Your Comments
OnlyArsenal
"The question the scum should be asking is, does he dive enough, does he cheat enough, if so he will join them if not he wont, Fergie buys players on the cheat ability before anything else"
PolishJoe
"kingkongcomador, spot on regarding Fletcher; Just because he didn't cost us a fortune and arrive with a big reputation most people don't seem to realise how important and effective a player he has become.
"
nihil95
"Pogrebnyak is mighty on FM09 so might aswell give him a go! he's quick, he's strong, great in the air and a good finisher. If hes available for less than 10m then he's what Man Utd are missing upfront. They have no real target man. Also, I would be surprised if Villa splash out 16m on Bent because they're squad is small, and as far as i know they havent signed a replacement Laursen, so they should get in a Steven Taylor type and get in people to give the squad more options. Silva to Utd sounds great, but i fear there's no real substance in the story. I'd rather Utd spend on De Rossi who can cover for Hargreaves and is fairly creative, Sneijder, Mathieu Bodmer or Ashley Young. All have the ability to get 10-20 goals a season from midfield. In short, Scholes' replacement"
kingkongcomador
"There's a slim chance of Silva signing for Liverpool and no chance of him signing for United. He's a small lad and knows he'd be better off in Spain. I've seen him play great stuff in La liga but i've seen him get bullied against English sides. I don't think he'd fancy a whole season of it.
And i wish all the united fans would stop this crapp about needing a new holding midfielder. There's too much waffle about how if Hargreaves was fit blah blah blah. You have no appreciation for Fletcher who has turned into a fine player and was the missing piece in that champions league final. United need a new scholes cause Carrick and Anderson just aren't capable of replacing him. They don't need silva either. United have three or four young attacking players that could all be plaing a big part next season. Wellbeck, Macheda, Tosic etc. I think Fergie has confidence in these players and won't bother buying in players to deny them a place. He's always been big on giving youth a go."
doncobaino
"the mail...but i wouldnt mind if it was fergie and we signed someone else. "
12cantonas
"No matter what he's said, Fergie will undoubtedly make another siging before the season begins, he'll have another suprise up his sleeve, how much of a suprise David Silva would be is another question, but he'd be a great addition. But United really need to look at buying a solid 'Keane' type player, not he easiest type of player to find, but that's the area that needs attention."
PolishJoe
"The way I look at it is that Fergie knows that if he shows any interest in a player the price will skyrocket. He, no doubt, has players that he's interested but he's not going to say who until the time is right. The time will be right when the team selling one of these players accepts a fee from another team so that Fergie can add a couple of million to the price and not the 25 million that would be added if he didn't bide his time. They can't very well turn around and say that 25 million is acceptable from, say Liverpool, but they want 50 million from United can they? "
macci
"Silva to UTD? Yes, I hope so. Then we can stop this rollox about him joining Liverpool. Although all this is paper speculation anyway. "
steed_8
"Keep 'em coming Bruce. Da Silva, Cana and Campbell all very decent signings, especially Lorik. Pass on Bent, Saggy face is messing us about. He paid £16m for Defoe, does he rate Bent as highly as Defoe? No. He also wants to pay no more than £10 for Crouch, does he rate Bent as highly as Crouch, No. He rates Bent as highly as he rates his missus. Now quit the bull crap and stick in an offer of £4m for Mrs Redknapp.
"
InvisibleMan
"I'm feeling the Silva to Man Utd rumour. He's about as close to Giggs as you can get. The rumour was around just around the end of season and has now hotted up again, one of the more credible rumours, I'd say. Would make good sense too..."
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