Gossip

TRANSFER GOSSIP Manchester United are keen on Atletico Madrid central defender Diego Godin with boss Louis van Gaal not ruling out meeting the 28-year-old's £28m buy-out clause with the Spanish side. (Daily Telegraph) An unnamed Qatari side have bid £9.5m for Abdul Majeed Waris, 23 - believed to be a target for Manchester United after assistant manager Ryan Giggs travelled to Turkey to watch the Trabzonspor striker in a Europa League fixture. (Daily Star) Diego Godin Uruguay defender Godin has 85 caps Former Everton and Manchester United boss David Moyes is considering Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam, 28, as his first signing for Real Sociedad. (Fichajes.net - in Spanish) Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will not make a decision on seeking to extend 36-year-old midfielder Frank Lampard's loan spell from New York City beyond January until after the Etihad side's final Champions League group match against Roma next week. (Daily Telegraph) Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to offload forward Lukas Podolski, 29, and Joel Campbell, 22, in January, with Inter Milan and Cologne interested in the former and Everton, Swansea and West Brom keen on the latter. (Times - subscription required) Chelsea are keen to loan out midfielder Mohamed Salah in January and Everton, QPR, Stoke and Sunderland are all interested in landing the 22-year-old. (Daily Mirror) Arsenal have been warned by Celtic they will not be able to sign defender Virgil van Dijk, 23, on the cheap. (TalkSport) Burnley striker Danny Ings is out of contract in June and Newcastle are leading the clubs chasing the 22-year-old's signature. (Daily Mirror) But Burnley boss Sean Dyche says there are no plans to sell Danny Ings, or any of the club's other key players, during the January transfer window. (Sun - subscription required) OTHER GOSSIP Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, 34, is considering retiring at the end of the season after being asked to take a huge pay cut to sign a new two-year deal at the Anfield club. (Daily Star) Daily Express back page Tuesday's Daily Express back page Reds manager Brendan Rodgers has told Gerrard he can have a place on Liverpool's coaching staff when his illustrious career ends. (Guardian) Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk has revealed he did not join Chelsea because the 28-year-old Brazilian feared he would struggle to get a starting berth. (Metro) Chelsea are ready to offer 51-year-old manager Jose Mourinho a lucrative new contract after speculation linking him with the Barcelona job. (Daily Express) Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez, 26, is seeking assurances he will get first-team football at Old Trafford after returning from a loan spell at Real Madrid. (Daily Mail) Frank Lampard is in line for a £6m bonus if the midfielder helps Manchester City beat former club Chelsea to the title. (Sun - subscription required) Manchester City keeper Joe Hart's negotiations over a new deal with the club are set to continue into the new year. (Guardian) GLOBAL GOSSIP (sourced by BBC Monitoring) Manchester City are in talks with AS Monaco's 22-year-old French defender Layvin Kurzawa over a possible January transfer. (L'Equipe - in French) AC Milan and Paris St-Germain are in a race to sign Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, who has been replaced as number one choice by 22-year-old Thibaut Courtois at the Blues. (Bild - in German) Liverpool's summer signing Mario Balotelli, 24, could leave the Reds in January to return to Italy to play for Napoli. (Tuttosport - in Italian) Arsenal have joined Borussia Dortmund and Juventus in the race for FC Basel's 22-year-old Swiss defender Fabian Schar. The Gunners are also targeting Real Madrid's Spanish midfielder Isco, 22. (Bild - in German) German striker Miroslav Klose, 36, says he still wishes to play more and is not happy with the amount of playing time he is getting at Lazio. (Tuttosport - in Italian) Paris St-Germain's 29-year-old Argentine midfielder Ezequiel Lavezzi could leave the French club in January and return to his former club Napoli. (Le Figaro - in French) Meanwhile, PSG manager Laurent Blanc is keeping a close eye on FC Porto's 24-year-old Algerian midfielder Yacine Brahimi. (Le Figaro - in French) Barcelona's summer signing Luis Suarez, 27, says he will try to recover the "killer instinct" after he missed a couple of promising chances in the win at Valencia. (Mundodeportivo - in Spanish) Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta is confident that Thomas Vermaelen will return to full fitness in three months. The 22-year-old Belgian defender, who has been plagued by injuries recently, will undergo an operation in Finland on Tuesday. (AS.com - in Spanish) BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA Crystal Palace midfielder Joe Ledley, 27, is among a number of footballers who tweeted their disappointment at Jimmy Bullard's elimination from I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here. Chelsea keeper Petr Cech showed off his drumming skills by posting a video on his You Tube channel of him playing along to a Foo Fighters song. AND FINALLY Former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright, 51, has revealed he wanted to be a stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie but could not fulfil the ambition as he was too short. (Metro) Pavel Nedved with his waxwork Nedved was the 2003 European Footballer of the Year Former Juventus midfielder Pavel Nedved, 42, was left with tears of laughter after being turned into a waxwork at a museum in Prague. (Daily Mail) Bookmakers have reported a 'flurry of bets' on Thierry Henry, 37, becoming the next Arsenal manager after the former Gunners striker announced he was leaving New York Bulls. (London Evening Standard) Crystal Palace striker Marouane Chamakh, 30, was left stranded in Swansea on Saturday after missing the team coach home. (Sun - subscription required)