Gossip

TRANSFER GOSSIP Manchester City have made enquiries about signing striker Wilfried Bony, 26, from Swansea in January for £30m. (Telegraph) Wednesday's Times back page Wednesday's Times back page City will face competition for Bony's signature from Chelsea, who are also interested in the Ivory Coast international. (Times - subscription required) Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has identified central midfield as the area he will look to strengthen when the January transfer window opens. (Guardian) The Gunners are submitting a £25.5m bid for 22-year-old Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho. (Daily Star) AC Milan have told clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool that striker Stephan El Shaarawy, 22, will cost £11.5m if they want to sign him in January. (Daily Express) Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers wants to sign Villarreal's 21-year-old Argentine striker Luciano Vietto, who has been dubbed the "new Sergio Aguero". (Daily Mirror) Everton are weighing up a short-term move for Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi, 33, because of an injury to Tim Howard, 35, who has been ruled out for up to six weeks. (Daily Mail) Promising Norway midfielder Martin Odegaard, 16, will snub Europe's top clubs and sign for Southampton. (Daily Star) Serbian defender Matija Nastasic is on the brink of leaving Manchester City after Schalke confirmed they were in talks with the 21-year-old over an an initial loan deal. (Manchester Evening News) Newcastle will snub a £9m bid which Arsenal are believed to be lining up for the club's French midfielder Moussa Sissoko, 25. (Independent) Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City have made enquiries for St Etienne defensive midfielder Rayan Souici, 17. (Daily Mail) OTHER GOSSIP Former Tottenham boss Tim Sherwood is on the brink of being appointed as the new West Brom head coach, following the sacking of Alan Irvine. (Independent) Tony Pulis would be willing to work alongside a director of football at West Brom as long as guarantees of complete control of the club were included in his contract. (Guardian) Tony Pulis Tony Pulis quit as Crystal Palace manager before the start of the season Pulis has also rejected the chance to replace Alan Pardew as manager at Newcastle because of fears that owner Mike Ashley would pick the team. (Daily Mail) Ashley is considering giving caretaker boss John Carver the Magpies manager's job on a permanent basis. (Daily Mirror) Neil Warnock says he is not bitter about his departure from Crystal Palace and thinks Pardew would be the ideal choice to succeed him as manager at Selhurst Park. (Talksport) Pardew returned to Newcastle's training ground to say goodbye to players and staff before his appointment at Palace. (Newcastle Chronicle) Pardew is anxious to get started at Palace and wants to take charge of the club's game against Aston Villa on New Year's Day. (Daily Mail) Brighton chief executive Paul Barber says the club are hopeful of naming Sami Hyypia's successor as manager in the next few days. (Sky Sports) Manchester City midfielder David Silva, 28, says playing the Premier League's bottom sides can be harder than facing title rivals . (Manchester Evening News) BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA Southampton urged one of its supporters to pluck up the courage to ask out a girl he liked on its official Twitter feed. A Saints fan got in touch with the club to try to find out the name of a supporter sat near him. The club tweeted: "Man up and ask if she fancies a drink - no lady can resist a hot Bovril." AND FINALLY... Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has compared his development from skinny youngster to impregnable stopper at United to that of comic book character Captain America's physical transformation. (Manchester Evening News) Some Chelsea fans put their club allegiance first by refusing to give a Christmas kiss to a model wearing a Tottenham shirt during a social experiment. (Metro)