Tuesday's Gossip

[Scottish Mag 3]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

 

Manchester City will step up their bid to sign Ronaldinho from Barcelona and are prepared to offer the Brazilian £200,000-a-week. (Daily Mail)

 

Manchester United are preparing a £15m bid for Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz. (The Sun)

 

But Mark Hughes wants to take Santa Cruz and team-mate David Bentley with him when he becomes the new manager of Manchester City. (Daily Mirror)

 

Gareth Barry has made it clear he wants to quit Aston Villa for Liverpool and striker Peter Crouch may head in the opposite direction. (Daily Star)

 

Barry himself has hinted at a move away from Villa Park by suggesting he needs to be playing Champions League football to be considered an England regular. (Various)

 

New Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho faces competition in his bid to sign Chelsea striker Didier Drogba from city rivals AC Milan. (Daily Star)

 

Mourinho is also keen to sign Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien and Frank Lampard from his old club. (Daily Star)

 

Newcastle are in the hunt to sign Argentine star Pablo Aimar after his club Real Zaragoza put him up for sale for £6.5m. (Daily Mirror)

 

Tottenham will move to sign Rangers goalkeeper Alan McGregor for £9m. (Daily Express)

 

Arsenal's pursuit of Samir Nasri has been put on hold until after Euro 2008, despite the Gunners agreeing a £12.5m fee with Marseille. (Daily Telegraph)

 

Hull City will have to pay Man Utd £5m for striker Frazier Campbell. (Daily Mirror)

 

And the Premier League new boys have told David Nugent he will need to take a £15,000 a week wage cut in he wants to sign from Portsmouth for £3m. (The Sun)

 

Fulham are preparing a £3m bid for Charlton's Chinese international midfielder Zheng Zhi. (Various)

 

And Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson is hoping to persuade Paul Scharner to reject a new deal at Wigan in favour of a move to Craven Cottage. (The Sun)

 

West Brom want to take Liverpool goalkeeper Scott Carson on loan after Aston Villa were put off making a £6m move. (Daily Mirror)

 

Stoke City have joined Fulham in the race to sign Rangers' £3m-rated striker Daniel Cousin. (Daily Record)

 

Rangers are interested in signing Aston Villa striker Marlon Harewood. (Daily Mirror)

 

Wolves have offered Burnley £2.5m and Stephen Elliot for Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty. (daily Mirror)

 

Former Newcastle and Man Utd striker Andrew Cole is in talks over a move to Norwich after snubbing Burnley. (Various)

 

Colchester goalkeeper Dean Gerken is a £500,000 target for Colchester and Reading. (Daily Star)

 

Southend midfielder Richie Foran looks set for a move north of the border to Aberdeen. (The Sun)

 

FA Cup finalists Cardiff City are preparing a move for Scunthorpe United and Northern Ireland striker Martin Paterson, who scored 14 goals as the Iron were relegated from the Championship.

 

 

OTHER GOSSIP

 

 

Manchester City will have to compensate Blackburn £5m for the services of Mark Hughes and his backroom team. (Various)

 

However, City fear their move for the former Manchester United striker may be hijacked by Chelsea. (Various)

 

Former Newcastle and Bolton boss Sam Allardyce is being lined up as Hughes' replacement at Ewood Park. (Various)

 

Axed City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is set to become the new manager of Mexico. (Various)

 

Sir Alex Ferguson has said he may only have two seasons left as manager of Manchester United. (Various)

 

In a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast on Sky Sports, Ferguson has also said he could have helped Paul Gascoigne had he signed for Manchester United instead of Tottenham and has no intentions of selling Cristiano Ronaldo. (Various)

 

Fabio Capello has narrowed the choice of who will become England's next captain down to two players, believed to be John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. (Various)

 

Nicolas Anelka has claimed he should never have left Arsenal to join Real Madrid in 1999 and said he could have spent his entire career with the Gunners. (Daily Star)

 

 

AND FINALLY

 

 

One in seven Premier League football fans will not renew their season tickets as they feel they are being priced out of the game. (Daily Mirror)

[Scottish Mag 3]

ARGENTINIAN midfielder Pablo Aimar is reported to be a target of Newcastle United after he was placed on the transfer list.

 

According to the Mirror, Toon boss Kevin Keegan could be set to join the race for the player who is said to be available for £6.5m.

 

Aimar's Spanish side Real Zaragoza were relegated from La Liga last month.

 

The newspaper claims Keegan is a big admirer of the attacking midfielder.

 

Aimar was allegedly a target of Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez in the January window when his price was said to be around the £20m mark.

 

The 29-year-old began his career at River Plate then spent five seasons with Valencia, where he played in the Champions League final losing out to Bayern Munich, before moving to Zaragoza.

 

He has made more than 50 appearances for Argentina.

[Park Life 71]

Still a very very good player.

[Dr Gloom 20234]

chalk him up

[khay 8]

Aimar, Ayala And Matuzalem To Stay

Pablo Aimar, Roberto Fabián Ayala and Francelino Matuzalem are all ready to commit themselves to playing in the second division for Real Zaragoza, despite reports that they are all ready to quit.

 

The trio have all put themselves at the disposal of the club and their agents are due to hold talks with los Maños to explain that they will stay and help win promotion.

 

According to reports in England, Zaragoza have put Aimar up for sale with a €10m price tag, but nothing could further from the truth according to his, and Ayala's, representative, Gustavo Mascardi.

 

If the club wants to keep them, then they will stay," he said. "That is what they are thinking and what they want now."

 

Matuzalem's agent, Filippo Fusco, said the same about his client: "The truth is that selling the player is not something that has been considered," he revealed.

 

Aimar is in demand with Newcastle United, Lazio, River Plate and Panathinaikos all making enquiries about his availability, but without any concrete moves having yet been made.

 

The final decision over the players will come from new coach Marcelino, who may require more funds to add to his squad or feel that the experience the trio offer could be invaluable in la Segunda A.

 

Zaragoza have already made Ricardo Oliveira's move from AC Milan permanent, although there have been suggestions that he could be loaned to a top flight club for the forthcoming season.

 

From Goal.com

[mrkikiet 0]

both aimar and matuzalem have spent a large part of this season injured though.

 

However the season before aimar was dynamite for zaragoza, he was a joy to watch.

 

and zaragoza have just managed to get hold of a pretty decent coach so we'll see what happens.

[khay 8]

Toon Transfer Talk: June 3

 

This section of nufc.co.uk is merely a record of speculation and does not in any way reflect who Newcastle United may or may not be targeting ...

 

ARGENTINIAN playmaker Pablo Aimar is the latest name to be linked with a summer switch to St.James' Park.

 

The Daily Mirror reports that Spanish club side Real Zaragoza are willing to listen to offers for the £6.5m rated star after their relegation from La Liga.

 

They add that Kevin Keegan is supposedly a big admirer of the 51-times capped midfielder.

 

Elsewhere, the Daily Star claims that United are interested in Charlton forward Zheng Zhi.

 

The China international is also a reported target of Fulham with Craven Cottage his likely destination.

 

On the departures front, Serie A pair Genoa and Siena are said to be weighing up a move for David Rozehnal with the Czech Republic defender currently preparing for Euro 2008.

 

[Andrew 4297]

Hope the aimar deal comes off, I called that the night zaragoza went down

[Stephen 0]

Zheng Zhi is a midfielder aint he?