Tuesday's gossip column

[Craig 6300]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

Chelsea have indicated they are willing to include Frenchman William Gallas in any deal for Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole. (The Times)

 

But they would prefer to let the unhappy Gallas "fester in the reserves" for a year. (Guardian)

 

Kevin Phillips will rejoin Sunderland after Aston Villa gave him permission to talk to his former club. (Guardian)

 

Tottenham are ready to bid £8m for Fulham striker Luis Boa Morte. (Independent)

 

Newcastle have persuaded Juve to pay more than £4m for error-prone defender Jean-Alain Boumsong. (Guardian)

 

Portsmouth are less likely to sign Udinese midfielder Sulley Mutari after they were quoted £11m. (Independent)

 

Wigan are close to completing the signing of Liverpool keeper Chris Kirkland, who is currently on loan with the club. (Independent)

 

Man Utd will offer £25m for Argentina striker Carlos Tevez. (Daily Mirror)

 

Manchester City have offered £2m plus Antoine Sibierski for highly-rated Lens midfielder Olivier Thomert. (Mirror)

 

Reading boss Steve Coppell is preparing bids for Leeds defender Matthew Kilgallon and Millwall's Marvin Elliott. (Mirror)

 

Sunderland are in talks over a £1.5m deal for Swedish midfielder Tobias Hysen, son of ex-Liverpool defender Glenn. (Sun)

 

Tottenham will bid £6m for Boro winger Stewart Downing. (Star)

 

Celtic may still be "days away" from completing the signing of Dutch striker Jan Vennegor of Hesselink from PSV. (Daily Record)

 

 

OTHER GOSSIP

 

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is expected to resist any takeover bid from the Jersey-based Belgravia Group. (Daily Express)

 

Football agent Jonathan Barnett fears he will be banned for more than six months over his role in the Ashley Cole tapping-up scandal. (Daily Express)

 

Manchester United owners the Glazer family will beef up their security after a group of 20 fans rampaged through their hotel. (Sun)

 

Lee Bowyer's sparkling Premiership debut for West Ham on Saturday has persuaded him he wants to spend the rest of his career at Upton Park. (Star)

 

Clyde have parted company with manager Graham Roberts - but the club have cleared him of making racist remarks on a pre-season tour. (Daily Record)

 

 

FUNNIES

 

Chelsea's new signing Khalid Boulahrouz has explained how he got his nickname 'The Cannibal'. "I don't let my opponent get into the game for a second. I destroy him and eat him raw."

 

Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann celebrated Reading's opening-day Premiership victory over Middlesbrough by ordering Chinese and Indian takeaways as well as fish and chips. (The Sun)

 

Celtic midfielder Neil Lennon was advised by then-boss Martin O'Neill to stop dying his hair blonde after repeatedly getting himself into trouble off the field. (Daily record)

[ChezGiven 0]

Love the Boulahrouz quote. If he had just added 'with a nice bottle of chianti' at the end, it would have been a legendary quote.