Friday's Gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester City have rejected a bid from AC Milan to sign striker Mario Balotelli on loan. The Italian side have also told City that they will pay no more than €25m (£21.2m) to sign the 22-year-old on a permanent basis.

Full story: Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian)

Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini, 31, is poised to commit to Newcastle for the rest of the season after the Argentine defender was told it would cost him £7m to quit.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Senegal international Mohamed Diame made over 100 appearances for Wigan before joining West Ham

Tottenham are considering meeting West Ham's £3.5m release clause for Mohamed Diame - beating Arsenal, Everton and Fulham to the 25-year-old midfielder.

Full story: Guardian

Queens Park Rangers' Brazilian keeper Julio Cesar, 33, is a surprise target for Real Madrid after they lost Spain international Iker Casillas for a month with a broken hand.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Sunderland are close to signing an unnamed Peru international left-back and hope to bring in at least three more players in the January transfer window.

Full story: The Journal

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has identified France Under-19 defender Kurt Zouma as a summer transfer target. The 18-year-old could cost £8m from St Etienne.

Full story: Daily Mail

Wolves are competing with Leeds to sign Aston Villa left-back Stephen Warnock, 31, on loan.

Full story: Express & Star

Norwich are considering an ambitious move to sign Netherlands striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel, 23, from Sporting Lisbon.

Full story: skysports.com

QPR are closing in on deals for Portuguese defender Rolando, 27, from FC Porto, and Yun Suk-Young, 22, from Chunnam Dragons.

Full story: Metro

Arsenal are interested in Barcelona winger Isaac Cuenca with the Spanish club willing to loan him out this month. The 21-year-old has not played this season after suffering a knee injury.

Full story: Daily Express

Centre-back Zouma has made 10 appearances in Ligue 1 this season

Liverpool and Everton are considering bids of £2m for Chesterfield's 21-year-old winger Tendayi Darikwa.

Full story: talkSPORT

Fulham have enquired about former Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz, 31, at Wolfsburg. Wigan and Aston Villa have also been offered the Austrian.

Full story: Daily Mail

Blackpool hope to sign Nottingham Forest striker Matt Derbyshire on loan. The 26-year-old has already enjoyed a successful temporary spell away from the City Ground this season after he scored four goals in 10 appearances for Oldham.

Full story: skysports.com

GLOBAL GOSSIP (sourced by BBC monitoring)

Schalke have rejected another bid to bring forwards Lewis Holtby's move to Tottenham with sporting director Horst Heldt saying Spurs's offer was "not acceptable". The 22-year-old has already agreed to move to White Hart Lane when his contract expires in the summer.

Full story: Bild (in German)

Brazilian defender Felipe Lopes will join Manchester United's Federico Macheda at Stuttgart on loan from Wolfsburg.

Full story: l'Equipe (in French)

Spanish striker Fernando Llorente will join Juventus in the summer on a four-year deal.

Full story: Tuttosport (in Italian)

Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk have loaned Brazilian forward Dentinho to Turkey's Besiktas for a year.

Full story: shakhtar.com (in Ukrainian)

OTHER GOSSIP

Liverpool winger Stewart Downing, 28, has revealed how his recent run of good form was inspired by being told he could leave by manager Brendan Rodgers.

Full story: the Sun

Midfielder Shaun Derry, 35, has accused some of his QPR team-mates of not working hard enough in their relegation battle.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

Stewart Downing has made 27 appearances for Liverpool this season, scoring three times

Manchester City's new director football Txiki Begiristain wants to play a new 4-3-3 system next season and wants future signings to be tailored to it.

Full story: The Times (subscription only)

Swansea coach Alan Curtis, 58, insists ball boys have never been told to slow the game down in the wake of the Welsh side's League Cup semi-final victory over Chelsea. The game was marred by the sending-off of Chelsea's Eden Hazard for kicking a ball boy.

Full story: talkSPORT

The Football Association is considering whether to demand an additional sanction for Hazard or impose just a three-match suspension for his altercation with the ball boy.

Full story: The Times (subscription only)

Aston Villa full-back Matt Lowton, 23, claims he was taught about the importance of gamesmanship when he was a ball boy at Sheffield United by then manager Neil Warnock.

Full story: the Sun

AND FINALLY

A Bradford City fan in Melbourne, Australia has had a Facebook wager with his wife that, if he gets a million 'likes', he can go to the Capital One Cup final against Swansea City.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes, 38, has signed up for a 300-mile celebrity charity bike ride, which will take place at the same time as the Champions League final in May.

Full story: Manchester Evening News