Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Brazil forward Neymar, who has been linked with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich, insists he is happy to stay with Santos - but the 21-year-old would be open to a move to Europe in the future.

Full story: Sky Sports

Manchester City's Edin Dzeko, 26, has emerged as a top target for Borussia Dortmund, who seem resigned to losing striker Robert Lewandowski.

Edin Dzeko played for Wolfsburg in Germany before joining City

Full story: Metro

Manchester United are poised to open talks with Leicester City over a £1.5m deal for 20-year-old Jeffrey Schlupp, who can play at left-back or as a striker.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

Red Devils captain Nemanja Vidic would not be surprised if forward Cristiano Ronaldo, 28, returns to Old Trafford from Real Madrid next season.

Full story: the Sun

Tottenham are competing with AC Milan, Juventus and Paris St-Germain to clinch the signing of Sochaux defender Sebastien Corchia, 22.

Full story: talkSPORT

The White Hart Lane club are also looking at Feyenoord's Portuguese-born Dutch international defender Bruno Martins Indi, 21.

Full story: Daily Mail

Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong, 21, is in line for a free transfer to Fulham when his loan deal at Craven Cottage ends in the summer.

Full story: Daily Mirror

OTHER GOSSIP

Sir Alex Ferguson has warned his Manchester United players not to become too fixated with Cristiano Ronaldo in Tuesday's Champions League meeting with Real Madrid at Old Trafford.

Full story: Daily Mirror

A global TV audience of over 200m is expected to tune in to watch the game, for which tickets have been changing hands at £1,000.

Full story: Daily Express

Real Madrid made unsuccessful overtures to Sir Alex Ferguson, through an intermediary, about managing the team in the spring of 2003 before they ended up appointing Carlos Queiroz, then his assistant manager at Old Trafford.

Full story: the Times (subscription required)

Jose Mourinho feels that Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in the world at the moment and "probably the best ever".

Full story: Daily Mirror

Mourinho could return for a second spell as Chelsea manager as soon as March - but only if Real Madrid are knocked out of the Champions League by Manchester United tonight.

Full story: Daily Star

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is hesitating over whether to reappoint Mourinho because he fears arguments will rip the club apart. Mourinho tops a shortlist of candidates to replace Rafa Benitez in the summer.

Full story: Daily Express

Former England manager Fabio Capello has denied rumours that he is set to replace Benitez at Chelsea.

Full story: the Independent

West Ham co-owner David Gold will not confirm whether Sam Allardyce will be in charge at Upton Park next season.

Full story: Daily Star

Stoke City manager Tony Pulis refuses to criticise fans who have expressed their unhappiness at a run of one win in nine games.

Full story: Stoke Sentinel

Wolves are facing a financial nightmare and the prospect of a £25m wage bill if they are relegated from the Championship to League One.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

West Ham owners David Gold and David Sullivan injected £35m of their personal wealth to underwrite losses and fund player purchases following their relegation to the Championship in 2011.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster pocketed a £28,000 pay rise last year - despite the Scottish game being in a critical state.

Full story: Daily Record

GLOBAL GOSSIP

(Sourced by BBC Monitoring)

Qatar airlines will be Barcelona's new kit sponsor from this July to June 2016, becoming the first commercial sponsor on the team's strip. The Catalans' deal with Unicef has also been renewed for the same period.

Full story: Marca

Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo has "guaranteed" that the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid will be held in the Spanish capital, and said it is logical that his club's Vicente Calderon stadium hosts the match.

Full story: El Mundo

Chelsea have taken the top spot in the International Federation of Football History and Statistics Club World Ranking. The west Londoners displaced Barcelona, who dropped to fifth place following recent defeats by Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Full story: Marca

Former German captain and Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, 36, is to stage a farewell match in Leipzig on 5 June following his retirement from professional football last October.

Full story: Suddeutsche Zeitung

AND FINALLY

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Man United sporting shorts combined with knee-length socks.

Full story: BBC Radio 5 live's 606 newsletter