Wednesday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Monaco's billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev is ready to mark their imminent promotion to the French top flight with a bid for Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 27.

Full story: Daily Star

Cristiano Ronaldo has been told by his agent Jorge Mendes to stay at Real Madrid for another season - even though Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain want the 28-year-old forward.

Full story: Daily Mail

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers wants to add 'three or four players' to his squad this summer as part of his next phase of rebuilding. But Rodgers' transfer kitty is again likely to be around the £20m mark unless he raises more from selling players.

Thibaut Courtois has yet to make his senior competitive debut for Chelsea despite being bought from Genk in June 2011

Full story: Daily Telegraph

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, 20, wants to stay a third season on loan at Atletico Madrid rather than return to Stamford Bridge to sit on the substitutes' bench.

Full story: Daily Mirror

West Bromwich Albion manager Steve Clarke has travelled to the Netherlands to watch 19-year-old Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas, who is on loan at Vitesse.

Full story: Daily Mail

Birmingham City will look to offload striker Nikola Zigic, 32, in the summer as his wages are due to increase from £55,000-a-week to £62,000-a-week.

Full story: Daily Mirror

OTHER GOSSIP

The Qatari royal family is backing a plan to set up a new club tournament in the Gulf, designed to feature the world's top clubs and rival the Champions League.

Full story: the Times (subscription required)

Zenit St Petersburg want Manchester City's Roberto Mancini to replace Luciano Spalletti as manager.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Brighton manager Gus Poyet, 45, has emerged as a contender for the vacant job at Reading following Brian McDermott's departure as boss.

Full story: Daily Mail

Nigel Adkins was sacked in January when Southampton were three points clear of the relegation zone. They are currently four points clear.

Former Southampton boss Nigel Adkins, 48, is taking the club to a Premier League managers' arbitration tribunal in a final attempt to resolve his feud with Saints executive chairman Nicola Cortese.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fears Jack Wilshere, 21, is at risk of another long-term injury breakdown after admitting he may have overplayed the England midfielder.

Full story: Daily Express

Striker Olivier Giroud, 26, says the Gunners need to "correct bad defensive behaviour" if they are to have any chance of overturning a 3-1 first leg Champions League deficit against Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

But Gunners boss Wenger faces an angry backlash from fans as the Frenchman will field a weakened team in Munich to prioritise a top-four Premier League finish over Champions League progression.

Full story: Daily Mail

And the Arsenal squad is in disarray ahead of the Munich clash after Wenger publicly questioned the mental state of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, 22.

Full story: the Independent

Ryan Giggs, 39, wants to replace Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United boss, according to former Old Trafford team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Striker Carlos Tevez, 29, will be represented in his driving court case by a solicitor who claims to be called 'Merlin the Magician' by Manchester City because of his record in defending club employees from alleged road offences.

Full story: the Guardian

Former England midfielder Danny Murphy, 35, looks to have played his last game for Blackburn after being stripped of the club captaincy.

Full story: the Sun

GLOBAL GOSSIP (sourced by BBC Monitoring)

Schalke 04 have revealed that a number of Galatasaray fans were caught attempting to dig a tunnel under a fence around the Veltins Arena to watch their club in last night's Champions League match.

Full story: Die Welt (in German)

Brazilian playmaker Neymar, 21, has said that he would like to play in Italy, but will remain in his home country "for the moment". The Santos star said: "Will I play in Italy? Do not rule it out."

Full story: Tuttosport (in Italian)

Bayern Munich will be without the injured Franck Ribery, as well as the suspended Bastian Schweisteiger and Jerome Boateng, when they host Arsenal in the Champions League tonight.

Full story: Die Welt (in German)

AND FINALLY

Former England international Paul Gascoigne, 45, wants to appear on jungle-based TV game show I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here to help his recovery after a spell in a United States rehab clinic.

Full story: the Sun

Two fans of Swiss club Grasshoppers enjoyed the ultimate match-day experience when they had a close-up view of the action against St Gallen sat in a pitch-side hot tub, drinking beer and high-fiving the goalscorer.

Full story: Daily Mail

Non-League Lewes have turned to art to get more fans through the turnstiles. The Ryman Premier League strugglers have designed a series of eye-catching posters advertising games in an attempt to attract supporters.

Full story: 606 Newsletter