Friday's gossip column

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Skipper Thomas Vermaelen, 27, and 22-year-old keeper Wojciech Szczesny are facing the exit at Arsenal after manager Arsene Wenger loses patience with duo.

Full story: Daily Mail

German club Wolfsburg are planning to launch a bid for Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker, 28.

Full story: talkSPORT

Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 25, and 28-year-old left-back Leighton Baines will leave Goodison Park this summer as the Toffees look to shake things up following their FA Cup defeat by Wigan.

Full story: Metro

Thomas Vermaelen could be sold by Arsenal in the summer.

Arsenal's top summer target is £30m Malaga midfielder Isco, 20.

Full story: Daily Star

The Gunners are also preparing a summer bid for Southampton's Uruguayan forward Gaston Ramirez, 22.

Full story: Caught Offside

Manchester United are set to re-ignite their interest in Shakhtar Donetsk's £20m-rated Brazilian Douglas Costa. The 22-year-old plays as an attacking midfielder.

Full story: Caught Offside

Reading are eyeing a summer swoop for Palermo's 24-year-old Slovenia midfielder Jasmin Kurtic.

Full story: talkSPORT

Arsenal are ready to bid for Southampton forward Gaston Ramirez.

West Brom manager Steve Clarke tells fans to forget the idea of taking 19-year-old Romelu Lukaku on loan from Chelsea again next season.

Full story: Daily Mirror

OTHER GOSSIP

Bradford boss Phil Parkinson, who led the League Two side to the League Cup final, has emerged as the favourite to land the Reading manager's job.

Full story: the Sun

Manchester City left-back Gael Clichy says Manchester United can blow the title again even though they are 12-points clear.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Injured Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero takes to Twitter to tell fans he'll be back for the title run-in as he recovers in Argentina.

Full story: Daily Mail

Chelsea have rocked their tired stars by arranging a trip to the United States days after the end of the season.

Full story: the Sun

Arsene Wenger insists he has no intention of quitting as Arsenal manager before his contract expires at the end of next season.

Full story: Metro

GLOBAL GOSSIP (sourced by BBC Monitoring)

Malaga coach Manuel Pellegrini is a contender for Roberto Mancini's job at Manchester City, according to El Pais. The Chilean has steered his Spanish club from near-relegation when he took over in 2010, to fourth in the league and the last eight of the Champions League this year.

Full story: El Pais (Spanish)

Former Manchester United player Paul Pogba, 20, receives his first call up for the French squad

Former Manchester United player Paul Pogba, 20, has received his first call up for the France squad for next week's World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Spain. The midfielder is enjoying a strong season with Italian league leaders Juventus.

Full story: Sport (France)

Newly-elected Pope Francis is a supporter of Argentine side San Lorenzo whose fans are nicknamed "Saints". The club are currently 11th in the domestic league.

Full story: Frantfurter Allgemeine (German)

Juventus owner John Elkann has denied rumours of the possible return of Paris St-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimiovic, 31, to the Italian club.

Full story: Forza Italia (Italy)

AND FINALLY

It must be a slow news day in Turkey. A couple have made headlines after calling their newborn child Messi, full name Ali Umut Messi. Reports suggest the baby's father is a huge Barcelona and, obviously, Lionel Messi fan.

Full story: 606 newsletter