Friday's gossip column: Football transfers & rumours

For a list of confirmed transfers, check out our transfers page.

For breaking transfer news, follow Sportsday Live every weekday.

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Manchester City are close to beating off competition from Chelsea for Fiorentina forward Stevan Jovetic, 22, but will have to pay the £30m asking price.

Full story: the Times (subscription required)

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 27, still wants to leave Old Trafford with Chelsea in pole position to land him for £25m.

Full story: Daily Star

Tottenham are to offer Aston Villa the choice of Benoit Assou-Ekotto, 29, Scott Parker, 32, Jake Livermore, 23, or Tom Huddlestone, 26, along with £20m in exchange for their 22-year-old Belgium international striker Christian Benteke.

Full story: the Sun

Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner has not played for Arsenal since August 2011

Arsenal could be stuck with Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner, 25, as his prospective switch to Eintracht Frankfurt is close to collapse.

Full story: Daily Express

Arsenal are set to up their £30m bid for Liverpool's Uruguay international striker Luis Suarez, 26, as their attempts to buy Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, 25, falter.

Full story: London Evening Standard

The Gunners are also looking to revive their interest in Sevilla midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia, 20, who is also a target for Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Full story: Daily Mail

Real Madrid will not give up on signing Tottenham forward Gareth Bale, 23, this summer until the transfer window finally slams shut.

Full story: Daily Star

Manchester City have suffered a setback in their quest to sign Alvaro Negredo, 27, after the Spanish striker claimed he was happy to stay at Sevilla.

Full story: Daily Mail

Fulham are considering a move for Liverpool's Uruguay international defender Sebastian Coates, with Brendan Rodgers prepared to sell the 22-year-old after he failed to make an impact in two years at Anfield.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Reds boss Rodgers says he is now targeting "marquee signings" having already added four new players to his Liverpool squad.

Full story: the Independent

Promising 17-year-old left-back Luke Shaw is set to reject offers from Manchester United and Chelsea and sign a new contract with Southampton.

Edinson Cavani looks set to leave Napoli to play in Ligue 1 this season

Full story: Daily Express

Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, 26, is on the verge of a £54m move to Paris St-Germain.

Full story: the Independent

Trabzonspor have joined Turkish rivals Galatasaray in the race for Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel, 26.

Full story: the Sun

Swansea boss Michael Laudrup has told four of his players they can find new clubs. Alan Tate, 30, Luke Moore, 27, Kemy Agustien, 26 and Leroy Lita, 28, were all left out of the Swans' squad for their pre-season trip to Holland.

Full story: South Wales Echo

Sunderland have managed to sign 28-year-old Italian midfielder Emanuele Giaccherini for £6.8m despite Juventus' original valuation of nearly £11m. The club are also closing in on Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone, 26, who is unsettled at White Hart Lane.

Full story: Daily Express

QPR manager Harry Redknapp is lining up another reunion with striker Peter Crouch, 32. Crouch has played for Redknapp at Portsmouth twice, Southampton and Spurs, with Redknapp keen to bring him to former club QPR from Stoke.

Full story: Daily Mirror

OTHER GOSSIP

England coach Gary Neville believes English football has reached a "tipping point", with youth academies at the Premier League's elite clubs flooded by foreign recruits and short-term demands effectively blocking the progress of local talent.

Full story: the Guardian

Gary Neville believes young English talent is effectively blocked from reaching first teams

Meanwhile, former Manchester United defender Neville is confident Wayne Rooney, 27, will not only stay at Old Trafford but will have the full backing of the club's supporters as soon as he starts playing again.

Full story: Daily Telegraph

The Football Association is to crack down on horror tackles that went unpunished by referees last season because of a loophole in its own rulebook.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Manchester City will table plans to expand capacity at both sides of their Etihad Stadium, giving them the potential to reach a 60,000 capacity.

Full story: the Independent

Three Belize players claimed they were approached to throw their Concacaf Gold Cup group match opener against the United States in Portland on Tuesday. They lost the game 6-1.

Full story: New York Post

Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse, 28, will offer to wear a charity-branded Newcastle shirt to end his dispute over the club's sponsorship deal. Cisse has religious objections to promoting a pay day lending company, but both club and company have refused to make any exceptions so far.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Tottenham defender Michael Dawson, 29, admits that the club missing out on Champions League football despite obtaining 72 points last season was upsetting, but says the signing of midfielder Paulinho and keeping forward Gareth Bale can bring them a top-four place this season.

Full story: the Guardian

AND FINALLY

Chelsea's online shop in the United States has scored a spectacular own goal this week by stocking a $16 Arsenal onesie in its collection of official Blues gear.

Full story: Metro

Brazil fans could be barred from standing up, taking their shirts off, waving flags and playing musical instruments at Maracana ahead of next year's World Cup.

Full story: New York Times