Thursday's gossip column: Football transfers & rumours

Follow all of the day's breaking news every weekday with Sportsday.

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

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Spain midfielder Juan Mata joined Chelsea from Valencia in 2011

Tottenham will make another attempt to sign Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata, 25, in January but will face competition from Italian clubs Juventus and Napoli.

Full story: Daily Express

Liverpool are stepping up their pursuit of Derby County midfielder Will Hughes, 18.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy, 26, admits he was flattered to be targeted by Chelsea in the summer.

Full story: Daily Express

Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Sunderland are all interested in signing Burnley striker Danny Ings, 21.

Full story: Daily Star

OTHER GOSSIP

Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers is considering fielding striker Luis Suarez, 26, at Manchester United in the League Cup after his ban ends next week.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale, 24, is on the verge of signing another multi-million pound contract - with Adidas - less than three weeks after he became the world's most expensive footballer.

Full story: Daily Mail

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez cost Liverpool £22.7m when he joined them from Ajax

Striker Wayne Rooney, 27, admits he had to swallow his pride and deliver for Manchester United after being denied a move to Chelsea.

Full story: Daily Mirror

Manchester United remain convinced that the relationship between manager David Moyes and Rooney can resolve the outstanding grievances the player has with the club and open the door to talks about a contract extension.

Full story: the Independent

Tottenham boss Andre Villas-Boas has warned that his players' careers could be wrecked because of a fixture pile-up. His side face three games in six days.

Full story: the Independent

Fulham want to make ex-Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen their assistant manager.

Full story: Daily Star

GLOBAL GOSSIP (supplied by BBC Monitoring)

A "below par" midfielder Mesut Ozil, 24, was "barely successful" in Arsenal's 2-1 win over French side Marseille in Wednesday's Champions League encounter.

Full story: Sueddeutsche (in German)

Borussia Dortmund had a "crashing false start" after last year's Champions League runners-up were beaten 2-1 by Rafa Benitez's Napoli in Wednesday's encounter that had everything from a dismissal and injuries to a "raging coach in the stands".

Full story: Bild (in German)

Ajax manager Frank De Boer admitted to feeling "a little disappointed" after Barcelona thrashed his team 4-0 in Wednesday's Champions League match.

Full story: Marca (in Spanish)

AND FINALLY

On-loan QPR defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto, 29, denies he was up all night playing computer games ahead of a big game for his club.

Full story: Metro

Manager Michael Laudrup jokes his Swansea side could become the home team in Valencia on Thursday - by fielding five Spanish players to their opponents' four.

Full story: Daily Mirror