Gossip column: Muller, Balotelli, Khedira, Richards, Whatmough

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

TRANSFER GOSSIP

Are Liverpool interested in Mario Balotelli?

AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has denied reports suggesting Liverpool have lodged a bid for striker Mario Balotelli. (Inside Futbol)

Arsenal and Chelsea target Sami Khedira would be a perfect signing for Bayern Munich, according to the German club's honorary president Franz Beckenbauer. (Talksport)

West Ham have stepped up their defender hunt and have made enquiries about Manchester City duo Micah Richards and Matija Nastasic. (Evening Standard)

Marseille defender Rod Fanni's proposed move to Leicester City has broken down due to a disagreement over personal terms. (L'Equipe)

Aston Villa left-back Joe Bennett is closing in on a season-long loan to Brighton. (Daily Mail)

Chelsea are set to trump Premier League rivals Arsenal with a £35m bid for Sporting Lisbon's 22-year-old midfielder William Carvalho. (Abola - in Portuguese)

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino is preparing a £24m bid for Manchester United's Mexico striker Javier Hernandez, 26, and Belgium midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 26.(CaughtOffside)

Fellaini's hopes of a move away from United could be hit by injury, however, after pictures emerged of the midfielder on crutches following a training session. (Sun - subscription needed)

Malky Mackay hopes to make Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha, 21, his first signing at Crystal Palace if he is named their new manager. (Daily Star)

GLOBAL GOSSIP (sourced by BBC Monitoring)

Roma are closely following Manchester City's 24-year-old Montenegrin forward Steven Jovetic. (Tuttosport)

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has reiterated 26-year-old Argentina midfielder Angel di Maria - a reported target of Manchester United - still belongs to the Spanish club and they can use him as they want. (As)

Arsenal's 23-year-old French midfielder Francis Coquelin is expected to stay at the Gunners despite strong interest from Queens Park Rangers. (Lefigaro)

OTHER GOSSIP

Goalkeeper Petr Cech, 32, will seek clarification from Jose Mourinho on his long-term position in the pecking order at Chelsea after losing his place to Thibaut Courtois, 22. (Independent)

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has played down his earlier claim that midfielder Ross Barkley could be out until early 2015 with a knee injury, saying: "I don't know where this figure of five months came from." (Sun - subscription)

Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho, 22, has been called into Dunga's first Brazil squad as the new manager makes sweeping changes to the team that lost 7-1 to Germany at the 2014 World Cup. (Telegraph)

Arsenal's chief commercial officer Tom Fox is close to being appointed Aston Villa chief executive after discussions with the Midlands club's owner Randy Lerner. (Telegraph)

BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Portsmouth defender Jack Whatmough has taken to Twitter to respond to suggestions he looks like Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere in a blond wig.

Portsmouth's Jack Whatmough - or is it Jack Wilshere in disguise?

Sporting Lisbon's Argentina defender Marcos Rojo, 24, used Instagram to post a picture of himself on a plane bound for Manchester United after the clubs agreed a £16m deal, subject to a medical and personal terms.

Arsenal striker Yaya Sanogo, 21, poked fun at former Gunner Cesc Fabregas, 27, following his Chelsea debut at Burnley, retweeting the Spaniard's "Once a Gunner, always a Gunner" post from 2011. (CaughtOffside)

Meanwhile, former Chelsea defender Ashley Cole, 33, who joined Roma in the summer, tweeted a picture of himself watching his old team in action against Burnley from a lonely-looking hotel room.

Belgium manager Marc Wilmots responds to the #IceBucketChallenge from his skipper Vincent Kompany by doing just that in a video on Twitter and a "merci pour la nomination!" to the Manchester City defender.

AND FINALLY

After being booed off at the World Cup, Brazil striker Fred's troubles seem to have followed him to domestic football, with angry Fluminense fans painting "Fred out" on the wall of the training ground after a terrible penalty miss. (El Grafico - in Spanish)