Gossip column: Kane, Benzema, Mourinho, Neymar, Coutinho, Aguero

Real Madrid have made 24-year-old Tottenham striker Harry Kane their first choice to replace France forward Karim Benzema, 29. (Diario Gol via Daily Mirror)

Manchester United directors fear manager Jose Mourinho is ready to quit the Old Trafford club in the summer and will move to Paris St-Germain. (Sun)

Manchester United manager Mourinho is keen to add to his squad in January and is targeting Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti, 23. (Daily Mirror)

Arsenal have set an asking price of £30m for midfielder Mesut Ozil, 29, whose contract at Emirates Stadium ends in the summer. The German has been linked with a move to Manchester United. (Daily Star)

Manchester City's all-time leading goal-scorer Sergio Aguero, 29, has revealed he intends to quit the club in 2019 and return to his boyhood club, Independiente in Buenos Aires. (Daily Mirror)

Manchester City will offer striker Gabriel Jesus, 20, a new contract worth more than £100,000 a week - a £30,000 increase on his current deal - less than a year after joining the club from Palmeiras. (Daily Mail)

Neymar is doing his best to convince Liverpool playmaker and Brazil team-mate Philippe Coutinho, 25, to move to Paris St-Germain. (Le 10 Sport via Daily Mirror)

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi thinks team-mate and compatriot Javier Mascherano, 33, could return to Liverpool, the club the Argentine left in August 2010. (Diario Gol via Daily Express)

Charlton could net a £250,000 windfall from Liverpool if defender Joe Gomez, 20, starts in England's friendlies against Brazil or Germany this month. The two clubs agreed the clause when the player moved to Anfield in 2015. (Daily Mail)

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has held talks with Chinese investors over a £500m stake to help fund a new stadium. (Sun)

Lyon forward Nabil Fekir, 24, has admitted he would be interested in a move to the Premier League following reports linking him with Arsenal. (Metro)

Alexandre Lacazette's agent says the 26-year-old forward is not worried about a lack of playing time at Arsenal this season. (FourFourTwo)

Paris St-Germain winger Angel di Maria, 29, says he was "close and at the same time very far" from signing for Barcelona in the summer, after the Ligue 1 side signed Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. (ESPN)

Chelsea have made an approach to sign 17-year-old Hamburg forward Jann-Fiete Arp. (SportBild via Metro)

Bayern Munich have joined Arsenal and Chelsea in the race for Inter Milan striker and captain Mauro Icardi, 24. (Don Balon via Talksport)

Leeds United have had a £180,000 bid for 19-year-old Polish winger Kamil Jozwiak rejected by Lech Poznan. (Daily Mail)

Bristol City defender Aden Flint, 28, admits he "dodged a bullet" after missing out on a move to Birmingham City in the summer. (Birmingham Mail)

Meanwhile...

Half of all Premier League matches - 190 out of 380 - could be shown live on TV from 2019 under the new domestic broadcasting deal. Under the current contract, 168 games are aired between Sky Sports and BT Sport. (Times - subscription required)

Neymar is reportedly lacking motivation to play for Paris St-Germain and sat out their 5-0 win over Angers to stay fresh for international duty with Brazil. (Daily Mail)

Hyde United were left with a huge bill after a flare was thrown on to their plastic pitch before they met MK Dons in their FA Cup first-round tie - but now Dons fans are raising money to help repair the damaged surface. (Manchester Evening News)

Various football clubs have been getting excited about the new 280-character limit on Twitter...

The best of Wednesday's gossip

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone is Everton owner Farhad Moshiri's top target to become the club's new manager. (Sky Sports)

Sam Allardyce says that he has received no contact from Everton about the vacant managerial position at Goodison Park, but has suggested he would be willing to speak with the Merseyside club. (Talksport)

Real Madrid are planning to bid for Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata in January. The 29-year old Spaniard, omitted from United's team against Chelsea at the weekend, is out of contract next summer. (Daily Express)

Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini, 29, is wanted by Turkish side Besiktas, who could make a move to sign him in January. (Daily Star)