Scottish Gossip: Celtic, Rangers, Dundee United, Hearts, Hibs, Partick Thistle, Aston Villa

Football gossip

Celtic have made a formal £2m offer to Aston Villa for 27-year-old winger Scott Sinclair, who is manager Brendan Rodgers' signing priority. (The Sun)

Blackburn Rovers manager Owen Coyle is confident he can beat Celtic to the signature of Danny Graham, the 30-year-old striker who is being released by Sunderland. (Daily Record)

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says he will continue to reduce the number of players in the squad he inherited from Ronny Deila having already axed unwanted strikers Carlton Cole, Colin Kazim-Richards and Anthony Stokes. (Daily Record)

Manager Brendan Rodgers has been told by the Celtic board he can pursue signing targets who would be paid more than anyone in the current squad. (The Times, print edition)

Brendan Rodgers has started to look for reinforcements because of a sizeable casualty list - Dedryck Boyata, Jozo Simunovic, Mikael Lustig, Emilio Izaguirre, Gary Mackay-Steven, Kris Commons, Nir Bitton, Stefan Johansen and Charlie Mulgrew are all casualties from last season - ahead of his Celtic side meeting either Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar or Estonia's Flora Tallinn in their mid-July Champions League qualifier. (Daily Telegraph)

Aston Villa winger Scott Sinclair is reportedly a signing target for Celtic

Kris Commons is a major injury doubt for Celtic's opening Champions League qualifier, with the playmaker not being fit enough to start pre-season training after undergoing surgery at the tail end of last term. (Daily Record)

Chairman Dave King believes it is "inevitable" that Rangers will be competing in a league outside Scottish football in the future while insisting that the financial muscle of "smaller" English clubs will continue to hamper his club's bid to bring the best players to Ibrox because of the greater financial awards available. (Daily Record)

Dave King has invited fans to choose a new title for the Rangers' training ground, which was initially named after one of his predecessors as club chairman, Sir David Murray. (The National)

Rangers chairman Dave King insists that ongoing legal proceedings involving former incumbents at Ibrox will have "no economic impact whatsoever" on the club and they have "nothing to fear" over the outcome of any court cases. (The Herald)

Relegated Dundee United are expected to sign Rangers goalkeeper Cammy Bell, with the Scotland international having turned down the chance to join Hearts or Hibernian after agreeing a severance package with the Glasgow club. (The Courier)

Goalkeeper Dean Brill is being linked with a move to Motherwell after leaving Caley Thistle

Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson says he has no regrets about his decision to offload veteran goalkeeper Neil Alexander, who has since joined Scottish Premiership rivals Aberdeen, at the end of the season, saying he wants to give youth an opportunity to flourish. (The Scotsman)

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson is close to securing major investment in the club, with two parties from abroad expressing an interest, but has yet to receive any offer to buy him out. (The Courier)

Motherwell and Partick Thistle have been told the Scottish Professional Football League will not change the Premiership fixture list - and will receive no financial compensation - despite being left angered at receiving fewer guaranteed home games against Celtic and Rangers than some other clubs in the coming season. (The Sun, print edition)

Senior figures at Middlesbrough have dismissed claims that Scotland striker Jordan Rhodes is for sale. The 26-year-old striker joined Boro, who were promoted to England's Premier League, for £9m in January. (Teesside Evening Gazette)

Goalkeeper Dean Brill, the 30-year-old released by Inverness Caledonian Thistle. will have a medical with Motherwell on Wednesday before holding talks about a one-year contract. (Daily Express, print edition)

Full-back Paul McGinn is set to sign a two-year contract with English League One club Chesterfield, the 25-year-old having rejected a new contract with Dundee. (The Courier)

Paul McGinn is reportedly poised to sign for Chesterfield after leaving Dundee

The news that Partick Thistle right-back Mustapha Dumbuya has been ruled out for six months or more after rupturing an Achilles tendon during training at the weekend means the Scottish Premiership club will be forced to sign an extra player to cope with the loss of the Sierra Leone international. (The Herald)

Aberdeen have offered a trial to 22-year-old Ugandan midfielder Khalid Aucho, who plays for Kenyan club Go Mahia and has been linked with Rangers, while Dundee United want to take Dons midfielder Cammy Smith on loan. (The Sun, print edition)

Defender Mark Connolly is on trial with Raith Rovers after the 24-year-old Irishman was released by Kilmarnock and he has been joined at Stark's Park by striker Jordan Moore, who has left Limerick. (Deadline News)

Other gossip

Andy Murray's grandparents have been sent hate mail criticising the tennis ace, with Roy and Shirley Erskine, from Dunblane, saying the letters had left them "upset". (The Scotsman)