Scottish Gossip: Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen, Brighton, Hibs, Copenhagen, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Dundee

FOOTBALL GOSSIP

Celtic are braced for a formal offer from Brighton & Hove Albion for Moussa Dembele, but the clubs are several million pounds apart in their valuation of the striker following talks, with the Scottish champions wanting more than £20m for the 21-year-old. (The Guardian)

Brighton will have to smash their club record transfer fee to take Celtic striker Moussa Dembele to the Premier League in January, with the Scottish champions wanting £25m for the French striker. (Daily Mail)

Celtic and Brighton have denied a suggestion by a source close to talks between the clubs that an £18m fee has been agreed for the Scottish champions' striker, Moussa Dembele, after Seagulls manager Chris Hughton admitted the 21-year-old fits the profile of the type of player he would be interested in. (Sky Sports)

Senior Celtic sources have insisted there has been no contact from Brighton about striker Moussa Dembele. (Scottish Sun)

Danish champions Copenhagen have the funds to make a fresh, £1.5m move for Celtic central defender Erik Sviatchenko after selling Benjamin Verbic to Dynamo Kiev for £4m. (Daily Record)

Celtic will receive around £7m after Southampton agreed to sell Virgil van Dijk, the 26-year-old who left the Scottish club for £13m in 2015, to Liverpool for £70m - a world record transfer for a defender. (Evening Times)

Hearts manager Craig Levein has admitted Jamie Walker is likely to be sold in January, with Wigan Athletic having opened talks about a £300,000 transfer for the winger and English League One rivals Blackburn Rovers also interested. (Daily Express, print edition)

Celtic striker Moussa Dembele is being linked with Brighton

Rangers manager Graeme Murty is fighting to bring midfielder Andy Halliday back from his season-long loan with Gabala in Azerbaijan next month to supplement forward Michael O'Halloran's proposed return from St Johnstone. (Daily Record)

Falkirk are on the verge of accepting a bid from Swansea City for Tony Gallacher that is less than the £750,000 they rejected from the English Premier League club last year for the 18-year-old left back who is also attracting interest from Derby County, Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers. (Daily Mail)

Kilmarnock midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu, who left West Bromwich Albion this summer, hopes playing in the Scottish Premiership can be his passport back to England's top flight. (Daily Record)

Youssouf Mulumbu says Steve Clarke's arrival as manager is the reason why Kilmarnock are the second-best form team in the Scottish Premiership behind leaders Celtic. (The Times)

Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney has been chosen in the Champions League breakthrough team of 2017, the 20-year-old joining Manchester City's Ederson, Real Madrid's Marco Asensio and Paris St-Germain's Kylian Mbappe in the list chosen by European governing body Uefa. (The Scotsman)

Kristoffer Ajer says he has improved as a player at Celtic in the past two seasons despite only featuring sporadically in the first team - and predicted the imminent arrival of fellow central defender Marvin Compper from RB Leipzig will ensure he develops even further. (The Herald)

Dundee midfielder Mark O'Hara wants his side to upset Celtic on Tuesday to pay back "brilliant" Neil McCann, who was in the dugout for Saturday's draw with Motherwell hours after the manager's father, Eddie, passed away that morning. (The Courier)

Rangers captain Lee Wallace, the left-back who has not played since sustaining a groin injury in the draw with Partick Thistle in September, could make his return to action in the second Old Firm clash of the campaign against Celtic on Saturday. (Evening Times)

Wigan are reportedly interested in signing Hearts' Jamie Walker

Graeme Murty is set to bin his suit and tie after only a 90-minute airing, having disposed of the tracksuit-look for last weekend's defeat by Kilmarnock after being appointed Rangers manager on a full-time basis. (Daily Record)

Rangers manager Graeme Murty felt like reading the riot act after watching his side's tame defeat away to Kilmarnock, but he reined himself in as he reckoned it might have put yet another dent in his team's fragile confidence. (Scottish Sun)

Aberdeen forward Greg Stewart has all-but conceded the league title to Celtic and that his side are more realistically looking to stay ahead of Rangers to claim the runners-up spot again. (Evening Times)

On-loan Birmingham City forward Greg Stewart is adamant Aberdeen will not concede the title but admits it is a big ask after their defeat by Celtic left them eight points behind the reigning champions. (Daily Record)

Anthony Stokes has rediscovered his potency in front of goal after overcoming a case of festive fatigue by embarking on a gruelling gym schedule and the Hibernian striker is hoping his return to form has come just in time to torment Hearts in Wednesday's Edinburgh derby. (The Scotsman)

Midfielders Arnaud Djoum, Ross Callachan and Lewis Moore are all expected to miss Wednesday's Edinburgh derby through injury, Hearts manager Craig Levein has confirmed. (Edinburgh Evening News)

Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin is hoping his Hibs-daft family are unable to gloat after Tuesday's Edinburgh derby - his first game against Hibs. (Daily Record)

Scotland striker Ross McCormack, on loan to Melbourne City from Aston Villa, is back playing only days after fearing he had suffered a cruciate ligament injury, with medics downgrading the problem to a sprain. (Herald Sun)

Veteran striker Stephen Dobbie wants to extend his contract with Queen of the South after scoring his 100th goal for the Championship club in Saturday's defeat by St Mirren. (The Scotsman)

Scottish manager Robbie Neilson admits he is under pressure with his MK Dons only three points above the drop zone in England's League One but insists his side are not in a relegation battle. (Milton Keynes Citizen)

Stranraer have asked their first-team squad to take a pay cut with the League One club under pressure from their bank to cut their expenditure. (Scottish Sun, print edition)

OTHER GOSSIP

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash fears Andy Murray could be risking his long-term health by targeting a return to action at the Brisbane International ahead of the Australian Open after six months on the sidelines through injury. (Daily Express)