TRANSFER RUMOURS
Chelsea boss Avram Grant has vowed to sign AC Milan's Brazil forward Kaka - and he is also keen on Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi. (Daily Star)

But Grant will miss out on striker Bojan Krkic, who is set to agree a new deal at Barcelona. (The Sun)

And keeper Carlo Cudicini wants to quit the Blues for Aston Villa. (The Sun)

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has backed his manager Rafael Benitez's bid to sign Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. (The Sun)



Manchester United are ready to splash £38m on four young stars in the summer - Sporting Lisbon's Joao Moutinho and Miguel Veloso and Wigan pair Wilson Palacios and Luis Antonio Valencia. (The Sun)

Manchester City will sell Stephen Ireland to Sunderland for about £8m in the summer. (The Sun)

Derby will sign Sydney FC midfielder Ruben Zadkovich after he impressed during a trial. (The Sun)

QPR boss Luigi de Canio is interested in signing Wolves striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. (Daily Star)

Blackburn have warned Derby off striker Jason Roberts. (Daily Star)

Everton manager David Moyes is tracking Newcastle full-back Steven Carr, whose contract expires at the end of the season. (Daily Mirror)

Birmingham are eager to sign on-loan striker Mauro Zarate on a permanent basis, but his club Al-Sadd value him at £18m. (Daily Mirror)

Portsmouth and Wigan are keen on West Brom's Robert Koren and will move for the midfielder if the Baggies fail to win promotion. (Daily Mirror)

Fulham's Diomansy Kamara is wanted by Sevilla, who will offer £5m for the midfielder. (Daily Express)

Collins John may also leave Fulham, with QPR keen on him. (Daily Express)

West Ham manager Alan Curbishley is ready to put big-earners Freddie Ljungberg and Lucas Neill up for sale in the summer. (Daily Express)

Sunderland have expressed an interest in signing Fulham winger Hameur Bouazza. (The Times)

Plymouth have begun talks with Hungary internationals Peter Halmosi and Krisztian Timar in the hope of fending off QPR's interest. (Daily Star)

Celtic are poised for a £4.5m move for Espanyol midfielder Moises Hurtado. (The Herald)

Former Gretna defender Aurelien Collin is poised to sign for Wolves after impressing on trial. (Daily Express)

Gretna midfielder Gavin Skelton says Kilmarnock are interested in signing him for next season. (Various)

OTHER GOSSIP
Benfica are poised to launch a bid to make Celtic manager Gordon Strachan their new coach. (Daily Mirror)

Cardiff City's David Jones is a surprise contender for the Celtic job should Strachan leave. (Daily Mirror)

Davie Weir and Gary Caldwell will be investigated by the Scottish FA after being sent off following Celtic's 2-1 win over Rangers on Wednesday. (Various)

Hearts midfielder Laryea Kingston has apologised to his team-mates for his furious reaction to being substituted against Kilmarnock. (Various)

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has admitted he made mistakes in the transfer market during the close season last year but says has learned from his errors. (Daily Star)

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole says he would be "delighted" to stay at the club for the rest of his career. (Daily Star)

But not all is well at Stamford Bridge, as defender Tal Ben Haim will be hit with an £80,000 fine for saying he would not have joined the club from Bolton if he had known Avram Grant would become manager. (The Sun)

Swansea are ready to reward manager Roberto Martinez with a new contract for guiding the club into the Championship. (Various)

Aberdeen midfielder Barry Nicholson says he rejected a new contract as he wants to move to English football. (Various)

Falkirk will not offer defender Kenny Milne a new contract at the end of the season. (Daily Express)

Gillingham have taken freed Hibernian midfielder Keegan Ayre on trial. (Daily Express)

AND FINALLY
Reading manager Steve Coppell has threatened to drop all of his 10 outfield players that started last weekend's 2-0 defeat by Fulham. Coppell says only goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann came out of the game with any credit. (Various)