Tuesday's gossip column

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has warned Real Madrid that £96m would not be enough to prise away Cristiano Ronaldo. (PA)

Rafa Benitez has made Aston Villa's £12m-rated captain Gareth Barry his top summer transfer target. (Sun)

The Liverpool boss is also keen to bring Manchester City midfielder Michael Johnson to Anfield in a £12m deal. (Mail)

606: DEBATE Who should your club buy and/or sell this summer?

Arsenal want to sign 6ft 5ins Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes from PSV Eindhoven for £12m. (Sun)

Rio Ferdinand has agreed a new deal at Man Utd that makes him the club's highest paid player alongside Cristiano Ronaldo on £120,000 a week. (Various)

Sven-Goran Eriksson wants to sign Werder Bremen's Brazilian midfielder Diego for Manchester City for £10m. (Various)

Paul Jewell wants to sign Jason Roberts to spearhead Derby's Championship promotion bid next season. (Mirror)

Bayern Munich want Arsenal midfielder Mathieu Flamini whose contract expires at the end of the season. (Various)

Juventus and AC Milan are also keen to lure the Frenchman away from the Emirates Stadium. (Various)

Alexander Hleb could also be on his way out of Arsenal with Inter Milan close to agreeing a £12m deal for the midfielder. (Express)

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has stepped up his bid to sign £10m-rated Lyon midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa. (Star)

Tottenham look favourites to sign £12m Croatia midfielder Luka Modric from Dinamo Zagreb. (Express)

Wigan manager Steve Bruce wants to sign highly-rated West Brom midfielder Zoltan Gera. (Independent)

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OTHER GOSSIP

Both Arsenal and Chelsea rejected the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo before he joined Manchester United. (Express)

Man Utd striker Frazier Campbell, who has been on-loan at Hull this season, has vowed to stay at Old Trafford and challenge Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo for a starting place. (Star)

Spurs boss Juande Ramos has said that the club's players and staff call him the 'the Perfect One'. (Mirror)

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AND FINALLY

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has the roman numerals VII-VII-MMI tattooed on his left leg to mark his first kiss with girlfriend Olalla on 7 July, 2001. (Sun)

While watching dad David Beckham play for LA Galaxy in their 3-2 defeat to Toronto FC, five-year-old Romeo became so bored he started playing the recorder. (Various)

Students of Sport, Media and Culture at Staffordshire University will get to study David Beckham as part of their degree course. (Telegraph)

Nigeria's hunt for a new manager led them to Molten Spartan South Midlands League Division One side Kentish Town and their manager Clement Temile. The former African Player of the Year did not get the job after admitting he was "not ready". (Times)

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