Saturday's gossip column

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Barcelona are planning an audacious £30m bid for Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas. The Catalan club may offer Samuel Eto'o, Deco, Eidur Gudjohnsen or former Gunner Thierry Henry in a part-exchange deal. (Daily Star)

Henry will be allowed to leave Barcelona and the France striker could return to the Premier League with a move to Chelsea. (Daily Express)

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp will bid £8m for Liverpool striker Peter Crouch. (Various)

Brazil stars Kaka and Ronaldinho could be on the way to the Premier League after quizzing Tottenham defender Gilberto about life in England. AC Milan's Kaka and Barcelona's Ronaldinho are targets for Chelsea and Manchester City respectively. (Various)

Tottenham look set to miss out on Valencia striker David Villa as Real Madrid have made a £24m bid for the Spain international. (Various)

Real Madrid have also made a move to sign Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien and will pay £25m for him. (Mirror)

Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra is lining up a £10m swoop for Porto's Portugal international centre-back Bruno Alves. (Mirror)

AC Milan's Gennaro Gattuso wants to join a Premier League club. (Various)

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OTHER GOSSIP

Manchester United assistant boss Carlos Queiroz is being lined up by Portugal to take over from Luis Felipe Scolari as the national coach. (Daily Star)

Scolari remains tight-lipped about his future, but it appears Manchester City's chances of capturing him to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson are slim as the Brazilian is reluctant to move away from Portugal. (Various)

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is considering handing his veteran player Dwight Yorke a coaching role at the club, as he believes the striker-turned-midfielder could become a good manager. (The Sun)

Ryan Giggs can beat Sir Bobby Charlton's record 759 appearances for Manchester United if he plays in the Champions League final in Moscow as statisticians have found the former England midfielder missed one of the matches credited to him. (The Independent)

United may be without Wayne Rooney in Moscow as the striker is struggling to overcome the hernia injury he suffered in his side's 2-1 defeat at Chelsea. (Various)

The SPL could face legal action for extending the season. The league season will finish four days later than planned now that Rangers have reached the Uefa Cup final and players who have incurred losses for cancelled holidays have approached the PFA Scotland, who are taking legal advice. (The Sun)

Falkirk manager John Hughes says he would not last long as Hearts boss under Vladimir Romanov's regime and believes caretaker manager Stevie Frail should be given the job on a permanent basis. (Daily Record)

As he preprares for a Scottish Cup Final appearance against Rangers, Queen of the South manager Gordon Chisholm says he was ready to walk away from football altogether before he was given a last chance in management with the Palmerston club. (Daily Record)

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AND FINALLY

Blackburn striker Benni McCarthy has called former team-mate Robbie Savage "the worst player I have ever seen in my life", ahead of the Derby midfielder's return to Ewood Park on Saturday. "He has no skill at all," added McCarthy. (Various)

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