Thursday’s news and transfer rumour gossip.
Sevilla are monitoring Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata with a view to a January move for the 26-year-old – (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool’s players have joined forces to plead with captain Steven Gerrard, 34, not to leave at the end of this season – (Guardian)
AC Milan striker Giampaolo Pazzini, 30, is being offered to Premier League clubs – with Queens Park Rangers, Sunderland and Aston Villa all interested – (Daily Mirror)
Tottenham are set to beat Liverpool to the signing of Porto’s Colombian striker Jackson Martinez, 28, by offering Spanish forward Roberto Soldado, 29, in part-exchange – (Metro)
Liverpool are considering a move for Stromsgodset’s 15-year-old Norway international midfielder Martin Odegaard, who was shown round the club’s training ground on Wednesday – (Daily Mail)
Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini claims Louis van Gaal’s side can still win the Premier League title after winning four games in a row – (Daily Star)
QPR winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, 33, could join his brother Bradley in America’s Major League Soccer when his contract ends – (Talksport)
AC Milan’s French forward M’Baye Niang, 19, has revealed how a dream move to Arsenal fell apart in 2012 – (Daily Express)
Real Madrid have rewarded their players for winning last season’s Champions League and Copa del Rey competitions by giving them each a watch worth around £24,000 – (Marca)
Leicester City are investigating an altercation between manager Nigel Pearson and a section of fans after Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat at home by Liverpool – (Leicester Mercury)
West Brom centre-back Joleon Lescott, 32, has said he wants to help under-pressure head coach Alan Irvine keep his job – (Daily Express)
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney, 29, expects to be fit for Monday’s Premier League trip to Southampton after a scan on a knee injury gave him the all-clear – (Daily Telegraph)
Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse, 29, says he is still not fully over the dislocated kneecap he suffered last season, despite scoring in Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Burnley – (Daily Mirror)
Liverpool say they will hold a meeting next week with fans disgruntled by the rising cost of tickets at Anfield – (Liverpool Echo)
Former Stoke winger Matthew Etherington has announced his retirement at the age of 33 because of a back injury – (Stoke Sentinel)
Iago Aspas beat Robbie Fowler’s record for the fastest hat-trick by a Liverpool player – although he did it while on loan at Sevilla – (Liverpool Echo)
Tottenham’s secret weapon could be their assistant manager Jesus Perez, who has a frightening 1,000-yard stare to match Roy Keane – (Daily Mirror)
Arturo Vidal has ruled out a January move to Manchester United – (Daily Mirror)
Christian Benteke is setting his sights on a goal rush after ending his nine-month drought in style – (Daily Star)
Chelsea are close to winning the race for Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric with talks over a deal reported to be at an advanced stage – (Metro)
Former England striker Emile Heskey is training with Bolton as he seeks a way back into English football – (Sky Sports)
James Tomkins sees West Ham has genuine Premier League top five contenders – (Daily Express)
Tottenham have agreed a shock deal to sign exciting PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot – (Metro)
Manuel Pellegrini warned Manchester City are back to their title winning form – as he hailed brilliant Sergio Aguero – (Daily Mirror)
Steven Caulker is not afraid that his budding career could be wrecked by suffering back-to-back relegations – (Daily Star)