Wednesday’s news and transfer rumour roundup.
Manchester United have been quoted a world-record £112m for 20-year-old Paris St-Germain and Brazil centre-back Marquinhos, the man they have identified as their top defensive target, who cost £26m from Roma in 2013 – (Daily Express)
United are not the team who made a £26m bid for Valencia’s Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi and are more likely to move for Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels, also 26, in the summer – (Manchester Evening News)
Tottenham hope to persuade Everton to sell them Belgium winger Kevin Mirallas – who missed a penalty against West Brom on Monday – and are willing to offer Aaron Lennon, also 27, in part exchange – (Daily Mirror)
Zenit St Petersburg midfielder Axel Witsel, 26, has alerted Manchester United by saying he is keen to play in the Premier League – (Bleacher Report)
Barcelona midfielder Xavi wants the Spanish giants to sign fellow Spaniard, Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla, 30 – (Metro)
Chelsea want to sign Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado, 26, but may have to sell Germany forward Andre Schurrle, 24, and 22-year-old Egypt winger Mohamed Salah first – (Daily Mirror)
England midfielder James Milner, 29, could leave Manchester City and join an Italian or Spanish club as contract talks stall – (Guardian)
Tottenham want £5m from Swansea for their England Under-21s midfielder Tom Carroll, 22, who has been on loan at the Welsh club this term, having already agreed a deal for the same price for full-back Kyle Naughton, 26 – (Independent)
Blackburn will not be pressured into selling top-scorer Rudy Gestede, 26, after they turned down an initial offer from Crystal Palace believed to be £3.5m – (Lancashire Telegraph)
Norwich boss Alex Neil has hinted Swansea may have to wait until the end of the transfer window to discover if they can sign Martin Olsson, with the Canaries thought to want £5m for the 26-year-old Sweden international – (South Wales Evening Post)
Arsenal have opened talks with Villarreal about signing 24-year-old Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Paulista – (Telegraph)
Crystal Palace are interested in Sevilla’s 28-year-old Cameroon midfielder Stephane Mbia, who is available on a free transfer – (Daily Mail)
Cristiano Ronaldo says he would like to play in Brazil when his Real Madrid career comes to an end, which is a blow to Manchester United’s hopes of re-signing the 29-year-old Portugal forward – (Metro)
Manchester City’s Argentine striker Sergio Aguero, 26, is determined to prove he can recapture the form he was in before his knee injury by scoring the goals to beat Chelsea and Barcelona next month – (Manchester Evening News)
Former Tottenham and Newcastle player David Ginola, 47, is attempting to raise £2.3m to fund his Fifa president campaign but has managed to gather just £5,506 in the first week – (Guardian)
Former striker Michael Owen says Manchester United are “not functioning as a team” and believes 31-year-old Netherlands striker Robin van Persie is no longer living up to his reputation – (Telegraph)
Romelu Lukaku, 21, is not doing the business at Everton and the club need to buy another striker, says former Toffees goalkeeper Neville Southall – (talkSPORT)
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has joked that he will try and sign departing Liverpool star Steven Gerrard at the end of the season – (Daily Mirror)
Arsenal are said to be targeting a move for young Paris Saint-Germain striker Jean-Kevin Augustin – (Metro)
Sampdoria are confident striker Samuel Eto’o will join them before the transfer window closes, despite the Cameroon international yet to come to an agreement with Everton to leave Goodison Park – (Sky Sports)
Paul Lambert has told the likes of Liverpool and Tottenham that star Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke is not for sale – (Daily Express)
Arsenal are weighing up a bid for £9m-rated Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote – (Daily Star)
Liverpool are set to dip into the transfer market in the coming days with a bid for Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette, according to reports in France – (Metro)
Jermain Defoe has vowed to win his England place back by firing Sunderland to safety – (Daily Mirror)
Micah Richards is keen to secure a move back to the Premier League to reignite his stalled career – (Daily Express)