Thursday’s news and transfer rumour roundup.
Chelsea have entered talks with Fiorentina over a deal to bring in Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado, 26, during January – (Guardian)
Chelsea are preparing to offset the arrival of Cuadrado with the sale of winger Mohamed Salah, 22, or forward Andre Schurrle, 24 – (Independent)
Germany international Schurrle is set for a move back to his native country to join Wolfsburg – (Daily Express)
But Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella says there is no chance of Cuadrado moving to Stamford Bridge – (Goal.com)
Chelsea are also planning a £40m move for Juventus’ 21-year-old France midfielder Paul Pogba, who left Manchester United on a free transfer in 2012 – 
Spanish side Valencia are ready to try to beat Liverpool to the signing of Manchester City and England midfielder James Milner, 29 – (Daily Mirror)
Wigan Athletic are set to reject a second improved offer of more than £4m for 23-year-old winger Callum McManaman from West Brom – (Sky Sports)
Manchester United have not received a single official enquiry in January about Brazilian midfielder Anderson, 26, who has not played for the club since August and is officially for sale – (Daily Mail)
Manchester United have opened discussions to sign 16-year-old Paraguayan striker Sergio Diaz from Cerro Porteno – (Tuttomercatoweb)
Swansea are looking at Blackburn striker Jordan Rhodes, 24, as a potential replacement for Ivory Coast forward Wilfried Bony, 26, who has signed for Manchester City – (Daily Telegraph)
QPR want to sign Italy striker Dani Osvaldo, 29, to save them from relegation – even though Southampton loaned him out to Inter Milan after he headbutted a team-mate – (Daily Mirror)
Newcastle plan to compete with Arsenal for the signature of Ipswich’s 21-year-old defender Tyrone Mings – (Daily Mail)
Sampdoria president Massimo Ferrero says the signing of striker Samuel Eto’o, 33, is being held up because “nobody can figure out who is in charge at Everton” – (Sky Sport Italia)
West Brom’s Greece striker Georgios Samaras, 29, is set to join Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal on a six-month loan with a view to a permanent deal – (Express and Star)
Arsenal will face competition from Manchester United to sign 24-year-old Villarreal centre-back Gabriel Paulista, who is valued at £16m by the Spanish club – 
Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson and Chelsea striker Diego Costa had to be separated after confronting each other in the tunnel at the end of Tuesday’s Capital One Cup semi-final first leg – (Guardian)
Manchester United’s Dutch midfielder Daley Blind, 24, says former Old Trafford full-back-turned-television-pundit Gary Neville was wrong to criticise his style of play – (Manchester Evening News)
Newcastle face a compensation bill of more than £2m if their next permanent boss decides to remove head coach John Carver, first-team coach Steve Stone and goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman – (Newcastle Chronicle)
Carver is not up to the job of managing Newcastle, according to the club’s former striker Mick Quinn – (Daily Star)
Portuguese forward Bebe, 24 – on loan at La Liga side Cordoba from Benfica – has admitted he thought Manchester United were joking when they signed him for £7.4m in 2010 – (Marca)
Chelsea thought they had secured the signing of Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard in 2005, according to Reading manager Steve Clarke – who was Jose Mourinho’s assistant at Stamford Bridge at the time – (talkSPORT)
Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling, 20, says he is happy to shoulder the club’s goalscoring burden and is adapting well to his new central role at Anfield – (ESPN FC)
Manchester United are dealing with an infestation of mice at Old Trafford, linked to the ground’s canal-side location, according to a hygiene report – (Daily Mail)
Only 10% of Manchester United shirt sales happened in Manchester last year, according to a sports retail company – but Manchester City sold only 5% of their shirts in the city – (Eurosport)