Football rumours from today's newspapers

• New Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is preparing a £15m offer for Liverpool defender Glen Johnson.
  (The Sun)


• Bolton and Celtic are pursuing Brazilian striker Ilan, who is a free agent after leaving West Ham at the end of the season.
  (The Mirror)


• Yaya Toure's agent says he expects the Barcelona midfielder to join his brother Kolo at Manchester City "very soon".
  (The Guardian)


• Argentina star Lionel Messi has revealed that he has sent text messages to Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas to try to persuade him to join Barcelona.
  (The Mirror)


• Arsenal defender Mikael Silvestre has yet to decide on an offer from CSKA Moscow after being offered a £4m-a-year deal by Abu Dhabi-based club Al Jazira.
  (Daily Mail )


• Aston Villa are set to make a £6m bid for Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey.
  (The Sun)


• Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has been in Germany to secure a deal for Schalke defender Heiko Westermann.
  (Daily Mail )


• Birmingham hope to take former Wolves and Coventry striker Robbie Keane back to the West Midlands from Tottenham, seeing off interest from local rivals Aston Villa.
  (The Mirror)


• St Etienne have joined Rangers in the race to take Manchester United's French winger Gabriel Obertan on loan, and the Ligue 1 side also want Stoke defender Ibrahima Sonko.
  (Daily Mail )

OTHER GOSSIP

• Former Real Madrid boss Manuel Pellegrini is being lined up as a possible replacement for Rafael Benitez at Liverpool.
  (The Sun)


• Pellegrini has held talks with Liverpool but Fulham's Roy Hodgson remains favourite to take over at Anfield.
  (The Guardian)


• Blackpool are to make a second contract offer to manager Ian Holloway after he rejected their opening bid.
  (The Mirror)


• England missed out on the chance to practice with the controversial Jabulani World Cup ball after a consignment sent to the Football Association in February went missing.
  (The Mirror)


• Former Crystal Palace boss Paul Hart will be confirmed as Phil Brown's successor as Hull manager in the next few days.
  (The Mirror)

AND FINALLY...

• German side Borussia Dortmund have banned vuvuzelas from their stadium. "These horrid things will be forbidden from the Westfalenstadion," said general manager Hans-Joachim Watzke.
  (The Guardian)