Football rumours from today's newspapers

• Chelsea face a battle to hold on to Ashley Cole, with the left-back worn down by speculation in England surrounding his private life and Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Roma and Bayern Munich all interested in signing him.
  (The Sun)


• Arsenal are interested in Lorient's £8m-rated centre-back Laurent Koscielny, 24, who is eligible to play for Poland and France.
  (Daily Mail )


• Spain striker Fernando Torres has sparked a new round of speculation over his future by refusing to rule out a summer move from Liverpool.
  (The Mirror)


• Arsenal have risked alienating Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas after refusing to discuss their skipper's transfer with Barcelona.
  (The Guardian)


• But Fabregas is hoping to secure a £40m move to Barcelona by toeing the line at Arsenal and refusing to be drawn into further discussion about a move.
  (Daily Express)


• Chelsea's out-of-contract midfielder Joe Cole has been told he must lower his £5m-a-year pay demands if he wants to join Tottenham.
  (Daily Star)


• Liverpool and Tottenham are battling to sign Croatia goalkeeper Marijan Antolovic, 21, who plays for Cibalia.
  (The Sun)


• West Ham have had a bid of £5m turned down for Everton striker Yakubu, with Toffees boss David Moyes wanting closer to the £11.25m he paid Middlesbrough for the Nigerian.
  (Daily Mail )


• Everton are being linked with a move for Marseille's France winger Hatem Ben Afra, 23, who has a price tag of £10m.
  (The Sun)


• Birmingham manager Alex McLeish will offer Wigan £8m for French midfielder Charles N'Zogbia.
  (The Mirror)


• Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce's hopes of signing Spain midfielder Guti from Real Madrid look doomed after the player said he wants to stay in Spain.
  (The Mirror)


• Newcastle are set to launch a £3.5m bid for Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha, 23, and the Magpies are also favourites to land out-of-contract Rangers striker Kris Boyd, 26, on a free transfer.
  (The Sun)


• Cardiff are preparing a shock move to try to take striker Craig Bellamy back to his hometown from Manchester City in a £7m deal.
  (The Mirror)


• Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan is hoping to pip his former club Celtic to the £2.5m signing of Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper, 22.
  (Daily Mail)


• Newly promoted Leeds are ready to rival Burnley for Derby striker Rob Hulse in a £1.5m deal.
  (Daily Mail)


• Rangers boss Walter Smith has told Liverpool they will need to offer at least £5m for defender Danny Wilson, 18. Smith has also rejected Middlesbrough's advances for midfielder Kevin Thompson but will allow Algeria defender Madjid Bougherra to leave.
  (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

• Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has identified England manager Fabio Capello as the "ideal candidate" to replace their Real Madrid-bound coach Jose Mourinho and will offer the Italian a £9m-a-year contract.
  (The Guardian)


• Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole's chances of going to the World Cup are hanging in the balance after he was not guaranteed a starting place against Japan on Sunday - England final warm-up game before this summer's tournament.
  (The Times)


• Former MK Dons boss Paul Ince has emerged as a contender to succeed Avram Grant at Portsmouth after talks with the club's administrator.
  (The Mirror)


• Phil Brown, who was put on gardening leave in March, has agreed an £800,000 compensation deal with Hull City - ending all hope of him making a shock return as manager.
  (Daily Mail )


• Meanwhile, Egypt striker Mido plans to see out the last year of his contract at Middlesbrough, which will cost the club £1.3m.
  (The Sun)

AND FINALLY...

• Argentina coach Diego Maradona has promised to run naked in the centre of Buenos Aires if his team win the World Cup in South Africa.
  (The Times)