Football rumours from today's newspapers

• Manchester United are targeting a £20m swoop for Real Madrid's 27-year-old Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.
  (The Mirror)


• Prospective new Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, who is currently boss of Inter Milan, has told the Spanish giants to launch a £50m double bid for Chelsea stars Michael Essien and Ashley Cole.
  (Daily Express)


• Tottenham are preparing a £9m bid to sign Manchester City's 21-year-old defender Micah Richards.
  (The Sun)


• Valencia's Serbian striker Nikola Zigic - at 6ft 8in set to be the tallest player at the World Cup - flew in to Birmingham on Tuesday to complete a £6m move to the St Andrew's club.
  (Daily Mail)


• Everton have slapped a £15m price tag on contract rebel Steven Pienaar, who has been linked to Tottenham.
  (The Mirror)


• Bolton boss Owen Coyle says he will not stand in defender Gary Cahill's way if the 24-year-old wants to leave the Reebok Stadium - although he does mention a £30m asking price.
  (The Sun)


• Aston Villa striker John Carew could be on his way to Serie A, with both Fiorentina and Sampdoria showing an interest. Villa could use the funds to splash out on Tottenham's Robbie Keane or Fulham's Bobby Zamora as a replacement for the Norwegian.
  (The Mirror)


• Tottenham are set to make a £7m move for out-of-favour Aston Villa central defender Curtis Davies.
  (Daily Mail)


• They face competition from Liverpool, though, who are eyeing a £5m move for the 25-year-old.
  (The Sun)


• Arsenal are ready to turn to Fulham's Mark Schwarzer, 37, in a bid to solve their goalkeeping crisis.
  (The Mirror)


• Aston Villa are lining up a £2m bid for Cardiff's 18-year-old right-back Adam Matthews as a replacement for Luke Young, who is set to join West Ham for £4m.
  (The Sun)


• Sunderland have made a £2.7m offer to Estudiantes for Argentine right-back Marcos Angeleri - a shock omission from Diego Maradona's World Cup squad.
  (The Mirror)


• Lokomotiv Moscow will resume their chase of Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, and are prepared to offer Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie in part-exchange.
  (Daily Mail)


• Blackpool must pay £1m to Leicester if they want to sign play-off hero striker DJ Campbell.
  (Daily Mail)


• Manchester United are considering an £18m bid for Barcelona's out-of-favour midfielder Yaya Toure.
  (Caught Offside)


• Liverpool are weighing up whether to make an ambitious £22m bid for Manchester City trio Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha and Michael Johnson.
  (Caught Offside)


• Ross County are leading the chase for former Kilmarnock defender Ryan O'Leary, 22, who is out of contract.
  (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

• Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry, who has an ankle ligament problem, has told England manager Fabio Capello he will be fit for the second game of the World Cup against Algeria on 18 June.
  (Daily Mail)


• Actually, England are going to wait until the last possible moment in order for Barry to prove his fitness ahead of Tuesday's squad deadline.
  (The Independent)


• West Ham have sacked assistant coach Steve Clarke, paving the way for Avram Grant to be appointed the club's new manager.
  (The Sun)


• Israeli Grant, who quit Portsmouth last week, will be named as the new Hammers boss next week.
  (Daily Mail)


• Liverpool striker Fernando Torres - through his agent Jose Antonio Peton - says he will still be at Anfield next season.
  (The Sun)


• Aston Villa captain Richard Dunne has told James Milner to be wary of joining Dunne's former club Manchester City, fearing he may be left on the bench.
  (Daily Mail)


• Manchester United's Mexican new boy Javier Hernandez, 21, is still waiting for a work permit before rubber-stamping his £7m move to Old Trafford.
  (The Sun)


• Former Reading manager Brendan Rodgers and Notts County boss Steve Cotterill are on Portsmouth's shortlist to replace Avram Grant, who left the cash-strapped Championship club last week.
  (The Times)

AND FINALLY...

• England striker Wayne Rooney says he will not stop his wife Coleen and son Kai going to the World Cup, despite coach Fabio Capello banning wives and girlfriends around the squad at this summer's finals. "I've said many times I'm not stopping them," said Rooney. "They're England fans as well."
  (The Mirror)