Tuesday's football gossip

2Slick

TRANSFER RUMOURS

Chelsea want Man City defender Micah Richards - but City want £20m for the 18-year-old. (Daily Mirror)

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is preparing to make a bid for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe in the January transfer window. (Daily Express)

Spurs are ready to sell Danny Murphy to Fulham and will listen to offers for Edgar Davids. (Daily Express)

Arsenal's 37-year-old goalkeeper Jens Lehmann looks set for a return to Germany when his contract expires in the summer. (Daily Mail)

Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson is being monitored by Norwich City and Derby County. (Daily Record)

West Ham's new manager Alan Curbishley has drawn up a transfer wish-list of Mark Viduka, Joey Barton and Shaun Wright-Phillips. (Daily Express)

Watford want unsettled Rotherham striker Will Hoskins. (Daily Mail)

Rangers, Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs are chasing Romanian teenagers Marauis Alexi and Lucian Filip. (Daily Record)

Veteran Coventry and Trinidad and Tobago striker Stern John is being targeted by wealthy Israeli outfit Beitar Jerusalem. (Daily Mirror)

Charlton boss Alan Pardew is set to offer old club West Ham £2m for Hayden Mullins. (Daily Mail)

New Charlton manager Alan Pardew has dropped his club's interest in Hibernian midfielders Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson. (The Sun)

Falkirk head coach John Hughes has urged striker Alan Gow to reject overtures from Hibernian. (The Sun)

West Brom are preparing a £1.75m bid for Scunthorpe striker Billy Sharp and could let Nathan Ellington return to Wigan to fund the move. (Daily Mail)

Celtic, Charlton and Birmingham are chasing £1.5m-rated Luton winger Carlos Edwards. (Daily Mail)

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OTHER GOSSIP

New Charlton boss Alan Pardew will receive a £1m bonus if he manages to prevent them from being relegated from the Premiership. (Daily Mirror)

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has revealed he is not close friends with manager Jose Mourinho. (The Sun)

Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel is happy despite being axed by manager Martin O'Neill. (The Sun)

Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster believes he is capable of becoming England's number one in 2007. (The Sun)

Les Reed was dismissed as Charlton manager for giving his team Christmas Day off. (Daily Mirror)

Reading's players will be protected by extra police for their trip to Chelsea on Boxing Day. (The Independent)

Scottish players' union secretary Fraser Wishart has branded Hearts liars for claiming that goalkeeper Craig Gordon was on the bench against Dundee United because he was ill. (The Sun)

Hearts defender Robbie Neilson could be dropped for the match against Hibernian after being the latest player to speak out against the Tynecastle regime. (daily Express)

Celtic captain Neil Lennon faces a minimum four-match ban for his sending off against Falkirk. (Daily Mail)

Falkirk defender Jack Ross has urged the Scottish FA not to throw the book at Neil Lennon after being sent off for a head butt on Saturday. (Various)

Celtic could launch a late appeal against Neil Lennon's sending-off to allow him to face Dundee United. (Daily Express)

Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson has been handed a vote of confidence by boss Martin Jol following his poor show against Newcastle. (Daily Star)

Man City's recent poor form is in danger of jeopardising a proposed takeover of the club. (Daily Mail)

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AND FINALLY...

Real Madrid legend Alfredo di Stefano has revealed that he almost joined Celtic in 1964. (Daily Record)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...rs/6209593.stm