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The Comfortable Gossip

VILLA FINALLY READY TO SELL BARRY
The interminable Gareth Barry saga is apparently nearing a blessed resolution with Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill reportedly finally prepared to sell the midfielder to Liverpool.

According to The Times, 'O'Neill is ready to accept Liverpool's £15 million offer for Gareth Barry now that Steve Finnan has been offered in a part-exchange deal.'

For more on this story, click here.

And that won't be the end of Liverpool's spending reckons The Sun.

They claim Rafa will stump up oodles of cash that they clearly don't have for David Silva from Valencia, Albert Riera from Espanyol and Borja Valero from Mallorca, who we confess we don't know much about.


...BUT WILL SIDWELL REPLACE HIM?
One would presume the plan for Martin O'Neill is to replace Barry with Steve Sidwell, but The Sun has other ideas.

They claim Newcastle will nip in with a cheeky last-minute bid to scupper things rather for Villa, with Joey Barton still in the chokey for cracking seven shades of muck out of some chap in Liverpool.

Another chap on his list could be Ben Foster, who The Sun reckon is a target for a season-long loan bid from United. Other candidates for the Villa keeper position are, of course Paul Robinson and USA international Brad Guzan.


ADEBAYOR'S OFFER IS EITHER A HALF OR A DOUBLE
The Sun says that Arsenal have told Emmanuel Adebayor that they will not offer him more than £3million a year to sign a new contract.

Although the newspaper stresses with the use of the Caps Lock button that 'That is just HALF the £120,000-a-week the Gunners' top scorer is demanding', it also equates to a 50% increase on his current deal, signed last year.

'Boss Arsene Wenger is adamant he will not break the club's wage structure, nor will he drop his £38m asking price for the striker. Adebayor, 24, hit 30 goals last season and now wants the same wages as Thierry Henry before his move to Barcelona.

'But Wenger expects the Togo player to deliver trophies before he demands a six-figure weekly salary,' the newspaper reports.


£41m FOR ARSHAVIN
Andrei Arshavin is in danger of being priced out of a move from Zenit St Petersburg.

It was reported during Euro 2008 that the Russian playmaker had a £10m get-out clause in his contract. However, it is now thought that his transfer would cost an exorbitant £41.5 million in transfer fees and wages.

'The revelation could price the Russian playmaker out of a move to the Premier League, where he has been linked with a transfer to Chelsea or Arsenal,' notes the Telegraph.

The newspaper quotes Arshavin's agent Dennis Lachter confirming: "It's going to be a very big transfer. Zenit will definitely not accept an offer of less than 30 million euros (£23.8 million). They are owned by Gazprom, one of the biggest oil companies in the world, so they can afford not to sell him cheaply.

"Andrei would also want around four million euros a year net, which clubs would have to pay over three or four years, plus 40 per cent tax. Only a few clubs could afford that."

Barcelona yesterday had a £12m bid for the 27-year-old rejected, and whether or not Arsenal and Chelsea are in the market for Arshavin is in some doubt.

"The official interest has come from Barcelona, Inter Milan, Valencia and Real Madrid, none from a British club," Lachter told the Russian press. "I have read about Arsenal and Chelsea but that would depend on other deals like Adebayor and Alexander Hleb."

According to the Telegraph, Lachter then changed tack and said that England was, in fact, the likely destination.

"Andrei would like to play in the Premier League but he will not accept an offer from clubs like Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa," he said. "There are only four British clubs he would play for and they are in the Champions League. It's not about money, it's about the team and professional ambition."


THE FAMOUS PLAYER EXCHANGE DEAL
One inhabitant of 365 Towers has something of a bee in his bonnet about player exchange deals.

'They never happen' he constantly rails, in amongst a stream of blue language.

And to be fair to the foul-mouthed chap, he's right - they barely ever happen.

That's why we don't fancy Spurs' chances of pushing through the hodge-podge deal suggested in The Guardian this morning for David Bentley.

According to the paper, they will offer any of Paul Robinson, Darren Bent and Anthony Gardner for the former Arsenal winger.

Chances are Rovers will tell them to do one, and instead demand - as The Daily Mirror suggests - £17million in cold, hard cash.


FLETCH TO THE TOFFEES?
Interesting line in The Sun, who reckon that David Moyes has been in touch with his old pal Alex Ferguson about bringing Darren Fletcher to Goodison Park.

Apparently Moyes is lining-up a £4million bid for the Scot, and sees him as a 'major player in Everton's bid to crack the top four.'


AND THE REST...
Wigan are ready to offer £10million for Everton striker Andrew Johnson...Sunderland have made a late bid to hijack George Boateng's move to Hull from Middlesbrough...West Brom are lining up a £2.5million swoop for Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi...Simon Vukcevic claims he is a £5million target for Bolton and Blackburn...Hull are in talks to sign Wolves' transfer-listed Seyi Olofinjana...Birmingham boss Alex McLeish is ready to sanction the sale of Olivier Kapo to Wigan - to fund his move for Reading's Dave Kitson...Crewe are demanding £2million for Nicky Maynard after rejecting lower bids from Bristol City and Ipswich...Bolton want Malaga's attacking midfielder Antonio Hidalgo...West Brom want Bolton's £3million-rated defender Abdoulaye Meite...James Harper is furious with Reading after they slapped a £5.5million price tag on him to scare off Middlesbrough and Bolton...Ipswich are in talks with Wolfsburg goalkeeper Simon Jetnzsch...Crystal Palace have dropped their interest in Hearts striker Christian Nade...Antti Niemi is ready to turn down a move to Liverpool to fight for the starting berth at Fulham.

Hull have invited former Manchester City striker Emile Mpenza to join their pre-season training...Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje is heading to Turkey to tie up a deal with Galatasaray...Birmingham are closing in on West Brom striker Kevin Phillips and also want Dave Kitson from Reading...Andrei Arshavin's move to the Premier League hinges on the futures of Frank Lampard and Alexander Hleb...Dominic Matteo hopes to earn a deal with Stoke having returned to pre-season training...Portsmouth remain keen on Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nicky Shorey and also have an interest in Lens left-back Nadir Belhadj...Newcastle have been watching promising Rosenborg midfielder Per Ciljan Skjelbred and have been made aware Anton Ferdinand may be allowed to leave West Ham... Sunderland remain interested in Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt but are not willing to repeat the £5million offer they made in January...Real Madrid insist Robinho is not for sale despite reported interest from Chelsea..Liverpool have won the race to sign young Danish striker Nikola Saric...Portsmouth are interested in Tottenham's Younes Kaboul..Manchester United's Mikael Silvestre could be on his way to West Ham...Romania defender Gabriel Tamas has opened the door on a dream £3.5million move to Celtic.