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The Churny Gossip
SPURS TO SELL EVERYONE
Interesting stuff in The Sun this morning, who suggest that Magic Juande Ramos is preparing to sell an entire team of players in order to balance the books, and finance a move for David Bentley.
And the players they reckon will be on their way are (deep breath); Paul Robinson, Pascal Chimbonda, Michael Dawson, Anthony Gardner, Young Pyo Lee, Paul Stateri, Ricardo Rocha, Younes Kaboul, Steed Malbranque, Teemu Taino, Kevin Prince Boateng, Hossam Ghaly, Adel Taarabt, Darren Bent and possibly Robbie Keane, should the lure of Liverpool prove too much for him.
Crikey.
We know Luka Modric looks pretty handy, but surely Ramos can't expect him to do everything himself, can he?
In any case, it might all be in vain if you believe what you read in The Daily Mail. They reckon Aston Villa have slapped down £10million of Liverpool's money on Blackburn's table, expecting them to send Bentley to the Midlands in return.
Of course if you do believe what you read in the Mail then you should sit yourself down and give yourself a serious talking to, but what the hey - this is a Gossip Column.
MORE GOINGS, LESS COMINGS IN NORF LAAAHNDAN
The Sun carries a couple of stories about some ins and outs at North London's other club.
As we told you yesterday, Alex Hleb looks certain to seal a move to Barcelona at some point this week, with the Catalans paying around £15million for the Belarusian, which looks like cracking business to us.
Meanwhile, the Currant Bun brings more good news for Gooners, firstly suggesting that Gilberto Silva is on his way out of the Emirates, with Greek side Panathanaikos all set to seal a £2million deal for the sideways passer.
Secondly, they reckon Arsene Wenger has his eye on River Plate striker Radamel Falcao, who is rated at £8million. However, we're going to be a little cautious about that one after the Rodrigo Palacio fiasco last summer.
They also claim the Samir Nasri deal should be wrapped up shortly, but we all knew that already.
And if we turn our attention to The Daily Star, there is word that Arsenal have made a £19million bid for Andrei Arshavin, but Zenit St Petersburg are holding out for something closer to £24million.
THE FAMILY SILVA
More word from The Sun now, this time for Liverpool.
They reckon that Rafa Benitez has turned his attention to David Silva, after being put off by Valencia's £32million valuation of David Villa.
However, problems could arise with word that Juventus are dilly-dallying over stumping up the £15million Liverpool want for Xabi Alonso, potentially mucking up the whole transfer chain at Anfield.
Meanwhile, one man who looks like he's definitely arriving at Anfield is Brazilian keeper Diego Cavalieri from Palmeiras for around £3million.
Apparently he has completed his medical and a work permit has been bagged, so it's just crossing the Ts and dotting the lower-case Js now.
DROG OUT, ROB IN?
Couple more lines from The Daily Star now, who claim that Didier Drogba is still adament that he will be leaving Chelsea, despite Luiz Felipe Scolari declaring he was '200%' in his plans.
That most august of journals quotes the ever present 'pals' of the striker as insisting he wants to do one, with the usual suspects of AC and Inter Milan his likely destination.
Meanwhile, the Star apparently read Marca as well yesterday, as they reckon Real Madrid have told Chelsea they will accept nowt less than £32million for Robinho.
TWIN TOWN
United have been without a set of siblings since Phil Neville carted his gormless face off to Everton, but they have now rectified that by snapping up 18-year old Brazilian twins (don't get too excited boys) Fábio and Rafael da Silva.
The youngsters have been on their way for a while now (since February 2007 in fact), but had to wait until they reached their majority (which they did on Wednesday) to sign professional forms.
In case you were wondering, Fabio is a left-back and Rafael a right-back, and have been plying their trade at Fluminense.
FULHAM GET DOUBLE HAMMERS
Roy Hodgson has been a busy little bee so far this summer, and his spending continues apace with the news that Fulham have been given permission to speak to West Ham pair John Pantsil and Bobby Zamora.
More on that one here.
AND THE REST...
Ipswich are poised to sign £1m Southampton midfielder Rudi Skacel...Sunderland have had a £4.5m bid for West Ham's George McCartney turned down...Burnley boss Owen Coyle is lining up a move for Manchester United winger Chris Eagles...West Brom's Paul Robinson has rejected a new contract offer...Liverpool are keen to bring David Silva to Anfield...Swiss star Valon Beltrami is set to snub West Ham for a move to Germany...Cardiff are closing in on a £1.5m deal for Marcus Bent...Wolves striker Jay Bothroyd is a target of Leeds...Andrew Johnson is ready to quit Everton - with a £10m move to Wigan on the cards...Blackburn boss Paul Ince is chasing Ecuadorian midfielder Segundo Castillo...Newcastle are closing in on signing Udinese midfielder Gokham Inler...Spurs have rejected an offer from Stuttgart for Kevin-Prince Boateng...Cameroon goalkeeper Carlos Kameni has rejected a £4.5m move to Tottenham...Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp has handed Celestine Babayaro the chance to resurrect his Premier League career.
