Premier League Daily Transfer Gossip

 

Another day, another series of scarcely credible tales being spun around the world as transfer market dealings seem set to hot up before the World Cup begins.

The Sun believes that, with Fabio Capello seeming increasingly unlikely to vacate the England manager's post, Inter Milan are set to make a "shock swoop" for Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez, whom they see as an ideal replacement for Jose Mourinho. The paper also claims that Liverpool are expected to make a new bid for highly-rated Rangers defender Danny Wilson, 18, after their initial £2million offer was rejected.

The Guardian is convinced that Alex Ferguson is still in the hunt for a creative attacking player, and claim that Barcelona's 19-year old star Bojan Krkic is the man who the Scot has in mind. With the arrival of David Villa, first-team opportunities for Krkic seem increasingly unlikely, and Ferguson will no doubt hope that this will lure the teenager away from Camp Nou.

Speaking of Camp Nou, in what seems to be the least believable rumour of the day, Spanish paper El Mundo Deportivo reported that Barcelona are mulling a swap deal for Valencia's Juan Mata, and may offer out-of-favour striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic in exchange - a story that emerged hours after Barcelona director Joan Olivier declared that the Swedish star was not going to be sold this summer.

Meanwhile, The Daily Mirror believes that  Ferguson is also pursuing Everton's Mikel Arteta, after the Spaniard's contract talks at Goodison Park hit a standstill.  One player who seems likely to leave Old Trafford is young striker Danny Welbeck, who, according to the Daily Mail, is Blackpool's top loan target, and the newly promoted club will be hoping that the promise of first-team football will tempt the 19-year old to make a loan move to the side.

On the other side of the town, Manchester City continue to be linked with every half-decent player in Europe - the latest one being Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko. The Daily Telegraph reports that City will bid for Dzeko next week after the buyout clause in the forward's contract expires, but German newspaper Bild believes that the Bosnian will snub City to move to either Bayern Munich or AC Milan.

London club Tottenham are also in the headlines, as Harry Redknapp has apparently made Shakthtar defender Dario Srna and Benfica striker Oscar Cardozo his major targets for this summer, if the Daily Star is to be trusted. Redknapp seems convinced that Srna, who is also a Chelsea target, will be coaxed into arriving at White Hart Lane by the large contingent of fellow Croatians already plying their trade for Tottenham - Luka Modric, Vedran Corluka and Niko Kranjcar.

In less prolific news, Portsmouth defender Nadir Belhadj seems set to refuse a chance to follow former manager Avram Grant to West Ham, and, according to the Daily Mail, is on the verge of "a lucrative move" to play in Qatar.

Finally, Wolves have all but completed the signing of unfortunately named Belgian international Jelle van Damme for a fee in the range of £3million, according to the Daily Mail.