Wednesday's gossip column - transfers and rumours

Wesley Sneijder will sign for Manchester United in the next 48 hours for a fee believed to be around £32m.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is set to go head-to-head with former boss Jose Mourinho in a transfer battle over Porto midfielder Fredy Gaurin.
Full story: talkSport

Chelsea are prepared to use midfielder Yossi Benayoun as bait in their attempt to prise Luka Modric from Tottenham. 
Full story: Daily Mail

Lassana Diarra is a step closer to a move to Spurs after Real Madrid cut their asking price for the midfielder.
Full story: talkSPORT

Spurs are plotting a £35m bid for Porto striker Hulk as manager Harry Redknapp seeks to boost attacking options.
Full story: Daily Mail

Arsenal have told Manchester City they can buy Samir Nasri for an initial fee of £22m after conceding the midfielder will not sign a new contract.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Arsenal are monitoring Birmingham's £8m defender Scott Dann, who is also interesting Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish. 
Full story: Daily Mail

Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala will step up their interest in Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin this week.
Full story: talkSPORT

Blackburn Rovers are lining up a £3m move for Leicester's Ivory Coast defender Sol Bamba. Full story: The Sun

Aston Villa have joined Bundesliga club Hamburg SV in the hunt for Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner.
Full story: footy-bunker

Bolton are set to bring ex-Stoke forward Tuncay back to the Premier League after less than a season with German side Wolfsburg.
Full story: The Sun

Stoke have joined the race for Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and are also in talks with Spurs midfielder Wilson Palacios. 
Full story: Daily Mirror

Rangers have made £2.5m-rated French-Tunisian defender Yohan Benalouane, who plays for Cesena, a priority target after failing to land Anderlecht's Rolan Juhasz. (Daily Express)

Anderlecht say they will not be bullied into selling defender Roland Juhasz to Rangers and will not reduce their asking price after rejecting five bids for the player from the Glasgow club. (the Sun)

Den Haag winger Wesley Verhoek pulled the plug on his transfer to Nottingham Forest - and will not be joining Rangers either - because of his 11th-hour decision that he could not live outside the Netherlands. (Daily Record)

Wesley Verhoek is poised to join Vitesse Arnhem from Den Haag after rejecting moves to Nottingham Forest and Rangers. (the Sun)

Celtic are confident that they will tie up a deal to sign Polish goalkeeper Grzegorz Sandomierski from Jagiellonia Bialystok today. (the Sun)

Osasuna striker Jorge Galan has flown into Scotland to undergo a medical ahead of a season-long loan with Kilmarnock. (Various)

Hibernian have offered freed Aston Villa midfielder Isaiah Osbourne a two-year contract and hope the 23-year-old will be signed in time to face Kilmarnock on Saturday. (Daily Record)

OTHER GOSSIP

Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh believes Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri will both leave the Emirates, despite both being included in Arsenal's squad for this month's Champions League tie with Udinese. Full story: Daily Telegraph

New Arsenal signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain believes everything is in place for the club to win trophies, saying that is the reason he joined the Londoners.
Full story: talkSPORT

Rafael van der Vaart has urged team-mate Luka Modric to stay at Spurs for one more year before making his dream move to Chelsea.
Full story: Metro

Bolton boss Owen Coyle has told clubs interested in Gary Cahill either to make an offer or leave the defender to concentrate on his career at the Reebok Stadium.
Full story: talkSPORT Rangers have accused the HMRC of leaking details of the club's finances as owner Craig Whyte challenges a £2.8m tax bill. (Daily Record)

Rangers have hit back at Madjid Bougherra's claim that he felt sickened by the club's offer of a new contract, saying that the defender had no intention of staying at Ibrox before his £1.7m move to Lekhwiya. (Daily Mail)

Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic says he is less likely to select Madjid Bougherra now that the defender has moved from Rangers to Qatar champions Lekhwiya because he is playing at a lower level of football. (Daily Record)

AND FINALLY

Hollywood actor Gerard Butler turned out for a Celtic legends XI as they won 5-2 against a Manchester United legends team featuring Roy Keane and Teddy Sheringham.
Full story: Metro

Former Scotland midfielder and Sky football pundit Neil McCann has promised to play for free should he sign for Partick Thistle. (Daily Record)