Monday's gossip

Blackburn winger Morten Gamst Pedersen has his heart set on a January move to Scottish Premier League side Celtic as he is desperate to play in the Champions League.

Aston Villa are leading the chase to sign £4m-rated Scottish midfielder Graham Dorrans from Championship outfit West Brom. Birmingham City, Everton, Sunderland and Stoke City have also shown an interest in the 22-year-old.
source: The Mirror

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is preparing a £3m January bid for Wigan midfielder Paul Scharner.
source: The Mirror

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola is hoping to sign Brazilian striker Adriano on the cheap in January in a bid to help lead his team away from the relegation zone.
source: The Sun

Former France international midfielder Camel Meriem is hoping to swap Monaco for Blackburn Rovers in January - as long as he can prove his fitness in a trial at the club this week.

Manchester United owners the Glazers have issued a firm "not for sale" response to claims a Bangkok-based Chinese consortium were preparing a £1bn takeover bid.
source: Daily Star

Arsenal were spurred on to their come-from-behind victory over Liverpool on Sunday after being ripped into by "furious" manager Arsene Wenger at half-time, the Frenchman telling his players they were "not fit to wear the shirt". (Various)

Tottenham defender Benoit Assou-Ekotto must offer an apology to the club and its supporters if he hopes to play for the Londoners again following an angry confrontation with a fan during Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Wolves.
source: The Sun

Former Burnley manager Steve Cotterill is the front-runner to succeed Brian Laws, who left the Owls over the weekend, as Sheffield Wednesday manager.
source: The Mirror

Chelsea keeper Petr Cech has hit out at the club's supporters after they jeered the players at the end of Saturday's 3-3 home draw with Everton. "I was very surprised to hear the boos because this was our first Premier League draw at home all season. I don't understand it."
source: The Sun

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes believes referee Mark Clattenburg's dislike of Craig Bellamy as a person influenced his decision to send the striker off in Saturday's 3-3 draw with Bolton.
source: The Mirror

League Two outfit Notts County could be forced to sell the likes of Kasper Schmeichel and Lee Hughes in January after their change of ownership, while uncertainty still surrounds the future of director of football Sven-Goran Eriksson.
source: Daily Mail

West Ham striker Carlton Cole has revealed how he flouted England coach Fabio Capello's strict dietary rules by sneaking a bottle of tomato ketchup into the national side's training camps. "Fabio is a disciplinarian. You need to live by his rules or you will not be involved. But I didn't know how strict the diet was. I was dying and needed something on my pasta."
source: The Sun