Football rumours from today's newspapers

• Liverpool are closing in on the signature of Swiss teenage striker Nicholas Hunziker from FC Basle.
  (The Mirror)


• Schalke are ready to offer Arsenal the chance to swap Russian forward Andrey Arshavin for the German club's forward Jefferson Farfan. The Peruvian is out of contract at the end the season.
  (talkSPORT)


• Arsenal will listen to offers for defender Sebastien Squillaci in January as manager Arsene Wenger forges ahead with his squad clear-out. Striker Marouane Chamakh has also been told he can leave the club in the new year.
  (Daily Mail)


• Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita has said he will wait until the end of the season before deciding if he fancies a move to Liverpool. He said: "I want to play more games and the Premier League is very attractive and exciting for anyone."
  (The Sun)


• Fulham are lining up Swansea's former Chelsea winger Scott Sinclair as a replacement for Moussa Dembele, who is wanted by Tottenham.
  (The Mirror)


• Manchester City target Xherdan Shaqiri will not be sold in January - but Basle may cash in on the 20-year-old midfielder next summer.
  (talkSPORT)


• Manchester City have sounded out Athletic Bilbao over Spain international Javi Martinez. The midfielder, 23, is also coveted by Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea but will cost £34m - the buyout clause inserted into his latest contract.
  (Daily Mail)


• Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew is reportedly ready to make an audacious bid for Roma forward Bojan Krkic. Full story: Footybunker Arsenal are ready to listen to offers for goalkeepers Manuel Almunia and Vito Mannone, after Arsene Wenger made the fringe duo available for loan.
  (talkSPORT)


• Newcastle United are preparing a £20m January double swoop for Tottenham Hotspur strikers Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko.
  (Caught offside)


• Sheffield rivals United and Wednesday are set to go head to head to sign in-form Rotherham striker Lewis Grabban.
  (The Sun)


• Former Chelsea coach Ray Wilkins has questioned whether Tottenham would be able to turn down a £35m bid from Barcelona for winger Gareth Bale. Reports have emerged that the Spanish club have sent scouts to watch him and Wilkins said: "It will be very interesting to see if Tottenham can turn that down as it is an extreme amount of money."
  (talkSPORT)


• Harry Redknapp's Tottenham are believed to be tracking 20-year-old Barcelona B left-back Carles Planas.
  (Inside Futbol)

• Mexico international striker Javier Herandez says that he nearly quit playing football before joining Manchester United.
  (The Sun)


• Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso says English football has made Spain a team of leaders.
  (Daily Mail)


• Arsenal and Wales midfield star Aaron Ramsey says he will not be bullied out of playing for Team GB in the London 2012 Olympics.
  (The Mirror)


• Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson says he wants to beat David Beckham to the captaincy of the Team GB Olympics side for London 2012.
  (The Mirror)


• Former Liverpool defender Steve Staunton has backed Kenny Dalglish's criticism of the club's upcoming schedule. The Reds face Manchester City in an important Premier League fixture at the end of the month, followed by Chelsea in the League Cup quarter-finals just 48 hours later and Staunton said: "He's trying to put the point across that it's a disgrace. It's the League Cup, why does it have to be 48 hours after an important league game?"
  (talkSPORT)


• Wigan want striker Hugo Rodallega to sign a new contract before the January transfer window re-opens.
  (Daily Mail)


• Arsenal are prepared to take a major risk with captain Robin van Persie by waiting until the end of the season to open contract talks with their star striker.
  (Metro)


• Defender Rhys Williams has given Middlesbrough an ultimatum - get promoted to the Premier League or he'll leave. The Australian international's contract does not run out until the summer of 2013 but he is refusing to consider a new deal unless Boro can offer him top-flight football.
  (The Mirror)


• Watford legend Graham Taylor could quit as Hornets chairman after a row with club owner Laurence Bassini. The former England manager, who saved Watford from plunging into administration two years ago by stepping into the hot seat, was fuming when Bassini pulled out of a fans' forum in midweek, claiming he was too ill to attend.
  (The Mirror)

• Manchester United outcast Dimitar Berbatov says he still admires "unbelievable" boss Sir Alex Ferguson despite being left on the bench by him for the majority of this season so far.
  (The Mirror)


• Swansea's 5ft 6in midfielder Joe Allen has thanked former Manchester United star Paul Scholes, who was just an inch taller, for helping him prove size does not matter. Allen said: "You look at some of the players around in the past - one of my idols was Paul Scholes - and some of the best in the world are smaller.
  (The Mirror)


• A foreign referee will officiate in an FA Cup match for the first time when Masaaki Toma, of Japan, takes charge of Brentford's first round match against Basingstoke.
  (The Times)