Football rumours from today's newspapers

• West Ham have launched an amazing bid to sign Barcelona striker Thierry Henry, offering him about £75,000 a week to join them.
  (Various)


• Manchester City must cough up £22m and about £2.5m a year in wages to sign Palermo striker Edinson Cavani.
  (Daily Star)


• City will offer £20m plus a choice of one of four players in their attempt to lure James Milner from Aston Villa. England internationals Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips, Under-21 star Nedum Onuoha and Republic of Ireland midfielder Stephen Ireland are all being offered as bait.
  (The Mirror)


• City boss Roberto Mancini has placed Juventus' Brazilian midfielder Diego at the top of his summer wish list.
  (caughtoffside)


• But it looks like City will miss out on Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure as he wants to sign for Chelsea.
  (The Mirror)


• And City may lose striker Craig Bellamy to Tottenham, who are weighing up a £14m move for him.
  (caughtoffside)


• Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is also considering making a bid for West Ham defender Matthew Upson.
  ( footylatest)


• Arsenal and Liverpool have joined Roma in the race for Brazilian striker Adriano who becomes a free agent at the end of this month.
  ( footylatest)


• Manchester United are considering a £22m move for Real Madrid playmaker Rafael van der Vaart.
  (caughtoffside)


• Arsenal have set their sights on £16m-rated Italian international centre-back Giorgio Chiellini, who plays for Juventus.
  (caughtoffside)


• Barcelona have promised to walk away from signing Cesc Fabregas - if Arsenal say no. Barca have contacted the Gunners about their captain, but are yet to receive an answer.
  (The Mirror)


• Prospective West Ham manager Avram Grant wants to make Manchester City winger Martin Petrov, who is available on a free transfer, his first signing when he takes over at Upton Park.
  (Daily Mail)


• Tottenham are planning talks with midfielder Luka Modric in an effort to ward off transfer bids from Premier League rivals Manchester United and Chelsea.
  (Daily Mail)


• Wigan have rejected an improved offer from Birmingham City for winger Charles N'Zogbia. The Latics turned down a bid of around £8m last week and are thought to want at least double the £6m they paid Newcastle for the 23-year-old.
  (Daily Mail)


• Arsenal are set to lose midfielder Fran Merida to Atletico Madrid after the Spaniard rejected a deal with the Gunners.
  (The Sun)


• Celtic are targeting Scunthorpe striker Gary Hooper, who is valued at £3m.
  (The Sun)


• Burnley boss Brian Laws is set to stage a £2m swoop for Peterborough striker George Boyd.
  (The Sun)


• Barnsley are trying to sign Stoke striker James Beattie on loan.
  (The Mirror)


• Cardiff midfielder Joe Ledley, who is wanted by Blackburn, Stoke and Wolves, says he will stay at the club only if they win the Championship play-off final and earn promotion.
  (The Mirror)


• Everton are leading the chase for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho, who would cost at least £17m.
  (Goal)

• England manager Fabio Capello is ready to ditch his World Cup qualifying blueprint - and unleash Manchester United's Wayne Rooney as a lone striker in South Africa with Liverpool's Steven Gerrard playing in the link role behind.
  (The Mirror)


• Argentina superstar Lionel Messi handed coach Diego Maradona a World Cup scare on Friday when he injured his right knee in a training match. Initial reports were unclear about the seriousness of the injury, but a spokesman later insisted: "It's nothing, it's a scrape on his right leg."
  (Reuters)


• Former Portsmouth manager Avram Grant has rejected Roman Abramovich's invitation to return to Chelsea despite being offered more money than he stands to earn as manager of West Ham. Grant has turned down the director of football role he filled at Stamford Bridge before replacing Jose Mourinho as manager in September 2007.
  (Daily Mail)


• Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is ready to stay at the club "if he is allowed".
  (The Mirror)


• Bordeaux have lined up ex-West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola for a speedy return to management.
  (The Mirror)

• Cardiff boss Dave Jones, whose side take on Blackpool in Saturday's Championship play-off final, says he wants to be the first Premier League manager to ride his horse into training.
  (Daily Mail)


• Jose Mourinho has revealed he cried after Inter Milan beat Chelsea in the Champions League because he realised he had knocked out the friends he had "gone to war with".
  (The Sun)