Football rumours from today's newspapers

• Sunderland have made Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko their top target to replace Aston Villa-bound Darren Bent.
  (Goal)


• Bent's move to Villa could see forward John Carew leave the Midlands club to join West Ham.
  (Metro)


• Former Tottenham striker Bent will cost Villa £18m - which will smash the club's transfer record - and his move will be completed on Tuesday. Full story: Birmingham Mail Or, Villa will pay £24m for the 26-year-old forward.
  (Daily Mail)


• But Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly considering making an attempt to hijack Villa's move for Bent.
  (caughtoffside )


• Chelsea are also pushing ahead with a £22m bid for David Luiz after Benfica secured a replacement for the defender.
  (The Mirror)


• Real Madrid have turned their attention to Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez after Hamburg blocked their attempt to re-sign striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
  (talkSPORT)


• Manchester United are battling Real Madrid for the signing of 17-year-old Argentine forward Juan Manuel Iturbe, who plays for Quilmes.
  (talkSPORT)


• West Ham and West Brom are locked in a battle to sign Paris St Germain striker Peguy Luyindula.
  (talkSPORT)


• West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami is expected to complete a £4.5m move to Fiorentina on Tuesday.
  (talkSPORT)


• Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola has set his sights on capturing Manchester United right-back Rafael.
  (caughtoffside )


• United, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with attempts to sign Barcelona's Spanish international midfielder Sergio Busquets.
  (caughtoffside )


• Bordeaux defender Michael Ciani is being touted for a move to Arsenal later this month.
  (Metro)


• Italian club Sampdoria have revealed that they were keen on bringing in Fulham forward Diomansy Kamara.
  (tribalfootball)


• Newcastle manager Alan Pardew admits he faces a battle to hang on to in-form midfielder Joey Barton.
  (tribalfootball)


• Rafael van der Vaart has urged his Dutch team-mate Mark van Bommel to join him at Spurs. Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is known to be keen on the 33-year-old Bayern Munich captain, but may have to battle AC Milan and Manchester City for his signature.
  (The Mirror)


• Bolton are close to winning the battle to sign Middlesbrough defender David Wheater.
  (The Mirror)


• Fulham are hopeful of signing winger Shaun Wright-Phillips in a cut-price deal from Manchester City.
  (The Mirror)


• Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is reported to have identified Aston Villa duo Ashley Young and Stewart Downing as potential transfer targets.
  (Metro)


• Or, Luis Suarez could become Dalglish's first signing since his return to the club with Liverpool set to step up their bid for the Ajax striker.
  (Daily Mail)


• But Tottenham are also interested in the Uruguay forward and are tracking Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano as well.
  (The Guardian)


• Liverpool are lining up a move for £5m-rated West Brom winger Jerome Thomas.
  (The Sun)


• The race to sign for Jay Bothroyd is intensifying after Cardiff turned down a bid from an unnamed Premier League club. Newcastle, Birmingham and Fulham have been linked with England striker.
  (Daily Express)

• The crisis at West Ham has deepened after revelations that vice-chairman Karren Brady sent text messages to senior players effectively asking for an uprising against manager Avram Grant.
  (The Mirror)


• Meanwhile, West Ham have been hit by Martin O'Neill's decision not to join the Hammers - leaving Grant to continue at Upton Park.
  (The Mirror)


• England's number one goalkeeper Joe Hart has received a 'rocket' from his angry Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini after a string of below-par displays.
  (Daily Star)

• The Sunderland fan who pushed over Newcastle goalkeeper Steve Harper this weekend was marched to the Magpies training ground on Monday to apologise - by his dad. But repentant Ross Miller, 17, did not get the chance to say sorry as the Newcastle squad had been given the day off.
  (Daily Star)


• French left-back Patrice Evra thinks the whole nation was against unbeaten league leaders Manchester United as they fought out a goalless draw with Spurs on Sunday. "All the country was against Manchester United," he said. "Everybody wanted us to lose."
  (The Sun)


• Left-back Ben Parker claims he is still waiting for Leeds chairman Ken Bates to say thank you for setting up the replay against Arsenal after he conceded the last-minute penalty at the Emirates which denied the Elland Road club victory. "The lads are saying I did the chairman a big favour by setting up a money-spinning replay," he said.
  (The Mirror)