Football rumours from today's newspapers

• Craig Gardner is set to end his 18-month spell with Birmingham in the next 24 hours and complete a £5m move to Sunderland.
  (Press Association)


• Arsenal are eyeing £15m-rated Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Arturo Vidal as a possible replacement for Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.
  (The Mirror)


• Barcelona will offer £35m plus incentives for Fabregas as they look to reach a successful conclusion to their long-running pursuit of the Spain midfielder.
  (Daily Mail)


• Or, Barcelona want Fabregas to go on strike in order to force a cut-price move from Arsenal to the European champions.
  (The Sun)


• Arsenal themselves have opened talks with Bolton defender Gary Cahill, while Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is also interested in Birmingham's Scott Dann, Blackburn's Chris Samba and Everton's Phil Jagielka.
  (The Times)


• . Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp will sell four or five players in order to bring in any new signings.
  (Metro)


• And Spurs have stepped up their interest in Stuttgart's Germany defender Serdar Tasci.
  (The Sun)


• Blackburn manager Steve Kean is considering a renewed bid for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, having had a £2m offer rejected.
  (Daily Telegraph)


• Manchester City are refusing to give up in their pursuit of Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez, despite the Chilean claiming it would be a "dream" to play for Barcelona.
  (Daily Mail)


• Sunderland have agreed a £13m fee with Ipswich for striker Connor Wickham. Liverpool are still interested but must match Sunderland's bid.
  (The Mirror)


• The Black Cats are also set to make a £7m offer for Reading striker Shane Long.
  (Daily Mail)


• Real Madrid are planning a bid for Chelsea defender Ashley Cole after it emerged that new Stamford Bridge boss Andre Villas-Boas wants to sign Benfica left-back Fabio Coentrao.
  (CaughtOffside)


• Liverpool are giving up on signing Jose Enrique from Newcastle and will instead look to experienced Manchester City left-back Wayne Bridge, who was on loan at West Ham last season.
  (footybunker)


• Liverpool are ready to send youngsters Jonjo Shelvey and Stephen Darby to Blackpool as part of a deal to land midfielder Charlie Adam.
  (The Mirror)


• Aston Villa are expecting midfielder Stewart Downing to hand in a transfer request but are determined to hold out for their £20m valuation of the player, who is wanted by Liverpool.
  (Daily Star)


• Barcelona claim they have already rejected a £27m offer from Chelsea for striker David Villa.
  (The Mirror)


• Six Premier League clubs are chasing Manchester City's James Milner - including Aston Villa, who sold him to City for £26m last summer.
  (The Mirror)


• Aston Villa and Fulham are locked in a battle to sign highly rated Monaco goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier.
  (talkSPORT)


• Stoke have made a £3m offer for West Ham striker Carlton Cole.
  (Daily Mail)


• Spanish side Valencia will make a £14m offer for Manchester United's Dimitar Berbatov, who looks to be on his way out of Old Trafford this summer despite being the club's top scorer last season.
  (footybunker)


• United have already made enquiries for Napoli striker Edinson Cavani as a replacement for Berbatov.
  (footybunker)


• Wolfsburg playmaker Diego has revealed he is in talks over a "dream" move to the Premier League. The 26-year-old is thought to be one of Liverpool's top summer targets.
  (talkSPORT)


• Atletico Madrid are interested in signing Tottenham winger David Bentley, who is also wanted by Fulham.
  (Daily Star)

• Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina has backed David De Gea to be a hit in the Premier League with Manchester United, and has ruled out replacing the youngster at Atletico Madrid.
  (talkSPORT)


• Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has interviewed candidates to be his new number two after his initial choice, Vitor Pereira, was appointed his replacement at Porto.
  (The Guardian)

• Cesc Fabregas's days at the Emirates look to be numbered after he was left out of promotional material for the launch of Arsenal's new away kit.
  (The Mirror)