Latest football rumours from today's newspapers.

• Middlesbrough face a battle to sign Crystal Palace midfielder Ben Watson, with Everton, West Ham and Fulham among their competition. (Express)



• Real Madrid want to seal a £15m deal for Wigan's Antonio Valencia. (Star)



• Manchester United and Chelsea face a summer battle for Villarreal's £12m-rated keeper Diego Lopez. (Star)



• Manchester City boss Mark Hughes fears he will be priced out of a move for striker Roque Santa Cruz, who Blackburn are valuing at £18m. (Star)



• But Hughes is set to make a £17m take-it-or-leave-it offer for Santa Cruz, which could be enough to seal the transfer. (Mirror)



• And City may make improved offers for West Ham pair Scott Parker and Craig Bellamy but say they have not bid for Newcastle keeper Shay Given. (Star)



• Arsenal's hopes of signing midfielder Niko Kranjcar have been dashed after Portsmouth insisted he will not be leaving the club in January. (Star)



• Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate wants to keep Tottenham target Stewart Downing until the summer. (Star)



• Bolton have bid £2m for Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton. (Various)



• Sunderland have insisted El-Hadji Diouf and Michael Chopra will not be sold this month. (Star)



• Hull are eager to complete a £1.5m deal for West Ham midfielder Luis Boa Morte. (Mirror)



• And Hull boss Phil Brown is also set to make a £2m move for Derby midfielder Paul Green. (Star)



• Portsmouth defender Herman Hreidarsson is set to become the latest player to leave Fratton Park by joining Celtic in a £500,000 deal. (Mirror)



• Everton want Hearts duo Christophe Berra and Andrew Driver. (Various)



• Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has told left-back Nicky Shorey he can leave the club, with West Ham and Tottenham both interested. (The Sun)



• Tottenham have failed with a £6m bid to capture Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones. (The Sun)



• But Spurs have targeted Lens striker Aruna Dindane as an alternative and will make a £4m bid. (The Sun)



• And the north Londoners are set to seal the signing of Polish keeper Sebastian Przyrowski from Polonia Warsaw for a fee of £1m. (The Sun)



• Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce is taking Benfica's Ivory Coast defender Marco Zoro on trial. (Mirror)



• Bolton will sign defender Sebastien Puygrenier on loan from Zenit St Petersburg - and drop their interest in West Ham's Callum Davenport. (Mirror)



• Newcastle's Alan Smith has been told his swap deal with Middlesbrough striker Mido is off. (The Sun)



• Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has urged the club not to sell defender and former skipper William Gallas. (The Sun)



• Newcastle winger Charles N'Zogbia says Arsenal is his first-choice destination should he secure a move away from Tyneside. (Express)



• Birmingham boss Alex McLeish faces competition from Portsmouth for the signature of West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer. (Mirror)



• And McLeish has told Rangers striker Kris Boyd to back down on his demands or a £4m move is off. (Express)



• Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has, via his agent Jorge Mendez, reached a verbal agreement to join Real Madrid at some point. (The Times)



• Oldham have offered veteran striker Dean Windass a loan deal to escape his misery at Hull. (Various)



• Cardiff are poised to bolster their push for promotion to the premier League by signing Rangers winger Chris Burke. (Mirror)



• Wolves have lined up an improved £1m offer for Watford midfielder John-Joe O'Toole. (Star)



• Crystal Palace will try to hijack Coventry's bid to re-sign Birmingham striker Gary McSheffrey. (Various)



• Preston are leading the chase for Carlisle striker Danny Graham, who has already been the subject of a £250,000 bid from Huddersfield. (Star)



• Swansea are set to break their transfer record to land MK Dons skipper Dean Lewington for £450,000. (Mirror)



• Reading manager Steve Coppell is ready to bid £250,000 for Coventry midfielder Jay Tabb. (Star)



• Bradford are favourites to sign Burnley's Steve Jones after the winger's loan spell at the club. (Star)



• Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws has his eye on Hull midfielder Bryan Hughes. (Star)



• Shrewsbury are set to complete a £150,000 deal for Preston duo Karl Hawley and Brett Ormerod. (Various) Back to top

• Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy is two matches away from automatically qualifying for a new deal at the club. (Mirror)



• Liverpool have offered Jermaine Pennant a new deal in order to prevent him leaving the club for free when his contract runs out in the summer - the winger has been linked with AC Milan and Real Madrid. (Various)



• Anfield legend Alan Hansen has urged Reds boss Rafael Benitez to strengthen the squad in order to win the Premier League. (Mirror)



• Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari will ignore Nicolas Anelka's pleas to play alongside striker Didier Drogba rather than the pair being alternated in the team. (Mirror)



• Emmanuel Adebayor has come out in defence of former Arsenal skipper William Gallas over his criticisms of the team last November. (Various)



• Fabio Capello has hinted he will make David Beckham England's most-capped outfield player next month by picking him for the match against Spain. (Mirror)



• Former Watford manager Graham Taylor will make a shock return to the club as a director. (The Sun)

• Stoke boss Tony Pulis has interesting way of describing his club's transfer policy. After signing Matthew Etherington, he said: "We are not at Crufts, we are at Battersea Dog's Home. We go looking for strays, get them in and cuddle them." (Various)