Football gossip: Bale, Sterling, Benteke, Gundogan, De Gea

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Christian Benteke
Christian Benteke has scored nine goals in his past eight games for Aston Villa

Liverpool could sign Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, 24, PSV Eindhoven forward Memphis Depay, 21, and Manchester City midfielder James Milner, 29, if 20-year-old forward Raheem Sterling goes to Manchester City. (Daily Mirror)external-link

City want to sign two more forwards and are considering Liverpool's Sterling, Wolfsburg's Kevin De Bruyne, 23, Burnley's Danny Ings, 22, and Southampton's Jay Rodriguez, 25. (Daily Express)external-link

City should have been docked points for breaking financial fair play rules, says Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. (Daily Mail).external-link

Manchester United are preparing a £100m deal to sign Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale, 25. The former Tottenham player cost Real £85.3m when he joined them in September 2013. (Daily Telegraph)external-link

Liverpool are closing in on a £22m deal for Real Madrid's Russia midfielder Denis Cheryshev, 24, who is on loan at Villarreal. (Daily Express)external-link

Arsenal will compete with Manchester United to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, 24, for £20m this summer. (Daily Telegraph)external-link

Telegraph
The front page of the Telegraph's sport section

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has set a 10-day deadline for Manchester United target Nathaniel Clyne to decide on his future as the 24-year-old England right-back stalls over a new contract. (Daily Mail)external-link

Real Madrid have told Manchester United's David De Gea, 24, they will find another goalkeeper to sign if he does not agree to join them this summer. (Sun - subscription needed)external-link

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, 32, will leave the club at the end of the season and move to either Arsenal or Paris St-Germain. (Daily Mirror)external-link

Chelsea are set to sign 19-year-old Brazilian midfielder Nathan for £4.5m from Brazilian side Atletico Paranaense.(London Evening Standard)external-link

Bournemouth hope to sign 29-year-old Celtic and Scotland defender Charlie Mulgrew this summer for a relatively small fee as his contract ends next year.(Times - subscription needed)external-link

Newcastle United have not denied rumours linking them with Rayo Vallecano boss Paco Jemez.(The Chronicle)external-link

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has denied claims he has opened talks over a new contract. Allardyce's deal expires at the end of the season.(Sky Sports)external-link

Former Sunderland boss Gus Poyet wants to return to Premier League management less than two months after being sacked by the Black Cats.(Sunderland Echo)external-link

Marseille want Patrick Vieira, Manchester City's elite development squad boss, to be their next head coach. However City will not let Vieira leave.(Manchester Evening News)external-link

In fact City will offer the 38-year-old a new contract to stay, because they see him as a potential future manager.(Daily Star)external-link

Daily Mail
The back page of Friday's Daily Mail

Swansea City are interested in signing 22-year-old Dutch forward Luc Castaignos from FC Twente. Castaignos has represented Netherlands at under-21 level.(South Wales Evening Post)external-link

West Brom defender Gareth McAuley, 35, whose contract expires in the summer, deserves a new deal, says team-mate Chris Brunt.(Birmingham Mail)external-link

Watford manager Slavisa Jokanovic says he would be "very happy" to sign a contract extension. Jokanovic, who has taken the Hornets into the Premier League, is set to be offered a one-year rolling deal.(Sky Sports)external-link

Everton are set to sign Manchester United and Belgium winger Adnan Januzaj, 20, on a season-long loan deal. (Sun - subscription needed)external-link

QPR centre-half Richard Dunne, 35, hopes to be playing for the club next season, even if they are relegated to the Championship.(London Evening Standard)external-link

Paul Scholes wonders if him coming out of retirement was a reason Paul Pogba left Manchester United, and does not think his old club should re-sign the 22-year-old Juventus midfielder. (Independent)external-link

Tottenham midfielder Erik Lamela, 23, says he has no plans to return to Italy at the end of the season. (Talksport)external-link

BEST OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Ben Davies
Ben Davies suffered a shoulder injury in Tottenham's game against Southampton on 25 April

Tottenham full-back Ben Davies, who will not play again this season after dislocating a shoulder, posts a picture on Twitterexternal-link and says: "Operation went well and now on the mend. Thanks for all your kind messages."

Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin hopes to feature again this campaign, despite manager Ronald Koeman saying he would miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury. Schneiderlin writes on Twitter:external-link "Sad about my injury. I am not giving up on coming back before the end of the season. Thanks to everyone for their support."

Everton's Romelu Lukaku, Liverpool's Simon Mignolet, Aston Villa's Christian Benteke and Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois all post messages on Twitter to pay tribute to former Belgium Under-21 international Gregory Mertens, who died aged 24 three days after collapsing during a match.

AND FINALLY

An Aston Villa fan has cut a planned family holiday to Dubai short so he and his two sons can watch the FA Cup final on television. The man's wife will stay on holiday on her own for the last day of the trip - 30 May, the day Villa play Arsenal in the Wembley final. (Daily Star)external-link