TRANSFER GOSSIP
AC Milan are ready to rescue self-confessed fan Mario Balotelli from a difficult start to his Manchester City career and are working on a deal to sign the striker at the end of the season.Full story: Daily Mail
Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is ready to move for French right-back Rod Fanni from Rennes as he looks to replace Glen Johnson.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Manchester United have been linked with £9m-rated former Reading striker Gylfi Sigurdsson, who left the Royals last summer for Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.
Full story: talkSport
Arsenal's unsettled striker Nicklas Bendtner has become a big-money target for Bayern Munich after the Dane admitted he is fed-up of not getting regular first-team football.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Aston Villa's Norwegian striker John Carew is holding out for a move to Fiorentina after rejecting a move to Turkish football.
Full story: talkSport
Stoke manager Tony Pulis wants to take Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland on loan in January - and save him from his Villa Park nightmare.
Full story: Daily Mirror
OTHER GOSSIP
Tottenham defender Alan Hutton says the club's players are still struggling to cope with the twin demands of the Premier League and Champions League.Full story: talkSport
Inter Milan manager Rafael Benitez is already under pressure, five months into his tenure, after club president Massimo Moratti slammed the team following their home defeat by AC Milan.
Full story: Soccerway
Former Upton Park favourite Paolo di Canio is ready to talk to West Ham about helping manager Avram Grant get the team up the Premier League.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Everton's Phil Neville believes Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger's young side have got what it takes to become Premier League title contenders.
Full story: Daily Mirror
AND FINALLY
Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson, who is hoping to make his England debut against France on Wednesday, has revealed that his first taste of professional football was being photographed on the shoulders of Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs as a three-year-old on holiday in Majorca. Full story: The Guardian 
BBC AFRICAN PRAYER OF THE YEAR
The five candidates for the 2010 BBC African Footballer of the Year award have been revealed on the BBC's African sports programme Fast Track.
Ghana pair Asamoah Gyan and Andre 'Dede' Ayew, Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o, and Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast are included on the list. The winner will be decided by African football fans, who have until 10 December to vote for their choice.
Voting for the award will take place via text and online.
The winner will be announced a week later on 17 December on the BBC's African sports programme Fast Track.
Both Sunderland striker Gyan and Marseille midfielder Ayew starred for Ghana as they reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time.
The 29-year-old forward Eto'o played a vital role as his Italian side Inter Milan won the Champions League and a domestic double.
English Premier League side Chelsea secured the a league and cup double for the first time in their history, thanks in part to the goals of 32-year-old striker Drogba.
While, Toure, 27, became the highest-paid footballer in English football following the midfielder's move from Barcelona to Manchester City.
The shortlist was determined by a panel of experts across Africa who took into consideration individual skill, technical ability, teamwork, consistency, impact on results and fair play.
"It has been a significant year for African football, with the World Cup being hosted in the continent for the first time and Angola hosting the Africa Cup of Nations," said BBC Fast Track presenter Farayi Mungazi.
"A youthful Ghana side lit up the World Cup so it is great to see the Black Stars duo of Asamoah Gyan and Dede Ayew receive their first nominations as well as the ever classy Eto'o, Drogba and Yaya Toure."
Last year's winner was Drogba of Chelsea and Ivory Coast after his consistent form and goals for club and country.
Previous winners of BBC African Footballer of the Year award:
2009 - Didier Drogba (Chelsea & Ivory Coast)
2008 - Mohamed Aboutrika (Al Ahly & Egypt)
2007 - Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal & Togo)
2006 - Michael Essien (Chelsea & Ghana)
2005 - Mohamed Barakat (Al Ahly & Egypt)
2004 - Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton & Nigeria)
2003 - Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton & Nigeria)
2002 - El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool & Ghana)
2001 - Sammy Kuffour (Bayern Munich & Ghana)
2000 - Patrick Mboma (Parma & Cameroon)
CHAMPIONSHIP PRAYER IN ENGLAND SQUAD
Cardiff striker Jay Bothroyd is determined to ensure his England call-up for Wednesday's friendly against France at Wembley is not a one-off.
He can become the first English player from a Championship club since then Preston striker David Nugent in 2007 to play for his country.
Nugent only received one cap but 28-year-old Bothroyd, who has scored 15 goals this season, hopes to win more.
"Once you get a taste you want to do well and stay in," Bothroyd said.
But the Cardiff striker could get his chance because of injuries to the likes of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe of Tottenham, Sunderland's Darren Bent and Bobby Zamora of Fulham.
Bothroyd's England call-up follows the late flourishing of a career that began at Arsenal and has involved spells at Coventry, Perugia, Blackburn, Wolves, Charlton and Stoke.
He said he still harbours regrets over his departure from the Gunners 10 years ago, when he was sold for disciplinary reasons after throwing his shirt at then coach Don Howe after being substituted in an under-19 cup final.
England squad for the international friendly against France at Wembley on Wednesday, 17 November:
Foster (Birmingham), Hart (Man City), Green (West Ham); Cahill (Bolton), Gibbs (Arsenal), Jagielka (Everton), Lescott (Man City), Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Smalling (Man Utd), Warnock (Aston Villa); Walcott (Arsenal), Wilshere (Arsenal), A Young (Aston Villa), Gerrard (Liverpool), Barry (Man City), Johnson (Man City), Milner (Man City), Henderson (Sunderland); Bothroyd (Cardiff), Carroll (Newcastle), Crouch (Tottenham), C Cole (West Ham).
Now Carlo Ancelotti Must Really Turn To Youth
They say the key to a championship winning side is strength in depth, right? Well someone should tell Chelsea, because missing just three first-teamers (admittedly the biggest three in Michael Essien, Frank Lampard and John Terry) the Blues succumbed to a very average Sunderland side 3-0 at fortress Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
To put it into perspective, the Blues hadn't lost a home match in the league since Manchester City came to west London and left 4-2 winners back in February. That's Champions League chasing Manchester City, with billions spent on players.
Not satisfied-with-mid-table-choosing-to-play-Titus-Bramble Sunderland.
In fact, it was Chelsea's heaviest loss at home since a similar reverse to Manchester United in 2002 and was their worst result against a non top-four side since 1995. So to have been beaten so comprehensively by the Black Cats poses some serious questions. Especially as they were the first visiting side to score at Stamford Bridge for 916 minutes, and that makes it two defeats in three games for the Blues, the other to a woefully poor Liverpool side.
And yet the Sunderland side that turned them over have the answer right there for Carlo Ancelotti: youth. Six of Steve Bruce's side on Sunday were 25 or younger, with the star of the show, Danny Welbeck, just 19 and captain Lee Cattermole only 22. And these aren't fringe players, they are regular first-teamers, who are now repaying Bruce for the faith installed in them.
In the Blues lineup on Sunday only Ramires and Mikel are under 25, yet there were some perfectly talented youngsters on the bench in Josh McEachran, Gael Kakuta, Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt. Bruma in particular must have been wondering how he didn't make the starting lineup, with aging right-back Paulo Ferreira slotting in to replace the injured Terry instead (and doing an awful job).
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