Gossip: Gunners to go for Dzeko

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ARSENAL PLOTTING DZEKO BID

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger wants to take Man City striker Edin Dzeko to the Emirates this summer.

According to the Daily Star Sunday, Wenger needs more firepower and the Bosnian has cropped up in talks with his team.

The Emirates chief is worried his team are relying too heavily on Olivier Giroud up front as Danny Welbeck struggles with a knee injury.

Wenger is well catered for in midfield and Theo Walcott looks set for a central role this season.

While Wenger is tempted to spend big on either Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain, the signing of Dzeko would represent a slightly cheaper investment.

Dzeko, 29, is likely to leave City this summer after failing to nail down a regular place and is high on Roma’s wanted list.

VILLA LINKED WITH SEVEN STRIKER BIDS

With Christian Benteke set to complete a move to Liverpool in the coming days, the Sunday papers have been scrambling over themselves to predict whom Villa will bring in to replace him.

We’ll start with Emmanuel Adebayor, who various papers claim will be reunited will Tim Sherwood following their successful link-up at Tottenham.

Nothing new there; nor with reported interest in Charlie Austin – who Villa must beat Newcastle, Everton and Crystal Palace to sign from QPR, claim the Sunday Mirror – or with Callum Wilson, whose £10m fee put Villa off in January, but won’t do now, according to the Sunday Express.

Watford hot-shot Odion Ighalo is another on Sherwood’s radar, if the Daily Star Sunday are to be believed, while The Sun claims unknown Club Bruges striker Obbi Oulare, 19, is wanted in a £7million deal.

And finally, the Mail on Sunday suggests Sherwood will be tempted by moves for Man United rookie James Wilson and Chelsea forward Patrick Bamford.

TOTTENHAM TO MAKE BERAHINO BID

Spurs will this week submit a bid in the region of £15million for West Brom’s rising star Saido Berahino.

The Sunday Express claims manager Mauricio Pochettino has made the 21-year-old Baggies striker a priority signing for the new season.

With Adebayor in talks with Aston Villa over replacing Liverpool-bound Christian Benteke, Pochettino now has room to bring in Berahino.

Tottenham watched Berahino’s progress at The Hawthorns last season with great interest but never made a bid.

That will change in the next few days with Pochettino determined to bring the player to White Hart Lane.

West Brom in the midst of a takeover are likely to hold out for more than Tottenham’s expected opening bid.

But they know that Berahino, who was called up by England boss Roy Hodgson last season and was selected for the England Under 21s for the European Championships only to withdraw through injury, is ambitious.

And they claim Spurs are confident that if a fee can be agreed then Berahino will start the season as a Spurs player.

AND THE REST

– Manchester United could renew their interest in Gareth Bale after boss Louis van Gaal hinted that one of the players he would like to add to his squad is a ‘surprise’ (Sunday Mirror)

– Papiss Cisse tops the list of players Newcastle United are looking to offload before the season starts (Sunday Mirror)

– Dynamo Kiev winger Andrei Yarmolenko is close to making a £13.5m move to Stoke City after they ended their pursuit of Xherdan Shaqiri (Sunday Mirror)

– Marouane Fellaini faces a battle to save his Man United career (Sunday Mirror)

– West Ham are back in for free agent Lassana Diarra (Sunday Mirror)

– Jose Mourinho is backing Radamel Falcao to prove his doubters wrong and become a success in the Premier League (The Sun)

– Manuel Pellegrini has promised Fabian Delph he’ll never have a reason to regret his move to Man City (The Sun)

– Newcastle want to hijack Mason Holgate’s move to Man United from Barnsley (The Sun)

– Preston are in talks to sign released Liverpool keeper Brad Jones (The Sun)

– West Ham will make a £10m bid for Kevin Mirallas to replace Stewart Downing (The Sun)

– Everton have told interested clubs that reserve striker Chris Long will cost £1million (The Sun)

– Danny Ings insists he is happy Liverpool are signing Christian Benteke despite the added competition for places up front at Anfield (Daily Star Sunday)

– Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah has agreed to join Roma on loan, with Chelsea asking about Roma’s 20-year-old left-sided centre-back Alessio Romagnoli (Mail on Sunday)

– Angel Di Maria will have to formally ask Manchester United for a transfer if he wants to leave Old Trafford (Mail on Sunday)

– Samir Nasri will not let himself become the odd man out in Manchester City’s midfield and has vowed to raise his standards next season (Mail on Sunday)

– Adam Lallana has vowed to prove his doubters wrong and justify his £25m price tag this season (Mail on Sunday)

– Leicester want forgotten Chelsea midfielder Oriol Romeu on loan (Mail on Sunday)

– Didier Drogba is in talks over a move to the Chicago Fire (Mail on Sunday)

– Arsenal’s interest in Roma defender Kostas Manolas has been rebuffed by the Italian club (The People)

– Crystal Palace will go to £10m in their bid to land Ashley Williams (The People)

– Steve Bruce could be forced to offload Michael Dawson, Curtis Davies and Robbie Brady this summer (The People)

– Bayern Munich’s Mario Gotze has hinted he could be open to a move abroad (Sunday Express)

– Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri has joined West Ham, West Brom and Newcastle in the chase for £10million-rated Sporting Lisbon striker Islam Slimani (Sunday Express)