Football writer Edmund Crosthwaite takes a look at some of the sport’s latest transfer rumours.

Sheffield United defender Matt Lowton is apparently a �3m target for Ipswich, Burnley and Cardiff. Lowton has scored five goals in League One this season and signed a new contract with his hometown club last summer. He’s also had loan expereince at the Blade’s Hungarian sister club, Ferencvaros - The Sun.

Manchester clubs City and United are gearing up for a scuffle over Argentine winger Nicolas Gaitan. A price of around �30m has been rumoured as the necessary fee to prise Gaitan, who’s made six appearances for his national team, away from Benfica - Daily Mirror

Chelsea, well known for their shrewd ability to pick up a bargain, are rumoured to be willing to splash out �85m on Porto’s Hulk. Seeing as the London club don’t yet have a permenant manager for next season, it remains to be seen just who it is wanting to buying the Brazilian winger-cum-striker - The Guardian

Away from the transfer mutterings, Stuart Pearce is trying to elbow his way into the England job by speaking to Premier League managers about the fitness and form of their players, according to the Independant. Meanwhile the Daily Mirror say ‘Psycho’ is writing to the players who might be up for selection come the deadline for team submissions in two months’ time.

Over on the continent, French side Angers SCO have signed Lionel Messi. No, not that one. The 16-year-old is in fact from Cameroon and has earned several call-ups to his nations under-17 team. Whether he shares anything more than his name with the Barcelona star is, as yet, unknown - The Sun

Liverpool forward Luis Suarez, a favourite with the Anfield faithful but not really anyone else, could be moving on to pastures new in Italy with Juventus. The chance to play Champions League football may be a deciding factor for Suarez should a bif materialise as Liverpool look to miss out on the competition again - caughtoffside.com

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may have finally realised that he should perhaps spend some money on players who aren’t teenagers, though he isn’t straying too far from his traditional talent hunting ground. Renne’s Yann M’Vila, 21, Lille’s Eden Hazard, 21, and Ajax’s Jan Vertonghen, 24, are all on the Frenchman’s radar - The Guardian

It has long been rumoured that Jose Mourinho could make a return to Chelsea, but the Daily Express are reporting it would take around �12m a year in wages plus that old winker Cristiano Ronaldo.

So by comparision the Daily Mirror’s claim that Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola would only require a paltry �15m a year seems like the kind of sensible deal Chelsea would plump for. Whether he wants to bring Lionel Messi with him (the real Messi, not the Cameroonian) remains to be seen.

Aston Villa could loose defender Carlos Cuellar at the end of the season for nout with Valencia potentially offering him the chance to return to Spain when his contract runs out - Daily Mirror

Back in London at Premiership new boys QPR, comments on Twitter are saying their CEO, Philip Beard, has made a bit of a gaffe.

Answering a question about growing revenues at a Soccerex event, he made the mistake of saying: “When we go down... sorry, if we go down...”. Perhaps this might make Bobby Zamora think again after denying he wanted to jump ship to West Ham after less than half a season with the currently not-so-Super Hoops.

Steve Kean seems to believe Blackburn will a) stay up and; b) keep him on as manager next season. The much maligned Scot made a rushed visit to France in order to watch Marseille striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who he wants to sign on loan in the summer.

Considering both Fulham and Sunderland tried to entice the form French international to our fair shores earlier in the season, Blackburn must have something very exciting hidden up their sleeves, surely? - Daily Mirror