Football rumours from today's newspapers

• AC Milan are leading the chase to sign Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli and hope to clinch his signature during the summer, according to reports in Italy.
  (talkSPORT)


• Manchester United will have to act fast if they want to sign Udinese defender Mehdi Benatia as mega-rich Russian club Anzhi have entered the race to sign him.
  (talkSPORT)


• Demba Ba insists he is happy at Newcastle and is not looking to cash in on his signing-of-the-season status with a big money move away.
  (Daily Mirror)


• Billy Davies has refused to rule himself out of the running for the vacant Leeds United job.
  (The Times)


• Arsenal are ready to fight Chelsea for Lille's £30m-rated Belgian winger Eden Hazard, 21.
  (The Sun)


• Blackburn see Olhanense's Portugal Under-21 centre-back Andre Pinto as Chris Samba's replacement.
  (The Sun)


• Dimitar Berbatov, 31, will be handed a one-year contract extension by Manchester United.
  (The Sun)


• Wolves have joined the chase for Huddersfield Town goal machine Jordan Rhodes.
  (Daily Mirror)


• Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City are fighting for Fiorentina and Montenegro striker Stefan Jovetic.
  (Daily Star)


• Former Rangers midfielder Alan Gow, 29, says he is ready to ignore government advice and kick-start his career in strife-torn Iran by signing for Rah Ahan.
  (Scottish Sun)


• Tottenham are ready to go head to head with Arsenal for Nottingham Forest's England Under-19s defender Jamaal Lascelles, 18.
  (Daily Mail)


• Chairman Huw Jenkins reckons Swansea City are about to secure the future of a star as manager Brendan Rodgers finalises a new three-year contract.
  (South Wales Evening Post)


• Everton made a deadline day move to sign Republic of Ireland striker Kevin Doyle, according to his Wolves team-mate Stephen Ward.
  (Liverpool ECHO)

• Former England captain John Terry has told coach Fabio Capello he will be available for the European Championship in the summer.
  (Daily Mail)


• Fabio Capello believes the FA have wrecked his authority over the England players after bosses went over his head to axe John Terry as skipper.
  (Daily Star)


• Fabio Capello has risked a rift with members of his England squad by publicly insisting John Terry should not have been stripped of the captaincy.
  (Daily Express)


• Chelsea deny claims that owner Roman Abramovich held "showdown" talks with manager Andre Villas-Boas before the club's 3-3 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.
  (Metro)


• Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been backed by Lyon manager Remi Garde to succeed Laurent Blanc as France coach after Euro 2012.
  (Inside Futbol)


• Former QPR manager Neil Warnock is chasing a £1m contract pay-off from the Premier League club.
  (Daily Mail)


• Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish will order his players to acknowledge their supporters at the end of games after many of them ignored their away fans after the defeat at Newcastle.
  (Birmingham Mail)


• Former Serbia boss Raddy Antic, 63, has applied for the Leeds United manager's post after Simon Grayson was sacked.
  (Yorkshire Evening Post)


• Wayne Rooney used Twitter to claim Luis Suarez should have been sent off against Tottenham.
  (Daily Mail)


• Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart admits he is flattered to be linked with the vacant England captaincy, but believes there are more obvious choices for the role.
  (Manchester Evening News)


• Goalkeeper Brad Friedel had to shepherd a cat off the pitch at Anfield, 11 minutes into Liverpool's league match against Tottenham.
  (Daily Telegraph )

• Brazilian star Neymar recently notched the 100th goal of his career on his 20th birthday - but instead of presenting him with a celebratory cake, his Santos team-mates decided to turn him into one.
  (Metro)