Although the news that Iker Casillas was dropped for the second consecutive game by his fiendish manager José Mourinho this weekend has been overshadowed by sanctimonious, hypocritical bleating about a different pantomime villain's bravura performance in Mansfield, the Rumour Mill has noted the Mirror's story that Sir Alex Ferguson is ready "to ditch" David de Gea and drawn a fairly obvious conclusion that seems to have escaped everybody else … which means it's almost certainly complete cobblers. Despite playing 84 minutes of Real Madrid's 4-3 win over Real Sociedad after his replacement Antonio Adan was rather harshly dismissed in the sixth minute, Casillas had originally been benched for his side's first match back after the winter the break and pointedly turned down the captain's armband when it was offered to him by Cristiano Ronaldo a few minutes later.
Is it unconceivable that the obvious dissatisfaction of the 31-year-old World Cup winner will have gone unnoticed by Ferguson, who is reported to be in the market for a more reliable and assertive goalkeeper than De Gea and Anders Lindegaard? Apparently it is, which would explain why he's not being linked with a move for the Spaniard, but is instead reported to be plotting a wheeze to bring Asmir Begovic to Old Trafford instead. A solid goalkeeper who is six years younger than his Spanish counterpart, Begovic would be cheaper and arrive with the added bonus of not being cup-tied for the Champions League. The Mirror also mentions the name of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina in conjunction with a transfer to Old Trafford, in a move that seems about as likely in the current climate as Luis Suárez being made a freeman of Mansfield. In other goalkeeping news, Arsenal, Fulham and Southampton are all reported to be interested in signing Birmingham City's highly regarded England international Jack Butland.
One of those annoying Rumour Mill teases who is constantly being linked with Premier League clubs without ever moving to any of them, Marseille striker Loïc Rémy is being targeted by Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle and West Ham. The QPR manager, Harry Redknapp, was in France yesterday to watch the unsettled French international play in his side's French Cup win over Ligue 2 side Guingamp and must have liked what he saw, as assorted newspapers and websites report that QPR are now talking turkey with Marseille, with figures of between £8m and £12m being bandied about depending on which one you read with your morning tea. With Joey Barton already on loan at Marseille from QPR and apparently hoping to stay there, some manner of swap deal seems well within the realms of possibility. Yann M'Vila is another Gallic Rumour Mill staple whose jib Harry Redknapp has long since liked the cut of and French daily L'Equipe reports that QPR have made a £6.5m bid for the Rennes and France midfielder.
Despite scoring his side's equaliser against Arsenal in the FA Cup, Swansea City striker Danny Graham sounded less than enthused with his lot in his post-match interview yesterday and although Michael Laudrup claims he wants to keep the player at the Liberty Stadium, representatives from Sunderland, Norwich and Reading are all dancing lasciviously and waving wads of money in the hope of turning the journeyman striker's head.
Liverpool have offered Serie A side Cagliari £7m for defending's Davide Astori, according to the Daily Mail, but as things stand look likely to miss out on the 25-year-old because Southampton have outbid them. The same paper reports that Manchester City have offered Napoli £45m for Uruguayan adonis Edinson Cavani; only time will tell whether or not the Premier League champions' bid is torpedoed by a superior offer from the south coast club.
Considering he's a bit of a home bird who makes no secret of his preference for playing for clubs whose training grounds are within commuting distance from his home in Cheshire, speculation that Michael Owen might be about to sign for a football team in one of the most isolated cities on the planet seems a bit unlikely. It's no surprise, then, that his current manager Tony Pulis has rubbished reports that the player's representatives have been touting their client out to Australian club Perth Glory and intimated that he'll be staying at the Britannia Stadium instead.
And finally, Sam Allardyce was uncharacteristically coy upon being asked if he was interested in signing David Beckham for West Ham, telling his inquisitor that "we will wait and see, you never know". Never knowing; a state of perpetual ignorance that may have been designed specifically for the Rumour Mill, a daily body of work whose very raison d'etre is to wait and see.
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