The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Stewart Downing to Aston Villa
The Spoiler assumed that replacing Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry would be Aston Villa’s priority right now but apparently not. The Daily Mail claim that Martin O’Neill is looking to thwart Spurs (and they sure will be heartbroken!) by signing Downing on a loan deal with an option to make the move permanent.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: This has to be nonsense. Villa have a lot of work to do this summer and bringing in someone who plays in the same position as their star player Ashley Young is surely not top of the agenda.

Joleon Lescott staying with Everton
The Daily Star report that Manchester City have been priced out of a move for

Arsenal skipper mad old nickname has been made public

William Gallas is fuming after a former team-mate revealed he was nicknamed Pierre Richard - the French equivalent of Mr Bean - while a trainee at Caen. PSG midfielder Jerome Rothen has gone public with the nickname and a host of other digs at the Arsenal captain in his new book. He claims that Gallas was a nice guy who constantly found himself getting caught out. He wrote:

“I don’t think William Gallas will mind me talking about how he used to be a no-hoper. At school he was a right wally - he would sit at the back of the class as far away from the blackboard as possible.

“One day the maths teacher gave us a test - she knew that William understood nothing about maths, so she allowed him to use the textbook. But even with the book under his nose he still only got four out of 20!”