As Matt Hughes also points out in The Times, ‘Chelsea are unlikely to meet the £25 million asking price given their rivals' apparent willingness to do business.'
Jason Burt in The Independent writes, ‘Arsenal would be keen on taking William Gallas from Chelsea, although their prospects of doing that, despite the obvious links to a deal with Cole, and the defender's desire to leave Stamford Bridge, are slim.'
Gallas is more likely to either stay at Chelsea or join Real Madrid than move across London. If he takes the Spanish option he could link up at the Bernebeu with Jose Antonio Reyes.
‘Photos taken just before Arsenal faced Real Madrid in last season's Champions League of Reyes posing in a Real shirt which were printed in Spanish newspaper Marca yesterday will drive a wedge between himself and Gunners supporters,' wrote Eric Beauchamp in The Sun.
Martin Lipton in the Daily Mirror writes: ‘Sources close to Real president Ramon Calderon maintain that sporting director Pedrag Milosevic will hold transfer talks with Arsenal in the next 48 hours because Real believe that Arsenal are ready to talk terms. They will offer around £9m for Reyes and, while the Spanish giants expect Arsenal to hold out for £13m, they believe an agreement will be made at no more than £10m if the former Sevilla man is not cup-tied. If he is, then Real will use that as a bargaining chip in negotiations, seeking to nudge down the price.'
Meanwhile, Sol Campbell is reported to be close to signing for Portsmouth, not long after telling Wenger he wanted to end his career outside England.
The Arsenal boss said: "It's a big surprise to me because he cancelled his contract to go abroad. Has Portsmouth suddenly been sold to a foreign country?" (The Sun)
And before the Gunners' Champions League campaign gets under way against Dynamo Zagreb this evening, Wenger was already thinking up excuses for any potential hiccup in the qualifying stages. He said: "In their last game on Friday it was very rainy and it has damaged the pitch a lot." (The Independent)