Aston Villa lead chase for Owen

Aston Villa are leading the race for Newcastle's misfiring hitman Michael Owen, who will be one of many big names flooding out of the Tyneside club in the wake of their relegation at the weekend. Villa Park defender Curtis Davies told the Sun: "I'd love to see him here. People will talk about his wages. But if you are getting him on a free transfer, it offsets that. If we are ever in the running for a player like that, it will show the progression of this club. If he goes somewhere, keeps fit and plays games, he will score goals"...

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson looks like bowing to the inevitable,  and has accepted that if Arsenal come in with a big enough bid for the Cottagers' defensive stalwart Brede Hangeland then he must let the giant Norwegian leave the club. "We'll do everything in our power to keep Brede," said Hodgson. "Everyone knows he's a player that we love. He's still contracted to us and we want to keep him. We're doing everything in our power - but our power sometimes can't be compared to the power of other clubs." Arsenal are reported to be lining up a £15m bid for the international centre back...

Jose Mourinho has secured a remarkable deal at Inter Milan which could see the Portuguese boss pick up almost £50m over the next four years at the San Siro. 'The Special One' is already the best paid manager in the world, pulling in £6m a year at the Serie A champions. But his new deal will see Inter pay him £13.9m annually, which could be even higher through incentives for winning trophies such as the Champions League...

Tony Mowbray may have just seen West Brom relegated out of the Premier League on his watch as manager, but it seems that Celtic's hierarchy saw enough in his team's desire to play good football to want to tempt Mowbray to the club he once played for. In the wake of Gordon Strachan's departure from the Glasgow giants, Mowbray tops the hitlist of the Parkhead club, with Owen Coyle of Burnley, Alan Curbishley and Mick McCarthy of Wolves also in the running. Having just had their clubs promoted to the Premier League, Coyle and McCarthy are unlikely to want to move north of the border... ·