Arsenal ready £12m bid for Oxlade-Chamberlain

Fresh from yet another pathetic performance (this time a 2-1 defeat to Benfica), Arsenal are reportedly set to bolster their creaking squad this week with the signature of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The Mirror reports that the teenager, who turns 18 later this month, will join the Gunners from Southampton in a £12 deal with £7m paid up front by Arsenal and the rest coming in add-ons once he's established himself at the Emirates.

The Mirror says that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has become increasingly convinced that winger Oxlade-Chamberlain is ready for Premier League football and he plans to blood the youngster as soon as possible. Meanwhile the Mirror says that Wenger is also determined to land himself a centre-back but is torn between Blackburn's Christopher Samba, Gary Cahill of Bolton and Everton's Phil Jagielka. The Mirror says his preference is for the latter – were it not for the fact that Jagielka is about to turn 29 – and for that reason he'll probably make a play this week for the 27–year-old Samba. However, the Daily Mail claims that the injury to central-defender Thomas Vermaelen during the Benfica match has persuaded Wenger to target Cahill.

In other news the Express claims that Manchester City have made an audacious bid for Wesley Sneijder in the hope of pinching the 27-year-old Dutchman from under the noses of neighbours United. The Red Devils have been courting Sneijder for most of the summer but if the Express is to be believed  the Sky Blues have barged their way to the front of the queue with an eye-watering offer of £34m for the Inter Milan playmaker. Apparently City acted after failing to land Ajax star Christian Eriksen and they hope to exploit the fact that United have so far been able to agree to meet Sneijder's wage demands of £250,000 a week. City are apparently more than happy to fork out what for them is loose change and a deal could be finalised by the end of the week.

Alex Ferguson has denied there's any chance of his selling Dimitar Berbatov to Paris Saint-Germain despite his comments last week when he said it was "possible". In fact the canny old Scot has claimed he misunderstand the reporter's question when asked on French television if the Bulgarian frontman was on his way out of Old Trafford. "I thought she [the reporter] was asking about our chances for the season," said the United manager, adding that was no chance of Berbatov being sold. "It's nonsense. There's absolutely no interest or encouragement from us either."

Spanish rag El Mundo Deportivo claims that Real Madrid are read to sell Kaka for as little as £8m with Chelsea or his former club AC Milan the frontrunners to land the Brazilian midfielder. Two years ago Real bought the 29-year-old off AC Milan for a record £56m but with his career having gone the way of the euro the Spanish giants want to offload him as soon as possible and to hell with the price. The Blues are known to have been tracking Kaka for months and a move to the Bridge is a distinct possibility for 82-times capped international.

Finally, FC Twente striker Bryan Ruiz has confirmed that Spurs have been in touch with his agent about a possible move to riot-torn north London. The 25-year-old Costa Rican frontman told Dutch website NUSport: "They have approached my agent but I have yet to really discuss the interest with him...Spurs are a great club and I'd be honoured to play alongside Rafael van der Vaart. I'd say that the chance that I'll leave Twente is 50 per cent." ·