Wenger adds Sebastian Larsson to shopping list

It's all go at Arsenal right now as rumours race round north London concerning possible comings and goings. According to the Metro, the Gunners are "in discussions" over Bolton defender Gary Cahill and former Birmingham midfielder Sebastian Larsson.

The paper claims that Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis met his Bolton counterpart Phil Gartside for lunch last week at a secret location in Doncaster to discuss the future of Cahill. Arsenal don't want to pay more than £15m apparently while Bolton are hoping to hold out for £2m more. An announcement is believed to be imminent.

While Arsenal have been linked with Cahill for months, the news that they're courting Larsson is a bolt from the blue. The 26-year-old Swede is a product of the Arsenal youth academy, making a handful of appearances for the club before being offloaded to Birmingham in 2007.

Since May the midfielder has been a free agent and when asked by Swedish rag Aftonbladet if the rumours concerning Arsenal were true, Larsson replied: "I know there is some kind of interest but I cannot currently say whether something can be done or not. At the moment I do not know how it is going. I know who said that they have shown an interest but the next few days will tell."

Barcelona have had a hissy fit in the wake of Cesc Fabregas's recent declaration of love for Arsenal. The Gunners skipper said earlier in the week that he is still an Arsenal player and would never do anything to harm the club, his clearest indication yet  that he intends to stick around at the Emirates, and that's produced a Latin sulk at the Camp Nou.

Club president Sandro Rosell has said that he has no idea if they intend to make a play for the midfielder but if they do it will be less than they offered 12 months ago. "Last summer we offered €40m for Cesc, and since then there has been wear and tear, now he's worth less," said Rosell. "In the case that we were interested, our offer would be reasonable. We would not go overboard."

But while Fabregas seems increasingly likely to stay in north London, the prospects of Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner remaining with Arsenal look slim. The Evening Standard reports that Sporting Lisbon have bid £7m for the 23-year-old striker, but that the Gunners are holding out for more.  

"I know that Sporting have made a concrete offer to Arsenal for Nicklas, but I do not know if they accepted it," Bendtner's dad Thomas told Danish newspaper Sporten, adding: "I do not know any details about the offer."

Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are also said to be interested as are Borussia Dortmund, Besiktas and Hamburg. Apparently the Gunners hope to make £12m on the Dane.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is not a happy man right now. Not only are Arsenal reportedly after Jermain Defoe but Chelsea have made a £22m offer for Croatian midfielder Luka Modric. Asked by the BBC if the Lilywhites would accept the Blues' offer, Redknapp's frustrations bubbled over.

"Luka is not for sale," he stormed. "If there has been a bid of £22m that is ridiculous. There are people being sold for £20m who are not fit to lace Luka's boots."

And it's not only Redknapp who is insisting Modric is staying put at the Lane. According to goal.com, Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has "no intention" of doing business with the Blues over the midfielder.

Finally, the Manchester Evening News reports that Manchester United are poised to have a summer clear-out with Wes Brown, Darron Gibson and John O'Shea all set to leave.

The MEN says that Bolton manager Owen Coyle has been in touch with the champions about Brown – who it's claimed is no longer on speaking terms with Alex Ferguson – and a £5m offer is on the pipeline. Gibson, on the other hand, is set to join Sunderland while O'Shea is mulling over several offers. ·