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With a transfer window looming, it's time for those David Villa stories to reappear, but it's no longer Liverpool or Chelsea he's linked to.

The Sun is claiming that Manchester City representatives have met with David Villa's agent in order to discuss a move for the Valencia striker.

The Euro 2008 top scorer could move to Eastlands to pick up a wage of £150,000-a-week, it says here.

And - just as they have highlighted the word FORTY-EIGHT when reporting the number of stitches Vinnie Jones needed in his head after a bar brawl - the paper claims that the soul-patch sporting Spaniard will cost City's owners £60 MILLION.

The Daily Mail reveals that the behaviour of young midfielder Michael Johnson is causing concern at City.

Johnson is a bright prospect and a product of the club's youth academy, but has been struggling with injury problems for a year or so. Apparently the 20-year-old is rubbing people up the wrong way with his 'big-time' attitude and his nights out on the town. However, the same piece goes on to say he has not broken any club rules of curfews, so we'll see just how much trouble he's in when he returns to fitness just as the January transfer window opens.

The Mail reckons that the club will "definitely land" Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra, and are also lining up a bid for Internazionale's Esteban Cambiasso, so Johnson certainly can't afford to be complacent.

Also in the Mail is the revelation that Premier League referees' boss Keith Hackett has a personalised number plate which contains the letters 'REF', a ringing endorsement of the man's ability to judge and discipline other officials for their poor decision-making.

Yossi Benayoun has been forced to reconsider his future at Liverpool. Well, nobody is forcing, least of all manager Rafael Benitez, but the Israeli midfielder is starting to get downhearted at being constantly left on the sidelines.

After voicing his concerns a couple of weeks ago, Benitez spoke to the player to assure him he still has a place at Anfield, but Benayoun remains unsure, ironically because Rafa is not rotating his squad enough anymore.

Benayoun said: "There will be time for me to think about my situation in January or at the end of the season. So for now I'm happy to put that behind me and focus on doing my bit for the team. The problem for me is the manager is not rotating as much as he used to.

"It is the same 11 players every week, and they are doing so well, so no one can really complain. I have to be patient, but I'm still not sure whether, in the long term, my future will be here."

Tottenham Hotspur are being touted as a possible destination for Benayoun, with a potential swap deal involving Gareth Bale in the offing.

Bale - famously yet to win a Premier League match since joining Spurs last season - has barely featured since Harry Redknapp joined the club, the new boss consistently preferring Benoit Assou-Ekotto at left-back.

Many people have questioned Redknapp's persistence with Heurelho Gomes in the Spurs goal, not least the Brazilian's understudy, Cesar Sanchez. The Spanish goalkeeper has watched frustrated from the sidelines for all but 16 minutes of the season as Gomes lurched from one disaster to the next - and this is a man who won the Champions League.

Now, after watching Gomes finally come good with his double save in the closing stages of the win at West Ham on Monday night, the 37-year-old has had enough and is eyeing a move to fill the Timo Hildebrand-shaped hole at Valencia.

He said: "I cannot deny that if something was to happen then the chance to go to Valencia would be very interesting. It is an attractive place to go with a great team and they have a chance of doing good things in the league and Europe."

Chelsea are in the hunt for Portuguese prospect Orlando Sa . Well, that's according to Sa's club, Braga.

The 20-year-old striker has only made one appearance this season, from the bench in the UEFA Cup, but his displays for the Portugal Under-21 side have been enough to fuel talk of a £4 million move, a price that should be tempting even under Roman Abramovich's new miserly approach to transfers.

Braga president Antonio Salvador did his best to fan the flames by saying: "We know Scolari wants the player but we don't have to sell. It's not only Chelsea who want to sign the player."

Across Stanley Park, Everton will move to address their chronic striker shortage by signing Zenit St Petersburg forward Pavel Pogrebnyak.

The Russian - who scored six times in 14 league starts for the UEFA Cup winners - has been approached by the Toffees, who have Victor Anichebe as their only fully fit striker. Nothing against Anichebe, but you would have to call the absence of Yakubu, Louis Saha and James Vaughan a crisis.

Agent Oleg Artemov said: "I have been approached by Everton and several other English clubs."

In other news, Chris Eagles has ruled out a move to West Brom and insists he is happy at Burnley, Stoke City will make a bid for Celtic centre-back Gary Caldwell in January and Lazio want to take Manchester City playmaker Elano on loan.

Tony Mabert / Eurosport