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Soon-to-be Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is set to swoop for Internazionale boss Jose Mourinho - provided he wins the June 14 election.

Perez made his name in his previous spell as Real supremo with his grandstand 'Galactico' signings and, should things go as expected, he will once again flash his chequebook at Europe's bold and beautiful.

And few come bolder and more beautiful than Mourinho, who has expressed his unhappiness in Italy and made no secret of a desire to coach in Spain.

Gazzette dello Sport claim that Perez's representatives have already spoken to the Portuguese, with a £5 million get-out clause easily affordable.

Current Merengues boss Juande Ramos impressed in bringing the struggling Madrid side back into the title race, but three consecutive defeats that - had they been victories - would have seen them top the standings have led to serious question marks about his ability under pressure.

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso is another big name being tipped to move to the Bernabeu.

With Real unable to compete with the likes of Manchester City in the cash stakes, their hopes of buying Kaka or Cristiano Ronaldo are somewhat less realistic than the likes of Alonso or Wigan winger Luis Valencia.

Despite trying to flog him last summer in an attempt to raise cash for Aston Villa's Gareth Barry, Liverpool are now reluctant to lose £23 million-rated Alonso, who proved himself to be the kind of player to keep form at the business end of a title challenge - unlike Barry.

Liverpool's main problem these days, however, is at full-back, and an Alonso sale could raise funds for a bid for Portsmouth's Glen Johnson (£15m) and Barcelona's Eric Abidal (£8m).

Johnson is the obvious choice as Pompey have little money and still owe the Reds more than half of the £12m Peter Crouch fee.

At the other end of the Premier League table, doomed Middlesbrough look set for a mass clear-out this summer once their seemingly-inevitable relegation to the Championship is out of the way.

GS likes Boro, admires affable and realistic owner Steve Gibson and thinks Gareth Southgate is a thoroughly good egg who is guilty of nothing more than being out of his depth at an early stage in his management career.

But the table does not lie and, should Boro drop, Robert Huth - who was recently called "outstanding" by Germany boss Joachim Loew - will go for around £4.5m with Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg, Aston Villa, Fulham and Wolves all interested.

Tuncay has been their other standout player and will go for around £6m, with Chelsea, Tottenham, Wigan and Valencia all sniffing around, while Gary O'Neil ( Portsmouth) and Stewart Downing (Tottenham) could also leave - depending on whether anyone actually wants O'Neil and on how quickly Downing recovers from a foot injury.

Afonso Alves is set to move to Benfica at some loss on the £12.7m Boro shelled out for the misfiring Brazilian striker, but one man who is not expected to leave the Riverside is local hero David Wheater.

Birmingham boss Alex McLeish wants the burly centre-half but has been scared off by an inflated asking price.

"He is someone we have watched in the last five weeks," the Scot said. "But we think they will be looking for £8-9m. It would be difficult for us to pay that."

Instead, the Blues will sign outgoing Celtic defender Bobo Balde , 33, if he impresses during a trial at St Andrews.

Manchester City are normally linked with the big and the beautiful in the game, but Mark Hughes is reportedly looking at highly-rated German youngster Nils Zander.

The 16-year-old full-back plays for Schalke but the sides are reported to have arranged a small initial fee and a sell-on clause for the youth international.

They have also been eyeing unsettled Everton defender Joseph Yobo , who is interesting Arsenal.

The Nigerian was one of the first names on the team-sheet a few years ago but, after a spell out injured, has found opportunities at Goodison limited by the good form of Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka, with Leighton Baines's resurgence at left-back pushing Lescott inside to centre-half.

Do you have any grounded, unfounded or ultimately baseless transfer tittle-tattle to spread wildly among your peers? If so, feel free to comment below.

Reda Maher / Eurosport