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Birmingham City will join the race for Aston Villa striker Emile Heskey, so says The Sun.

Alex McLeish is the latest boss to hand Heskey the proverbial 'England lifeline', and is hoping to bring the England international back to St Andrews for as little as £3m from Carson Yeung's £40m war chest. Blackburn, Fulham and Wigan are also in the hunt.

McLeish has had to give striker Christian Benitez a talking-to following his late return from international duty. The forward nicknamed Chucho could jeopardise his slated permanent move to Brum if he slips up anymore.

McLeish said: "We have had a meeting and he's got the message. I've given him a tarjeta amarilla - a yellow card."

Tottenham Hotspur are set to make a £6m bid for Manchester City's Michael Johnson in January, as the injury-ravaged youngster looks for first-team football after seeing a glut of rivals arrive at the club.

Aston Villa are casting an eye over Barnsley wunderkind Reuben Noble-Lazarus. The striker, who became the Football League's youngest player last season when he made his debut at the age of 15 years and 45 days, is now a long in the tooth 16-year-old, but that won't stop Martin O'Neill forking out £1m for him.

The Daily Mirror is stoking up internet-based talk that England Women's manager Hope Powell is being considered for the vacant position at Grimsby Town.

Not so long ago, Jurgen Klinsmann was the man Liverpool held talks with behind Rafael Benitez's back, and the German is not ruling out a return to the Premier League in a managerial capacity.

"You never rule anything out," he said. See, we told you. "Once you've experienced the emotions that football can give you, you want to continue having them."

Klinsmann added: "I never thought I would manage Germany in the World Cup and then become Bayern Munich manager last year."

Bet he never thought he would last just nine months in that last job, either.

Claudio Ranieri is another man who hasn't closed the door on a return to England.

The Roma boss said on the eve of his club's Europa League visit to Fulham: "... before taking the job at Roma, I was waiting for the chance to come back to manage an English club. Now that opportunity is closed. Maybe in the future I could come back."

PFA chief Gordon Taylor has hired one of Britain's top legal minds to fight a constructive dismissal case brought against him - Cherie Blair QC.

Taylor is being sued by former deputy chief executive Mick McGuire, who was sacked for allegedly bullying co-workers.

Reports that employment law specialist Blair will sing 'When I'm Sixty-Four' to McGuire until he drops his case are unconfirmed.

Eurosport