Top stories from papers and websites - 28 March 2012

• Chelsea have reopened talks with Porto over their long-standing interest in striker Hulk - who has a £85million release clause in his contract.


• Steve McClaren could return to the FA - in the technical director role which could shape the future of British football.


• Arsenal want to clear out fringe players currently costing the club £23million a year in wages as Arsene Wenger prepares for a summer spending splurge.


• Real Sociedad will step up their efforts to sign Arsenal striker Carlos Vela over the next week.


• Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester United are watching Notts County goalkeeper Fabian Speiss.


• Edin Dzeko is a summer target for Borussia Dortmund following Manchester City's decision to sell the striker after only one-and-a-half seasons in the Premier League. Robin van Persie and Gonzalo Higuain figure prominently on a list of possible replacements for Dzeko at Eastlands.


• Juventus are considering reneweing their interest in Chelsea midfielder Raul Meireles

• Mario Balotelli took a day off from Manchester City's title challenge - to gatecrash a press conference at Inter Milan.


• David Moyes last night thanked the Sunderland police for helping Everton set up an all-Merseyside FA Cup semi-final.


• Rio Ferdinand reckons Manchester United's players have the nerve and trust in one another to clinch the title.


• Lucas has urged his gutted Liverpool team-mates not to dwell on their shock home defeat by Wigan - and revealed he should be back for the start of next season.


• Arsene Wenger wants to strengthen Arsenal's defence by signing Belgian international Jan Vertonghen.


• Five players saw red after a 22-man post-match dressing-room fight following Crawley's 2-1 win at Bradford.


• Sam Allardyce has labelled critical West Ham fans "deluded" after his side's record 11th away win of the season.


• Sunderland are considering buying out James McClean's sell-on clause for £500,000.


• Blackburn boss Steve Kean sees Bastia winger Wahbi Khazri as a cheap replacement for Junior Hoilett, who is set to leave in the summer.


• Birmingham have told West Brom manager Roy Hodgson to stop banging on about buying goalkeeper Ben Foster.

• Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam is almost certainly out for the rest of the season.


• Arsene Wenger plans to rush through new transfers to avoid a repeat of last summer's deadline chaos.


• Jonathan Woodgate believes standards in the Premier League have dropped.


• Roberto Di Matteo's plea to play Chelsea's FA Cup semi-final on a Friday has been snubbed.


• Sunderland's financial chief has insisted the days of big spending and mega wages are over.


• Borussia Dortmund are lining up a summer swoop for Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko.


• Stoke striker Ricardo Fuller can still win a new deal at the Britannia Stadium.


• Golden oldie Ryan Giggs would love to play 1000 games for Manchester United.


• Michael Owen insists he has at least two more years at the top - despite playing just FOUR games for Manchester United this season.


• Aston Villa are happy for defender Carlos Cuellar to join Valencia this summer.

• Jonathan Woodgate has slammed Premier League standards, saying only Swansea have really impressed this season.


• Multi-purpose James Perch is ready to fill the void left by Newcastle captain Fabricio Coloccini's injury.


• Chelsea are unlikely to get their FA Cup semi-final brought forward by 48 hours if they reach the Champions League last four.


• Manchester City and Arsenal have joined Manchester United and Tottenham in the race to sign Notts County's young keeper Fabian Speiss.


• Ben Foster has urged Birmingham to thrash out his future soon so he can complete a £4million move to West Brom.


• Karl Henry is on a mission to ease the growing pressure on Wolves boss Terry Connor and boost the club's survival mission.

• Newcastle face a fight to hold onto top scorer Demba Ba with some of Europe's richest clubs prepared to offer the striker a huge payday.


• Arsenal defender Johan Djourou has emerged as a surprise summer transfer target for Juventus.


• Charlie Adam is facing a battle to play for Liverpool again this season after damaging his knee ligaments.

• Roman Abramovich's advisers have opened a dialogue with Pep Guardiola's representatives to establish the Barcelona coach's intentions at the end of this season.


• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is in line for a significant pay rise at Arsenal this summer, with the club hoping to partly fund new deals for existing players by trimming peripheral squad members from their wage bill.

• The Football Association will not confine its appointment process of a new technical director to English candidates, opening the possibility that the high-profile position could go to a foreign coach, or manager.

• Neil Lennon has welcomed the charge brought against him by the SFA in the wake of Sunday's Old Firm game and is confident he will clear his name.


• Kyle Lafferty last night claimed Rangers are still the best team in Scotland - despite trailing SPL leaders Celtic by 18 points.


• Ross County's title-chasing squad could be ripped apart before they play SPL football with 12 of their players out of contract this summer.