Football transfer gossip: Real Madrid 'make contact' with Villas-Boas, Mourinho wants Man United signing 'this week', Liverpool lodge £57m bid

Avram Grant. Theresa May. Puyi, the 12th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. History is littered with examples of talentless people who found themselves in position of extreme power and influence just because the alternative options were either not available, non-existent, or had died. Could Andre Villas-Boas be next?

The Sun reports that the former Chelsea and Spurs manager is being lined up to replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid. The Portuguese is currently a free agent after leaving Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG and has apparently "received contact" from the European champions.

Real's top choices for the role, Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, are clearly going nowhere. But even then there are no compelling reasons given for why Real would approach AVB, aside from the fact that "he got the best out of Gareth Bale" while at White Hart Lane. The same Gareth Bale who is considered roughly the 13th most important person in Real's squad (Cristiano Ronaldo obviously being 1st – and 2nd, 3rd and 4th).

So it doesn't really make sense, but then AVB does have a knack of unearthing lucrative jobs. And who knows, maybe the genius that led him to European glory as a 33-year-old at Porto may yet be unlocked again (And Avram Grant might go down as one of the all-time great football men).

Liverpool launch Alisson bid

Liverpool are looking for a great football man to replace Lorius Karius/Simon Mignolet between the sticks at Anfield, and it seems that Roma's Alisson is still the goalie they desire.

Following yesterday's claim from Sky Sports that the Reds would not be making a bid for the Brazilian, fresh reports emerging from Alisson's homeland suggest the opposite.

Brazilian publication Terra says Liverpool have made a £57m offer for the shotstopper, and that manager Klopp has promised to make the 25-year-old his "number one". Although with Mignolet/Karius as his competition, he'd probably make the same promise to Pegguy Arphexad right now.

Mourinho wants quick Alderweireld deal

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is aiming to make one signing before the World Cup starts and the player he would like to capture is Toby Alderweireld, reports the Sun.

However, despite a deal for the Belgian centre-half being "in the works", Mourinho's plan may be foiled by his own scouts, who the Manchester Evening News says "aren't entirely convinced" by the centre-back's recent form and are "considering alternatives".

With just two days to go until that World Cup starts, they will have to consider very quickly or leave Jose disappointed.

Meanwhile, former Old Trafford talisman Wayne Rooney is set to be jettisoned by new Everton manager Marco Silva. The Mirror says the coach has "ended" Wazza's Premier League career and chosen Norwich City midfielder James Maddison to take his place. The Toffees are now set to start the bidding for the £25m-rated 21-year-old.

Elsewhere, Arsenal remain in talks to sign Uruguayan midfielder Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria for £22m (Mail), Liverpool and Man Utd have been told to pay £62m for Fiorentina starlet Federico Chiesa (Mirror) and Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce is planning to walk out of the club before chairman Dr Tony Xia gets a chance to sack him (Star). Steve will be fine as he has lots of idea for new novels to write.