Chelsea line up Bournemouth’s Scott – Thursday’s gossip

Chelsea line up Bournemouth‘s Alex Scott, Sunderland make an offer for Manchester City‘s Jack Grealish, and Aston Villa set to miss out on AC Milan winger Rafael Leao.

Chelsea have lined up Bournemouth‘s English midfielder Alex Scott, 23, as a replacement for Argentina’s Enzo Fernandez, 25, who might be on the move to Manchester City. (Sun), external

Aston Villa target Rafael Leao is close to agreeing a move from AC Milan, with Galatasaray set to pay about £38m for the 27-year-old Portugal winger. (Corriere dello Sport – in Italian), external

Sunderland have made Manchester City an offer to sign England winger Jack Grealish, 30, on loan. (Athletic – subscription required), external

Chelsea are also closing in on a £36m deal to sign Italy defender Honest Ahanor, 18, from Atalanta. (Sky Sport Italy – in Italian, external)

Barcelona and Spain defender Alejandro Balde, 22, remains on Manchester United‘s shortlist to reinforce their left-back position. (Fichajes – in Spanish), external

Newcastle have not yet walked away from a deal to sign Lille and Belgium winger Matias Fernandez-Pardo, 21, but will not do anything that causes problems in meeting Premier League and Uefa spending rules. (Mail – subscription required), external

Bayer Leverkusen’s French striker Martin Terrier, 29, is being lined up by his former club Lille as a replacement for Fernandez-Pardo. (L’Equipe – in French), external

Fiorentina have turned down Nottingham Forest‘s initial bid of £6m for their Brazilian right-back Dodo, 27. (Sky Sport Italy – in Italian, external)

Marseille are confident of keeping Brazilian forward Igor Paixao, 26, despite interest from Arsenal and Sunderland. (Teamtalk), external

Aston Villa have asked about West Ham and France defender Jean-Clair Todibo, 26, as they search for a centre-back. (Mail), external

Bayer Leverkusen and Argentina midfielder Exequiel Palacios, 27, is close to completing a £23.5m move to Ipswich Town. (Sky Sports), external

Everton are lining up a deal to sign Guinea-Bissau forward Franculino, 22, from Midtjylland and are also prepared to sanction the sale of Republic of Ireland defender Jake O’Brien, 25. (Teamtalk), external