England striker Michael Owen must take a £25,000-a-week pay cut - from £105,000 to £80,000 - as part of the new three-year contract he has been offered at Newcastle. (Various)

But the 29-year-old former Liverpool striker is likely to delay any decision until January when he is allowed to start talks on a free transfer and wait to see if any of the ‘Big Four’ - Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United - or even Tottenham, Manchester City and Everton are interested. (Daily Mirror)

Owen would be foolish to sign with Newcastle right now. Even with Newcastle showing good form, Owen bank account would be best served by seeing how much he is worth on the open market.

Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear wants West Ham centre-back Matthew Upson and Blackburn left-back Stephen Warnock, although he may have to sell before he can buy. (Daily Mirror)

With Mike Ashley willingly to sell the club it’s highly unlikely he would want to dump more money into transfer fees come January.

Blackburn have upped their asking price for striker Roque Santa Cruz - a January target for City - towards the £20m mark. (Various)

This is what happens when you know a club funded by a billionaire is after one of your players.

Real’s former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos also wants Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra and could return to his old club for Didier Zokora, Aaron Lennon and David Bentley. (Daily Star)

It still amuses me that the British papers still link Tottenham players to Real Madrid. Why would Ramos want any of those players who got him sacked and bring them to Real Madrid where he has six months to prove himself?

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has been told he has no money to strengthen his squad in the January transfer window. (The Sun)

Scolari has accepted that he will not be able to sign a striker in January, despite having previously outlined plans to sign a new goalscorer. (Daily Telegraph)

Wonder how long it would take for Scolari to blame the club’s transfer policy if Chelsea season starts to go south?

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes has been warned he needs to achieve a top-six finish in the Premier League this season to satisfy the club’s new billionaire Arab owners. City are currently 17th. (Daily Mirror)

Pretty much sums everything up, Even Stuart Pearce could of guided this Manchester City squad to 17th place.