Gossip column: Rooney, Grealish, De Gea, Stones, De Bruyne, Isco

England's record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, 29, has been called one of the greatest players of his generation by Barcelona's Argentina forward Lionel Messi. (Mirror) 
Despite reaching the landmark achievement of 50 goals, Rooney says he still fears for his England place because of the emergence of talented youngsters such as Tottenham's 22-year-old striker Harry Kane. (Guardian) 
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal says he believes his assistant Ryan Giggs, 41, will be the club's next boss. (Times - subscription required) 
Aston Villa midfielder Jack Grealish, 20, is set to choose England as his international side over the Republic of Ireland, whom he represented up to Under-21 level. (Independent) 
Manchester City and Arsenal will try to sign Real Madrid's Spain midfielder Isco, 23, in January. (Sport, via Express) 

The back page of Thursday Sun newspaper

Liverpool will not be re-signing midfielder Steven Gerrard, 35, on loan from LA Galaxy in January, according to Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber. (Telegraph) 
Bastian Schweinsteiger's former club TSV 1860 Rosenheim claim Manchester United only paid £6.5m to sign the 31-year-old Germany midfielder from Bayern Munich, not the £14.4m figure that had been reported at the time. (Manchester Evening News) 

Everton's 21-year-old England defender John Stones, who is wanted by Chelsea, will seek a £38m release clause if he is to sign a new deal with the Toffees. (Daily Mail) 
Manchester United's senior players are unhappy with the tough regime at the club under manager Van Gaal. (Times, subscription required) 
The Dutchman will wait until the last training session before Saturday's match with Liverpool before deciding whether to reinstate goalkeeper David De Gea, 24. (Mail) 
The Football Association will allow Chelsea and Tottenham to make short-term moves to Wembley Stadium while they increase their respective home capacities. (London Evening Standard) 
Arsenal and Tottenham are interested in signing Switzerland striker Breel Embolo. The 18-year-old is valued at £10m by his club FC Basel. (Talksport) 
Everton boss Roberto Martinez has ruled out signing any out-of-contract players during the autumn and has no plans to strengthen the squad until the transfer window reopens in January. (Liverpool Echo) 
Former Manchester City midfielder Owen Hargreaves says new signing Kevin de Bruyne will be wasted in a wide role, but claims the Belgian is not good enough to get in the team above David Silva in the number 10 position behind Sergio Aguero. (Daily Mail) 
New Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn says the English national team's lack of success should not be blamed on the Premier League's low number of English players. (Independent) 
Didier Drogba, 37, stands to make up to £2.3m over the 18 months of his contract with Montreal Impact - but is earning less than other MLS summer imports Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo, Steven Gerrard and Giovani dos Santos. (Sports Illustrated) 

The back page of Thursday's Times newspaper

Liverpool's Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva, 28, has said he expected to be sold during the transfer window. (Telegraph) 
West Brom have accused Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy of trying to sign their £25m-rated striker Saido Berahino, 22, for "loose change". (Sun, subscription required) 
Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard, 24, says the Premier League champions have struggled this season because "everyone wants to kill them". (Daily Star) 
Former Liverpool boss Graeme Souness believes striker Christian Benteke, 24, could be a "superstar" at Anfield following the Belgium international's £32.5m summer move from Aston Villa. (Daily Star) 
West Brom's transfer spending and wage bill are at their highest ever levels, a club official has claimed. (Birmingham Mail) 
Sunderland striker Jermain Defoe, who has scored five goals already this season, cannot play as a lone striker, says boss Dick Advocaat. (Daily Star) 
The 80 teams in this season's Champions League and Europa League have agreed to donate one euro per ticket from their first home games to help the refugee crisis. (Guardian) 

Best of social media

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck and Alexis Sanchez celebrate an Arsenal goal

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez posts a picture on Instagram  of him celebrating a goal with team-mate Danny Welbeck, who is out until Christmas through injury. Sanchez writes: "Much strength my friend and I hope that you return to the team soon and to see you happy as in this photo."
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker has filmed a documentary with England striker Wayne Rooney. Lineker writes on Twitter:  "Delighted to say my latest film, 'Rooney - The Man Behind the Goals' airs on BBC1 on Monday Oct 5th at 9pm."
Manchester United and England defender Luke Shaw praises club and international team-mate Wayne Rooney for scoring his 50th England goal. Shaw writes on Twitter:  "Honoured to be playing alongside @WayneRooney when he broke the record last night!"
England striker Harry Kane also praises Rooney and says on Twitter:  "I grew up watching this man score for England! It was a honour to share that moment with him! Congrats @waynerooney."

And finally...

Arsenal's 'Invincibles' team of 2003-04, who went an entire Premier League season unbeaten, were within days of not being paid because of a cash problem involving the club's move from Highbury to Emirates Stadium. (Mirror) 
West Brom striker Saido Berahino was left stranded without his car on transfer deadline day, as the man employed to drive him around during a 12-month ban had borrowed it to sign for Coventry. Lateef Elford-Alliyu received a frantic call from his former Baggies team-mate when it looked like Berahino could move to Tottenham. (Coventry Telegraph) 
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling asked club and international team-mate Wayne Rooney for his autograph after the striker scored his 50th England goal. (Sun, subscription required) 
Arsenal winger Theo Walcott will be the fastest player on computer game Fifa 16. (Metro)