Papers: United target Red

The Daily Mirror reports that Ferguson is convinced the unrest at Anfield will open the door to poaching some of the Reds' best players.

And with United keeper Edwin van der Sar likely to retire at the end of the season, Fergie has apparently made the Spain back-up his number one priority - even though no player has moved between the two arch-rivals in nearly half a century.

The last player to do so, the paper adds, was Phil Chisnall, who was transferred from Old Trafford to Anfield in 1964. What they fail to say is that the move was a disaster for Chisnall, who racked up just nine appearances in three years for the Reds.

The Sun also runs with Manchester United news on the back page, claiming that Ferguson will open the United coffers to keep France defender Patrice Evra at the club by boosting his wages from £70,000 to £100,000.

Arsenal's Samir Nasri is set for a similar boost, according to the Mirror, with Arsene Wenger to offer the 23-year-old French midfielder a new five-year deal.

The same paper reports that Wenger is also to offer Andrei Arshavin a new deal - not a bad move if, as The Sun claims, the versatile forward has been teaching his team-mates how to speak Russian on the pitch in order to confuse opponents.

It's not just players lining up lucrative new deals: Martin O'Neill is to sign a £4.5m deal to take over at Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, according to the Mirror. It's the job that Sven-Goran Eriksson was due to take before he chose instead to boss Leicester.

Proving that money isn't everything, however, is Tony Mowbray, who will reportedly walk away from £500,000 of severance pay still owed him by Celtic by taking the vacant manager's post at Middlesbrough, according to widespread reports.

Finally, we can't ignore the headline at the top of the Daily Star's back page, focusing on why England's first-choice goalkeeper at the World Cup joined a struggling Championship side.

"So David James... why did you join Bristol City? 'I was DRUNK!'" the headline reads, with the story inside containing quotes from James explaining that he took Steve Coppell's phone call the morning after his raucous stag weekend.

"I received a phone call from an unknown number," said the 40-year-old. "I don't usually answer those, but I was still drunk and so I picked it up.

"Much to my astonishment the man on the other end was Steve Coppell... such was my respect for Steve that Bristol City became a serious contender."

Sadly, James doesn't go on to explain what happened to that respect when Coppell walked away from the Robins after just two matches in charge.