The Gossip: Striker Links Resurface As O'Neill Seeks Gyan Successor

We did it folks. We got through another week of football-less summer hell. Give yourselves all a pat on the back, then pop off to your designated corner to have a quiet cry whilst we prepare for the next.

It seems that we are not alone in our suffering. The media are visibly starting to lag now too. This week they seemed to lack the energy to bring many fresh names to our gossip round-up, and instead just decided to regurgitate some of the old ones. More on that later.

But for now, here is the updated list.

Steven Fletcher (Wolves)
Victor Moses (Wigan)
Stephen Ward (Wolves)
Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow)
Adam Johnson (Manchester City)
John Guidetti (Manchester City)
Wilifred Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa)
Karl Henry (Wolves)
Jay Rodriguez (Burnley)
Hassan Hissein (Foullah Edifice)
Manuel Fernandes (Besitkas)
Jorge Fucile (Porto)
Junior Hoilett (Blackburn Rovers)
Robert Huth (Stoke)
Liam Trotter (Millwall)
Mohamed Diame (Wigan)
Carlos Cuellar (Free Agent)
Steven N'Zonzi (Blackburn)
Bjorn Bergmann Sigurdarson (Lillestrom)
Grant Holt (Norwich)
Jese (Real Madrid Castilla)
Steven Pienaar (Tottenham)
Danny Guthrie (Newcastle)
Joselu (Real Madrid Castilla)
Matt Jarvis (Wolves)
Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea)
Matt Phillips (Blackpool)
Zak Whitbread (Free Agent)
Steven Warnock (Aston Villa)
Moussa Kone (Atalanta)
Ola John (FC Twente)
Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart)
Ola Toivonen (PSV)
Alvaro Vazquez (Espanyol)
Yoan Gouffran (Bordeaux)
Luis Saha (Free Agent)
Keith Andrews (Free Agent)
Abdou Kader Mangane (Rennes)
Ibrahima Balde (Osasuna)
Kevin Doyle (Wolves)
Kevin Mirallas (Olympiakos)
Burak Yilmaz (Trabzonspor)
Martin Olsson (Blackburn)
Siake Tiene (PSG)
Sylvain Armand (PSG)
Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon)
Ivan Ramis (Real Mallorca)
Vurnon Anita (Ajax)

So just the two press additions which brings us up to a tantalizing 49. The focus seems to have been on more familiar names, with Steven Fletcher, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, and John Guidetti featuring especially prominently in the press this week regarding a summer move to Sunderland. With Steven Fletcher especially, it is becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss.

There does appear to be a pattern in all of this and a golden rule which is 'if you can't find a player who Newcastle and Sunderland can 'battle over', write something about Steven Fletcher instead.' In all seriousness, they have their pages to fill I suppose.

Someone who won't be coming is seemingly Grant Holt. The Norwich forward signed a new contract at Carrow Road last week before openly admitting that was precisely what his transfer request was designed to achieve. He pulled a Rooney. He probably never really represented good value for money for anyone anyway.

Meanwhile, Burak Yilmaz seems destined to be joining Serie A outfit Lazio in the near future.

See you next week, should we survive another week of the summer abyss.