Gunners target Argie ‘keeper and other red-hot gossip

Arsenal have identified Sergio Romero of Dutch club AZ Alkmaar as the man they would like to have guarding their goal next season. According to reports, Arsene Wenger is prepared to spend £8m on the 23-year-old Argentine international. The Gunners boss has apparently lost patience with current ‘keepers Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone who are all prone to making embarrassing gaffs. Elsewhere, Rio Ferdinand has been given six spinal injections as part of a revolutionary medical treatment which has finally ended 18 months of back problems; Javier Mascherano is looking for a hefty pay rise of around £1m-a-year to stay at Liverpool; and German midfielder Michael Ballack has been offered a new contract at Chelsea, which could keep him at the club until 2012.