Reds look to Villa’s Bulgarian star and other red-hot gossip

Liverpool are keeping tabs on Aston Villa midfielder Stilyan Petrov, who is viewed as a possible replacement for Javier Mascherano. According to reports, Reds boss Roy Hodgson is a big fan of the 31-year-old Bulgarian and is ready to offer Villa £7m for him should Mascherano move to Inter Milan. Elsewhere, new Fulham boss Mark Hughes wants to make Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy his first signing at Craven Cottage; Manchester United are lining up 26-year-old Norwegian Anders Lindegaard as Edwin van der Sar's successor in goal; West Ham have offered midfielder Scott Parker £20m to stay, but he wants to leave to play European football; and beanpole Aston Villa striker John Carew is set to join Turkish giants Besiktas.