Coral rumour reel: Cisse to replace Bony, Balotelli’s future and more

Swansea City, who are on the verge of selling top scorer Wilfried Bony to 5/2 Premier League title chances Manchester City, will replace the Ivory Coast international with Newcastle United’s Senegal striker Papiss Cisse.

Mario Balotelli, meanwhile, could be sold by 5/1 top four chances Liverpool to help raise funds for Serie A players Gonzalo Higuain and Neto (both Napoli), or Sergio Romero (Sampdoria) to solve their striking and goalkeeper crises.

In other Reds rumours, Brendan Rodgers will only let Rickie Lambert leave Anfield, with relegation rivals West Bromwich Albion (10/3) and Crystal Palace (2/1) interested, if Belgium forward Divock Origi cuts his loan spell at Lille short.

Across the northwest, Manchester United are linked with a couple of highly-rated young defenders, Aymeric Laporte (Athletic Bilbao) and Virgil van Dijk (Celtic), after losing to Southampton. Top four rivals Arsenal remain interested in both the French Basque and Dutchman, however.

At under-performing Everton, 12/1 to record another top six finish, Roberto Martinez may lose veteran striker Samuel Eto’o, with the Cameroon great an apparent target for Serie A side Sampdoria on loan. The Genoa-based club sold top scorer Manolo Gabbiadini to Napoli earlier this month.

Local press up in Sunderland report a swap deal involving ex-England attacker Jermain Defoe and Black Cats frontman Jozy Altidore could be on the cards, with MLS franchise Toronto keen on recruiting the USA international.

Aston Villa, 11/4 chances for the drop, are looking at Valencia’s attacking midfielder Carles Gil to give Paul Lambert some much-needed guile and goals in their bid to stave over struggles.