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Hot Football Transfer Gossip: Rooney agent 'seeks China deal', Barcelona 'want £60m Walker', Wenger 'to snub Far East move'

It’s five days until Pancake Day, which can only mean one thing: it’s five days until the Chinese Super League transfer window SLAMS SHUT. Which can only mean thing: you’re going to spend the next five days reading a lot of stories about Wayne Rooney (while possibly daydreaming about pancakes).

It appears that the agent of Manchester United’s record goalscorer is currently scouring the world’s most populous country trying to find a club that will pay his client more than any team has ever paid anyone.

The Sun reports that Paul Stretford has been testing out the facilities at the Renaissance Hotel in Tianjin ahead of Rooney’s potential move to local heroes (since their formation in 2006) Tianjin Quanjian.

READ MORE: Rooney named China’s fifth most popular player

But with the club’s manager Fabio Cannavaro revealing that talks with the 31-year-old forward had stalled, Stretford is having to look further afield, from Beijing Guoan to Jiangsu Suning and back again.

The Sun says one unnamed club has offered Wazza a three-year deal on £650,000 a week after tax, which would comfortably make him the world’s best player. But it’s unclear if Stretford has yet checked out the hotels in that place.

It’s all going to end in a damp squib anyway, according to the Guardian, which says Rooney is “determined” to remain at Old Trafford for the rest of the season and will not move to the Far East until the summer.

Meanwhile, the Mail thinks Wayne might sack off the Chinese altogether and make a sensational return to his boyhood club Everton, which would be terrible news for Stretford and anyone else who stands to make a financial killing from Rooney’s Asian mega-move.

In more China-related football news (is there any other kind?), the Mail claims Southampton are set to be taken over by a Chinese bank. CITIC Securities are reportedly ready to offer £225m to buy the Saints, which by Hot Football Transfer Gossip’s calculations makes them only slightly more valuable than Rooney.

READ MORE: Home bird Rooney not suited to China – Phil Neville

READ MORE: Roy Keane on Rooney’s China move – ‘It’s madness!’

In non-China-related news, Arsenal, Man Utd and Man City sent scouts to watch Porto striker Andre Silva in action against Juventus in last night’s Champions League match (Star). Unfortunately, the 21-year-old went off injured after 30 minutes so they didn’t get to see much of him. City will probably table a £50m bid this afternoon.

Elsewhere, Tottenham right-back Kyle Walker is a £60m summer target for Barcelona (Sun), AC Milan have been linked (again) with a move for Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas (Star) and Arsene Wenger will snub a big-money move to China if Arsenal get rid of him in the summer (Mail). Instead he will just hang around outside the Emirates on matchdays, disguised in a bomber jacket and a ‘1997/98 Double Winners’ baseball cap, trying to appear in the background of Arsenal Fan TV interviews.

@darlingkevin