Sir Alex Ferguson has always been a keen racing fan. You'll know that, particularly if you read his latest memoir and noticed the passing mention of the seismic and decidedly ill-advised row over champion stallion Rock of Gibraltar in which he became embroiled with his former employers John Magnier and JP McManus. Yesterday a slightly less controversial beast named I'm Fraam Govan, which Ferguson actually does own, won the former Manchester United manager a prize pot worth £60,000 at Kempton Park, getting his head in front over 11 furlongs under a fine hold-up ride from his jockey Jim Crowley. The only surprise? That in the wake of his slightly awkward appearance in the guard of honour for Ferguson at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award, Ferguson's forelock-tugging successor David Moyes was not on hand to lead the horse in to the winner's enclosure on behalf of his master.

The Rumour Mill jests of course, as Moyes was otherwise engaged masterminding his greatest football triumph to date: passing the acid test of football management that is victory for a visiting team at the Britannia Stadium on as filthy, dirty, wet and windy a Wednesday night at Stoke as you're ever likely to see. Despite fielding a team comprised largely of reserves, Moyes still chose not to give Wilfried Zaha a run out, a state of affairs that suggests the winger will almost certainly feeling that he has no option to go out on loan if he wants to play football on a regular basis this season. With – deep breath – Newcastle, Swansea City, West Ham, West Brom and Aston Villa believed to be among up to 10 clubs who fancy signing up Zaha in January, Moyes is likely to spend an hour or two studying the fixture list in a bid to figure out which interested party is most likely to take the most points off his main rivals.

With Atlético Madrid joint top of the Spanish league and having been handed an eminently winnable Champions League last-16 draw against the worst Milan team the Rumour Mill has ever seen, their in-form striker Diego Costa is unlikely to want to leave the Vicente Calderón any time soon. This won't stop Arsenal trying to sign the 25-year-old Brazilian who has scored 22 goals already this season; the Premier League leaders are believed to be interested in triggering the £32m release clause in his contract once the January transfer window inches open and have already opened negotiations with the player's "people".

Costa's is believed to be one name on a five-man shortlist of strikers drawn up by Arsenal, the others being the Juventus striker Fernando Llorente, Milan's Stephan El Shaarawy, Borussia Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski and Paris Saint-Germain's Ezequiel Lavezzi.

The Daily Mirror reports that Iker Casillas is being touted around the upper echelons of the Premier League, where both Arsenal and Manchester City have been approached by shifty Arthur Daley types inquiring if they'd be interested in buying a 32-year-old Spanish goalkeeper with one careful owner and about 630 appearances for club and country on the clock.

The Mirror also reports that the Manchester City midfielder Abdisalam Ibrahim is wanted by Swansea, Reading and Queens Park Rangers. The 22-year-old spent the first part of this season on loan at the Norwegian side Stromsgodset, who he helped win the Tippeligaen, the country's equivalent of the Premier League. Crystal Palace and Everton have been linked with Ibrahim in the past, while he is also believed to have turned heads in France and Italy.

In news that will come as no surprise to regular readers of the Rumour Mill, assorted newspapers continue to report that Real Madrid are planning a summer move for Luis Suárez, while the Seattle Sounders striker Clint Dempsey is about to return to Fulham on loan. Meanwhile in Italy, the Internazionale centre-back Andrea Ranocchia is set to usurp St Francis as Assisi's favourite local celebrity, with Manchester United, Tottenham and Arsenal all interested in bringing him to England.

The Irish Independent reveals that Aiden McGeady's January move to Everton is advancing full steam ahead, although Hull City, Newcastle and Aston Villa are also sniffing around the Spartak Moscow winger, whose contract expires next summer. McGeady was suspended in late November for apparently failing to heed his manager's instructions and is believed to be anxious to leave the Russian club sooner rather than later.

And finally, Juventus and Inter both like the cut of the Manchester City defender Aleksandar Kolarov's jib, while Tottenham want to install Ajax's Frank de Boer as their new manager. André Villas-Boas is a surprise contender for the vacant manager's position at West Brom.