Thursday transfer gossip

[Jimbo 175]

TRANSFER RUMOURS

 

Inter Milan are lining up a £14m bid to lure Belarus winger Alexander Hleb away from Arsenal. (Daily Express)

 

Lyon has accused Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson of scandalous behaviour in trying to unsettle their £45m-rated striker Karim Benzema after making public his interest in him. (Various)

 

Meanwhile, United want to sign Cameroon keeper Carlos Kameni. (Daily Star)

 

Blackburn are set to trigger an option to keep Dutch defender Andre Ooijer at the club for another year. (Various)

 

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is ready to open contract talks with left-back Wilfred Bouma. (Daily Star)

 

But O'Neill has told on-loan Liverpool keeper Scott Carson that his future cannot be sorted out until the end of the season. (Various)

 

Manchester United and Liverpool are battling it out to sign Peterborough's 6ft 5in keeper Joe Lewis. (The Sun)

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan insists he will have money for new players in the summer - as long as he keeps the club in the Premier League. (The Sun)

 

Keegan says he needs five new players to transform the team. (Daily Mirror)

 

Meanwhile, Mark Viduka is unhappy at being left out of the side and looks set to leave Newcastle. (Daily Mail)

 

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has transfer-listed Liam Miller after becoming fed up with the midfielder's poor time keeping. (Various)

 

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos is pressing on with plans to sign a new goalkeeper to replace Paul Robinson. (The Sun)

 

West Ham manager Alan Curbishley plans to snap up Derby teenager Giles Barnes for £3.5m. (Daily Mirror)

 

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy wants to sign Middlesbrough's 20-year-old winger Adam Johnson. (Daily Star)

 

Meanwhile striker Freddy Eastwood appears to be ready to seek a move from the club after claiming he is restless at Molineux. (Daily Mirror)

 

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez will not be rushed into offering defender Sami Hyypia a new contract. (Various)

 

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp has revealed he expects striker David Nugent to join Ipswich on loan before the weekend. (Various)

 

Wigan striker Julius Aghahowa is wanted by Crystal Palace as a replacement for Dougie Freedman. (Daily Mirror)

 

Carlisle have dismissed rumours that 17-year-old striker Gary Madine is on his way to Newcastle. (Telegraph)

 

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OTHER GOSSIP

 

Frank Rijkaard is set quit as Barcelona coach this summer and it is believed he would consider an offer to manager Chelsea. (Various)

 

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has revealed his distress at the club's failure to challenge for the Premier League title. He says he is "gutted" when he looks at the league table and insists even winning the Champions League would not rescue their season. (Various)

 

Arsenal's ownership is uncertain after the restriction against Alisher Usmanov mounting a takeover bid expired on Wednesday evening. (Various)

 

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AND FINALLY

 

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is the master prankster of Anfield and constantly mocks the accents of his team-mates. His impressions of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have the lads in stitches. (Various)

 

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is ready to give up learning the guitar after struggling with the basics and complaining it "is doing my head in". The England star wants to take up the drums instead. (The Sun)

 

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas says he has become more team-focused in the last year after admitting that he used to "want to show more of his own stuff" and was guilty of playing as an individual. (Various)

[Offshore Toon 0]

I'd be more than happy for Viduka to leave. I doubt anybody would take him, though.

[bassplayerjj 0]

I'd be more than happy for Viduka to leave. I doubt anybody would take him, though.

 

Would laugh if he ended up at West Ham with Barton come the summer =)

[Kid Dynamite 7318]

5 players is a bit optimistic. Double it maybe and then worry about the subs bench later.

[Guest alex]

5 players is a bit optimistic. Double it maybe and then worry about the subs bench later.

If they were 5 very good players - i.e. walk into the starting XI and improve it - that would be great and would do me. Too many people expecting too much too soon imo.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

If the Viduka rumour is true, he's got a fuckin cheek.

[Isegrim 10017]

5 players is a bit optimistic. Double it maybe and then worry about the subs bench later.

If they were 5 very good players - i.e. walk into the starting XI and improve it - that would be great and would do me. Too many people expecting too much too soon imo.

Exactly. Imho it's not so much the number of players that count, but the type and quality of player. It's quite often that just a single player can transform a whole team. Robson only needed the inspirational signing of two players as well.