ESPN Soccernet - On The Move
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On The Move
Posted by ESPNsoccernet Staff on 01/09/2012

ESPNsoccernet's On the Move transfer blog is where you will find a hearty round-up of all the rumours and signings during the January transfer window. Get your teeth into the below to find out which player(s) your side are being linked with today.


Ronaldo is reportedly unhappy at Real Madrid. © Getty Images

23.38 GMT Here's a final rumour to sign off with tonight: Manchester United are considering a move for Olympiakos right back Vasilis Torosidis after scouting the 26-year-old in a 0-0 draw with Doxa Drama on Sunday night, according the Daily Mail. Torosidis, who scored Greece's first goal at a World Cup finals in 2010, has a buy-out clause set at £6 million.

Be sure to check back on Tuesday morning for another transfer fix.

23.21 GMT: Blackpool winger Matt Phillips, 20, is not getting distracted by talk of a move to the Premier League. He told the Blackpool Gazette: "It's no problem for me. I am the type of lad who finds it easy to ignore speculation. Until something happens, I am a Blackpool player and I will continue to give 100%."

22.59 GMT: Mario Balotelli has rubbished speculation he is unhappy at Manchester City. Story here.

22.38 GMT: Brazil legend Ronaldo thinks Santos starlet Neymar needs to leave South America to fulfil his potential. "Neymar cannot just reach Messi - he can be better,” he said. “He has too much talent to stay only in Brazil. He is a talent that we have to export and allow him to dominate the world, to own it playing the game that he does. The prestige and competition in European football is massive."

22.12 GMT: Harry Redknapp says Roman Pavlyuchenko will have to stay at Spurs unless they can find a replacement. “He probably wants to leave, but we can't sell him unless we can find someone who we think could make the difference to us,” he said. “It's no good getting rid of Pav if you can't replace him. You'd leave yourself with two strikers - Adebayor and Defoe - so we can't do that. Pav has quality and he can play. If he is at it, where do you find a better striker? You don't. He is up there with the best.”

Redknapp’s also assured Steven Pienaar and Niko Kranjcar that they’ll get more games in the second half of the season.

21.42 GMT: DONE DEAL Dundee United have confirmed that midfielder Scott Allan has joined West Brom for an undisclosed fee.

21.26 GMT: Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has rubbished claims France midfielder Yoann Gourcuff could leave the club. "The journalists writing that Gourcuff is on his way out are simply getting it wrong," he said. "He will be staying. I brought him here because I thought that with him in our ranks, we would have a side with added value, especially in the Champions League."

20.59 GMT: AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri is having to deny reports Alexandre Pato’s upset with him again after he subbed him off against Atalanta. “There is no problem because I was very pleased with the performance of Pato,” he said. “He won a penalty and made two to three important openings. I took him off because we needed someone fresher, that’s all.”

20.26 GMT: GHANAsoccernet says 18-year-old midfielder Mumuni Abubakar, who plays for New Edubiase United, is having a trial with Liverpool.

19.59 GMT: Inter president Massimo Moratti says the club's attempt to sign Carlos Tevez is no joke.

"If we do something it is not in jest but because we think it will be a good move,” he said. “We received information on how things stood and that there was room to act, we’ll see if we can do it or not. There are still 20 days left."

Asked whether he was optimistic about signing Tevez, he said: "It’s not a matter of being optimistic - we’ll just see how things are.”

19.30 GMT Marseille coach Didier Deschamps has recalled Brandao from his loan at Gremio to help cope with a lack of forwards at the club. Deschamps expects Brandao to be available to face Lille on Sunday.

18.56 GMT More on Milos Krasic: The Juventus winger's agent has (again) confirmed that there is interest in the player from the Premier League, but no official bids. "I can rule out the prospect of Milos moving to another Italian team," Vlado Borozan told Notiziario Sportivo. "There is still some interest in him [Krasic] from the Premier League."

18.38 GMT Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is hoping to recruit one more player, in addition to Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill: "Apart from the central defender we might get one more player in, but we're not sure yet. " Full story

18.22 GMT Jlloyd Samuel has signed for Iranian club Esteghlal in Tehran and says he looking forward to a new challenge. "I did have opportunities in England, as well as one or two abroad as well. But for myself I wanted a new challenge."

17.30 GMT Fiorentina's Uruguayan forward Santiago Silva is heading to Boca Juniors for just €1.2 million, according to TyC Sports. Silva has scored just one goal in 12 appearances for La Viola.

16.45 GMT Norwich striker Oli Johnson's contract has been cancelled by mutual consent. Johnson, 24, made 23 appearances for the Canaries, 19 from the bench, and has scored four times since he joined from Stockport in January 2010. Full story

16.24 GMT: Danny Rose has spoken of his frustration over his lack of game time at Tottenham, and said he would be happy to move on loan to play more regularly: "It's frustrating for me and I need to be patient, but that's easier said than done. If it was up to me, I would be playing every week. Perhaps there is a chance I might go out on loan but we've got a few injuries lately so we will see what happens."

16.18 GMT: Scotland Under-21 midfielder Scott Allan has expressed his delight at completing his transfer from Dundee United to West Brom: “I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve turned down the chance to play for Celtic and Rangers to play in the best league in the world. It’s the best platform to showcase what I can do."

16.05 GMT: USA defender Tim Ream is expected to finally complete his £2 million switch from New York Red Bulls to Bolton this week.

15.57 GMT: Manchester United's forgotten midfielder Darron Gibson is a target for Everton, who clearly didn''t watch his performance against Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup, according to the Daily Mail.

15.42 GMT: Sky Sport Italia is tipping Egyptian teenager Stephan El Shaarawy to swap the San Siro for Cologne on a six or 18 month loan deal.

15.29 GMT: Marseille's Brazilian striker Brandao says he is happy to be back in France after returning from a year away on loan at Cruzeiro and Gremio: "Everything is agreed, I am returning to Marseille. I am delighted to be back."

15.16 GMT: Algeria midfielder Adlène Guedioura wants to leave Wolves after struggling to hold down a frist-team place at Molineux this season.

15.03 GMT: Comment from RossMosh, who believes the reported £3 million fee that Arsenal may pay to Chelsea for Salomon Kalou would represent an absolute bargain:

"I have no idea how much Chelsea want for Kalou, but anything under £8m has to be seen as excellent value. He's played a bit part most of his Chelsea career yet managed to score 10+ goals every season except his debut. He's also shown he's good for 5-10 assists. Kalou could represent one of the best value purchases of January as long as he can agree to a reasonable wage. I'm not suggesting Kalou is without flaws, but he's definitely worth more than £3m Arsenal are bidding."

14. 54 GMT: Harry Redknapp has re-iterated his interest in Chris Samba: "I like Samba, he is a good player. I wouldn't want to say it's an impossibility."

14.40 GMT: Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has revealed that he would like the club to sign a "tall, young centre-back".

14.31 GMT: TalkSPORT reckons that Porto are going to beat Man Utd to the signature of highly-rated Basel and Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri as the Red Devils are unwilling to negotiate in the January transfer window.

14.18 GMT: Ajax defender Jan Vertonghen insists he will remain at Ajax until at least the summer, in the wake of reported interest from Man Utd, Tottenham and Arsenal: "Everyone knows that I have ambitions, but my ultimate desire is not to go away just yet. I will stay for this season - and it could be that I stay at Ajax until my contract runs out in 2013."

14.05 GMT: Despite Hulk saying last week that he would be happy to discuss a move away from Porto should his buyout clause be met, his agent now says that he wants to stay with the Portuguese champions: "I do not think he wants to leave Porto. He is satisfied, he likes the club and the city."

13.53 GMT: Ally McCoist has confirmed that Rangers are interested in bringing St Johnstone striker Francisco Sandaza to Ibrox.

13.41 GMT: Steve Kean has dismissed reports that Yakubu may be set to leave Blackburn: "The message is simple - the Yak is our player, he is performing very well, he has done fantastic for us, he is not for sale."

13.27 GMT: It feels like we've said this a number of times already but Robbie Keane is on the verge of signing for Aston Villa. BBC Sport is predicting that a deal will be confirmed in the next 24 hours.

13.18 GMT: One of the more unlikely sounding rumours now, as Sky Sports claims that Turkish giants (and Super Lig) leaders Galatasaray are chasing West Ham striker Carlton Cole. Surely not?!

13.05 GMT: Comment from Rehanveer, who was unimpressed with Paul Scholes' return to action for Manchester United:

"Man United should either buy Hazard, Ganso, Hamsik or Gourcuff after seeing scholes play against Man City."

12.57 GMT: Earlier [11.44 GMT entry] Juve chief Beppe Marotta claimed that there has been no offer from Roma for Amauri, but the striker's agent says his client is "evaluating a number of options".

“A future in Italy or abroad? We are evaluating a number of options without ruling anything out,” Giampiero Pocetta told calciomercato.it. The transfer market is in full swing and is continually evolving. Every day could be the decisive turning point.”

12.48 GMT: Newcastle star Demba Ba has welcomed conjecture linking him with PSG but played down the chances of him leaving Tyneside in January: "Join PSG? Yeah, why not? It's possible. I have always supported PSG. And it's an attractive club. But it will be difficult to do that in January. I'm in Newcastle and the fans like me. The transfer market will be closed when I return from the African Nations Cup, so I won't focus on it."

12.39 GMT: Gael Kakuta has told the Canal Football Club TV show that he is very close to signing for Dijon, despite no official word as yet from Chelsea: "I made the choice to go to Dijon because I saw them play and they play good football. Coach Patrice Carteron convinced me. I hope it will be sorted in the next 24 hours. Talks are still going on."

12.26 GMT: Celtic will assess Nigerian midfielder Rabiu Ibrahim in a trial this week after the 20-year-old negotiated his release from PSV, Neil Lennon has revealed: "He is on trial. We have got him in for a few days. We are just going to have a look at him in training this week. I know he has had a decent career up until now and he trained on Saturday and looked quite handy but again nothing more than that, just to have a look."

12.17 GMT: Sky Sports reckons that Arsenal are ready to pounce if Eric Abidal decides not to extend his Barcelona contract.

12.09 GMT: Ivica Olic has been talking for months about how he is seeking a transfer away from Bayern Munich but Bavarians coach Jupp Heynckes has now said: "From my point of view, not much stands in the way [of a contract extension]. Because he has something that few have. What distinguishes him is that for 90 minutes he is on the move, he fights hard and is ambitious."

11.57 GMT: Remember you can have your say on all the transfer rumours using the tool below. That's what Rohin Garg has done, giving his thoughts on Mario Gotze's claim that he is staying at Dortmund:

"Why have Dortmund bought Reus then? (in the summer). Every player who's about to be sold says that he's not going, but then leaves. Gotze just garnering support so that he has a good relationship with Dortmund fans. Gotze will be going to Arsenal in the summer, and Dortmund have bought Reus to replace him."

11.44 GMT: Juventus director general Beppe Marotta has been talking Bianconeri transfer targets, insisting that Milos Krasic is going nowhere: “Manchester City’s Tevez? The Argentine is a strong player, but we were not after him before and we don’t want him now. We’ve had no offers for Krasic and he won’t be leaving. Amauri to Roma? There has been no contact.”

11.31 GMT: L'Equipe reports that Lille coach Rudi Garcia is keen on bringing Rennes forward Jires Kembo to the club at the end of the season.

11.18 GMT: Wigan boss Roberto Martinez has confirmed that left-back is a priority position for him after Patrick van Aanholt returned to Chelsea following the end of his loan spell.

11.06 GMT: Liverpool are monitoring French duo Benjamin Corgnet (Dijon midfielder) and Jawad Boukabous (Nantes striker) according to L'Equipe.

10.58 GMT:Mario Gotze has reiterated his desire to stay at Borussia Dortmund to Bild: "Of course I can imagine extending my contact at Dortmund. I have always said how at home I feel here. And nothing has happened to change that. I have my family and friends here. And the whole Borussia Dortmund package with the coach and the team is simply outstanding."

10.43 GMT: Ipswich have captured Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy on a three-month loan deal.

10.36 GMT: Interesting rumour doing the rounds that West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green is a target for Ligue 2 side Monaco.

10.28 GMT: Football Italia speculates that Juventus will sign Uruguay international Martin Caceres from Sevilla by this Friday, with a loan fee of €2m mooted.

10.12 GMT: Despite saying on Saturday that he would like to move away from Napoli , the Slovakia star has now revealed that he is close to signing a new contract with the Partenopei: “Everything has been agreed and defined. All that is missing is a signature.” FULL STORY

10.03 GMT: Neil Taylor insists he is fully focused on life with Swansea, amid reports that Arsenal are weighing up a bid: "I've had a few texts off people telling me [about the Gunners' reported interest], but I just get on with my football. I'm enjoying my football here and I think it's going great."

09.56 GMT: Roma boss Luis Enrique has told Corriere dello Sport that he is confident Daniele De Rossi will pledge his future to the club: "There is a negotiation between the club and the player. It's up to him to decide and I think he will stay. He is a very important player for us and I don't like the idea of thinking about a Roma without him. But I'm not worried, my only focus is on improving this team." FULL STORY

09.42 GMT: Birmingham City boss Chris Hughton has told the Birmingham Mail that he has received no official approaches for Liam Ridgewell: “There will be speculation but at this moment we’ve not had one inquiry for him.”

09.29 GMT: The Bolton News claims that Owen Coyle wants to bring Blackburn Rovers contract rebel Junior Hoilett to the Reebok Stadium.

09.13 GMT: Arsene Wenger says that he might be keen to extend Thierry Henry's loan spell until the end of the season, the way AC Milan did with David Beckham.

09.02 GMT: Ghana midfielder Derek Boateng has claimed Fulham have tried to sign him fron Ukrainian club Dnipro: "When the transfer window opened Fulham approached Dnipro to sign me on loan but my club flatly turned down the offer."

08.57 GMT: Nantes forward Florian Raspentino is the subject of interest from Caen and Brest, according to L'Equipe, with Udinese also thought to be considering a swoop after he rejected a new contract offer.

08.44 GMT: Over in Italy, the Corriere dello sport reports that Inter Milan are closing in on Carlos Tevez.

08.32 GMT: Staying in the Bundesliga, and former Bayern Munich midfielder Ze Roberto says he is plotting a potential return to Germany, having left Hamburg for Qatar last summer. The Brazil international is disillusioned with life in the Gulf state and has explained that he favours either a move back to his homeland or to the Bundesliga.

08.20 GMT: Time for us to take a trip around Europe now, with our first stop in Germany, where Schalke defender Benedikt Howedes is reportedly a €15m target for Bayern Munich.

08.10 GMT: As ususal we will start things off by taking a look around the English press:

Elsewhere, the Daily Mail says Arsenal are plotting a £3 million swoop for out-of-favour Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou, while the same newspaper tips West Ham to up their bid for Huddersfield's Jordan Rhodes and thw Metro suggests Spurs are keen to make a £3 million offer for Aston Villa defender James Collins.

Daily Mirror: Blackburn Rovers want 20-year-old Bastia winger Wahbi Khazri as a replacement for Junior Hoilett; Harry Redknapp says that Newcastle striker Demba Ba has a £5 million release clause that will likely spark a rush to try and sign him; Ipswich want to take Norwich's Aaron Wilbraham across the Suffolk divide for £750,000.

The Sun: Niko Kranjcar is ready to stay and fight for his place at Tottenham; Stoke and West Ham are chasing Reading winger Jimmy Kebe; Hamburg want to extend Chelsea defender Jeffrey Bruma's loan for another year; Swansea have joined West Brom and Wolves in the fight to sign Bristol City's Nicky Maynard.

08.05 GMT: The headline story above is from The Sun - the only newspaper to pick up on the Paul Scholes return before it happened - which claims that Spain's new top-rate tax laws and an apparently increasingly difficult relationship with the Real Madrid fans have led Cristiano Ronaldo to consider his future at the Bernabeu.

08.00 GMT: Hello and welcome to a fresh week in the January transfer window; we'll be bringing you all the latest gossip and done deals from the world of football. After Henry signing for Arsenal on Friday and Paul Scholes returning to Man Utd on Sunday, we will be on the lookout for Chelsea snapping up Gianfranco Zola, Liverpool swooping for Robbie Fowler and Alan Shearer returning to Blackburn.

Comments

Posted by Matt on 01/09/2012

Henry is back at Arsenal, Scholes is back at Man U, any chance we see Newcastle re-sign Shearer?

Posted by SOUMITRA ROY on 01/09/2012

WILL GARY CAHILL ALSO BE ANOTHER CASE LIKE ROBINHO WHO AT THE LAST MOMENT WENT TO CITY!!

Posted by Rohin Garg on 01/09/2012

Why have Dortmund bought Reus then? (in the summer)
Every player who's about to be sold says that he's not going, but then leaves. Gotze just garnering support so that he has a good relationship with Dortmund fans.
Gotze will be going to Arsenal in the summer, and Dortmund have bought Reus to replace him.

Posted by Rehanveer on 01/09/2012

Man United should either buy Hazard, Ganso, Hamsik or Gourcuff aftr seeing scholes play against Man City.

Posted by lowering on 01/09/2012

hey rohin,
that's where you're wrong. unless gotze plays an incredible euro 2012 tournament i don't see him going anywhere. the fact is that gotze is an intelligent player who plans his career wisely and he knows that 2-3 more years with a strong bvb will be vital for his development. also, he is friends with reus and as naive as it sounds i think he really wants to play together with kagawa and reus for at least one season. he knows they could achieve something outstanding...

Posted by Ran on 01/09/2012

As a Real Madrid fan myself I can tell you that the only "difficult" relationship that Ronaldo has with the fans is when he starts getting angry about not receiving a foul call and stands around, looking at the ref. Madrid fans don't appreciate that. They want to see him try and win the ball back, even if the ref did miss a foul. Madrid fans are not scared to get on the best players if they're not giving a 100% effort all the time.

Posted by RossMosh on 01/09/2012

I have no idea how much Chelsea want for Kalou, but anything under £8m has to be seen as excellent value. He's played a bit part most of his Chelsea career yet managed to score 10+ goals every season except his debut. He's also shown he's good for 5-10 assists. Kalou could represent one of the best value purchases of January as long as he can agree to a reasonable wage. I'm not suggesting Kalou is without flaws, but he's definitely worth more than £3m Arsenal are bidding.

Posted by John on 01/09/2012

Reports are coming up suggesting, Wenger might swoop in for Kalou for about 3mil. Any truth to this?

Posted by Augusto on 01/09/2012

I find it amusing to see how much Ganso is overrated in Europe. The last time he showed good football regularly was at 2010 Paulista championship, that's two years without making an impact. He just rides along Neymar's wave in Santos and has put on some disgraceful appearances for the National team. Brazil isn't the place to look for creative midfielders right now.

Posted by Alex on 01/09/2012

I don't know why monsieur Wenger doesn't go after Shaqiri and offload Arshavin. Shaqiri is young and operates quite well on the left-wing and he is a fast player as well (reminds me a bit of Kanchelskis). Lee Wallace and Ignazio Abate are also good starting wing backs (although it is not easy to pry them off their current club). Gotze to Arsenal in the summer? That's definitely news to me and it would be a dream come true, but for the current window M'Villa or Casemiro will be a good long term investment.

Posted by Barbarossa on 01/09/2012

The only saving grace that NUFC supporters may have re: Demba Ba leaving is his comments regarding PSG. If he is truthful in his implication that a transfer won't be worked out during ACN, then he may be at Newcastle until the summer. But, if 'Arry is correct in that his release clause is 5-7 million, then we'll likely only have him through June.

Posted by Abdul on 01/09/2012

why isn't chelsea interested in Demba Ba, he would be a perfect replacement for Drogba in Both strength and style of play and i am sure he will be absolutely delighted to come to chelsea. £10m is small money for such talent. better than a misfiring £50m

Posted by Diwas on 01/09/2012

Man utd should buy wesley sneijder to save their crown. Scoles cant play all 90 minute. So to save their crown they have to buy a creative midfield player like (wesley sneijder).

Posted by Ian on 01/09/2012

I don't understand why SAF doesn't go for someone like the in-form Clint Dempsey. He'd come relatively cheap compared to many players, he has more goals this season than ALL of United's midfield COMBINED, and he's a valuable American marketing chip.
And by the way, he's NINE years younger than their most recent recruit...

Posted by steve on 01/09/2012

how come liverpool is so quiet in this transfer window? They definitely need a lot more quality in the front.

Posted by The Trevor on 01/09/2012

VVV Venlo striker Michael Uchebo is finalizing a medical ahead of a move to Stoke.

Look for it to be done today or tomorrow.

Posted by Marc on 01/09/2012

If Chelsea need one more player, it should be Eden Hazard. That would allow Mata to be more central and behind the striker, and Sturridge and Hazard would compliment each other on he wings. Plus they claim they have 150 million to spend, he's probably the right player to cash in on.

Posted by jdw on 01/09/2012

"Manchester United's forgotten midfielder Darron Gibson is a target for Everton, who clearly didn''t watch his performance against Crystal Palace in the Carling Cup, according to the Daily Mail."

Great line. As a ManU fan, my only sadness is that we weren't able to con Sunderland out of £5M for him in the summer when they failed to come to contract terms with Gibson.

On Ganso to ManU, depends upon what team ManU is trying to build in the coming years. If the objective is to chase Barca, both as the team to beat and a style of play, Ganso isn't the man unless he changes his style of play & his fitness. Barca 4-0 Santos in December was enlightening additional proof for anyone who didn't guess it before (and there were prior hints). Some quality passes, but little activity defensively which isn't sustainable against teams in possession like Barca. A fair amount of the top EPL sides are headed that way as well.

Posted by DJ on 01/09/2012

I know nothing really gets finalized until Deadline Day, but where's Liverpool been? The Reds need a striker badly, but there have been too few rumblings coming out of Anfield besides the ridiculous talk of Darren Bent. Anything new?

Posted by Jawatoss on 01/09/2012

Rooney Yesterday, Ronaldo today, it looks like tomorrow's headline will be Messi looking to get out of Barcelona

Posted by Adam on 01/09/2012

This is the killing of english football, for God sake why Harry is thinking of Breaking Ba signing clause??? For a matter of remembrance Andy(Caroll)had a striking capabilities which made him having the number 9 jersey but Kenny decided to sign him and look to where he is, Liver made a loss and also to England national team....the said big clubs in EPL have a massive of players but they cant afford to see the capabilities in them rather than seeing what others have.....magpies wil stand even if you buy half of the team

Posted by A Yankee in King Kenny's Court on 01/09/2012

Liverpool needs to get a faster midfielder. There's a bit too much reliance on the old gun Stevie G and Charlie Adam can sorta cut it but he falls short every now and then.

http://www.adifferentleague.co.uk/p6_1_12685_arsenal-and-liverpool-retain-interest-in-keisuke-honda.html

The article here states how Arsenal and Liverpool remain in interest with Keisuke Honda. He'd be great in the EPL and I'd rather see him a Red than a Gunner, *fingers crossed*.

On a different note, the January window was the time allegedly told to Riccardo Montolivo that he would be allowed to move. His contract runs at the end of the season, anyone chasing his signature?

Posted by Jake Nazar on 01/09/2012

I love Harry Redknaap but he is the most unfair manager in World Football! He keeps players becuase he says "we can't let them go becuase we need them" and he never uses them! Why is he saying you can't sell Psv becuase then we would only have Adebayor and Defoe and those are the only two you use!! It shocks me sometimes. I'm not a Spurs fan (in fact i hate them) but he is truly unfair to his players.

Posted by Hariy Johnson on 01/09/2012

Gotze isnt going to Arsenal, hes going to either barcelona or madrid, he even said hed rather play there himself.

Posted by Godwin Alex on 01/10/2012

Barcelona should go after M.Gotze because he is talented young and fast.Am a footballer who is looking for trials at a club.up Barca

Posted by DAWSON OPOKU TETE on 01/10/2012

I THINK IF DI MARIA COMES TO CHELSEA IT WILL HELP CARER.

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