This has been a season in which the game's tangled financial web has begun to unravel itself with many a question raised about the ownership of football clubs. Notts County continue to make the news, as the shadowy characters who are linked with the club slowly creep into the light.

They're not doing this lightly, as shown by their response to ten questions from the Guardian about their ownership.

A sample tells all about such reticence:

1. The statement says Qadbak has "a multibillion dollar investment portfolio across natural resources, heavy industry, logistics and infrastructure". Aside from the investment in the BMW Sauber Formula One team, can you provide us with details of any companies, conglomerates or investment trusts in any of these areas which form part of Qadbak's portfolio?

Answer No comment

2. It has been reported that Mr Nathan Willett is a director of Qadbak. Can you confirm this, and provide us with the identities of any other board members, executive or non-executive, and the positions held? Can you confirm when Qadbak Investments was incorporated and by whom?

Answer Yes, Mr Willett is a director of Qadbak but the other directors wish to retain their privacy

Question 2 is the only one they answer.

Further ownership questions posed by David Conn, football finance expert for the Guardian and published author of rightful acclaim. Conn has seemingly recovered from the rather unquestioning three-parter he devoted to Manchester City, who he happens to support, by turning his attention to Leeds United.

Conn reveals:

The ownership of Leeds United has been routed via a network of offshore companies ever since Ken Bates arrived at Elland Road as the club's new chairman in 2005, and now mystery surrounds it again.

Bates told the Royal Court of Jersey in January this year that he himself jointly owned the club's holding company, the Cayman Islands-registered Forward Sports Fund, with his long-term financial advisor, the Guernsey accountant Patrick Murrin. It has since emerged that in May Bates swore an affidavit in the same court, stating that it had been "not correct" and "an error on my part" to say he was the joint owner of his club.

Contrary to what he and his solicitor Mark Taylor, also a Leeds director, had told the court in January, there are in fact 10,000 shares in Forward, and Bates does not own any of them. Forward's administrators, based in Geneva, have refused to say who the owners of those shares are.

Clear as mud, then. Meanwhile, Martin Samuel has a well-aimed dig at the new owner of Portsmouth. "Dubai's very own Del Boy, Sulaiman Al Fahim, has no quick fix at Portsmouth" points out that Al Fahim has done plenty of talking but is yet to come through with any real cash.

Opines Samuel in the Daily Mail:

Portsmouth had a busy time in the build-up to the transfer deadline, but not Abramovich busy. It was more like the way Del Boy used to approach an auction, coming out with a job lot of Russian army camcorders or lockable briefcases with the security code missing.

Paul Hart, the Portsmouth manager, never moved beyond the realms of the car boot sale to snap up Nadir Belhadj, Tommy Smith, Danny Webber, Mike Williamson, Hassan Yebda, Tal Ben Haim, Michael Brown, Jamie O’Hara and Kevin-Prince Boateng, the majority for substantially less than his owner claimed to have paid for a number plate, and some via the loan system.

The Guardian's Eastern European football expert, Jonathan Wilson, has posted an interesting article on the dangers of match fixing and the English community's apparent ignorance of the issue.

In 'English football cannot afford to be complacent about match-fixing', Wilson explores the fall-out from the news that UEFA is investigating 40 suspicious results and how it made so few headlines in England.

"UEFA announced on Friday that its investigation into match-fixing in Champions League and Uefa Cup/Europa League matches over the past four years has been extended from 25 games to 40. In western Europe, nobody batted an eyelid, but then it is probably hard to do so when your head is buried in the sand. The English game, in particular, seems in denial about the dangers of match-fixing.

"Perhaps there is some logic to that. After all, as Peter Limacher, the head of disciplinary services at UEFA said: 'Right now it's mainly eastern Europe clubs being investigated.' The problem is not rife here – or at least not yet.

"But there must be concerns and there must be vigilance, and the reaction to the news a year ago that suspicious betting patterns had been traced in two Premier League games suggests a worrying reluctance to accept how real the danger is."

Wilson, who writes with real expertise on Eastern European issues and also tactical developments, has sounded a warning to the English footbal family. Will it be heard?

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who will become the club's longest-serving manager on Thursday, has told The Sun that he would never have given the job to him back in 1996.

"At that time what Arsenal did you needed to be a little bit crazy. Crazy in the sense that I had no name, I was foreign, there was no history. They needed to be brave," he said.

And it's a good job they were.

However, Wenger continues to be reluctant to spend the Gunners' millions. Wenger insisted: "It is true there is money and people reproach me for not losing money. It is not a personal thing, it is just that I have a squad strong enough to compete." That's also in The Sun.

Striker Nicklas Bendtner will miss out on Champions League action due to a car accident. And it could be have been worse, according to an Arsenal source in the Daily Express. He said: said: "Nicklas swerved off the road. It all happened so quickly. He is very shaken and believes he is extremely lucky to escape with his life, let alone serious injury."

Over in Italy now, and Adrian Mutu is clearly trying to cause a bit of a rift ahead of Fiorentina's date with Liverpool in the Champions League. You're not famous anymore, seems to be the strange cry from the one-time Chelsea striker.

Mutu told The Sun: "Once upon a time, beating Liverpool would be a famous win and you could make a fuss, but no more. Since I have been in Florence, the team, the club and the whole environment have grown to the point where we can now beat anyone in our stadium."

Plenty of talk about a Liverpool buy-out at the moment, and now The Times thinks there could be a new party on the block. The paper believes that George Gillett is speaking to an Indian billionaire who made his fortune in the energy industry.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express quotes Rafael Benitez as saying Fernando Torres is priceless. He said: “I would say at this moment in time he is not for sale at any price. People say every player has a price, but we don’t want to sell any player, so he does not have a price. Money cannot buy him at this moment in time.”

Manchester United are being linked to a new goalkeeper, tipped by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Daily Express reveals that Sporting Lisbon's Rui Patricio is on the wanted list.

The Daily Mirror believes Fulham could be ready to make a move for Nigel Reo-Coker of Aston Villa. A £3 million fee is mooted.

And finally, Watford's USA international Jay Demerit is set for an extended spell on the sidelines... after blinding himself with a contact lense! The Daily Express reveals that the player cut his eye as took the lens out at the team hotel and it has become infected.

Hang on, we've got one more story! A teenage star for League Two side Bournemouth could make his debut away at Hereford due to an injury crisis. However, he'll need permission from his school, Lytchett Minster School, to miss an important maths lesson in his exam year! That's in the Daily Express.

Petr Cech's dismissal against Wigan Athletic proved to be the talking point of the weekend and the turning point of the game as the Blues lost 3-1 to relinquish their place at the top of the Premier League.

Hugo Rodellega was the man brought down by Cech for what everybody agrees was a stonewall penalty but The Times chief football commentator Patrick Barclay suggests that the striker could have actually stayed on his feet if he really wanted to and asks just how 'honest' a player should be in the penalty box.

"So step forward, Robin van Persie, and take a boo for admitting that he has exaggerated the impact of fouls...

Of course players do this, and quite rightly. And not just when they are pushed. Take the case of Hugo Rodallega on Saturday. Impeded by Petr Cech's left foot with the goal gaping, the Wigan Athletic striker could possibly have stayed on his feet, stumbling on and eventually making reacquaintance with the ball near the corner flag, by which time the Chelsea goalkeeper and his defenders would have recovered their positions and composure. Would that make for a better, fairer game?"

Now that the fallout of from Sol Campbell's departure from Notts County has died down a little club figurehead Sven Goran Erikkson is once again fielding questions about the Magpies' mysterious owners and where the money for the revolution is actually coming from.

The well-paid Swede seems no more clued up than the rest of us about the QADBAK group - the league have requested more information about the organisation with the 'fit and proper person test' de rigeur - and the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel suggest that as long as the money keeps rolling in the League Two club's director of football won't really care where it's from.

"The most illuminating comment from Eriksson last week, as the exit of Sol Campbell after one game confirmed growing suspicions that all at Notts County might not be what it seemed, was that he did not know, or care, where the money came from for the project. That his cheques clear is all that seems to matter. It is what made him such an easy target for the fake sheik newspaper sting. A bloke with a J-Cloth on his head and an empty tin of Cherry Blossom back in his hotel room arrives and it is love at first sight."

Rod Liddle is billed as the most controversial commentator on sport in the British media. So the Sunday Times have given him the chance to comment on something he can really get his teeth into: El-Hadji Diouf and the recent race row where the Rovers player accused Everton fans of throwing bananas at him.

''I mean, be honest; why would you need to racially abuse El Hadji Diouf when there are so many other things you might shout at him?'' says Liddle. ''Abusing Diouf for being black is like abusing Alan Carr for being gay - a complete irrelevance and a sadly missed opportunity.''

On Diouf's own claim of racist abuse, towards a ball-boy, he says:

''Frankly, hauling up a black player for perpetrating a “hate crime” by calling someone white seems, to me, a bit rich, given the history of how black players have been treated in the English game this past 150 years or so.''

Concluding: ''If I were the Old Bill I’d be tempted to forget about the whole thing and try instead to sort out one or two burglaries in the Merseyside area.''

Meanwhile Henry Winter in the Sunday Telegraph, chooses to target Ashley Cole for praise - not something that happens every day - to show how a player can win over the fans with his commitment.

''Now is the season of discontent, of angry fans insulting footballers and stroppy players goading supporters,'' he begins. ''Now is the season of vitriol and sporting dynamism, of catcalls around the catwalk on which Ashley Cole and co strut their compelling stuff. Cole embodies the zeitgeist of talent amidst the tension.

''Cole's changing story provides a glimmer of hope for those seeking to wipe the spittle off the contorted face of fan-player relations. Just like David Beckham on the long, hard road back from St-Etienne, Cole is winning people over through his blend of hard work, athleticism, responsibility-taking and obvious technical merit. You might not want Cole at your party but you'd want him in your team.''

It's not like Sepp Blatter to come out and say something stupid. Well, actually it is, and despite claiming that the FIFA chief has ''improved the game,'' Patrick Barclay in the Times makes great reading this morning as he sums up the reasons why the English should not be credited with evolving football, based on Blatter's comment that England is the ''motherland'' of the sport.

''Not my game’s, it isn’t. Or yours. Not if you like a nice pass, or clever tactics, or a lovely piece of skill,'' he says. ''Only if your idea of football is a 22-man brawl could England be said to have mothered, or fathered, it.''

Barclay, a proud Scot, makes the point that you cannot:

''...credit the English for having parented something that remained a juvenile delinquent until the Scots devised passing; that acquired a greater intellect only when the central Europeans got into tactics; and that completed its development into a sort of universal art form only when the Brazilians proved poetry in motion effective by winning three World Cups between 1958 and 1970.

''What the English had invented was fighting with a ball.''

Hard to see quite how much has changed...

There have been a number of unsavoury incidents in football over the past few weeks with both players and fans subject to abuse.

Blackburn Rovers striker El-Hadji Diouf is being investigated for alleged racial abuse of a 14-year-old ball boy and has lodged a counterclaim against the Everton fans, a supporter invaded the pitch during the Manchester derby at the weekend and was given a clip round the ear by City striker Craig Bellamy and all this follows hot on the heels of ugly scenes at the West Ham United v Millwall cup tie last month.

It has all become too much and the Daily Express' Chief Sports Writer John Dillon blames a "culture of rage".

"Why are things like this? Our broken and valueless society, which has lost all sense of public dignity, is partly to blame. So is sheer, ignorant yobbery and the failure of the clubs to identify and ban these overheated clowns en masse.

Now comes the payback. There is little idea of respect, perspective or self-discipline in the game. So there is none in the seats, either, where booze and a new sense of indignant self-righteousness inflame things even further."

The aforementioned Bellamy has had more than his fair share of scrapes during his controversial career - he reportedly attacked team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club when at Liverpool and the late Sir Bobby Robson once joked that the Welshman could start a fight in an empty room - but there are those that defend his feisty attitude.

One of those is the Daily Mail's Ian Ladyman who claims that while Bellamy maybe a "petulant pest who can pick a fight in a phone box" but can see why his manager Mark Hughes swears by him.

"There are those who don't like Bellamy. They don't see the talented, inspirational, selfless footballer. They see only the rabble-rouser, street fighter and malcontent.

If football is part ability and part belief, attitude and confidence than Bellamy is all but the complete package. When it comes to making the most of what you have, Bellamy could pretty much write the book."

Sol Campbell's decision to quit League Two Notts County after just a single game has put the Magpies back in the headlines and prompted the Fleet Street hacks to dig around for the real reason behind the former England defender's departure.

'Broken promises' say Sol's people, an unpalatable 'reality check' say club insiders. But The Times' Kevin Eason believes the problems may run much deeper for the world's oldest league club, with financial question marks still hanging over the club's mysterious new owners.

"Each day that passes with the Football League refusing to rubber-stamp the acquisition means more anxiety for many fans, who welcomed the takeover with open arms but are starting to worry that their bright new dawn might yet turn into a nightmare.

Research by The Times has revealed a puzzling web of connections between the men managing County and the Belgravia Group, a collection of companies with interests in aviation, construction and finance. The remnants of that business are in the hands of liquidators appointed by the courts in Jersey, who are trying to unravel a trail of debt, thought to run to millions of pounds, and angry investors."

The topic of questionable proprietors continues in The Guardian where Marina Hyde focuses on Flavio Briatore's role at QPR following his exclusion from Formula for cheating. Under the "fit and proper person's test" the Italian could be disqualified from football and she urges FA chief Lord Mawhinney to do so, to partly restore the honour of the game.

"Even in the grimmest times, we must never stop believing in the possibility of rainbows. And so it is that the dark cloud of Flavio Briatore's banishment from the motor racing firmament might have the silveriest of linings: a legacy project for the beguiling Lord Mawhinney, in whose gift it could be to disqualify the Queens Park Rangers co-owner under the traditionally self-parodic "fit and proper person" test.

The Briatore situation now offers the metaphorical deciding penalty in the frustrating draw of his tenure. If he nails it, then he can leave with his state earnings-related dignity. If he fails … well, it's all going to feel a bit Gelsenkirchen."

It's difficult to keep away from the topic of one-game-wonder Campbell as it dominates nearly all of the newspapers this morning and Harry Redknapp uses his column in The Sun to comment on the situation.

The Spurs boss, who signed Sol for Portsmouth, said recently that he still rates 35-year-old Campbell amongst the top six defenders in the Premier League, but despite his penchant for signing players he has previously coached he still won't be making a move for the centre-back.

"I said during the summer that, if I was the boss of any other Premier League club, I'd sign Sol like a shot. That statement still applies today. But there is no way in the world Sol is ever going to play for Spurs again.

There is simply too much bad feeling towards him from the fans at White Hart Lane. It would be too much hassle for him, for me and the club."

Well that's that then.

Gabriele Marcotti has stoked up quite a controversy with his take on the El-Hadji Diouf affair this afternoon. The Times correspondent, whose dispatches on European football are usually warmly received, has posted a thought-provoking blog to argue that allegedly calling a ballboy 'white boy' does not constitute racist abuse:

After cheekily describing the Blackburn Rovers forward as "only slightly more popular than venereal disease", Marcotti writes:

"What is this idiocy about the police investigating charges of racist abuse for the fact that he allegedly said "F*** off, white boy" to a ballboy? I would have thought that, in 2009, we would realise that simply putting an adjective in front of an insult does not make it racist.

"Racist abuse is based on a history of power relations between people. There is a difference between a white person calling a black person "black ****" and a black person calling a white person "white ****".

"They are not the same. In case you forgot, black people were oppressed, abused, enslaved and discriminated against for most of the last thousand years (if not longer). And much of it was done by white people. That's why white-on-black racist abuse - like anti-Semitic or homophobic abuse (to name two other minorities who have suffered discrimination) - is nothing like being called "white boy" or "honky" or whatever other stupid insult for white people you may think of.

"Please. There's no moral equivalence there. And if you fail to see that, it's further evidence that we have a long way to go before understanding what racist abuse is all about."

Apparently determined to create vigorous debate, Marcott also reveals he has a "soft spot" for Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy. Just don't go invading any pitches any time soon, eh Gabriele?

With all the talk of players' reactions to fans, we turn to the Daily Mail for Martin Samuel's assessment of the current climate.

''What is absolutely plain in the fall-out from the Manchester derby is that the worm has turned. We traditionally think of the worm as the supporters, poor put-upon saps, bled dry by soaring ticket prices and costly merchandise, their wishes ignored by clubs increasingly out of touch with reality and the community. And, in many cases, this is true.

''In the present scenario, however, the players are the worm. Mad as hell and not going to take it any more, like the newscaster in the film Network.''

Players now think they are victims, according to Sammy, with ''the conclusion in the dressing rooms being there is a limit to the abuse an athlete can reasonably expect to take.'

However, they also have a duty to the game.

"Footballers have a duty to behave in a professional manner and certainly Neville and Bellamy did not do that,'' he says, while ending that: ''everybody needs to wind their necks in.''

Good advice.

Over at the Times Matt Hughes claims the FA is blundering by not charging Gary Neville for improper conduct, a few days after charging Emmanuel Adebayor.

''Several days spent studying countless camera angles, still photographs and precedents have left the game’s law-makers, it appears, in no better position to reach a sober judgment than a physically exhausted and mentally stretched match official."

It is interesting though, isn't it? The Daily Telegraph's John Ley certainly thinks so, as he reckons he's crunched the numbers pretty well.

The stats add up, as we have the best average of goals per game in a season thus far; and there's been a cracking 7% of all goals have come after the 90 minute mark. Thrilling stuff.

Martin Samuel has used his not inconsiderable weight, in a purely metaphorical sense you understand, to land an interview with Carlo Ancelotti that adorns the pages of the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

It is a far-reaching and, typically for Samuel, an engaging read as Ancelotti explores his upbringing, managerial philosophy and the players at his disposal at Chelsea. In 'I pray, but not for football, God has better things to do', Ancelotti gives readers an insight into his life as a child in rural Italy and as a son of a farmer.

'When we were gathering in the grain it was like a big party. Then when we had finished the landowner would come in and he would plunge a stick into the middle of the grain. One side was his half and the other was our half.

"I could not understand it at my young age. I could not understand how my father had worked so hard and it was not his to keep. He worked all the time, every day, there was no time that was free because cows need milking twice daily. But if we had chickens, the landowner would still get the biggest one."

Ancelotti's description of the music in Chelsea's dressing room is far less sentimental though. Clearly the Italian will not be attending any club nights in Brixton any time soon.

"What is different here is the music before games. I am used to players who are very focused, very concentrated, so when I came to England it was a big surprise to hear music in our dressing room. In Italy, coaches are not happy if people talk, let alone have music. We had to stay focused. And it is not even good music. Bad music, s**t music, rap music."

The Manchester derby continues to dominate the pages of Her Majesty's Press and a variety of angles have been taken. The Guardian - once a Manchester paper of course - carries out the most in-depth study of Sunday's totemic classic.

The Guardian's Daniel Taylor carries out a forensic study of injury-time played by Manchester United. In "Revealed: Manchester United get more injury time when they need it," Taylor supplies the following stats:

"After the controversy over Michael Owen's winning goal in Sunday's Manchester derby, the Guardian has looked at all of United's league matches at Old Trafford since the start of the 2006-07 season and discovered that, on average, there has been over a minute extra added by referees when United do not have the lead after 90 minutes, compared to when they are in front. In 48 games when United were ahead, the average amount of stoppage time was 191.35 seconds. In 12 matches when United were drawing or losing there was an average of 257.17sec.

"The average stoppage time added at Old Trafford in the period in question is below that given at Anfield, the Emirates Stadium and Stamford Bridge. United's is 205 seconds, compared to Liverpool's 210sec, Arsenal's 224sec and Chelsea's 229sec."

Taylor is granted another space in the paper to document the long-running emnity between Sir Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes. He quotes from the autobiography of a former United security guard in "Defeat will not make Mark Hughes alter his views on Sir Alex Ferguson":

"Ned Kelly, once United's head of security, remembers bumping into Hughes in a nightclub one evening in 1995, shortly after the player had left Old Trafford to join Chelsea.

"Kelly remembers telling him "that's bollocks", but being unable to cheer him up. "Mark refused to listen. He was more interested in berating Fergie. It was sad that someone who had given such sterling service to the club had spent all those years believing his manager had thought so little of him."

There is no disguising which of the weekend's games captured the imagination of Fleet Street with extensive column inches devoted to the most dramatic of Manchester derbies on Sunday.

The Guardian's Richard Williams waxes lyrical over Michael Owen's finishing ability after the striker struck deep into injury time to secure a 4-3 victory for Manchester United, comparing the goal to the most famous moment in Owen's career to date.

"When Manchester City scored their third equaliser with 10 seconds of the 90 minutes left on the clock, thousands of home fans rose from their seats and headed for home," writes Williams. "Franco Baldini had already left. All of them missed perhaps the most dramatic goal Michael Owen has scored since the summer night in 1998 when he scampered through the Argentina defence and wrote his name in the Saint-Etienne sky."

Matt Dickinson takes up the theme in the Times, comparing Owen's contribution with that of Carlos Tevez who could only hit the post on his return to Old Trafford following his summer move to Eastlands. Let's just say that this particular scribe clearly enjoyed himself at the game.

"Michael Owen in, Carlos Tevez out. Managerial genius. Sir Alex Ferguson can portray it that way, or any way he likes, in the immediate aftermath of what we will call the greatest Manchester derby ever without fear of the hyperbole police raising the alarm."

But Oliver Holt has some words of comfort for City fans in the Daily Mirror, claiming that despite their defeat Mark Hughes' side have the mark of future champions and that the established order should be concerned indeed.

"If ever a performance from a losing team sounded like the rumble of a train in the distance, it was this one," says Holt. "Because amid the magnificent bedlam of this classic encounter, City provided the proof that not only are they breathing down the necks of the big four but that they are bearing down on the champions themselves. On the evidence of their performance yesterday, City’s grand project to conquer the Premier League is a lot further advanced than we thought. The revolution isn’t just at the planning stage any more. It’s not just the stuff of fantasy and dreams. It’s at the business end now. The revolutionaries are at the gates and scaling the fences. And the aristocrats inside the palace are finally beginning to realise that they just might have a problem."

The Times', Patrick Barclay was assigned the Chelsea v Tottenham game on Sunday and has come away from Stamford Bridge confident in the belief that it is Carlo Ancelotti's men who will be lifting the Premier League title in May after they maintained their 100% record.

Barclay writes: "The pace, power and energy of this team of Carlo Ancelotti’s would put them ahead of all challengers at present even without the impressive compactness again displayed as they claimed a sixth win in as many league matches this season. Everything is falling into their laps. Even the ludicrously light ban of three Champions League matches handed to Drogba for abusing a referee (reduced from four by Uefa on appeal) works in their favour by resting him when it doesn’t affect the team too much."

Martin Samuel is always worth a read in the Daily Mail and he devotes his column on Monday morning to appealing for an overhaul of the Champions League seeding system, a bit bizarre given the wealth of Premier League action over the weekend.

"It is ridiculous that the next round of games pits the champions of England, Manchester United, against the champions of Germany, Wolfsburg, because the Bundesliga winners came out of left field and, therefore, have few coefficient points," writes Samuel. "It will now be very tough for Wolfsburg to get out of the group, which is just the way the established order likes it."

Is the biggest and most bitter build-up to a Manchester derby ever? This pair of experienced eyes seems to think so, though they were not trained on the battles of the late 1960s.

Mark Hughes is a confirmed City-ite these days, and has peddled the old line about United not actually being in Manchester. The Daily Star picks up on that. And it is by no means the only broadside fired. The Sunday Times sees Hughes make a sneaking reference to Sir Alex Ferguson's famous quote about Liverpool in saying United they will not remain England's dominant force much longer and that he is aiming for Manchester City to be the side who "knock them off their perch".

On the other side of this great divide, in the Mail on Sunday, Ferguson has cranked up the pressure on Carlos Tevez by claiming he was not bothered when the Argentina striker exited Old Trafford at the end of last season. Most papers suggest Tevez will play a part in Sunday's match with the People saying Tevez looks to have won his battle to face Manchester United - and has aimed a pre-derby blast at Ferguson.

City are the team with the cash these days, it seems. If you believe the News of the World, "moneybags" City have paid their players a staggering £459,000 in bonuses already this season. Nice work if you can get it. One of the players picking up that booty has been Emmanuel Adebayor, who has been criticised by former team-mate, and possibly former pal, Thierry Henry, who has slated Adebayor for showing a lack of respect to the manager, club and fans who made him a star. That means Arsenal, of course and that's in the Mirror.

Another Arsenal old boy in Patrick Vieira tells the Star he snubbed a move back to the Premier League with Spurs because he still has a great rapport with his old Arsenal fans.

Manchester United meanwhile, are heavily linked with a transfer. The Sunday Express says Sir Alex Ferguson is planning a January transfer window raid for Valencia's £25million Spanish star David Silva.

There are several more news-lines to follow though. The News of the World says Chelsea will produce evidence from the FA which they claim can clear their name in the Gael Kakuta 'tapping up' controversy while on a similar note, the Mail on Sunday says fifteen new transfers involving top English clubs are under investigation by world governing body FIFA, raising fears that football has slipped back into the bung culture of the Nineties.

Murky waters again in the Sunday Mirror which says The Football League are demanding to know the identity of the owners of Notts County. A loss to Morecambe yesterday means whoever owns the club who boast Sven and Sol in their ranks is unlikely to come forward at the moment if only out of sheer embarassment.

To no-one's particular surprise, Nigel Reo-Coker will be sold in the January transfer window after his astonishing bust-up with Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill, says the News of the World.

And finally, Soccernet favourite Phil "Orange" Brown's job is on the line at Hull City - with Alan Curbishley or Gordon Strachan set to get the call to give the struggling Tigers some new teeth. So it says in the People anyway.

The Manchester derby that awaits us on Sunday has been given quite a fanfare and build-up with most newspapers picking up on a war of words between United and City. Every paper leads off in a similar fashion to the Sun, who say Mark Hughes launched an amazing attack on Sir Alex Ferguson while Ferguson himself says Manchester City will never top United in his lifetime.

The latter of those lines is picked up by the Mirror while the Daily Telegraph desribes it thus: "The question was hardly loaded, a simple inquiry about whether Manchester United "would ever be underdogs" in the derby match, but Sir Alex Ferguson reacted with the disgust of a man discovering his Chateau Latour 1990 was corked."

The Independent meanwhile, says Mark Hughes refused to be cowed by his old boss's outbursts against Manchester City, declaring himself "amused" by the fact that the club's high profile was irritating Sir Alex Ferguson and flatly stating that Manchester United, a poorer side without Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, had failed to reach the levels of last season.

Very similar approaches from the Times and Daily Mail. The Times says "Sir Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes traded insults last night as the touchpaper was lit for the most potentially explosive Manchester derby in decades". The Mail says Sir Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes lit the fuse on Sunday's Manchester derby with an explosive exchange.

So too the Daily Express: "Sir Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes have lit the blue touchpaper for tomorrow's potentially explosive Manchester derby by trading verbal blows."

Then there is the Carlos Tevez factor but the Daily Star says Sir Alex Ferguson has dismissed the possibility of Carlos Tevez coming back to haunt him. And - what's this? - a slightly different line taken by the Guardian, as part of their three-day insider's guide to the new Manchester City written by the estimable David Conn, a Blue by extraction. Mark Hughes reveals that he came "close" to walking away from Manchester City in the summer of 2008, frustrated by the lack of money, "confusion" and turmoil at the tail end of the club's ownership by Thaksin Shinawatra, the former prime minister of Thailand.

There are, of course, other clubs playing this weekend, with Aston Villa being one of them but one player definitely not playing is Nigel Reo-Coker after his bust-up with Martin O'Neill. The Mirror, Mail and Express all question the sometime midfielder's Villa Park future.

The Adebayor debate will not go away, despite the fact that he too will not be playing this weekend. In wades old Etonian chairman Peter Hill-Wood into the Daily Star to slam Emmanuel Adebayor's claim that he did not want to leave Arsenal.

Well, well, well, we wondered how long it would take for someone to get an interview with the volatile Mr Adebayor. Well done the Sun, who have a piece on the Togo man which includes some quality quotes about his former side, and his actions last weekend.

A selection of the best include: "I am sorry Robin got hurt but I can't regret something I did not mean to do.'' Of course not, which is why he contested the FA charge of violent conduct.. oh wait.

And: ''but, as the tattoo on my arm says, 'Only God can judge me' not Arsene Wenger."

Incredible stuff, but Adebayor is not the only City man making waves. Carlos Tevez is very keen to get himself fit for the crunch clash against his old side, Man Utd, this weekend and told the Daily Mirror that he is ''desperate'' to play. Perhaps so he can cause a similar amount of damage.

Arsenal, too are in the news, but only because they might miss out on Adebayor #2, Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, who, according to the Daily Mirror, is off to Juventus.

The Sun have another top story, a training ground fight between Martin O'Neill and Nigel Reo-Coker! Apparently the pair had to be seperated and, although no punches were thrown, they wrestled each other to the ground. Nigel probably won't be in the starting lineup at the weekend then.

The Daily Mail have news of Avram Grant. Rest assured Pompey fans, he won't be coming to the south coast, but instead will head off to Poland.

The Daily Mail bring us news of England's potential friendly with Japan ahead of the 2010 World Cup, but far more interesting are the quotes from Sir Alex Ferguson claiming that City are ''cocky''. That ought to add some spice to an already boiling tie.

The big transfer news on Thursday morning is that Everton are poised to sign Lucas Neill on a free transfer. The Australian once turned his back on a move to Liverpool but appears he will be making the move to Merseyside imminently and could undergo a medical in the coming hours.

The Guardian, which reports he will have to 'settle' for £40,000-per week, claims Neill could even make his debut against his former club Blackburn on Sunday. Everton have moved for the free agent after losing captain Phil Neville to a long-term injury.

Peter Kenyon's departure from Chelsea is also prominent in the morning's papers, with Matt Hughes of the Times providing a nice oversight of the chief executive's time at Stamford Bridge, including his string of PR problems.

Meanwhile, the Mirror takes the story on by claiming that sporting director Frank Arnesen also fears for his position, particularly with the Gael Kakuta case hanging over his head.

Another hugely-popular football administrator, Newcastle's former executive director (football) Dennis Wise, has told the Telegraph that he should not be blamed for the club's relegation last season. Tell that to the Geordie nation.

In the Sun, Fabio Capello explains why the England job will be his last in football, presumably because managing Emile Heskey for a few years is enough to test anyone's love of 'The Beautiful Game'.

The Sun also reports that the fallout from the latest F1 scandal could impact on QPR as disgraced former Renault boss Flavio Briatore could be kicked out of the club by the Football League. It appears the days of Naomi Campbell visiting Loftus Road are sadly coming to an end.

Finally, Patrice Evra has told the Mail that United are determined to prove they are still the kings of Manchester in the weekend's big derby, and that he will join Red Devils fans in booing Carlos Tevez if they target his best mate. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

The Emmanuel Adebayor saga rumbles in Wednesday's newspapers with Arsene Wenger lambasting Manchester City boss Mark Hughes over his defence of the striker's crazy conduct against Arsenal.

Adebayor has been handed a double charge by the FA, one of violent conduct for his challenge on Robin Van Persie, and another count of improper conduct. Wenger told The Sun: "You ask 100 people, 99 will say it is very bad and the hundredth will be Mark Hughes."

Wenger contniued his complaints in The Guardian. "In England, you have many cases where the players leave in, although less now than 10 years ago," he said. "You have some challenges 10 years ago where if you did that in the street, you go to jail."

The Daily Star report Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez's claims that the Premier League has rushed through the introduction of a quota system for home-grown players too soon. The new rules mean top-flight sides will have to name eight home-grown players in every 25-man league squad from next season. Guess which team is set to suffer the most?

Meanwhile, Tom Hicks, the Liverpool co-owner, has launched a charm offensive after the signing of the most lucrative sponsorship deal in the club's history by promising to cut debt levels at Anfield and telling The Times that a new era of stability is under way.

Things aren't so sunny over at Portsmouth, according to The Sun. Although new Pompey owner Sulaiman Al Fahim is adamant the Fratton Park club will have money to spend in the January transfer window chief executive Peter Storrie says the club has had no new funds made available.

Barcelona's Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez has told the Daily Mirror that he missed England at Euro 2008 - the tournament he won with Spain - last year and that Fabio Capello's men are now among the favourites to win the World Cup in South Africa.

"They will be among our biggest rivals along with Brazil, Italy and Germany," he said.

In Champions League news the Daily Mail report how veteran midfielder Paul Scholes rolled back the years to give Manchester United a winning start with a 1-0 win at Besiktas in Istanbul. While the Daily Express claim that Nicolas Anelka's stunning finish to get the Blues off to a winning start against Porto proves that Chelsea can still deliver without banned Didier Drogba.

The circuses surrounding Eduardo and Emmanuel Adebayor continue to dominate the headlines on Fleet Street's former denizens.

The Sun picks up John Terry's comments about the rather amazing UEFA u-turn taken on Eduardo's diving ban. "JT: We all know Eduardo dived," it bellows and most would agree. Meanwhile, Manchester United want Adebayor to be banned from the Manchester derby for his stamp on Robin Van Persie, say the Sun.

Over at the Mirror Gareth Southgate has stepped into the row over Adebayor's celebration at Eastlands, claiming that if crowds dish out abuse they must take it too, a point agreed with by the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel. "The hypocrites are in the stands" is the headline to an article which documents some of the abuse levelled at Adebayor.

Over at the Independent, James Lawton says Adebayor should be banned for longer for claiming his innocence. "Adebayor's apology was lost when he said, "I don't know what I've done to be banned" is the subtext.

The Indie also says that the Premier League have announced new rules for club finances which could have meant transfer bans for Liverpool, West Ham and Portsmouth had they been in place last season.

The Telegraph says that the Premier League is to effectively take over the running of any top-flight club whose finances are in a perilous state. That could keep them busy.

Real football now, played by players in teams and everything. The Daily Express reports that Michael Owen's World Cup dreams have been rocked by news he will not get the chance to prove he can be Manchester United's No 1 striker - a statement of the bleeding obvious?

There is no shifting Emmanuel Adebayor from the back pages on Monday morning as the fallout continues following his behaviour against Arsenal on Saturday.

Estimates on the length of a likely ban vary, with the Daily Mirror expecting a four-match suspension as The FA were "appalled" by Adebayor's celebration to goad Arsenal fans, as well as his alleged stamp on former team-mate Robin van Persie.

However, the man himself remains adamant that he should not be punished, having apologised for both contentious incidents in The Sun this morning. The Police are far from impressed with his actions though.

All the big-name columnists have their say on the talking point of the weekend and the Mirror's Oliver Holt describes Adebayor's 90-yard sprint to the Arsenal fans as his 'Cantona' moment, in reference to the former Manchester United striker's infamous kung-fu kick at Crystal Palace.

The top transfer tale from the morning's papers is in the Daily Mirror, with Alan Nixon reporting that Celtic are hoping to sign Robbie Keane from Tottenham in the January transfer window. If he does go, expect him to return to White Hart Lane within a year.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports that Manchester United are continuing to take a keen interest in Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, news that will concern England World Cup hopeful Ben Foster. Apparently, Sir Alex Ferguson's scouts are "regulars" at Schalke's games.

At the other end of the league ladder, the Daily Mirror claims that ambitious Notts County are hoping to sign former Manchester City and England defender Michael Ball, as well as Maltese striker Michael Mifsud.

It's Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor who steals the headlines in Sunday's newspapers. Not for his goal against ex- employers Arsenal, nor for charging the length of the pitch to taunt the travelling Gunners fans but for "a mindless and malicious stamp" on the face of former team-mate Robin Van Persie.

The Daily Mail claim that the Togo striker faces a lengthy FA ban after his controversial role in the confrontational and bloody 4-2 win at Eastlands, in which he left stud marks on Van Persie's face after a 72nd-minute challenge.

Meanwhile, the Sunday People insists that the 25-year-old "heaped shame on football" with his idiotic goal celebration that sparked a near-riot at Eastlands. Missiles were thrown and a steward was injured as supporters surged towards the pitch.

The Sunday People also claim that Man City could be heading for another bitter poaching dispute, with Swansea furious they have snatched whizkid Emyr Huws. The 15-year-old is rated as "the best young Welsh footballer since Ryan Giggs", according to
the newspaper.

The News of The World report that Manchester United boss sir Alex Ferguson is planning a second attempt at signing Valencia playmaker David Silva in January with a £25million bid. Although Fergie would do a deal which sees the player stay in Spain until the end of the season to avoid paying an inflated fee for him after the World Cup.

But according to the Sunday Express Ferguson only has eyes for West Ham United goalkeeper Rob Green. Well, at least former Hammers legend Julian Dicks thinks the United boss might sign him to replace the ageing Edwin van der Sar as Manchester United’s No 1.

In international news the Sunday Times reports that England boss Fabio Capello has set himself a minimum target of taking England to next year's World Cup final in South Africa. And the Italian has told the Daily Star on Sunday that non-scoring striker Emile Heskey - with just seven goals from 57 caps - will go to next year's finals to help him do it.

When Manchester United said the cost of signing Carlos Tevez on a permanent deal was too expensive they weren't kidding. A report in The Times claims that his new employers Manchester City are paying an astonishing £47m to the striker's private "owners" in a move that obliterates the British transfer record.

However, Kia Joorabchian, who fronts the company that owned Tevez before his switch to Eastlands, says the figure is not correct. He told The Independent that the reported transfer fee, which would make the Argentina striker the fifth most expensive footballer of all time, was "not true".

Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie also seems to have it in for big-spending Manchester City and in The Sun insisted: Money can't buy you a team. "A £40m player feels pressure. They are going to be judged more than some guy who has come from the youth policy and then he thinks in terms of one person and not the team," RVP said.

With City set to face the Arsenal on Saturday the pre-match war of words continued in the Daily Mirror as ex-Gunner Emmanuel Adebayor claimed he would not forgive the club's fans for the way they treated him during his time at the Emirates for as long as he lives.

Meanwhile, over at Anfield Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina revealed to The Guardian the depth of frustration among the club's players, saying winning the Premier League title was "not a realistic objective" and bemoaning the lack of match-winners in the squad.

But amid all this negativity Tottenham Hotspur boss Harry Redknapp is the voice of positivity and told the Daily Express that his team have turned from the haunted to the hunters - with the Big Four in their sights.

The big story in Friday's newspapers is Don Fabio's ruthless crackdown on the Wag circus ahead of the World Cup finals next summer.

The Sun welcomes the news with the headline 'No Sex Please, We're English' as they soberly reflect on what will be a lack of photos of perma-tanned lovelies spilling out of Souh African bars. Not good news for fans of Cheryl Cole, Vicky Beckham, Abi Clancy and their pals.

The Guardian also runs with the same angle, with Capello signalling his lack of enthusiasm for a Baden-Baden-esque drinking and shopping splurge by stating: "It will be one day a week [for players to see Wags], after each game, and that is enough. That's it. We are there to play football, not for a holiday."

Meanwhile, Oliver Kay in the Times reflects on how Capello's iron fist has turned England into possible world-beaters.

The Mirror's Martin Lipton is not afraid to put his neck on the line and has predicted that David Beckham will go to the World Cup, based on some glowing quotes from Capello yesterday. The Italian has also refused to rule out the possibility of Owen Hargreaves making the flight.

George Burley may soon find himself out of work, according to the Daily Record, who report that Scotland will sack their boss next week. Their targets to replace him are believed to include Walter Smith, Gordon Strachan and Craig Levein.

The Sun provides the best transfer line of the morning as they link Manchester United with a move for highly-rated CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev. Although the headline 'I'd Never Igor Utd' clearly needs a bit of work.

'Ooh-aah Africa!', 'Bok of the net!', 'We can win it', 'Watch out world', 'World class' and 'Job done' are some of the newspaper headlines from England's successful qualification.

A 5-1 drubbing of Croatia has got the papers purring, and the Sun have John Terry telling us all that he ''owed'' it to the national to put to bed the Steve McClaren nightmare.

Elsewhere, Scotland came a cropper to Holland and the future of George Burley is up in the air. The Daily Mail think the Scots' boss has ''begged'' the SFA for another chance and to lead the side to the Euros in 2012. Not likely methinks.

The Daily Record say that the SFA will make their decision in the next 24 hours, but don't bank on it being a good one for Burley.

With internationals hogging much of the column inches, the Daily Mail have a snippet of news from Arsenal as Cesc Fabregas has apparently cast doubt on his future at the Gunners by telling a Spanish radio station he does not know where he will be playing next season. Sky Sports have also picked up the story, but frame it slightly differently as, despite him saying he doesn't know, he also says he's happy at Arsenal. You be the judge.

Middlesbrough are trying to add to their squad - loanees only of course - and Gareth Southgate is reported by the Daily Mirror to be wanting to get Everton's James Vaughan.

Bad news for Villa too in the Daily Mail, as Curtis Davies looks set to be out for a while - at least four months - after undergoing surgery to cure his lengthy shoulder problem. Lucky they signed a few centre-backs in the window eh?

With World Cup qualification only a victory away, it's all about England in Wednesday's newspapers. Fabio Capello's side take on Croatia at Wembley and with opposing manager Slaven Bilic winding up England all week there will be no need for a team talk, according to The Sun.

Bilic told SunSport that captain John Terry should look at his own club, Chelsea, before accusing Croatia and Arsenal striker Eduardo of being a diver. And he claimed the Three Lions had lost their "Englishness" suggesting they no longer possessed the fighting spirit which used to make them feared.

Capello responded by saying: "Thank you, Mr Bilic. I have no need to motivate my players after this."

In The Times Matt Hughes writes that tonight's match at Wembley is Aaron Lennon's big chance to solve England's midfield conundrum. In the absence of Theo Walcott, who scored a hat-trick last time England played Croatia, the Tottenham winger will provide the pacey threat in Capello's team.

And with England so close to qualifying for the World Cup, following their Euro 2008 failure, skipper John Terry was happy to dish out some banter to some of the big teams struggling to make it to South Africa 2012.

"Speaking to the Portuguese lads [at Chelsea] when we didn't qualify [for Euro 2008], they didn't give a shit that we weren't there," Terry told The Independent. "They really didn't care. Portugal and Argentina are struggling at the moment, like we were, so there might be some really big teams not at the World Cup. We need to make sure we get there. We've had that feeling of not being there."

Meanwhile, the debate over Premier League clubs plundering youth academies around the globe rumbles on in the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper claims that Manchester United could be the subject of a Fifa investigation into the transfer of 16-year-old Italian defender Michele Fornasier.

The transfer window may be closed but free agents can still join Premier League clubs so the rumour mill continues to churn out stories. The Daily Mail report that former Marseille winger Bolo Zenden rejected the chance to revive his career at Portsmouth after new owner Sulaiman Al Fahim refused to meet his £20,000-a-week wage demands. The 33-year could end up at Hull City.

David Beckham is the central figure for much of the back pages of England's finest newspapers. His desire to feature in next year's World Cup and become the first Englishman to play in four tournaments sees him being forced to seek a European club to play for from January onwards.

Thus begins the speculation. Though the Daily Mirror's punt that AC Milan are favourites to sign him is hardly the most outlandish of claims. Most follow the Sun's line that Beckham fears Fabio Capello could axe him from England's squad for the World Cup finals but the Daily Mail works on the hint that DB23 could be coming back to the Premier League, a story that is bound to have legs over the coming weeks.

England's Wednesday clash with Croatia is the other show in town, and the Daily Mirror picks up on Croatia boss Slaven Bilic has ordering his players to target England's "wild man" Wayne Rooney as does the Daily Express.

But still dominating column inches is the fall-out from Chelsea's transfer ban. Frank Lampard's rather anoydyne press conference with press reporting on the England game drew up one interesting line. The Guardian: "Frank Lampard has launched an impassioned defence of the much-maligned Chelsea academy and said FIFA's decision to ban the club from making signings until 2011 over the Gael Kakuta affair "can be used as a positive"."

Most organs report that Manchester United have sent a "put up or shut up" warning to Le Havre over the Paul Pogba "poaching" affair. And now, crosstown rivals City are the latest to be called out. The Independent says French club Rennes have declared that City's signing of the prodigious young defender Jeremy Helan had been unlawful and presented a more clear-cut case for reprisals from FIFA than Chelsea's move for Gael Kakuta.

There are other people accused in the farrago. "Get out of Africa" proclaims the Daily Mail. Say they: "Ian Wright and six Premier League stars are involved in an academy that has been accused of "raping" South Africa of its talent by the country's most senior football official."

On the subject of youth football, another worrying story is carried in the Daily Mirror who say Premier League academy matches are the target for Far East betting syndicates - trying to make fortunes out of inside information.

The Sun reports claims from Le Havre over Manchester United's signing of Paul Pogba from their Academy this summer. Le Havre president Jean-Pierre Louvel says United gave his parents £180,000, a house and promised Pogba he would earn £16,500-a-week once 17. Nice work if you can get it.

Chelsea of course have been banned from signing any players until 2011. Now the Daily Mirror reports that the Blues will look to arrange an appeal quickly, though it seems they may struggle to be successful with that.

The Daily Star thinks the transfer ban could lead to Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero moving to a different club.

Across Manchester, and Robinho is confident of success this term. "We can be like that this season and have what it takes to go for the title," he told The Sun. ""The more I think about it, the more I think this year must be our year."

And at Barcelona, the Daily Mail says Lionel Messi is about to get a new contract on an amazing £230,000-a-week.

Slaven Bilic is steadily building up a war of words as Wednesday's England-Croatia clash looms, this time turning his attention to John Terry.

It's an EXCLUSIVE in the The Sun, with the paper carrying quotes from the coach criticising the England skipper for having a pop at Eduardo over his dive.

Bilic said: "If we're talking about 100% fair play it's also not fair play from Terry to say something like that before the game if he wants to put pressure on the referee."

Meanwhile, in the Independent, Bilic claims England are now easier to play against. We'll remind him of that 4-1 scoreline later.

"They are a very different team," the Croatia coach said. "They have some advantages but they are also missing something from their game. They are missing some Englishness, some of the things that have always made England teams difficult to defend against and play against."

Still with England, and Emile Heskey has surprising said he won't complain should Fabio Capello choose to play Jermain Defoe, a striker that can actually score, against the Croats.

He said in The Sun: "I couldn't complain if he was picked ahead of me against Croatia. He's already scored seven times for Spurs and England this season. You can't argue with those statistics." The Times thinks Heskey will keep his place.

However, Capello has not ruled out a recall for Michael Owen ahead of the World Cup. He said in the Daily Star: "He has intelligent movement without the ball but he has not played a lot of games. He has to play - he has to integrate at United.”

Portsmouth are saved! Yes, because they are set to boost their striking ranks with the signing of Henri Camara on a free transfer. That's in the Daily Mirror.

The Independent claims that Saudi property investor Ali al-Faraj is set to make a bid for West Ham.

Still with the Independent, with the paper carrying an interview with Football Association chairman Lord Triesman. He wants the FA to take charge of the "fit and proper persons test" from the Premier League, among other things.

And finally, we're in shock over another transfer story. The Daily Mail thinks that free agent Lucas Neill is in line to sign for.... Atletico Madrid!

A raft of World Cup qualifiers and an England friendly in which Jermain Defoe receives most of the acclaim has not stopped the Gael Kakuta affair continuing to dominate proceedings in the Sunday press.

Chelsea's transfer ban has stopped them in their aim of signing Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery say the News of the World. The Blues were the Daily Star prepared to pay £40m and it seems he is now more likely to join Real Madrid. say that Sergio Aguero is another target to fall by the wayside as a result of FIFA's punishment.

The Sunday Mirror has the inside line on how the Kakuta affair came to light, saying that it was a member of the young Frenchman who provided the key evidence that resulted in Lens winning their case.

Former Chelsea player Arjen Robben, once of Real Madrid and now playing alongside Ribery at Bayern Munich has stated to the Sunday Mirror that the Blues' current stars will be exiting Stamford Bridge in their droves.

There are still some loose ends to tie up for Chelsea, according to the NOTW, who say that Manchester City are set to demand £10m in compensation for Daniel Sturridge, the youngster who defected to the Londoners after failing to agree a new Eastlands deal. A tribunal is due to arrange the transfer fee for a player under 24, them being the rules.

City, meanwhile, are linked with some genuine transfer rumours - if there is such a thing - Barcelona want Robinho, say the Mirror and News of the World. The Mirror say City have asked to swap their Brazilian for Lionel Messi. Less silly is the idea in the Screws that Thierry Henry may be part of the deal.

Sillier still: Roberto Carlos is the latest man to be linked with a move to join Sven Goran Eriksson at Notts County, say the News of the World.

Takeover news now. Ali al-Faraj, the Saudi property investor who recently failed in his attempts to buy Portsmouth, is believed to be considering a bid for West Ham United, say the Sunday Independent. And in the NOTW there is a suggestion that Karen Brady, now signed up to do BBC TV's The Apprentice, will quit Birmingham when Carson Yeung completes his takeover of Blues.

There may be a whole tranche of World Cup matches being played this weekend and next week but there is still only one show in town as far as Her Majesty's Press are concerned.

Gael Kakuta-gate and related stories there besides dominate. The Guardian suggests that Chelsea face a second legal threat over allegations of poaching young players, this time concerning the move of an 11-year-old to Stamford Bridge.Amateur French club ASPTT Marseille are to seek advice over the legality of Jérémy Boga's move to Stamford Bridge.

The Daily Mail consults a former Chelsea chairman and now sworn enemy of the Abramovich regime. Chairman Ken gives it the full gun on the big boys of the Premier League, accusing them of "destroying the careers" of young players and trading them like "horsemeat".

The Daily Star suggests that Chelsea have been warned they could have their worldwide transfer ban increased if they lose their appeal.This one is going to run. And run. And run.

Chelsea are not the only club feeling the burn. Le Havre president Jean-Pierre Louvel said he wants Manchester United hit with a Chelsea-style punishment over the Paul Pogba transfer, say the Express.

The Independent has uncovered the fact that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stepped away from signing the teenage prodigy who was picked up from the French side Le Havre by Manchester United and whose case leaves the Premier League champions under the threat of a transfer ban

The Mirror says FIFA's ban for Chelsea is the tip of the iceberg and that United are under investigation. FIFA have already begun an investigation into Serie A outfit Fiorentina’s complaint that United robbed them of Italy under-16 skipper Michele Fornasier.

Believe it or not, there is a match or two being played later and England are in action. John Terry may only have answered one question on the big story de nos jours but got involved on the other issue - diving. Say the Telegraph: It laid him open to charges of xenophobia but John Terry claimed yesterday that the influx of foreign players into the Premier League had created an atmosphere in the game in which diving has become more prevalent.

The Times meanwhile, says Terry's concerned that the essential honesty of England's players could count against them at the World Cup finals next year.

What of Fabio Capello. Widespread relief that the England coach will not be quitting after the World Cup. Tabloid twins Sun and Star celebrate that.

The Sun meanwhile, well connected with the player in particular, say Manchester United are heading for a Ronaldo-style battle to hang on to Rio Ferdinand. Another one that may continue to develop or Rio looking for a new deal?

Unsurprisingly, all the talk in the papers this morning is about Chelsea and their transfer ban which is due to run until January 2011.

The Sun talks of the club being dubbed as thieves, and also warns that Manchester United could be in the dock over their signing of Le Havre prodigy Paul Pogba.

The Daily Telegraph backs Sepp Blatter's campaign to defend youth development systems.

Meanwhile, The Times reports that Chelsea feel the punishment could be part of a wide-ranging assault on the power of English clubs and the same paper underlines how it is all about protecting young players, led by UEFA's Michel Platini.

The Independent breaks down the deal.

Also in The Sun, and the paper claims that the storm over Gael Kakuta has led to a massive internal war at Stamford Bridge. Apparently Frank Arnesen, the man behind the transfer, is at the centre of the troubles after saying at the time: "I've just signed the best young kid in France." All is not well between him and Peter Kenyon.

The Guardian claims that Arnesen has never been asked questions about his alleged links to Nahan Porritt, a Middlesbrough academy player, in 2006.

As Chelsea cannot sign players, it seems unlikely they will be doing any selling. And that means, according to The Sun, one of the first jobs is to give a new contract to Joe Cole who will be able to leave for free next summer.

Liverpool fans may have to halt their sniggers, though, as The Sun claims there is absolutely no chance of the new Stanley Park Stadium being built until the global recession is over. They cannot get £490m in finance for the 60,000 capacity stadium. Reds' managing director Christian Purslow said: "Construction will begin when the global financial markets re-establish their equilibrium." Auuuw.

Meanwhile, Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has told the Daily Mirror that the club must take more risks if they are to finally win the title again.

The Guardian reports on how Manchester United are trying to stamp out vile chants aimed at Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

Some transfer talk now, and the Daily Mirror claims that Ruud van Nistelrooy turned down the chance to sign for Tottenham as he did not want to sign for a "lesser team".

And the Daily Mirror also reports that Carlos Costly, on loan at Birmingham last season, has chosen to join Sunderland ahead of Wigan in January.

We start Thursday's round up of the UK newspapers with some more bad news for long-suffering West Ham United fans.

It seems that the finances of the East London club could be in a particularly perilous state after the shocking extent of the Hammers' financial crisis during the Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson era were laid bare in The Guardian.

The documents reveal a business strategy that, in the opinion of the club's finance director, Nick Igoe, was "fundamentally flawed" and the accounts set out a loss of more than £37.4m for the year ending 2008, which was covered by an injection of £30.5m of cash from the holding company of the former owner, Gudmundsson.

Now that the club's parent company, CB Holding, is effectively a subsidiary of Iceland's now defunct bank Straumur, even a marginal loss this year could result in a return to the 2008 crisis. Oh, and the club still owe £21m to Sheffield United after the Carlos Tevez inquiry.

Sticking with the financial theme, the Daily Mail have published an excerpt from Matthew Le Tissier's autobiography, Taking Le Tiss, in which the former Southampton star reveals he played a central role in an attempted betting scam 14 years ago - only to fail miserably when his trusty right foot let him down.

The former Southampton and England midfielder colluded with friends who placed a spread bet on the time of the first throw-in during a game against Wimbledon in 1995. Along with a team-mate, he devised a plan to send the ball into touch from the kick-off and beat the bookies who were predicting it would take nearly a minute for it to go out.

In an equally shocking player-related revelation the Daily Mirror report that Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner snubbed Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich before signing a new five-year contract at Arsenal.

The 21-year-old apparently had interest from all three European superpowers this summer while he negotiated a new £50,000-a-week deal with the Gunners.

The Sun lead on Ryan Babel's claim that he is frustrated at Liverpool and that manager Rafa Benitez failed to deliver on promises made to the Dutch striker. The headline of "Benitez lied to me!" says it all really.

With a weekend of international football looming the newspapers also focus on England and in particular Jermaine Defoe. The Independent report that the pint-sized striker's fine form for Tottenham has convinced England boss Fabio Capello to play him alongside Wayne Rooney for the Slovenia match in a switch from his usual starting line-up.

The Daily Star feature an interview with the 26-yera-old in which Defoe says he is fed up with people asking about Michael Owen every time he is selected in an England squad.

"I just want to get away from the comparison and him getting mentioned because I am doing well and deserve my place," Defoe said. "If I'm honest, I would like to get away with the questions about Michael when I get selected."

The closing of the transfer window has produced a collective sigh from Fleet Street's finest. A lack of any big deals, and especially by the big four, has led to some questioning of the reasons behind this collective tightening of belts.

It took a while but someone has finally asked why Manchester United have decided to spend just a fraction of the £80m they got for Cristiano Ronaldo. It's The Sun's Neil Custis who takes this step who calls Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson "Cheapskates". For United fans, Custis hits them with this chill line: "The fear is that if United slip from their lofty perch or Ferguson finally retires, will there be any money available to get them back to the top?"

Bemusement at the Daily Telegraph who report on a day of never weres. "David Bentley stayed at Tottenham Hotspur; Anton Ferdinand stayed at Sunderland; David James stayed at Portsmouth. It was a transfer deadline day of what nearly happened in the Premier League," says Jason Burt.

David Bentley's plight - he looks stuck at Tottenham - is lamented at The Independent. "There is a cruel joke doing the rounds at Tottenham Hotspur that David Bentley has been doing more DJ-ing in the last six months than he has played football," says Sam Wallace.

The goings-on at Portsmouth, who brought in a raft of players who could hardly be called star names, are highlighted by The Times. "Frantic Portsmouth bring in 13 new faces," says Russell Kempson.

Away from transfers the other show in town is the continuing farrago over Eduardo's two-match ban for diving. Most papers suggest Arsenal will appeal the ban, including The Times and The Guardian. According to David Hytner: "Arsenal's fury at the two-game Champions League suspension handed down to Eduardo da Silva for diving has been deepened by confirmation from Uefa sources that any player who commits the same offence and is seen by the referee will escape with no greater punishment than a booking."

More to come on that, one feels.

To finish, we go back in time to see that Nicolas Anelka is unhappy. It seems he actually doesn't want to leave a club this time but that Chelsea have not exactly been forthcoming when it comes to offering him a new deal. The Daily Star suggest that Anelka is not happy one bit about this.

It's the last day of the transfer window and, while you can keep totally up to date with the news in our live transfer blog and our LIVE chat and gossip coverage; the papers have a few ideas about who will be moving where before the end of the day.

The Sun claim that Niko Krancjar will swap Portsmouth for Tottenham to join up with other Croatian talent Luka Modric and Vedran Corluka. It was only a matter of time before Pompey lost all their star players, but Spurs have been recruiting well.

The club are also in for David James, but the Daily Mail reckon that the south coast club have rejected a bid, despite Carlo Cudicini being included in the deal. Can 'Arry sign any more of his former players before the window shuts?

The Mail also seem to think Redknapp is keen to get rid of David Bentley, with a possible swap deal for Man City's Martin Petrov being mooted.

The Daily Star have James Collins ready to seal his £5m move to Aston Villa, while £6m ­Man City target Richard Dunne should also arrive after he completes a medical later today.

Manchester United supporters hoping that Sir Alex Ferguson might make a last-minute venture into the transfer market are likely to be disappointed, as the Times claim that Fergie is not going to sign anyone else.

Find out who is moving where, as it happens, with Tom Adams throughout the day.