Karl-Heinz Rumour Mill

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Originally Posted by all_funkt_up

That Rangers right back, Alan Hutton has apparently rejected a move to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee believed to be around £8m.

I said in a previous thread that he'd earn a move to a big club soon enough and I was right.

Apparently he's holding out for Manchester United who I reckon will be offloading Wes Brown in the near future. £2m will be a fair price and I can see him going somewhere like Newcastle in the not too distant future.

Tell you something. Rangers will be raging that they never got him offloaded for that amount of money.

Can't believe a player can be rated so highly moneywise after having a good half season.

Lets remember this was the player who couldn't get in the side last season with Bardsley of Man Utd keeping him out of the team who was on loan. He almost was sold for around 300k too at one point.

Then he comes in, puts in a couple of good games in Europe and for Scotland and now he is an £8m rated player? What a farce!

He was the weak link in the last two CL games and was found out badly.

Rumour mill up here seems that Tommy Burns could be set to be named the next Scotland manager.

[crowie]

Todays mentalness

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez is set to spend £7m on Slovakia international defender Martin Skrtel. (Telegraph)

Aston Villa want to sign Arsenal defender Justin Hoyte and Reading striker Kevin Doyle. (Telegraph)

Birmingham are continuing to track Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras. (Telegraph)

Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is wanted by Barcelona, but the Finn intends to remain at the Reebok stadium until the summer. (Telegraph)

Tottenham manager Juande Ramos will pay £8m to make Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim his first signing. (Telegraph)

Spurs are also weighing up a £9m bid for former Chelsea midfielder Tiago, who has struggled to make an impact since joining Juventus. (Telegraph)

Meanwhile, striker Jermain Defoe has revealed he has been told by Ramos he can leave White Hart Lane if he wants to - but the 25-year-old has vowed to fight to stay at the club. (The Sun)

However, Aston Villa have been alerted to Defoe's availability and manager Martin O'Neill is keen to make an offer for the England forward. (Guardian)

Chelsea need to increase their bid for Bolton's Nicolas Anelka from £10m to £15m if they are to secure the Frenchman's services. (The Sun)

Ipswich have dismissed speculation that midfielder Danny Haynes is set to join either West Ham or Everton. (Telegraph)

Fulham are interested in signing Falkirk's Portuguese striker Pedro Moutinho. (Telegraph)

Liverpool may move for 17-year-old Ghanaian defender Daniel Opare, after he expressed a desire to play in the Premier League. (Telegraph)

Manchester City are set to sign a forward, with Peter Crouch, Fred, Lukas Podolski, Amanto Mancini and Vagner Love all on their list. (Telegraph)

Portsmouth defender Matt Taylor is wanted by Reading, Bolton, Sunderland and Rangers. (Telegraph)

West Ham are interested in Portsmouth striker David Nugent. (Telegraph)

Leeds chairman Ken Bates has slapped a £3m price tag on 15-goal top scorer Jermain Beckford, who is attracting interest from Derby. (The Sun)

Fulham are set to sign Jean-Alain Boumsong on loan from Juventus. (The Sun)

Coventry's £3m-rated striker Michael Mifsud is wanted by Birmingham, Wigan and Reading. (The Sun)

Birmingham and Wigan are battling it out to capture Swedish defender Erik Edman, who plays for Rennes. (The Sun)

Liverpool's 18-year-old left-back Emiliano Insua is wanted by Spanish club Real Sociedad on a six-month loan deal. (The Sun)

Everton manager David Moyes is close to signing Sheffield Wednesday defender Frank Simek. (The Sun)

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is confident he will sign Reading midfielder Stephen Hunt, despite having an improved £3m offer rejected. (The Sun)

Derby manager Paul Jewell has begun negotiations with Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage over a £2m deal to bring him to the club. (The Sun)

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri is keen on signing unsettled Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko. (Guardian)

Rangers still want full-back Alan Hutton to join Tottenham. (The Times)

Spurs have tabled an increased offer for Hutton but the Scotland star is likely to knock it back. (various)

Celtic have reached an agreement with JEF United to sign Japanese midfielder Koki Mizuno. (Daily Record)

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood is threatening to resign unless the board back him with a transfer fund. (various)

Hibernian have rejected Birmingham's £1m offer for left-back David Murphy (Daily Record & Mail)

Manchester City are set to sign midfielder Nashat Akram and make him the first Iraqi player to appear in the Premier league. (The Times)

Birmingham have taken AIK midfielder Dulee Johnson on trial and are also monitoring VfB Stuttgart left-back Ludovik Magnin. (The Times)

Portsmouth and Reading are interested in signing Lille forward Nicolas Fauverge. (The Times)

Bolton want £2m-rated Hearts striker Andrius Velicka. (Daily Mail)

Torino president Urbano Cairo has insisted the club does not want to sign Manchester City striker Rolando Bianchi. (the Independent)

Middlesbrough are in talks to sign Heerenveen's Brazilian striker Afonso Alves. (various)


Tell us your transfer rumours

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OTHER GOSSIP
Borussia Dortmund fans do not want the club to sign Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann because he used to play for their rivals Schalke 04. (Telegraph)

Hibernian want Phil Parkinson, who is currently Charlton assistant boss, as their new manager. (The Sun)

Liverpool's owners are lining up Jurgen Klinsmann to replace manager Rafael Benitez. (Daily Mail)


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AND FINALLY
Manchester United want David Beckham to become the club's global ambassador when he retires from playing. It is a role that would net the former England skipper around £2m a year. (The Sun)

[all_funkt_up]

A lad i know from north of the border says that Hutton is over rated. A decent enough player now, but one that was off the rails a few years ago. Apparently didnt have the best attitude to training and was often out on the lash etc. Cant help feeling that this is the crest of a wave for him. Maybe in the long run, both he and Rangers will regret not sorting this deal out....

I think he's holding out for Manchester United. In turn, I think they are trying to sign someone else (like Philip Lahm for example) and Hutton is number 2 or 3 on their list of preferences.

[crowie]

Right, here is what stood out for me

Bolton keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is wanted by Barcelona, but the Finn intends to remain at the Reebok stadium until the summer. (Telegraph)

First Dudek to Real, now Jaaskelainen to Barca. The world has gone mad.

More money then sense part 1

Tottenham manager Juande Ramos will pay £8m to make Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim his first signing. (Telegraph)

£8m for a player who cost nowt in the summer and who has looked horse in fleeting appearances this season. Chelsea are a bit light at centre half again but would they turn down an £8m profit on a average centre half.


More money than sense part 2

Spurs are also weighing up a £9m bid for former Chelsea midfielder Tiago, who has struggled to make an impact since joining Juventus. (Telegraph)

£5m to Chelsea, about £5m to Lyon, £7m (?) to Juve and then the key words....struggling to make an impact.....so he is now worth £9m seeing as he cant get in the Juve side??!!

Fulham are interested in signing Falkirk's Portuguese striker Pedro Moutinho. (Telegraph)

Must have a spare job going for a kitman or ticket office staff or something...

Fulham are set to sign Jean-Alain Boumsong on loan from Juventus. (The Sun)

Again, must be a admin type job going in the club offices....

Manchester United want David Beckham to become the club's global ambassador when he retires from playing. It is a role that would net the former England skipper around £2m a year. (The Sun)

£2m a year??!!!

[crowie]

Originally Posted by all_funkt_up

A lad i know from north of the border says that Hutton is over rated. A decent enough player now, but one that was off the rails a few years ago. Apparently didnt have the best attitude to training and was often out on the lash etc. Cant help feeling that this is the crest of a wave for him. Maybe in the long run, both he and Rangers will regret not sorting this deal out....

I think he's holding out for Manchester United. In turn, I think they are trying to sign someone else (like Philip Lahm for example) and Hutton is number 2 or 3 on their list of preferences.

Wouldn't disagree with any of that AFU.

He has had a very good run over the last 6 months but a few are wondering when the "crash" will come. Even in Rangers CL qualifiers this season he was still "heid the baw", he got a booking for hauling a boy down needlessly, from the free kick he charged out of the wall before the kick was taken and got a second yellow about 30 seconds after his first.

If the boy can maintain his current level of performances then he will be some player but that if is a 50/50 at the moment IMO.

I also think he is a sort of typical small town Scots lad and I think he might be a bit out of his depth in London, lifestyle wise. AT Rangers he has Ferguson, Boyd, Burke, Naismith, Whittaker, Smith, Thomson, all young-ish Scots lads and the majority of them "Rangers" lads roundabout him. He is secure and settled and used to that enviroment, in a comfort zone. Take him out of there, away from all his mates, I could see it having an affect on his performances. I think thats half the reason he turned the move down, he doesn't want to go down to London on his own.

There have been the odd story about him up here but then you get that with the majority of young Scottish players playing for the OF. How many of them were true, I don't know but I would guess its less than 50%.

[all_funkt_up]

Crowie - maybe the Jaaskelainen story has mileage. Maybe Barca are going to swoop for Big Sam soon and are feathering the nest to make the deal more attractive for Allardyce. I expect to see Henrik Pederson and Super John McGinley both sign for the Catalan giants in the next week and Big Sam will follow them before the end of January.

[rcgills]

Not sure if you know, but Barcelona's reserve keeper Jorquera got injured over Christmas playing for Catalonia v the Basque country, he's out for around 6 months I think. They're mainly looking for a keeper to cover for first choice Valdes (although IMO they'd do well to look for a keeper to replace him, as he's been their weak link for some time). Mind you, can Jaaskelainen play in the Champions League if he's played in the UEFA Cup? My understanding was that Barcelona were only interested in players that would be eligible to play in Europe.

[crowie]

Originally Posted by rcgills

Not sure if you know, but Barcelona's reserve keeper Jorquera got injured over Christmas playing for Catalonia v the Basque country, he's out for around 6 months I think. They're mainly looking for a keeper to cover for first choice Valdes (although IMO they'd do well to look for a keeper to replace him, as he's been their weak link for some time). Mind you, can Jaaskelainen play in the Champions League if he's played in the UEFA Cup? My understanding was that Barcelona were only interested in players that would be eligible to play in Europe.

Aye, I think you can play in the CL even if you have played in the UEFA in the same season RC. Think it happened with someone in Scotland at least seasons transfer window.

[crowie]

Its a bumper bag of madness today

TRANSFER RUMOURS
Tottenham manager Juande Ramos is set to axe eight players - keeper Paul Robinson, Jermain Defoe, Pascal Chimbonda, Lee Young-Pyo, Anthony Gardner, Paul Stalteri, Wayne Routledge and Hossam Ghaly. (The Sun)

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce is tracking unsettled Arsenal midfielder Lassana Diarra. (Various)

That could allow Emre to leave St James' Park for Bayern Munich, Monaco or Galatasaray. (The Sun)

But Newcastle face competition for Diarra's signature from Tottenham, Everton and Blackburn. (Various)

However, Arsenal have slapped a hefty £6m price tag on the head of the 22-year-old Frenchman to ward off interested parties. (The Sun)

Rangers full-back Alan Hutton has turned down a second, improved, offer to join Tottenham. (The Times)

Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko is on the verge of completing a move to Juventus, initially on a loan before a £10m deal in the summer. (The Sun)

Bolton boss Gary Megson is not resigned to losing striker Nicolas Anelka to Chelsea, and is hopeful a transfer fee will not be agreed. (various)

Aston Villa and Manchester City have made official inquiries about Newcastle forward Obafemi Martins. (The Sun)

Manchester United's Ryan Shawcross is set to join Stoke for £1m. (various)

Birmingham hope to complete the signing of Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras before the weekend. (The Sun)

Reading are hoping to fend off Sunderland's interest in Stephen Hunt by making the midfielder their highest earner at the club. (various)

Bolton and Derby are fighting it out to sign Sheffield Wednesday's highly-rated midfielder Glenn Whelan. (The Sun)

Hibernian have launched a bid to bring Kilmarnock striker Colin Nish to Easter Road. (Daily Record)

Manchester City and Middlesbrough are set to move for Heerenveen's £15m-rated Brazilian striker Afonso Alves. (various)

City boss Sven-Goran Eriksson is also hoping to tie up a deal for Iraq playmaker Nashat Akram. (The Sun)

West Ham boss Alan Curbishley is keen on Lyon's 24-year-old Brazilian striker Fred, who is also wanted by Portsmouth and Paris St Germain. (The Sun)

Coventry and Sheffield United are in a race to sign Southampton's £1m-rated midfielder Jhon Viafara. (various)

Charlton manager Alan Pardew is preparing to make a £1m offer for Sunderland's out-of-favour right-back Greg Halford. (The Sun)

Nottingham Forest are ready to make an improved bid of £600,000 for Coventry striker Leon Best. (The Sun)

Sheffield Wednesday are lining up a cheeky £100,000 move for Hull striker Stuart Elliott. (The Sun)

Southampton manager George Burley is set to pay £1m for Middlesbrough defender Andrew Davies. (various)

Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp wants to tie up a loan deal for unsettled Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng before the weekend. (The Sun)

Norwich are set to bid £800,000 for Sheffield United's combative midfielder Chris Armstrong. (The Sun)

Charlton have been told by Burnley their 13-goal forward Andy Gray is not for sale. (The Sun)

Hibernian caretaker boss Tommy Craig has turned down a £1m bid by Birmingham for left-back David Murphy. (The Sun)

Middlesbrough are considering offering winger Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson in a swap deal for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. (Daily Star)

Boro are also considering a move for Newcastle's Shola Ameobi. (The Times)

Sheffield United boss Bryan Robson will hand a trial to Iran international Ali Reza Nikbakht. (Daily Star)

West Ham are lining up bids for reading defender Nicky Shorey, Portsmouth striker David Nugent and Bolton forward El Hadji Diouf. (Mirror)

QPR will make River Plate midfielder Rusculleda their ninth signing of the transfer window. (Mirror)

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is ready to raid former club Rangers to sign striker Kris Boyd. (Mirror)

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has offered Portuguese club Guimaraes £2.5m for their Brazilian defender Pedro Geromel. (Mirror)

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes is monitoring Galatasaray and Turkey forward Hasan Sas. (Mirror)

Wigan boss Steve Bruce is close to signing Rennes' former Tottenham defender Erik Edman. (Mirror)

Bruce is also after Ecuador striker Carlos Tenorio. (Various)

Manchester City are in talks with Marseille over striker Mamadou Niang and midfielder Samir Nasri. (Various)

Meanwhile, Marseille are interested in signing City's out-of-favour midfielder Ousmane Dabo. (Daily Mail)

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is ready to offer £3m for Everton striker James McFadden after having a £2.5m bid turned down. (Daily Mail)

Derby boss Paul Jewell is considering a move for Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson. (Daily Mail)

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has ended his interest in signing Liverpool winger Harry Kewell because his wages are too high. (Daily Mail)

And Hodgson's hopes of signing West Ham striker Bobby Zamora may be foiled for the same reason. (Guardian)

Sunderland manager Roy Keane wants to sign unsettled Birmingham midfielder Olivier Kapo. (Daily Mail)

QPR boss Luigi De Canio is preparing to make a £1.5m offer for Plymouth striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake. (Daily Mail)

Plymouth are lining up a move for Celtic's Derek Riordan, but face competition from Burnley for the striker. (Daily Mail)

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez wants to sign Villarreal's creative midfielder Matias Fernandez. (Telegraph)

West Ham are interested in signing young Argentine striker Nicholas Mazzola. (Telegraph)

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate is keen on signing Sheffield United forward Rob Hulse. (Guardian)

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce may move for Bolton's £5m-rated skipper Kevin Nolan. (Independent)


Tell us your transfer rumours

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OTHER GOSSIP
Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has pleaded with the club's owners not to sack him. The Spaniard has reiterated his commitment to the club as speculation mounts regarding his future. (The Times)

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy is set to be receive an official approach from the Republic of Ireland to return as manager. (Daily Star)


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AND FINALLY
Former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman has revealed he wants to become a monk. He says he spends as much time thinking about God as he can and claims that his only vice is tattoos, but is becoming less obsessed with them thanks to the Lord's help. (The Sun)


Back to top

[crowie]

Eye catchers

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce is tracking unsettled Arsenal midfielder Lassana Diarra. (Various)

That could allow Emre to leave St James' Park for Bayern Munich, Monaco or Galatasaray. (The Sun)

But Newcastle face competition for Diarra's signature from Tottenham, Everton and Blackburn. (Various)

However, Arsenal have slapped a hefty £6m price tag on the head of the 22-year-old Frenchman to ward off interested parties. (The Sun)

Would be a good signing for the Toon. Not exactly the creative player they need but does a good job in the holding role. No surprise others are looking at him as well. But Emre to Bayern.....aye right.

Rangers full-back Alan Hutton has turned down a second, improved, offer to join Tottenham. (The Times)

Apprently they offered him more money and Rangers high heid yins did everything bar tie him up and ship him to London mail order yesterday in trying to presuade him to go.

Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko is on the verge of completing a move to Juventus, initially on a loan before a £10m deal in the summer. (The Sun)

Reducing Pools number of narky ball winning central midfielders to about 6 or 7.

Charlton manager Alan Pardew is preparing to make a £1m offer for Sunderland's out-of-favour right-back Greg Halford. (The Sun)

Who is Greg Halford?! Was he not Readings first signing in the EPL and also Sunderlands, yet never seems to play a game for anyone. I actually think he is a fictious tax write off or bung account or something to allow clubs to fire money to each other under the table.

Middlesbrough are considering offering winger Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson in a swap deal for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. (Daily Star)

Is Defoe not out of contract soon? Why do this, it doesn't make sense to me. Do Boro want to make their forward line from Arsenal and Spurs reserves. Does the fact these lot can't get a game at Spurs and Arsenal not say something.

The again.....

Boro are also considering a move for Newcastle's Shola Ameobi. (The Times)

This sounds like Big Sam is offering the cash out of his own pocket

Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has offered Portuguese club Guimaraes £2.5m for their Brazilian defender Pedro Geromel. (Mirror)

Hughesy still living in 2002

Blackburn manager Mark Hughes is monitoring Galatasaray and Turkey forward Hasan Sas. (Mirror)

Good old Eck, he might have left the Scotland job but he still trying to help by buying all our players who can't get a job at their clubs

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is ready to raid former club Rangers to sign striker Kris Boyd. (Mirror)

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is ready to offer £3m for Everton striker James McFadden after having a £2.5m bid turned down. (Daily Mail)

Next stop Darren Fletcher.

Derby boss Paul Jewell is considering a move for Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson. (Daily Mail)

Paul has obviously been playing FM2007, Eddie Johnson is a monster in it.

Where has Rafa has obviously got FM2008 and knows who the must have player is

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez wants to sign Villarreal's creative midfielder Matias Fernandez. (Telegraph)

Play him in attacking mid Rafa, couple of narky ball winning midfield players round about him (you have plenty), free role, runs with ball, through ball often, tries long shots often, first Beta patch and your looking at 25 goals a season Just won European player of the year for me in my latest game.

[all_funkt_up]

I think most of the rumours are bollocks and most of them involve poxy bloody clubs that no one's arsed about so I will filter out the ones of interest. I mean who cares about Stuart Elliot moving somewhere for £100k for example? I wouldnt even get out of bed for £100k.... bah!

Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko is on the verge of completing a move to Juventus, initially on a loan before a £10m deal in the summer. (The Sun)

Please, please, please let that be true but no loan deal mind - show us the money yet tight gets.

Tottenham manager Juande Ramos is set to axe eight players - keeper Paul Robinson, Jermain Defoe, Pascal Chimbonda, Lee Young-Pyo, Anthony Gardner, Paul Stalteri, Wayne Routledge and Hossam Ghaly. (The Sun)

No real shock there, bar possibly Robbo and Defoe. Most of the above players there are garbage arent they and Spurs have been trying off load the likes of Ghaly for donkey's years.

[all_funkt_up]

Not too sure about Diarra Crowie mate. Yes he seems very gifted and looks good on the ball but I get the feeling he must be a bit of an odd bod. I mean he moves from Chelsea to Arsenal, which is flying high in the Prem and full of fellow froggies and yet he cant settle. I get the feeling he's the sort of player who would become disenchanted with life in the Black and White goldfish ball very quickly. I mean if you cant settle down in London, Newcastle is hardly the place for you.

A disruptive influence is the last thing Newcastle need, they have far too many as it is...

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by all_funkt_up

I mean who cares about Stuart Elliot moving somewhere for £100k for example?

Funnily enough that was the only one that caught my eye out of all the rumours. Think it was the fact the bid was described as "cheeky" that got me intrigued. Any Sheff Weds or Hull fans care to explain why a 100k bid for Stuart Elliot could be described as cheeky?

[all_funkt_up]

Nah RC, I appreciate where you're coming from but I'm only interested in transfer carnage. I dont want to hear about the odd aged pro moving about, I want stories like the one at Spurs where Ramos puts half of the population of North London up for sale or stories about Middlesbrough buying Ronaldinho - now THAT's news worthy...

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Derby were close to signing Eddie Johnson last season.

Jesus 2nd team is Derby as his dads from down there which is why i remember. I told him then that would be a great signing as Johnson has all the attributes to make it in the top leagues.

Only young too and he is a menace to defences and a great goal scorer with great pace too.

I wouldn't mind Celtic getting him as cover at the minute with the hope of him bursting into the team in the next 12 months or so.