Transfer Gossip

GUARDIOLA REFUSES TO COMMENT ON DUO
Let's start with some good old copy and paste from another part of this fantastic website.

'Josep Guardiola has refused to be drawn on speculation linking Barcelona with Barclays Premier League stars Didier Drogba and Emmanuel Adebayor.

'Guardiola was remaining tight-lipped after watching Barca cruise to a 6-0 friendly win over Hibernian at Murrayfield in his first game in charge on Thursday night.

'"I'm not here to speak about them. I have many excellent players and I am working with them. All good players are interesting and those players are interesting but there are many, many good players, in England, Germany, everywhere," he said. "Except Scotland," he didn't add, but should have done.

'Asked whether he was preparing to make a bid, Guardiola added: "I don't know. The sporting director can talk about that better than me."'

You can read more about it over here, but hurry back...


ANOTHER REAL PLAYER SAYS RONALDO WANTS TO JOIN
Another day, another Real Madrid player in the press talking about Ronaldo. Pepe's on duty today.

"It's normal he wants to come. If he comes to Madrid he'll be welcomed by everyone," said the Portuguese defender.

"The directors, players and fans welcome you here - Cristiano won't have a problem.

"He has said many times that he likes Madrid. He knows the great history of Madrid and the club that it is."


MUNTARI ALL BUT AN INTER PLAYER
Just as a note, since you've no doubt seen it everywhere: £12.7m is expected to seal Sulley Muntari's signature for Inter by the end of Thursday.

What 'Arry will do with all that moolah remains to be seen. A bid of anything between £8m and £11m for Shaun Wright-Phillips wouldn't surprise anyone, after the Pompey manager banged on about how much he'd like to sign him the other week.

Meanwhile, Monaco have denied they ever made an offer for Nico Krancjar.


NEW GOSSIP! NEW GOSSIP! NEW GOSSIP!
It's not that interesting, but it isn't one of the same tired old stories. Roy Keane will carry on his summer transfer spending by splashing £7m on Marseille defender Taye Ismaila Taïwo.

'Taïwo, 23, was named African young player of the year two years ago, 12 months after he helped Nigeria to reach the World Youth Championship final. He joined Marseilles four years ago,' says The Times.

'If a deal is completed, Taïwo could join a new-look Sunderland defence that could include Younès Kaboul, the Tottenham centre back who will have a medical today after agreeing personal terms, two days after Teemu Tainio joined from White Hart Lane, with Pascal Chimbonda set to follow.'

However, part of that could be out of date already (the joys of the modern age, eh?), with reports that Aston Villa are looking to hijack the Kaboul deal, and the player isn't quite convinced by those personal terms he agreed. Keep an eye on this one - he could be signed up by lunch, or he could be off to the midlands. We just don't know.


AND TALKING OF SPURS AND VILLA...
'The transfer of Robbie Keane to Liverpool moved closer last night when the Ireland forward was omitted from the Tottenham Hotspur squad for a friendly match in Spain, with the Merseyside club hoping to conclude an £18million deal this weekend. Despite their complaint to the Premier League about Liverpool's conduct, Tottenham are resigned to selling their vice-captain, as underlined by his absence from a 19-man squad when Juande Ramos's team took on Hercules in Alicante,' is the big story in The Times.

But what's good news for Robbie is bad news for Gareth.

'The imminent breakthrough over Keane would raise further doubts about Liverpool's protracted bid to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. Despite having raised £20million this summer by offloading Scott Carson, John Arne Riise, Danny Guthrie and Peter Crouch, Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has been told that there are insufficient funds to proceed with deals for his two principal targets.'


BLACKBURN TURN THEIR ATTENTION TO PENNANT
Having decided against making a bid for Segundo Castillo, Paul Ince will instead try to sign Jermaine Pennant, according to the Daily Mail.

That could signal that David Bentley is set to join Spurs, meaning Paul Robinson is set to join Blackburn, meaning Brad Friedel is set to join Aston Villa...we're getting dizzy...


AND THE REST
Norwich boss Glenn Roeder has targeted Leicester striker Steve Howard and is planning a £1.25million bid...Nolberto Solano is set to join Anorthosis Famagusta after his release from West Ham...Leeds have had a £300,000 offer for striker Jay Bothroyd accepted by Wolves...Stoke have joined Ipswich in the chase for Nurnberg's Greek striker Angelos Charisteas...QPR striker Daniel Nardiello is to join Blackpool as a makeweight in the controversial deal for Kaspars Gorkss...Wigan striker Emile Heskey is a shock £6million target for Panathinaikos...Stoke want to sign Angelos Charisteas from German side Nurnberg but are struggling to come up with the £5million asking price...Crystal Palace want £2million for Birmingham and QPR target Ben Watson.