Latest Transfer Update at 12-05-11

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Gerrard - pleased Kenny Dalglish is staying.
GERRARD: REDS WILL KEEP GETTING BETTER

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is looking forward to continued progress now Kenny Dalglish has been confirmed as permanent manager.
The 60-year-old Scot, who has overseen a significant turnaround in performances in his four months in charge, has signed a three-year contract after weeks of speculation.
Confidence levels at Anfield are higher than they have been for months and Gerrard believes they are unlikely to dip with Dalglish now in position and a summer transfer window approaching in which Liverpool are likely to strengthen their squad further.
"It is fantastic news and the news everyone connected with the club has been waiting for," said the England international.
"Kenny has lifted the place, the supporters, the players and everyone connected with the club and now we can all look forward to a bright future.
"Before he came in everyone knew it was a difficult time as results were not going well, but sometimes all you need is a change. The last six months has been a lot more positive.
"He is very popular with the players and I think he is a popular guy in general. Everyone knows about his knowledge, his experience and what he has done in the game.
"With Kenny signing and a few more signings, I am sure expectations will go through the roof but we just need to continue what we have been doing over the last six months."

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Neuer - talks ongoing over Bayern switch.
BAYERN CLOSE ON DEAL FOR NEUER

Bayern Munich have moved a step closer to signing Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from Schalke after holding "constructive" talks with their Bundesliga rivals earlier this week.
Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and board member Karl Hopfner met with Schalke's director of sport Horst Heldt and board member Peter Peters in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss a potential transfer.
While it had previously seemed that both clubs were miles away in terms of their respective valuations of the Germany number one, it now appears that bridges have been built during the meeting.
"It was a very constructive and fair talk," Rummenigge told Munich's Tz newspaper. "We now have a basis to work on.
"I have always said that it would not be easy to find a price that both sides can accept in the end, but after this meeting, I am cautiously optimistic that we have found a price.
"It is now up to our colleagues from Schalke to discuss it with their board."
The Royal Blues are reported to have demanded 25 million euros for Neuer's services, but Bayern's offer was reported to be merely half of that.
The Bild newspaper now claims that an offer of 18 million with a further 7 million dependent on success has been put to Schalke by Bayern.

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John Terry - wants more new players.
TERRY WANTS MORE BLUES BROTHERS

Chelsea captain John Terry maintains the club must spend again in the summer if they are to topple Manchester United and reclaim their Premier League title next season.
The Blues saw their mini-revival end in a 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford last weekend, which left Sir Alex Ferguson's men needing only a point from their last two matches to secure a record 19th championship.
Despite bringing in £50million striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool and spending £25million on centre-back David Luiz during January, Carlo Ancelotti was unable to find the winning formula again in 2011, having last season won the Double in his debut campaign, as Chelsea also crashed out of the FA Cup to Everton and the Champions League against United.
Terry, who has backed the under-pressure Italian amid reports he will be sacked in the summer, believes with a few more additions, Chelsea will be the side to beat again.
He told Chelsea TV: "I always think we should strengthen all over the pitch [in the summer].
"I look back when Jose Mourinho was here - we had a very big squad and great players who could come in, but then that brings financial problems to the club and players become unhappy.
"We literally had 11-13 players who weren't involved, but they were a very good set of quality players and we have missed that.
"We need somewhere in between where we are now and what we had back then.
"We lost a lot big players this year and maybe we needed a bigger squad, but that's no fault of Roman or this football club. What he has done for Chelsea, I couldn't put into words.
"It's very easy for us to say we'd love to see this or that.
"It is his money and he has dedicated a lot of time and effort, but I would say we need players."
Chelsea started the campaign in blistering fashion, winning their first five Premier League games, conceding just once before defeat at Manchester City.
However, a poor run around the turn of the year saw them drop out of the top four, which despite their recent eight wins from nine before losing at Old Trafford proved too much to overcome.
Terry feels losing to the likes of Wolves, Sunderland and Birmingham were fatal.
"When it comes to the big games, nothing has been too different in that the players have been very well prepared and gone into them feeling like we could win them like last year," said the England captain, who expects to be fit to face Newcastle on Sunday after suffering a bruised hip in a clash with Wayne Rooney last weekend.
"Last season we won at Arsenal and at Old Trafford quite comfortably, but I always say they are very good sides, especially at home, and you can win or lose those games.
"The matches against the other sides were important, the Wolves game stands out for me and Newcastle, those are the ones you have to win because when you're playing those kind of sides, the other clubs are playing similar teams and winning those matches.
"If you drop points there it makes things more difficult and puts pressure on the bigger games."
Terry turns 30 in December, and recently chalked up 500 games for Chelsea. The centre-back admits he already has one eye on life after playing, but maybe not straight into the Stamford Bridge hotseat.
"When I do retire, which hopefully will be in four to five years' time, I will step into management," he said.
"I understand it [Chelsea] is such a big club and I will need to get experience first. I don't just want to be thrown in at the deep end, that would not be fair on the football club.
"I would like to go away, learn and hopefully come back to Chelsea with good experience and manage the club I have always loved.
"I have started my badges, but it's difficult to fit it in because we don't get too many days off because of the Champions League, FA Cup and so on.
"It's finding the right balance, so I have not done as much as I have liked. It has been a lot slower than I thought but I will go again next year."

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Adebayor - on loan at Real Madrid.
ADEBAYOR: I WOULD BE A CITY GENT

Emmanuel Adebayor has confirmed he is willing to resurrect his Manchester City career.
The striker did not exactly hit it off with Blues boss Roberto Mancini and eventually left Eastlands for Real Madrid in January after making only eight Premier League appearances this term, scoring just one goal.
Few expected the former Arsenal man to return - and that is still the case as Mancini looks to reinforce his squad ready for Champions League combat next term.
However, it does not appear a permanent move to the Bernabeu is going to happen and given the vast salary Adebayor is on at City, it is not immediately obvious who else could afford him.
And the 27-year-old is wise enough not to start burning bridges that could take him back to Manchester, insisting he would be willing to engage in peace talks with Mancini later this summer.
"The relationship broke off when we were playing Chelsea at home and he put me on for the last 15 or 30 seconds," Adebayor recalled in an interview with BBC's Football Focus.
"I wasn't forcing him to play me. I just wanted him to treat me with respect by not playing me for the last 15 seconds.
"From then it went bad. He was not talking to me anymore.
"But of course (there is a way back). Some people don't talk to their fathers for 10 or 15 years but one day you go back.
"If I have to go back we will talk about it like two grown men and solve the problem.
"All I need is to be happy where I am playing football."
Whether Adebayor really would be happy as a bit-part player is open to doubt.
Although his appearance against Chelsea was brief, he was actually introduced three minutes from the end of normal time in a very tight game City went on to win.
The discontent may go further back, to what Adebayor claims was being ordered back for duty in the aftermath of last year's African Nations Cup, when the Togo team coach was attacked by gun men as it headed into Angola and three people were killed.
"I went to the African Nations Cup and everyone knows what happened there," said Adebayor.
"Then Mancini called me himself and told me to come back. I said: 'okay fine'.
"In the head it's always difficult to come back but I thought that I had to play football again so I jumped on the first plane to Manchester."
The relationship was never the same after that, meaning Adebayor will be nothing more than an interested observer as City try to end their 35-year trophy drought by beating Stoke in Saturday's FA Cup final.
"A part of me is, yes," said Adebayor, when asked if he was sad how things had turned out.
"I want to be part of this club. I want to be part of the team that creates history.
"But unfortunately I am not going to be there.
"Who knows what will happen next year. Maybe next year with me, we are going to win the league or the Champions League.
"I wish them the best of luck for Saturday. I will be there with them in spirit.
"If they win and if there is a party trust me I will be there if I have the day off because I am part of the club."

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Stekelenburg - Schalke interest.
SCHALKE PONDER STEKELENBURG MOVE

Ajax and Holland goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg could be an option for German club Schalke if their star number one Manuel Neuer moves on this summer.
The 28-year-old Dutchman has one year left on his contract with the Amsterdam club, which may make him an attractive option to Schalke should Neuer leave.
Schalke sporting director Horst Heldt told the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper: "Stekelenburg is the goalkeeper for the Dutch national team and that is not without reason.
"His contract with Ajax is for one more year. But it is not certain that Neuer will leave."
Neuer has reportedly been the subject of two bids from Bayern Munich, while Manchester United - whose number one goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar will retire at the end of the season - are also said to be interested.