Latest Transfer Update at 21-09-11

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Latest Transfer Update at 21-09-11

Taylor-Fletcher: 163 Blackpool appearances
NEW DEAL FOR TAYLOR-FLETCHER

Blackpool striker Gary Taylor-Fletcher has put pen to paper on a new contract.
The 30-year-old has agreed a one-year deal with the option of a further year.
"It has taken longer than I hoped but it's best for both parties that it has been sorted," he told the club's official website.
"My main priority, as it always has been, is to try to help the club get back to the Premier League."
Taylor-Fletcher joined the Seasiders from Huddersfield in 2007 and has scored 28 goals in 163 appearances.

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Danny Pugh: Set for Leeds return
LEEDS SET TO SEAL PUGH MOVE

Leeds look set to sign midfielder Danny Pugh on loan from Stoke this morning.
Boss Simon Grayson confirmed that the Whites are ready to bring in a new player after the 3-0 Carling Cup defeat to Manchester United and it appears that Push will make a return to Elland Road.
The 28-year-old previously made over 50 appearances for the club between 2004 and 2006 and he has been heavily linked with a move back to Yorkshire over recent weeks.
Pugh was an unused substitute in Stoke's penalty shoot-out victory over Tottenham in the Carling Cup but speculation has surrounded his future after he was left out of the Potters' Premier League squad.
"Hopefully in the morning," the Leeds manager told reporters when asked if a new signing was in the pipeline.
"He's been involved in a game tonight, hopefully he's not got injured and fingers crossed it should be done in the morning."

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Hill: Will add to McClaren's defensive options
FOREST LAND CLINT HILL ON LOAN

Nottingham Forest have taken Clint Hill on a 93-day emergency loan from Queens Park Rangers after learning that Chris Cohen is to be sidelined for the foreseeable future.
The Reds have found themselves short of defensive cover this season, especially at left-back.
Cohen had been filling in, but he suffered a serious injury during Forest's 2-1 defeat to arch-rivals Derby on Saturday.
Scans have revealed that he has suffered cruciate ligament damage in his right knee and he will be out of action for a prolonged period of time.
Steve McClaren was already in the market for loan cover and has moved quickly to snap up Hill.
The 32-year-old, who can operate at centre-half or at left-back, will link up with the Reds later this week and could be in line to make his debut in Saturday's trip to Watford.
McClaren told the club's official website: "It's a bitter blow for Chris who has been one of our stand-out performers so far this season but we are delighted to have agreed terms with QPR for Clint.
"He has great experience and will add to our defensive options."
Hill figured in all but two of QPR's Championship fixtures last season as they landed the second tier title.
He was named in Neil Warnock's starting XI on the opening day of the new Premier League campaign, but has been overlooked since being dismissed in a heavy defeat to Bolton.

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Sol Bamba: New contract discussed
BAMBA SET FOR NEW FOXES DEAL

Sven-Goran Eriksson has hinted that Sol Bamba could be in line for a new contract at Leicester.
The City manager is considering rewarding the Ivory Coast international centre-back for his consistent performances this season.
Eriksson has been delighted with Bamba and believes he has been one of the best signings he has made during his time at the npower Championship club.
Bamba was linked with a move away from the midlands club during the summer, with reports suggesting several Premier League clubs were ready to swoop for the 26-year-old. But Eriksson has previously stated his desire to keep the crowd favourite.
"It has been discussed and there might be some improvement (to his contract)," Eriksson told the Leicester Mercury.
"He has been very consistent. I have made many other good buys, but he is among my better buys, of course. If he goes on like this for the rest of the season, very good."
The Swede added: "Sometimes you are close to a heart attack when he wants to control the ball like Franz Beckenbauer, but I don't think he made any mistakes at all last Saturday. He was fantastic."

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Yannick Djalo: In limbo
NICE CHIEF SLAMS FIFA

Nice chief executive Julien Fournier has hit out at FIFA's failure to resolve the future of midfielder Yannick Djalo.
The 25-year-old signed from Sporting Lisbon in a 4.5million euros deal on transfer deadline day, but a week later, on September 7, FIFA vetoed the deal, saying the paperwork had not been filed on time.
Nice appealed on September 8, but almost two weeks later, no further action has been taken by the world governing body, leaving the player and the club in limbo.
"We are very angry," Fournier said on the club's website. "This issue is the fault of FIFA, who have blocked it. They have not given us a chance to state our case."
Fournier went on to say that FIFA were violating the rights of the club and the player to defend themselves.
"FIFA should be the guarantor of democratic values in the game," he said. "In this case, it violates our most basic right, the right to defend ourselves.
"To date there has been no decision, we cannot defend ourselves and the player is unable to ply his trade as there is no other remedy available to us."
FIFA have said that the paperwork arrived four minutes after the transfer window closed, invalidating the deal, but Fournier rejects that argument.
"We are determined to use all available remedies in order to show that excessive formalities (a delay in the data entry of a document) can not prevent a football player from plying his trade.
"We are willing to be bound by the decisions that are made, but it is necessary that they are made."

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Thomas Schaaf: Set for contract talks
BREMEN TO HAND SCHAAF NEW DEAL

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf is set to be rewarded for leading his side into second place in the Bundesliga after six matches of the season with the club announcing their intention to prolong his stay with the club.
Schaaf is the longest-serving coach in the Bundesliga having taken charge of Bremen over 12 years ago.
And the 50-year-old is now set to extend his stay, having convinced club bosses that he is still the right man for the job after turning things around following a difficult year.
"We have discussed it with the club's management and we will soon start negotiations with Thomas Schaaf over a new contract," revealed the club's general manager Klaus-Dieter Fischer to the Kreiszeitung Syke newspaper.
"I am convinced that Thomas will remain with us, if the conditions are right.
"The only person who can be our coach is Thomas Schaaf."
And as far as Fischer is concerned, the club's director of sport Klaus Allofs should also be tied down to a longer deal.
He said: "It would of course be ideal if both of them were to remain."
The highlight of Schaaf's 12-year tenure came in 2004 when they won a league and cup double while he repeatedly led the club into the Champions League in recent years, with the exception of last season.
With a new contract, Schaaf could set a new record for longevity on the Bremen bench.
He is just over a year short of matching Otto Rehhagel's 14-year stint.

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Anelka: Happy at Stamford Bridge
ANELKA IN NO HURRY TO QUIT BRIDGE

Nicolas Anelka has insisted he has yet to make up his mind whether to quit Chelsea at the end of the season.
Manager Andre Villas-Boas last week claimed the striker had indicated he wished to leave the club when his contract expires next summer.
Anelka turns 33 in March and his future at Chelsea looked under threat when former boss Carlo Ancelotti was sacked at the end of last season.
Former France striker Anelka, who has impressed under Villas-Boas, told the club's official website, www.chelseafc.com: "I am linked everywhere but, when you are linked, it doesn't mean you want to leave.
"I like Chelsea and first of all wanted to stay - that's why I am still here.
"I will see what happens in December and, if I am still here, I will see what happens in June.
"I am happy here, I like the club, everyone here, and, after, I will see what happens. It is not only down to me.
"I have been here almost four years now, and I am pleased with the way it has been. It could have been even better but I am still happy."
Villas-Boas also said last week that the club would make efforts to convince Anelka to extend his deal.
The Chelsea boss has been at pains to play down concerns about the age of some of his players but Anelka admitted he was made to "feel old" when he discovered new 18-year-old team-mate Romelu Lukaku used to have a poster of him on his bedroom wall.
He added: "I feel very old. Two or three weeks ago, I went to Paris and saw two kids.
"I was with my friend and we were talking, and they didn't know I used to play for Arsenal!
"They never knew or saw videos, so I was upset, and said I must be very, very old now!"

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Gasperini: Sacked by Italian giants
INTER SACK GIAN PIERO GASPERINI

Gian Piero Gasperini has expressed his disappointment after being sacked as Inter Milan coach just three matches into the new Serie A season.
The 53-year-old was on Wednesday morning dismissed after less than three months in charge, leaving the Nerazzurri searching for their fourth new coach in the last 15 months.
Club president Massimo Moratti decided it was time for a change after Gasperini's side lost 3-1 at newly-promoted Novara on Tuesday night - their fourth defeat in five games this term.
A statement from the club read: "The club wishes to thank Gian Piero Gasperini for the effort shown during his tenure and manifests its true disappointment for the interruption of the relationship with the coach."
Gasperini told www.inter.it: "In the end, the results are the ones that determine everything. I am very disappointed. It's a pity that our relationship had to be interrupted."
Former Chelsea, Juventus and Roma coach Claudio Ranieri is the leading candidate to replace Gasperini.
Moratti was coy on the topic when leaving the club's offices on Wednesday, but hinted the appointment would not come as a big surprise when asked who the next Inter coach will be.
"We've already discussed this, I believe," he said.
Moratti felt Gasperini had lost the backing of his players, although the coach had insisted he could turn things around.
"When you lose in the manner that we did against Novara, there is nothing positive to take from that," he said after Tuesday night's shock loss.
"Gasperini did not seem to be in control."
Gasperini said in response: "Moratti has declared that I don't have the support of the players?
"The rapport with the group is optimum. If the problem is the coach, then it has an easy solution.
"If, instead, as I believe, the problem is another one, then we must resolve it through work."
Former Genoa boss Gasperini was appointed on a two-year contract in June after Leonardo left the San Siro to become sporting director at Paris St Germain.
He had not been Inter's first choice, though, with Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa and Fiorentina boss Sinisa Mihajlovic both turning down the chance to guide Inter before the club turned to Gasperini.
Leonardo had taken up the reins in December in place of Rafael Benitez, who had been brought in six months earlier following the departure of Jose Mourinho to Real Madrid.
Inter finished runners-up in Serie A last campaign to arch rivals AC Milan but have yet to win a game this term.
The Nerazzurri travel to Bologna on Saturday before taking on CSKA Moscow in Russia in the Champions League four days later.

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Johnson: Yet to agree new deal to stay at Fulham
JOL HOPES TO KEEP ANDY JOHNSON

Fulham boss Martin Jol has admitted he could sell Andrew Johnson in January if he fails to agree a new deal at Craven Cottage.
Johnson's current contract expires next summer and as yet no new deal has been agreed between both parties.
Jol is keen to keep hold of the former Crystal Palace and Everton hit-man but accepts he may have to offload him if he does not resolve his contract situation.
"We've talked to him over the last month and hopefully we can agree something, but if not we have to get on with it," said Jol.
"We would like to have Andy on board [for next year], but he's on board [for now] anyway. If he doesn't sign the contract we will continue for this season. It's not a problem.
"Andy is a very good second striker. We play [Moussa] Dembele, Clint [Dempsey] and Bobby [Zamora], but I feel sometimes in a 4-4-2 Andy is one of the best options.
"If there was a club interested in him you could think about it [selling him], but if not I'm happy for him to stay here until the end of the season.
"But for now we need to get an agreement. Last week I thought we were close. We will talk with him again today and hope we can agree something."

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Raul: An important player says Tonnies
RAUL BELONGS WITH SCHALKE - TONNIES

Schalke president Clemens Tonnies is hopeful striker Raul will play another year with the club after his contract expires next summer.
The 34-year-old former Spain international recently committed himself to the remainder of his current contract amid reported interest from other top European clubs, and he does not appear to be against playing on another year in Gelsenkirchen.
Now Tonnies has told Sport Bild magazine that Raul will be offered a new deal.
"Such an experienced player is very important for our young team and he proves that in every game," he said.
"He is incredibly endearing. I have made it absolutely clear to him that he belongs with Schalke.
"We are proud for every minute Raul plays in a Schalke shirt.
"When somebody plays good football, gets involved and identifies himself with the club, then there is nothing to say you should not continue with him."
The best way to convince Raul to stay another year would be to offer him another crack at the Champions League, but Tonnies says his club would still be able to afford his wages even without European football.
"Financially, we can afford Raul," he said. "We have such a solid financial base that we would not have any difficulties even if we don't qualify for Europe."