Latest Transfer Update at 02-12-11

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Latest Transfer Update at 02-12-11

Didier Drogba: Future the subject of much speculation
DROGBA COULD BE SPURS TARGET
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp won't rule out a swoop for unsettled Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
The 33-year-old Ivory Coast striker has reportedly turned down a contract extension at Stamford Bridge, and his future is now the subject of much speculation.
And Redknapp, speaking ahead of his in-form side's Premier League clash with Bolton at White Hart Lane on Saturday, says he rates the talented front man highly.
"Drogba is a top player, a fantastic player, so, who knows? I couldn't sit here and say we wouldn't be interested," he said.
"Anyone would be interested in having Didier Drogba in their team but we have not made any enquiries."

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Carlos Tevez: Still wanted by former club in Brazil
CORINTHIANS KEEN ON CARLOS TEVEZ
Corinthians have reiterated that they are still hoping to persuade Carlos Tevez to rejoin them.
The controversial Argentina striker is currently AWOL in his homeland after falling out with his club Manchester City.
Corinthians almost signed him in the summer, but a deal failed to materialise before the Brazilian transfer deadline.
AC Milan and Inter Milan are now seemingly in pole position to agree a January deal for Tevez, but Corinthians remain hopeful.
"I want to sign Tevez. We are going to hire a top-class player for 2012 and I hope it will be Tevez," club president Andres Sanchez said.
"I don't know how much we would pay but if Tevez decides to move, I'm sure he will play for us.
"If Tevez leaves Europe, he comes to play for Corinthians."
Sanchez did confirm that the club would not be following up any interest they had in signing AC Milan veteran Clarence Seedorf.
"Seedorf wants to come, but we do not want him - he will come to Brazil but not with Corinthians," he added.

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Andre Villas-Boas: Under pressure
ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS: MY JOB IS SAFE
Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas has claimed owner Roman Abramovich has promised not to sack him if he fails to win anything this season.
Abramovich has fired every manager to have ended a campaign empty-handed since buying the club more than eight years ago.
But Villas-Boas insists the Blues' billionaire owner has assured him his job is safe, even if he does not deliver silverware come May.
Speculation has been rife that Villas-Boas will not last that long unless he arrests Chelsea's poor start to the season.
Having been dumped out of the Carling Cup by Liverpool two days ago - albeit with a youthful team - Chelsea could find themselves out of the Champions League on Tuesday if they do not win, or keep a clean sheet in their final Group E match against Valencia.
Failure to reach the last 16 would be unprecedented during the Abramovich era and compound a start to the Barclays Premier League that sees Chelsea 10 points behind leaders Manchester City and outside the top four.
They could lose even more ground if they do not win at Newcastle on Saturday or beat City at Stamford Bridge on Monday week.
That would leave them in the kind of position that has seen Abramovich pull the trigger in the past, but Villas-Boas is adamant he will not suffer the same fate.
And the 34-year-old declared he has been told his job is safe even if Chelsea go a second successive season without a trophy for the first time under Abramovich.
"I have that assurance," Villas-Boas said, despite admitting such a campaign would amount to "a failure".
He added: "Conversations have been ongoing with the board and they have been fully supportive."
Villas-Boas cited his three-year contract as proof his head was not on the block, and although compensation payments have never prevented Abramovich wielding the axe in the past, jettisoning a man he paid Porto more than £13million for during the summer would be hugely embarrassing for the Russian.
It would also defeat the purpose of Villas-Boas's appointment, which was to transform the way Chelsea play while continuing to win silverware.
"There are no schedules for achieving different kinds of things," said Villas-Boas, whose side have recorded two wins and five defeats in their last nine games.
"We are not avoiding our responsibilities towards this year, that is for sure. If we fail this year, like we failed last year, we were not up to our standards, so we need to see where we missed.
"And if we look back at our position that we finish in the league at the end of the season, we would look back at this period always as a period when we might just have lost track of our points."
Villas-Boas reiterated he would not change his attacking philosophy in pursuit of results and again insisted his players were fully behind his approach amid fresh reports of dissent.
He added: "They will never lose faith because the philosophy is not a cancer of this football club, the philosophy is not the reason why we are losing games, it's a misconception.
"Philosophy is playing good football for the fans, good football to try and win games. We have been trying to that."
Asked how he could be certain his players would not lose faith even if what he has repeatedly dubbed the "negative spiral" continued, Villas-Boas said: "Because they are with me. They are with me and believe in what we are doing."
The only man's faith that matters, of course, is that of Abramovich amid what is undoubtedly the biggest test of Villas-Boas's fledgling managerial career.
Villas-Boas said: "I don't care if it's my best time or worst time as a football coach, this is about the football club, not me."

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Massimiliano Allegri: Hoping to stay
ALLEGRI LOOKS TO EXTEND MILAN DEAL
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri is confident he will soon sign a contract extension with the club.
Allegri, whose current deal expires next summer, is set to be offered a new two-year deal that will keep him with the San Siro outfit until June 2014.
"(AC Milan vice-president Adriano) Galliani said that I'll stay until 2014 and I explained to both him and (Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi) that my aim is to remain here," Allegri told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"From my part, there is no problem and I never considered the situation to be any different.
"We just have to wait a little bit, talk and lay everything out.
"It's true that you never know what can happen until you sign but I reiterate this is not a problem."
Allegri guided Milan last season to win their first scudetto since 2004 in his first year in charge.
Milan are second in the standings, just two points behind Juventus, and visit Genoa on Friday night.

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Jurgen Klopp: Impressed by Bittencourt
DORTMUND SNAP UP TEENAGER
Borussia Dortmund have strengthened their squad for next season by agreeing a fee with Energie Cottbus for their 17-year-old midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt.
The Germany youth under-19 international has signed a four-year contract, the Bundesliga outfit announced on Thursday.
"Leonardo will join us on July 1," said Dortmund's director of sport Michael Zorc at a press conference.
"We are delighted that we have managed to sign another hugely talented prospect for Dortmund."
Bittencourt has already met with Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp, who admitted to being impressed with the versatile midfielder.
"He seems like an alert, confident youngster," he is quoted as saying by his club's website.
"We are pleased that he has chosen to come to us and we intend to make him into the player that he has the potential to become.
"He is quick, technically good and he is already very advanced in his development. Leo fits into our squad perfectly."
Bittencourt has played 15 times so far for Cottbus, scoring two goals while he has been capped a total of 15 times for Germany's under 17s and under 19s.

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Brendan Rodgers: Only interested in quality
RODGERS SEEKS THE REAL DEAL
Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers insists he will take a "quality over quantity" approach when the transfer window opens at the end of the month.
Rodgers' attempts to strengthen his squad at the end of the summer window were frustrated when FIFA refused international clearance to complete the defensive signings of Darnel Situ and Rafik Halliche, a blow which was exacerbated by Alan Tate and Steven Caulker suffering long-term injuries.
The absence of full-back Angel Rangel, ruled out for up to a month with an ankle problem, and striker Danny Graham's current struggle with an Achilles injury, have highlighted concerns over the depth in Swansea's squad, particularly with Saturday's trip to Blackburn being one of six games this month.
Rodgers had previously said he would look to bring up to six players to the Liberty Stadium during January, but he will not simply be looking to add extra bodies to his squad.
He said: "I could bring in 10 bodies but they might be no good.
"I need to know I have quality, the first six months of the season was always going to be a learning curve for us and the players that got us promoted had earned the right (to play in the Premier League).
"We had a couple of moves that fell through so we have had a really small group, but January will give us a chance to assess where we are at and we know fine well that we need to strengthen, but I am not one to bring people in for the sake of it.
"I would rather have quality than quantity and we need enough quality players here if I need to make changes that can affect the game."
Rodgers admits that Graham looks set to miss the trip to Lancashire due to his injury, but has backed Leroy Lita to fill the void should the former Reading and Middlesbrough man be called upon.
Rodgers said: "I would say it is more against than for (in terms of Graham's fitness).
"When Danny is injured you know he is properly injured as he is old school like that.
"I knew it was bad when he had to come off but we will assess it again tomorrow before we make a decision."
"Leroy is very hungry," he added.
"He has been fantastic and he is a great professional, and that's not easy as a striker as you live for goals and games.
"He has been a great squad player and he has to keep working, and when the chance comes he has to take it.
"When he came on last week he was strong and aggressive and he can give defenders problems, and if Danny is not ready and I need to use Leroy I will have no doubts, that's why I brought him here."
If the Swans can claim victory at Ewood Park it would move them 10 points clear of the bottom of the table, and heap further pressure on Rovers boss Steve Kean, whose popularity among supporters took a further dip when he said he had effectively "forfeited" their Carling Cup quarter-final against Cardiff in midweek.
But Rodgers, who knows Kean from his time at Reading, says the way his opposite number has conducted himself in the face of severe criticism from a section of supporters has been admirable.
"It is to be admired how he has kept going," he said. "It's disappointing from a manager's perspective to see your team and management getting that sort of abuse.
"We understand that happens but the most important thing is it doesn't help your cause in the Premier League. When you pull together and have that one club and one city mentality you have a great chance, if not it makes it very difficult.
"I want to see him do well, except against us.
"But we know Blackburn are a dangerous team, a team that are established in the Premier League and have players like (Ayegbeni) Yakubu and (Junior) Hoilett who has come on this year.
"They marginally missed out on some good results. They were 3-1 up at Norwich, they ran Chelsea close at home and beat Arsenal at home, so we understand it will be difficult."

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Alex McLeish: Unhappy with Facebook announcement

Aston Villa trialist Yannick Djalo may be looking to impress at the club, but he has already made a mistake in the eyes of manager Alex McLeish - by announcing the deal on Facebook.
The Portuguese has not yet arrived at Villa's Bodymoor Heath training ground, and McLeish had been hoping to keep the move quiet.
However, any hopes of so doing were extinguished when Djalo took to social media, something the Villa boss is clearly disappointed with.
"We're just going to look at him on trial," McLeish said.
"Talk of signing him is very premature.
"I didn't really want it to be anybody's business, but I know the lad put it on Facebook himself, so what chance have you got?"
Djalo is currently in contractual limbo at French side Nice. He joined the French side on the last day of the summer transfer window from Sporting Lisbon, but FIFA rejected the move after league officials only registered his documents after midnight when the market was closed
McLeish was cagey when asked about Djalo's qualities as a footballer.
He said: "I can't tell you anything about him just now.
"I don't want to divulge anything.
"Look him up on Google."
Fans got wind of the deal after he posted 'I go to Aston Villa' on his Facebook page.
McLeish hinted he may go down a similar route with other players when trying to strengthen his squad, as a modest budget means he must remove as much risk as possible from his transfer dealings.
"We'll quietly look at people when we get an opportunity," he said.
"There's others that are out there as well.
"We want to try and do things carefully and prudently, and we'll continue to do so."
Villa take on Manchester United tomorrow, and McLeish has a near fully-fit squad to pick from after Stiliyan Petrov and Stephen Ireland recovered from hamstring and foot injuries respectively.
Defender Eric Lichaj's long-term hip injury makes him the only absentee.
The game will see Ashley Young return to Villa Park for the first time after the winger's £17million switch to Old Trafford over the summer.
McLeish believes the England international will get a good reception from supporters despite his decision to defect, but hopes the fans do not make it too easy for him.
"He's well remembered here, but I hope the Villa fans put him off his game a bit," he said.
"Coming back to your old ground, players can be welcomed, they can be made a little bit apprehensive as (Darren) Bent was at Sunderland and maybe to a lesser extent Spurs, but I'm sure the characters of the players rise above it."