Latest Transfer Update at 07-01-2012

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Latest Transfer Update at 07-01-2012

Wayne Rooney: Report is 'absolute rubbish'

WAYNE ROONEY EXIT TALK REJECTED

Manchester United and Wayne Rooney have issued a combined statement denying the England striker is about to leave the club.
Stories have emerged claiming the 26-year-old's relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson is broken beyond repair.
This has been denied by both parties.
"Manchester United and Wayne Rooney have been made aware of the theme of an article in tomorrow's Independent newspaper," said the statement, issed on Friday night.
"We have not seen the detail but can assure all United fans that the manager and the club are committed to Wayne Rooney and Wayne is committed to the manager and the club.
"The player and the manager have always had and retain, the utmost respect for each other and look forward to working together in the coming seasons.
"Any suggestion that Manchester United and Wayne Rooney are to part company is complete nonsense."
Rooney himself said on Twitter: "The Independent are talking absolute rubbish.
"My future is with Manchester United and the club and I am totally committed. The manager and I have no issues and anyone who says different doesn't know what they are talking about."
Rooney was disciplined by Ferguson last week after he became aware of the player having a night out on Boxing Day, immediately after the 5-0 win over Wigan.
It is not believed to be the night out itself that angered Ferguson but Rooney's subsequent performances in training.
Rooney was fined, believed to be a week's wages, and it is also claimed he was dropped for the home defeat by Blackburn on New Year's Eve as punishment.
This has not been confirmed by Sir Alex Ferguson, who refused to discuss the matter at his press conference to preview the FA Cup third-round tie with Manchester City earlier on Friday.
Indeed, Ferguson offered only the briefest of responses to questions about the reason for Rooney's below-par performance at Newcastle on Wednesday.
"It is not a crime to try too hard," said Ferguson, when asked whether his star player's desperation to succeed was the issue.
The speed with which Friday night's rebuttal has been released does indicate any problems between Ferguson and Rooney have been ironed out.
This will come as a relief to United fans, who have seen their side slip three points adrift of City in the Premier League title race and head to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in the unusual position of underdogs for a Manchester derby.

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Patrick van Aanholt: Back at Chelsea

VAN AANHOLT RETURNS TO CHELSEA

Patrick van Aanholt has returned to Chelsea after his loan spell at Wigan was terminated by mutual consent between all three parties.
The 21-year-old left-back was originally supposed spend the season at the DW Stadium but the deal has been cut short.
Dutchman Van Aanholt made just three Premier League appearances for the Latics and played one Carling Cup match, having not featured for Roberto Martinez's side since October 1.
The Holland Under-21 international revealed he had returned to Stamford Bridge on his personal Twitter account.
He said: "Finally arrived back Home want to thank all THE Wigan fans that believed in me."
Chelsea also confirmed the news on their official website.
Van Aanholt has made three starts and five substitute appearances for the Blues since arriving as a youth player from PSV Eindhoven in 2007.
The young defender has previously spent time on loan at Coventry, Newcastle and Leicester.

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Steve Kean: Still Blackburn boss

SAVAGE 'AMAZED' KEAN STILL IN A JOB

Former Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage claims manager Steve Kean has avoided the sack because the owners want a 'yes man' in charge.
Blackburn are bottom of the Barclays Premier League table and Kean has been the subject of ferocious abuse from supporters, some of whom are boycotting the FA Cup third-round tie against Newcastle in protest.
Savage maintains Kean is not the right man for the job but he believes Venky's would have sacked him after the home defeat to Bolton if they were going to make a change.
"I still don't believe Steve Kean is the right man for Blackburn. You have got to judge him by results and they haven't been good enough, they are bottom of the Premier League," said ESPN football analyst Savage.
"I am amazed he is still there. I think if he was going to get sacked they would have sacked him by now. The Bolton game was probably the all-time low as a Blackburn fan.
"If you are not going to get sacked then, I don't think they will sack him.
"The owners don't go to the games. I think they have got their perfect man in charge of the football club, he is not going to really argue with them.
"Who would want to take the job now?"
Savage may not believe in Kean's managerial ability but he respects the man's dignified reaction to the torrent of criticism he has faced.
"I felt sorry for him, to be honest," Savage said.
"The way he was treated by the fans was a joke. Steve Kean has been really dignified and it was probably two fingers up to everyone with that (3-2) win at Old Trafford (on New Year's Eve).
"But they lost to Stoke. Saturday is a huge game for him. The FA Cup is a massive part of Blackburn's season this year."
ESPN football analyst Robbie Savage was speaking ahead of the sports media company's live and exclusive coverage of three FA Cup third-round matches this weekend: Birmingham v Wolves (12pm Saturday January 7), Bristol Rovers v Aston Villa (4.30pm Saturday January 7) and Arsenal v Leeds (7pm Monday January 9).

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Kieran Richardson: Linked with Arsenal

O'NEILL COOLS RICHARDSON RUMOURS

Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill has insisted he has had no contact from Arsenal over versatile midfielder Kieran Richardson.
Reports this week have suggested the former Manchester United man could be a January target for the Gunners, but the Black Cats are yet to receive any approach.
O'Neill said: "Arsenal have not been in touch with me, I don't know anything about it.
"I asked the chief executive as well and she said no, there hasn't been anybody in touch yet.
"But what I have said is that I would keep players informed about what is happening.
"Obviously, I don't want to rush players to leave the football club. I would rather think about stabilising things here, and hopefully we can try to progress from there.
"But regardless of whether you are going to be doing business or not, you are going to be linked with players, clubs are going to be linked with some of our players, and at this minute we are hanging in there."
O'Neill has studiously avoided revealing his own recruitment plans for this month, insisting on the day he was unveiled that a transfer kitty was never discussed during his talks with owner and chairman Ellis Short.

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Beram Kayal: Could be out for rest of the season

LENNON STICKING TO TRANSFER PLANS

Celtic manager Neil Lennon will not reassess his January transfer plans despite potentially losing Beram Kayal for the rest of the season.
The midfielder will undergo surgery on Monday to repair the ankle he damaged during a challenge with Rangers midfielder Lee McCulloch.
Celtic will discover the extent of Kayal's lay-off after the operation but Lennon has revealed the Israel international could be out for four months or more.
However, Lennon has a number of options in central midfield with Victor Wanyama and Ki Sung-yueng both in good form and Scott Brown back to full fitness following his own ankle injury.
The influential Joe Ledley will also come into contention for a central midfield position after deputising at left-back for the fit-again Emilio Izaguirre.
Kayal was initially ruled out for at least one month but Lennon said today: "He had a second scan and he needs surgery.
"We don't know what the outcome of the surgery will be. There's a possibility that he could be out for four months.
"It was a good challenge between two committed players. The way his ankle has turned, he has got a bit of cartilage floating in there that might need attaching back in and there is ligament damage as well.
"It could be a minimum four months or we could maybe get better news. The result is he needs surgery, we are just not sure on the extent of it yet."
Lennon, whose team have won 10 consecutive Clydesdale Bank Premier League games, added: "It would be a huge blow for me and the player and the club itself.
"It's no coincidence that this run has coincided with Beram signing a new contract.
"He is a pivotal player for us. But I will say one area we have real quality strength in depth is midfield. I've got plenty of cover in midfield.
"But no one likes to lose a player for a concerted period of time."
Lennon, whose team face Peterhead in the fourth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup on Sunday, has already signed Sweden right-back Mikael Lustig, and has previously admitted his interest in signing a centre-back and striker.
Lennon added: "There are a number of players interesting us in a couple of positions. I'm not in a position to talk about any individuals.
"I'm happy with the squad. We've got strength in depth and we have Kris Commons and Glenn Loovens a week away from full training and Mark Wilson, who has made a great recovery, two weeks ago.
"Allied to that, we have Lustig in there who is not far away from being fit.
"We are obviously looking to improve the squad but if we can't, it won't be a disaster.
"There is no pressure on me to trim the squad at all.
"There may be players who want to go and play or move on for personal reasons, get some game time elsewhere, but no one has come knocking on my door yet."
Aston Villa have been linked with a move for Ki, although manager Alex McLeish is unlikely to have the funds to prise him away from Parkhead.
"I'm aware of interest but I'm not aware of any offers," Lennon said of the South Korean.
"I want to keep all my players here. Everyone has their price but it would have to be a huge, huge offer for us to even consider it.
"It doesn't surprise me that a number of clubs are looking at him and various other players but, for me, they would be wasting their time."
Commons, who has failed to replicate the form he showed when he signed for Celtic in January in an injury-hit start to this season, is also attracting interest.
"I think there is interest from Southampton in Kris," said Lennon.
"I will try and fend off any offers that come in.
"To have him back for the second half of the season is a huge bonus. He came in at this time last year and scored 14 in 18 so it's like having a new player."
Celtic will be forced to make at least one change for the trip to Balmoor to face Peterhead with Gary Hooper out with a groin strain.
"We'll go with a pretty strong squad and one's thing for sure, we'll not be complacent or taking this game lightly," said Lennon.

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Junior Hoilett: Out of contract in the summer

ROVERS TO LISTEN TO HOILETT OFFERS

Blackburn boss Steve Kean has admitted the club will now have to consider any bids for in-demand winger Junior Hoilett, who is out of contract in the summer.
The 21-year-old Canadian has stalled on several offers from Rovers and has attracted interest from Tottenham.
Hoilett can now talk to other clubs about a lucrative free transfer in the summer and Kean admits that the player holds all the cards.
He said: "Any player does when it gets down to six months.
"What we have to do is to continue to be open and honest with Junior and say 'we want you to stay'.
"If he would like to commit his future to the club we have always said from day one that we would like to get it tied up.
"He has probably taken the opportunity to look elsewhere. I don't know where he is on it. If we can get to a point where he wants to sign then great.
"If not, if there is a bid that comes in then we would obviously have to consider that, and the fact that he hadn't signed. But no bids have come in."
Kean said that the club should have given Hoilett a longer contract than the two-year deal he was awarded in 2010 when Sam Allardyce was Rovers boss.
"A couple of years ago when we only signed him for two years we should have made that a longer contract," added Kean. "Everybody would say we should have pushed to make it longer because now when there's six months left it's tough for the club."
Kean said talks were still progressing with the representatives of striker Jason Roberts and defender Michel Salgado over "issues in their contracts".
A clause in both players' contracts means if they play a certain amount of games this season, they would be entitled to another year at the club.
It has led to neither being available for selection and Kean said Salgado had returned to speak to his agent about his future.
Neither player will feature in Blackburn's FA Cup third-round match at Newcastle but Martin Olsson will be available after the Swedish full-back recovered from a thigh strain.
Central defender Gael Givet will also travel after being given the all-clear following a procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat.
Hoilett is expected to miss out with a hamstring problem, as will centre-back Scott Dann who is still short of match fitness.
Kean watched the Magpies demolish Manchester United 3-0 in midweek and believes that while Newcastle will miss striker Demba Ba and midfielder Cheick Tiote, there is plenty of back-up in Alan Pardew's squad.
The pair are missing on African Nations Cup duty and Kean said: "They have been big players for them but look at their squad and they have a number of different options.
"Yes you miss your big players but they have people in there who are still able to deliver some quality."

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Demba Ba: Newcastle's star striker

MAGPIES UNFAZED BY DEMBA BA REPORTS

Newcastle have no intention of allowing in-form striker Demba Ba to leave the club amid speculation suitors could activate a release-clause in his contract this month.
The Magpies, as is their policy on players' contracts, have declined to comment on reports an offer of up to £10million could prise the Senegal international out of the club.
However, it is understood the 26-year-old is happy with his lot less than seven months into his career with Alan Pardew's side, and the Newcastle hierarchy, while less than impressed with the rumours, remain relaxed about the situation.
Of course, they need no reminding of what happened 12 months ago when, having insisted throughout January Andy Carroll was not for sale, they received a £35million bid from Liverpool which proved to good to turn down.
Ba, who joined the Magpies on a free transfer from relegated West Ham during the summer, has been a sensation, and scored his 15th goal of the campaign in Wednesday night's 3-0 victory over Barclays Premier League champions Manchester United.
His form has lessened the blow of Carroll's departure, which sparked anger at the time, and he has already established himself as a crowd favourite and a deserving recipient of the coveted number nine shirt, which is currently vacant.
Ba, who left for the African Nations Cup this week, has dispelled fears over his fitness with Stoke having pulled out of a move to sign him last year because of worries over his knee.
Pardew has spent the last few weeks bracing himself for approaches for several of his players with the likes of his star striker and Ivory Coast midfielder Cheick Tiote having enhanced their reputations since their arrivals on Tyneside, and he is fully aware that even his best players have their price.
But with the club on its firmest financial footing for some time, they have no pressing need to sell and if anyone is to leave, the manager is determined it will only be in return for the kind of eye-watering fee which persuaded them to cash in on Carroll.
Tiote was handed a new six-and-a-half year contract after impressing during his fist six months with the club last season, and it would be no surprise if the board attempted to tie up Ba's future - his current deal runs until the summer of 2014 - in another pre-emptive strike.

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Hanno Balitsch: Offered a trial

NURNBERG OFFER CHANCE TO BALITSCH

Nurnberg have offered a trial to Bayer Leverkusen's Hanno Balitsch as they seek cover for the injured Omar Gonzalez.
Balitsch was told before Christmas that he is surplus to requirements at Leverkusen and he was advised to find a new club, and Nurnberg have stepped in after losing Gonzalez to torn knee ligaments.
Balitsch has been invited to a training camp in Turkey where he will meet club coach Dieter Hecking and work with the team.
"Our team is too quiet and we need to get noisier," Hecking said in the Bild newspaper.
"Hanno is just the man for this. We did clash once in the past, but that is part of football."
Hecking coached Balitsch at Hannover and once dropped him to the reserves after an argument during the half-time interval of a Bundesliga fixture.
However, with a shortage of similar players, not least following Gonzalez's injury, Hecking is willing to offer a second chance to a player who has made 284 Bundesliga appearances.
Gonzalez tore cruciate knee ligaments in training on Friday, just days after joining the club, and he misses the rest of the season after returning to the United States for an operation.
"It is very bitter for Omar," said Nurnberg's director of sport Martin Bader on his club's website.
"He wanted to show us what he is capable of and we had vested a lot of hope in him.
"The important thing is Omar gets fit and healthy again and we wish him all the best."

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Naldo: Going nowhere, says Allofs

ALLOFS DISMISSES NALDO ENQUIRY

Werder Bremen's director of sport Klaus Allofs says there is little chance of defender Naldo leaving the club this winter after receiving a derisory offer for the defender.
Naldo made a transfer request upon returning from his Christmas holidays in Brazil and an official offer for his services was subsequently made by Internacional Porto Alegre.
However, Allofs says there is "not even the grounds for negotiation" after rejecting Internacional's "laughable" bid.
"If Porto Alegre do not raise their bid to a suitable level, then there won't even be any talks," he told Kicker magazine.
"We don't want him to leave and we don't have to sell him either."
Naldo has just returned from a one-year injury-enforced absence and, following the sale of Per Mertesacker to Arsenal last August, he has regained a pivotal role at the heart of the Bremen defence.
Bremen are now keen to convince Naldo to ignore the overtures from his home country and concentrate on the second half of the season with Bremen.
"Naldo understands that there is not even any room for negotiation with the kind of offer that Porto Alegre have made," added Allofs.
Naldo previously told the Bild newspaper that Inter had "made me a good offer" and that he "could imagine moving" back to Brazil this winter.

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Robin Dutt: Champions League target

DUTT GETS LEVERKUSEN BACKING

Bayer Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt has been given a vote of confidence by his club's chairman Wolfgang Holzhauser, who has set him the target of a top-four finish this season.
After finishing runners-up to Borussia Dortmund last season, Leverkusen have struggled to live up to that achievement and they lie in sixth position at the turn of the year with a deficit of seven points to make up on fourth-placed Borussia Monchengbladbach between now and May.
Dutt, who replaced Jupp Heynckes as coach in the summer, has even had to endure calls for him to be sacked from frustrated fans who had set their sights on the title this season.
However, Holzhauser says that the former Freiburg coach still enjoys the board's unreserved support.
"When I say that the coach is assured of his job, then I don't mean that only in the mid-term, but also long-term," he told sport1.de.
"Of course we know that questions are always going to be asked of the coach when the success is not quite how you would imagine it, but we made a good choice with Robin Dutt.
"We knew that the year after Jupp Heynckes would be a tough one. Let's not also forget that we have had a lot of injury misfortune.
"All things considered, we are satisfied with Robin Dutt's work, even if we don't have the amount of points that we had imagined at this stage of the season, but we expect to make up for that in the second half of the season."
Holzhauser has therefore laid down the gauntlet to Dutt to make up the lost ground and lead the club back into Europe's top club competition next season.
"That is nothing new," he said. "Our aim from the beginning, after finishing fourth two seasons ago and second last season, is that we consolidate our position and reach the Champions League.
"Nothing has changed in this. The Champions League is the aim and you have got to set targets."