Transfer Update at 27-01-2012

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Szabolcs Huszti: West Brom target

WEST BROM KEEN ON HUSZTI

West Brom head coach Roy Hodgson is hopeful of concluding a deal to sign Zenit St Petersburg winger Szabolcs Huszti for the remainder of the season.
Hodgson has been preparing his side for Saturday's FA Cup clash with Norwich at The Hawthorns amid ongoing talks with the Russian club about taking the Hungary international on loan with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.
Hodgson is keen to strengthen his wide options in midfield, with Zoltan Gera and skipper Chris Brunt both long-term injury casualties.
Hodgson said: "Huszti is a player who has had a very good career with Metz, Hannover and now St Petersburg, who have been the top side in Russia for two or three years.
"He is a player who comes with a very good CV, a type of player we don't really have at the club, not least with Gera and Brunt injured long term.
"We hope we can finalise the deal with the club and the player himself and he will be a good addition to our squad for the final 16 league games if it all gets tied up."
Hodgson has also not given hope of signing Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell, even though Albion's initial bid was rejected by their midlands rivals.
He said: "I know that Birmingham are still in dialogue with Dan Ashworth [West Brom's sporting and technical director]. Whether that means there will be another offer from our side I couldn't say.
"I was under the impression that the offer we made was pretty much a final one, but who knows? It would be nice for a deal to be done and, if it can't, then that is okay too."
Hodgson has written off any hopes of signing defender Chris Baird from his former club Fulham, however.
He said: "We have been told he is not available. His name was mentioned and I said yes, if he was going to be released we would be interested.
"Then I have been informed that Fulham will not be releasing him."
Midfielder Paul Scharner has been troubled by an Achilles problem in recent weeks and will miss the clash with the Canaries tomorrow but central defender Jonas Olsson is available to face Paul Lambert's side.
Olsson returned to the side in last week's win at Stoke after recovering from a calf injury and was allowed to return to his native Sweden to attend a funeral this week.
Meanwhile, Baggies keeper Ben Foster is hoping his cup success with Birmingham last season can rub off on Albion.
Foster said: "Blues won the Carling Cup and also got to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup last season and it would be good to do something cup-wise with Albion this season.
"The FA Cup is so famous, everyone wants to do well in it and at the end of my career I would like to be able to look back and say I won it."
Foster is taking nothing for granted against a Norwich side who have already inflicted on West Brom one of their seven home league defeats this season.
He said: "We know exactly what to expect from Norwich. They are a very hard-working team, they are going to be on you for 90 minutes, and always work hard.
"That is the basis of their football which has served them well so far."

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Carlos Tevez: Possible Manchester City stay

JOORABCHIAN: TEVEZ COULD STAY AT CITY

Carlos Tevez could stay at Manchester City until the end of the season, his advisor Kia Joorabchian has said.
The Argentinian is hoping to secure a move away from the club before the closure of this month's transfer window.
The 27-year-old's representatives have held talks with AC Milan, Inter Milan and Paris St Germain but no transfer has yet materialised.
City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said earlier this week that the club would not sell the player below their valuation, believed to be around £25million.
Joorabchian told talkSPORT: "We've been in negotiations with three big clubs but I don't think they have reached the figures Manchester City want.
"Carlos will remain at Man City until the summer. They [City] would like to move him on but only at a certain price."
Tevez has not played for City since September and has been in Argentina without the club's permission since November.
Joorabchian claims a rift with manager Roberto Mancini is at the heart of the player's dispute with the club.
But Joorabchian accepts the pair will have to put their differences to one side and work together for the rest of the season if Tevez's hopes of a January transfer are scuppered.
Tevez first agitated for a move in December 2010 but at the time stressed that he had no personal issues with Mancini, who took charge 12 months previously.
That position, however, appears to have worsened significantly since.
Joorabchian told talkSPORT: "The relationship with Mancini, ever since Mancini came into the football club, has not been good.
"You think about last Christmas when Carlos wanted to leave and it was all to do with feuds with the manager, and I think that just carried on and on.
"There was a point when Carlos did say, 'I can't get on here'.
"And he is not the only one. You have to reflect back.
"(Craig) Bellamy had to leave Manchester City in an awkward way, (Emmanuel) Adebayor has had to leave Manchester City in an awkward way, Shay Given has had to leave Manchester City in a semi-awkward way, Wayne Bridge has been isolated and is not even training with the first team.
"He is not alone, Carlos."
Mancini recently said it would be "impossible" for Tevez to return to his side.
Joorabchian added: "Carlos does understand he has a contract and he has been walkabout, but Carlos has come to terms with the fact he has got to come back and live with Mancini."
The relationship between Mancini and Tevez reached its nadir with the infamous episode during the Champions League loss at Bayern Munich in September when the player did not warm up as requested.
Mancini said Tevez was "finished" at City as a result.
Tevez was suspended and later fined for misconduct by City.
He flew back to Argentina on November 7 and has remained there since.
Recalling that night in Munich, Joorabchian said: "The explosion of that day, the manager's comments of that day, was so bad it created an almost unsustainable...
"Carlos served two weeks' suspension, then he was training on his own, then he was training with the reserves.
"I guess at some point you have to say, 'He has served his training on his own, served in the reserves, now I have to integrate him back'.
"But there was never any thought of that, which is probably why he left to Argentina, he could just not see any light of being reintegrated into the first team."
Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani had said his club would make a decision on Friday on whether to pursue their interest in Tevez.
But Joorabchian said: "The last three or four days of the transfer window, historically, have always brought twists and turns.
"I can't see into the future but I think there will be a lot of twists and turns for every player that is in contention to move."