Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has given the world another clue regarding his plans for Liverpool defender Andrea Dossena, indicating that a move could take place.
De Laurentiis, who is in Milan for the Lega Calcio general assembly, has uncovered part of his agenda for the January transfer window. Click to continue reading...

Livorno midfielder Antonio Candreva made his debut for Italy at the weekend in a 0-0 friendly with the Netherlands with the versatile midfielder attracting a lot of interest from the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus .

Candreva's club form has not gone unnoticed with teams said to be circling for the players signature.

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There have been reports in today's papers and online football sites that suggest that Barcelona are lining up an £85 million bid for United striker Wayne Rooney. The tabloids believe that the Spanish club will wait until January to make the bid but he is one of their top targets.
This week Rooney has hinted that he wants to finish off his career at Man United, and that wasn't the first time he has hinted that. Click to continue reading...

Welcome to the first 'Groan in Brief', a look at recent events that may or may not have anything to do with Arsenal the focus of these pieces will be on any current football stories that I feel like commenting on. Expect the FA, FIFA, UEFA and Jamie Redknapp to be regular targets of ridicule.

The international break seems like a good time to start, given that there's no Arsenal news filtering through, at least until the matches themselves leave the whole squad crippled, so let's get on with it.

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AC Milan weren't the busiest in the summer transfer window with many of their targets not getting released from their clubs. After Kaka left the club it was expected that Milan would use the money received to reinvest in players and strengthen the squad but the biggest name player to sign was Klass-Jan Huntelar who has failed to score for the club and has received very little playing time since his move from Real Madrid in the summer.

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UPDATE: According to the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has ruled out the possibility of going after Dynamo Kiev striker Andriy Shevchenko. McLeish said,

"Shevchenko is not on my radar. Sammy has not told me he has made inquiries.

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Chris Hughton is currently drawing up a list of targets, but if the players come in, it will have to be on a loan deal at least initially. Per Ciljan Skelbred a Newcastle supporter since a boy If these players are good, a loan deal is fine because it does have advantages for the [...]

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Former� Valencia and Zaragoza defender Fernando Caceres was shot in the head Sunday morning in his homeland of Buenos Aires, Argentina.� Caceres remains in grave condition with a bullet wound to the brain.� � The former Argentina national squad member� was the� victim of a car� jacking and� he apparently refused to exit his BMW at the time of the crime.

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According to Andy Walker at the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham are thought to be interested in Dynamo Kiev striker Andriy Shevchenko, but he is not a top priority. One of the biggest reasons is because of his large wages.

Other targets mentioned are West Bromwich midfielder Graham Dorrans and QPR's Wayne Routledge.

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According to a report in German newspaper Bild, English giants Liverpool are closely monitoring the situation of speedy Hamburg attacker Eljero Elia.
Reds manager Rafael Benitez is eager to add some more depth to his attacking unit and the Spanish gaffer has reportedly made Elia one of his primary targets. Click to continue reading...

Interesting new tactic adopted by Ferguson. Writing letters to potential targets wishing them all the best?

Portsmouth Vs Manchester United Tickets Still Available!

Sir Alex Ferguson has conceded Manchester United's interest in Steven Defour after sending a letter to the Standard Liege captain reassuring him that he remains in his thoughts.

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Things have not been going well for River Plate this season. As one of Argentina's two biggest clubs, there are a certain level of expectations always hanging over them and so far this season they're falling short of those targets. Like, by a lot.

Currently in 16th place through eight matches, River reached a new low by losing 3-1 at home to Independiente in the newly re-appointed Leonardo Astrada's second debut as the club's manager on Monday, marking the first time they've lost at home to one of their biggest rivals in 13 years.

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The January transfer window is still a long ways out, so it would be a bit rash to start predicting where the club will be by that point. However, it's never too early to start predicting potential targets to acquire at the beginning of next year.

Rumours are being reported that Rafa will be given £12 million to spend on new talent in January.

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The January transfer window is still a long ways out, so it would be a bit rash to start predicting where the club will be by that point. However, it's never too early to start predicting potential targets to acquire at the beginning of next year.

Rumours are being reported that Rafa will be given £12 million to spend on new talent in January.

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You all know the Spanish media, don't you? If you don't, I'm really glad for you, you aren't missing a thing. If the British gutter press loves hiding stuff in order to keep their targets (those previously paid ones, yeah) clear and their readers cheated, the Iberian one does the very same thing, but with [. Click to continue reading...

Word is soccer stars across the pond are so fearful for their security that they're getting their car windows made bulletproof.
It makes sense.
The EPL there is kind of like the NFL here, where party-hearty stars often become targets. No amount of planning ahead is enough for my money. Click to continue reading...

It was rumoured a few weeks back that Harewood was one of Hughton's targets to beef up his injury-stricken strike force, but the deal was reputed to be off a few days ago amidst doubts about Harewood's fitness. However it now seems the deal might be back on again. Apparently Hughton has received reassurances from the [. Click to continue reading...

With confirmation that Danny Allsopp has left for Qatar club Al-Rayyan Sports, Melbourne Victory has lost not only one of its two primary scoring targets but a long time servant of the club.
Of course the writing has been on the wall (or in this case within the forums) for a week now after Allsopp failed to not only take the field against Newcastle but wasn't even present at the game. Click to continue reading...

The battle over the future of English football hotted up this month as Uefa president Michael Platini threatened to boot Premiership clubs out of the Champions League.� Platini would say that all he is aiming for is a level playing field in the competition and it is true that he has other targets such as AC Milan and Real Madrid.

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As our currently absent Miss Spur alluded to some time ago, Niko Kranjcar finally completed his move to Spurs yesterday. It's a Croatian to replace a Croatian by the looks of things after Luka Modric picked up a significant injury at the weekend.

After being linked with a number of targets on deadline day, some good and some worryingly bad, we ended up with just the one signing and probably the best of the bunch at that.

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Whilst not expecting the drama of deadline day last year, it could still be a busy day for ourselves before the window shuts until January.
Sky Sports News are reporting that Tal Ben-Haim is in talks with Portsmouth over a potential move, a departure that has been widely anticipated.
It is two other moves that will be worth keeping an eye on however. Click to continue reading...

After winning El Triplete last season, Barcelona fans have to be wondering what is in store for this season and how can they possibly surpass last season's history.
I know how they can do it, by becoming the 1st team in European history to win a SEXTUPLE. Mathematically speaking it would be a doubling of the Treble that was won last season. Click to continue reading...

The new season is only ten days old and Rafa Benitez is already up to his old tricks, namely criticising players in public. Is this the right approach to take when dealing with players or is it counter-productive?
My personal view is that criticism of players - however warranted - is never justifiable in public. Click to continue reading...

Manchester City took their summer spending to a staggering £120m tonight when they resolved a late hitch over Joleon Lescott's protracted move from Everton to add the England international to their ranks for an initial £22m.

The 27-year-old has signed a five-year contract worth £90,000-a-week with City, having passed a medical on Monday afternoon only for the deal to be put on hold for 24 hours due to a dispute over payments owed to the defender's representatives.

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Rafael Benitez has backed Glen Johnson to aid Liverpool's title push by becoming a regular name on the scoresheet.
The Reds boss has been delighted with the attacking flair the right-back has shown since joining the club in the summer and is confident the England man can go close to hitting double figures this season. Click to continue reading...

Via telegraph.co.uk:

"There is no update on the Joleon Lescott situation.

"It has been discussed at length for the past three weeks now. We have made bids for the player and they have been rejected.

"Everton are within their rights to reject our offers and it is up to them.

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Pape Diakhate has admitted that he is flattered to be a reported target of Premier League giants Liverpool.
The Reds are believed to be keen to strengthen their defensive options before the end of the transfer window, and have been linked with a number of potential targets.
Dynamo Kiev ace Diakhate is the latest name to be thrown into the rumour mill, with the Reds reported to have had the Senegal international watched on several occasions. Click to continue reading...

Photo credit: Wonker (Flickr)

TweetBeat takes the pulse of fan opinion and reaction – the emotional, the insightful and the trivial. � But mostly trivial though.

Let's start with a comment from the BBC Sport's chief football writer, Phil McNulty, which induced varying opinions from a couple of Everton fans:

philmcnulty: Time for Manchester City to make that next Joleon Lescott bid.

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A short documentary on the dire straits the Magpies faced less than two years ago. How times have changed.

Today, the are flush with ME money and have Sven Goran Ericksson on board. They just signed Kasper Schmeichel from Man City on a record signing (in the range of £1m) and there are rumours that Sol Campbell and Patrick Vieira are targets.

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The 2009/2010 season is here and Nike's top athletes are ready. They've set themselves targets and pledged their ambition. They've even put pen to ball and signed the T90 Ascente which will feature in every Premier League fixture.

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Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho claims that Chelsea are guilty of hiking up the prices of his targets Deco and Ricardo Carvalho. Both players were part of Mourinho's triumphant Porto team that won the Champions League title back in 2004. "Every time I'm interested in one of their players, it looks quite different. Click to continue reading...

Various things to discuss this morning and I'm gonna start with the marmite like story of Eboue; You either want him to go or want him to stay, theres nothing else to it. Well the latter has won because it appears he will be staying at Arsenal.

Fiorentina announced last week that the deadline for the deal to complete was Wednesday, and they also said Arsenal had to lower their asking price of £9 million, in my opinion understandably so.

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Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has revealed that the club are searching for "the best replacement" for Xabi Alonso.
The Anfield club have agreed to sell the Spanish midfielder to Real Madrid for a fee believed to be in the region of €34 million and the 27-year-old is all set to be unveiled at the Bernabeu having completed his medical. Click to continue reading...

The English paper the "Daily Mail" publishes that CHELSEA FC viaits Russian millionaire owner Roman Abramovich is about to "assault"onto the transfer market with 118M€. There are three players that arethe main targets: Ribery, Pirlo & ATLETICO DE MADRID ArgentineInternational forward SERGIO AGUEROThe Atletico player has a 60M€ contract release clause & will haveto agree to leave the Spanish Club. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger was delighted after last weekend's Emirates Cup, highlighting the depth of his squad when one considers that the likes of Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Carlos Vela and Thomas Vermaelen didn't feature.

The Frenchman told Sky Sports News:

I believe overall we played a good game, with good cohesion and good movement, and of course Jack was on the end of it twice, but I think it was a good team performance.

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