Bringing you the latest news, gossip and rumour from the last 24 hours.
Sam Allardyce is ready to make an audacious bid to bring Serbian midfielder Dejan Stankovic to West Ham. The midfielder has been at Inter Milan since 2004, but only made 14 league starts last season. The Metro report that West Ham have opened talks with the club, and also want to take Luc Castaignos on loan. Stankovic is 33 and has played more than 200 games for the club. He is famed for his long range shooting and he is one player we would love to see in the Premier League, and would surely be a superb signing for the Hammers.
The Mirror report that Sir Alex Ferguson is heading for a clash with Andre Villas-Boas already, over young defender Ezekiel Fryers. Fryers played for United in the Carling Cup last season and also made a league appearance. However he has so far refused to sign a new contract and the club fear he is going to follow Paul Pogba out of Manchester United, and Tottenham have been linked regularly over the past couple of months. The 19-year-old has played for England at youth level and can play at left-back and centre-back.
The same paper also report that Manchester City are targeting the next Argentine superstar, Paulo Dybala, who has been compared to Sergio Aguero. The 18-year-old plays for minnows Instituto, and could be bought for just £5 million. Real Madrid are also hovering, and Chelsea are also interested. City are determined to improve their youth set up, and after losing the talented Joan Roman to Barcelona, would love to add one of the world's top talents to their academy.
The Mail report that Chelsea are to up their pursuit of Theo Walcott, sensing Arsenal are in crisis after Robin Van Persie announced his intention to leave. He is yet to sign a new contract and has just one year left, and the Blues are keen on the 23-year-old as they want to boost their right-sided attacking options. Arsenal would not want to lose him on a Bosman, but equally would not want to see him sign for rivals Chelsea, so it will be interesting to see how this stalemate plays out.
And finally, it's Chico time at Swansea. The Sun report that Michael Laudrup wants to sign defender Chico from Italian side Genoa, and the 25-year-old £3 million. He is also targeting Villareal midfielder Jonathan de Guzman, add the paper, who is seeking a move after the side were relegated. Laudrup has good contacts in La Liga after his time with Getafe, and he will be keen to bring players from around Europe to add to Swansea's British core.
image: © batrax
Dan Coombs
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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.
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