Bringing you the latest news, gossip and rumour from the last 24 hours.
Tottenham Hotspur are ready to enter the bidding for Porto star Hulk, according to today's papers. The attacker played under Andre Villas-Boas for the Portuguese club, and he even mentioned signing him in February while he was still Chelsea manager. Chelsea have been involved in a protracted pursuit of the Brazilian since then, who is due to play at the Olympics. Chelsea have stepped back from the bidding and Tottenham are ready to move in, with Porto ready to open talks. We said a month ago the move made perfect sense as a marquee signing for Spurs, if they were brave enough to stump up the cash, so let's see what happens.
One striker who Tottenham are in a lengthy pursuit of themselves is Emmanuel Adebayor, and last week it appeared as though a deal was almost wrapped up. The club's on-loan top scorer from last season has now returned to training with Manchester City, and last night it emerged via the Telegraph that Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow have entered the bidding. The Russians have allegedly bid £8 million for the Togo striker, and importantly they are prepared to offer more in wages than Tottenham.
It is an exciting time at Watford despite the loss of key defender Adrian Mariappa to Reading. Former Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola has been appointed as boss, and that has led to speculation about two high-profile arrivals who could still grace the Premier League never mind the Championship. The first is Alessandro Del Piero, who left Juventus after almost two decades at the Turin club and is now a free agent. Even last season he scored crucial goals to lead the club to the Scudetto and decided to bow out on top. Compatriot Filipo Inzaghi has also been linked, the striker who holds the record for the most hat-tricks in Serie A with 10. He is one year older than Del Piero at 38, and scored on his final game for the club at the end of the season. If Watford can pull either of these off the attention the club will receive will rocket, as will their chances of promotion.
The Mail has an update on West Ham's pursuit of Modibo Maiga. The Sochaux striker was at the Hammers last night for a medical, with a £5 million deal set to be formalised by the end of the week. The Mali striker is 24 and scored 24 goals in 52 games for the French also-rans. The paper adds West Ham are still keen on a deal for Andy Carroll, but accept a deal for Dimitar Berbatov is not likely.
James Collins could be on his way out of Aston Villa, and it is a move the club are actively trying to push through themselves. Villa are close to signing Dutch international Ron Vlaar from Feyenoord, and see no future for Collins, who has just one year left on his contract. The centre-back's best performances for the club came under Martin O'Neill, and the Mirror report that Villa are trying to offload him to Sunderland, where O'Neill currently manages.
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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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