Premier-League

Gervinho holds Gunners hope

2011-06-27T02:46:00.000-07:00

The Ivorian's future has been the subject of intense speculation for some time now with interest in his services intensifying.
Arsenal are believed to have led the chase for his signature since it emerged that they were considering an approach, with the player favouring a switch to Emirates Stadium.
Discussions regarding a transfer to England have been opened, but slow progress is being made at present.
Lille, though, expect an agreement to be thrashed out, with Seydoux resigned to the fact that Gervinho will soon be on his way to pastures new.
"We know that Gervinho has a personal interest in joining Arsenal," he told RMC.
While one forward-thinking player appears set to depart Lille, Seydoux has again moved to play down rumours regarding Belgian starlet Eden Hazard.

Promises

The youngster continues to be linked with a number of top clubs, with the recent takeover at Paris St Germain seeing them join the hunt.
Seydoux, though, insists Lille have no intention of parting with the talented 20-year-old.
He said: "Even if big money is offered, my answer will still be the same. Eden stays here.
"They say things can change very quickly in football, but at Lille we keep our promises."
Seydoux has also confirmed that he is hoping St Etienne forward Dimitri Payet can be lured to Lille, despite mounting interest from PSG.
"We know there is competition," he said.
"With Payet, many agents are talking. We will have to see what the player wants."

(Sky Sports)

Black Cats close on Gardner

2011-06-25T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Blues have already conceded a number of their players would be leaving following relegation to the Championship and midfield ace Gardner has been attracting a great deal of interest.
Closely linked to both the North East's Premier League clubs, Sunderland have stepped up their interest and look set to land his signature.
The Black Cats are understood to have lodged a bid in excess of £5million which Birmingham have accepted.
Now the 24-year-old looks set to leave his home-town club, just 18 months after arriving from Aston Villa.
Despite Birmingham's relegation last year, Gardner was hugely impressive last term in scoring 11 goals from midfield.

Rovers step up Cisse bid

2011-06-25T03:25:00.001-07:00

Blackburn Rovers have stepped up their interest in Papiss Cisse by making a fresh bid for the striker understands.

The Senegalese forward had a sensational season in Germany last year, finishing as second top scorer in the Bundesliga.

The 26-year-old is understood to have been in England this week to hold talks with Rovers as Freiburg accept their star man is set to leave.

But the German club insist that they will not accept anything less than €15million for him.

Rovers lodged a bid back in May, but that is believed to have been half of what Freiburg wanted, now Steve Kean has returned and upped his offer which, if accepted, would break the club's transfer record.

However, there is strong interest in Cisse, particularly from Eastern Europe with Dynamo Kiev, Lokomotiv Moscow and Zenit St Petersburg all keen and the wages on offer in Russia and Ukraine could hamper Blackburn's bid.

Arsenal, Liverpool and Fulham are also thought to have been keeping tabs on Cisse in recent months.

Vucinic interest

Rovers are looking to bolster their attacking options, and have also been closely linked with Roma's Mirko Vucinic.
His agent admits to have been in England for talks, but a move within Serie A looks more likely with Juventus strongly linked.
Vucinic's agent Alessandro Lucci said: "I've been to England to take stock of the situation.
"The interest of English clubs in him goes back some time.
"But I've also had meetings with Juventus, where we talked about many players and they asked for information on Vucinic."
Blackburn are also keeping tabs on the situation of former star Roque Santa Cruz at Manchester City after he spent the latter part of last season back on loan at Ewood Park.

Izaguirre claims Utd interest

2011-06-25T03:24:00.000-07:00

Celtic full-back Emilio Izaguirre claims he is wanted by Manchester United and that Sir Alex Ferguson has previously been in touch with the SPL club.

Izaguirre joined the Bhoys last summer and enjoyed an impressive debut season in the SPL which culminated in the Honduras international scooping the player of the year awards.

He was recently linked with United's arch-rivals Liverpool and revealed he was 'flattered' by the interest being shown by the Anfield club.

However, he now says that Premier League champions United were keen on a deal in January before Patrice Evra signed a new contract and are set to hold further talks with Celtic next month.

Silent

"I am aware that Manchester United and Celtic agreed for a meeting in July," said Izaguirre in Honduras. "We have to see what happens if I stay or I go.

"I have to confirm it's 100% true that Manchester United were following me and were interested in me in January."
"It was Alex Ferguson directly who made contact with the Celtic directors.

"I think it was the time when they didn't close the negotiations with Patrice Evra. As far as I am aware Celtic refused to sell me as we were concentrating on the league.
"Regarding possibilities, I prefer to stay silent as I did when Celtic signed me. This is a job of my agent.
"If I have the chance I welcome the move with open arms. If that is the case I will thank God and I will take my opportunity."
Celtic boss Neil Lennon, meanwhile, insists there has been no approach for Izaguirre or Israel midfielder Beram Kayal.
Lennon said in the Daily Record: "You're always going to get speculation about your best players. I understand that.
"But there's been no interest expressed in Beram or Emilio and I've had no one on the telephone enquiring about any other player if it comes to that.
"Every player has his price but I'm not prepared to sell my better ones and Emilio certainly comes into that category."

McCoist wants Cuellar deal

2011-06-25T03:21:00.001-07:00

Ally McCoist has confirmed he is 'very keen' to bring Carlos Cuellar back to Rangers, but is unlikely to meet Aston Villa's £3million asking price.

Cuellar initially left Ibrox to join Villa in 2008 and he has made over 100 appearances during his time with the Premier League club.

However, his future at Villa Park is uncertain following former Gers boss Alex McLeish's appointment as manager and an offer of £1.5million has already been rejected.

Reports suggest Villa want double that amount to sanction Cuellar's sale, but McCoist doubts Rangers will offer that sum for the Spaniard.

"Gordon Smith (director of football) has been talking to Aston Villa about Carlos," said McCoist in the Daily Record.

"I'm very keen for that deal to go through, but I don't think we'd be going as far as £3million to make it happen."
Christophe Berra has been mooted as an alternative option to Cuellar, but McCoist says Gers will not be following up an interest in Wolves' former Hearts centre-half.
The Rangers boss added: "He was a player we looked at but won't be pursuing."

Swans unaware of unrest

2011-06-25T03:19:00.000-07:00

The Swans have been reported to the Premier League by Ipswich on the back of a disagreement involving Town striker Tamas Priskin, who took in a loan spell at the Liberty Stadium last season.

Ipswich chief executive Simon Clegg claims Swansea have failed to meet the demands of the agreement signed between the two clubs, with payments due to the Portman Road outfit still outstanding.

The Championship club are not prepared to let the issue lie and have called on the Premier League to impose a transfer embargo on the newly-promoted Swans until the matter has been resolved.

Surprised

Jenkins, though, claims he has been left bemused by the whole situation and hopes to address it before it gets out of hand.
He told his club's official website: "In response to Ipswich Town's statement, as a club we are completely unaware of any dispute with Ipswich.
"Myself and Simon Clegg talked a few weeks ago regarding the situation of Tamas Priskin returning early from his loan spell, but there has been no correspondence since.
"While we are surprised and disappointed with Simon's statement, we will address the situation and speak to him and Ipswich early next week."