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Eidur Gudjohnsen may be on his way out of Stoke City after less than six months at the club.
The 32-year-old was signed in a £2 million deal from Monaco at the beginning of September but has failed to score for Stoke in five appearances.
Manager Tony Pulis is said to be unhappy about Gudjohnsen’s fitness levels and has admitted that the Icelander could be sold.
“If there’s a deal you think is right for the club and the player thinks is right for him, then you get the deal done,” Pulis said last week.
Brendan Rogers is said to be interested in giving the 32-year-old a chance at Swansea City. Rogers knows Gudjohnsen from their time together at Chelsea and believes he may find his level in the Championship.
Manchester United are set to send Federico Macheda out on loan this month.
The 19-year-old Italian was linked with a loan move back to his old club Lazio last summer but Sir Alex Ferguson wants him to go to a Premier League club and has revealed that he is willing to let the youngster go to the club that can give him the most playing time.
Aston Villa are believed to have already been in touch but Ferguson said that playing time is at the forefront of his mind.
“Macheda has to play games. Clubs who convince me and the player that he’ll get games are the ones we’ll consider.”
Other clubs said to be interested in taking Macheda are Everton, Wigan and West Ham.
Liverpool are interested in Germany international full-back Per Mertesacker, according to the Sunday Mirror.
The club’s director of football strategy Damien Commolli watched the Werder Bremen defender in action before Christmas and the paper says he has recommended that the club put in a bid.
Werder are believed to be ready to sell now they are out of the Champions League but are believed to want a fee of at least £10 million for the 26-year-old.
Speculation last summer strongly linked Arsenal with Mertesacker though Werder director Klaus Allofs denied that any enquiry was received.
There is speculation that should Liverpool sign the German it could lead to the departure from Anfield of Daniel Agger; however, boss Roy Hodgson said on Friday that the Dane remains part of his plans.
“If ever you hear Daniel Agger is being ‘offered’, it’s not by Liverpool Football Club – it’s by unscrupulous people who are second guessing and looking at players who have not been in the team in the last couple of weeks and suggesting they might be available” Hodgson said.
Spurs are set to bid £1.5 million for Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar.
Harry Redknapp was linked with the South African last summer as he looked for a way out of Goodison Park but with his deal set to expire at the end of the season Redknapp has been biding his time and is looking to put in a cut-price bid to land him this month.
However, Everton boss David Moyes is looking for at least £3 million for Pienaar, who has turned down the offer of a new deal at Goodison worth said to be worth around £55,000 a week.
Spurs are preparing for the possible arrival of David Beckham by moving David Bentley on to Newcastle United, according to the Daily Mail.
The paper suggests that Alan Pardew is keen for the 26-year-old to link up with striker Andy Carroll and that Spurs are ready to take a big hit on the £15 million they paid Blackburn for Bentley in 2008.
The midfielder has found it difficult to hold down a regular first-team berth at White Hart Lane and the paper suggests that he may head to St James’s Park even if Spurs don’t manage to pull off the loan signing of Beckham this month.
Meanwhile, reports today of a loan move to Newcastle for Robbie Keane seem somewhat wide of the mark – at least for the time being.
Harry Redknapp has already ruled out a loan deal for the 30-year-old Irishman whom he is only willing to let go on a permanent move.
Newcastle have been reported in today’s News Of The World of being interested in loan deal for Keane this month leading to a permanent move in the summer if all goes well.
The Sunday Mirror suggests that Spurs may also put in a bid for Blackburn defender Chris Samba.
The Congo international has been told he can leave Ewood Park after speaking out about Rovers’ owners’ dismissal of manager Sam Allardyce and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is interested in signing him to plug the gaps in the centre of his defence.
Although Spurs have six central defenders Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King both have ongoing injury problems while William Gallas is finding the pace of the Premier League hard at 33 years old.
With the knockout stages of the Champions League looming Spurs are left with Michael Dawson, Younes Kaboul and Sebastien Bassong at centre half.
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Chelsea are considering a £2 million bid for Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd, according to the Mail On Sunday.
The England international is out of contract at the end of the season and the paper says that Bluebirds’ boss Dave Jones accepts that he is likely to move on this month rather than go on a free transfer in the summer.
Birmingham City and West Ham United are also interested in signing Bothroyd but the Mail suggests that with only a restricted transfer budget in place this month Carlo Ancelotti regards a £2 million bid as good business as Bothroyd would provide cover for Didier Drogba.
