Football transfer news

Harry Redknapp claims he has been offered the chance to bring Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder to QPR but says a deal is “unlikely”.

The former Ajax midfielder has fallen out of favour at San Siro and is being offered to numerous clubs, but his £200,000-a-week salary is proving to be a stumbling block for many.
And whilst the QPR manager admits he would love to sign the Netherlands international, he also revealed there is little chance of the player moving to Loftus Road.

“I was asked by one agent if I wanted to sign Sneijder,” Redknapp told The Sun.

“Of course I do. However, he’s on about £200,000 a week and now he wants to join QPR?

“I won’t name the agent, but let’s just say I think a deal is unlikely.”

The former Tottenham manager is expected to be busy during the transfer window as he attempts to save the club from relegation.

The Rs have been linked with a number of players, including a £5 million move for West Ham midfielder Mohamed Diame. However Redknapp refused to comment on his transfer plans, saying only: “We’ll wait and see.”

EXCLUSIVE
By Liam Twomey

Southampton starlet Matt Targett is being tracked by Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, Goal.com understands.

The 17-year-old left-back is regarded as one of the jewels of the Saints academy and the long-term successor to Luke Shaw, whose own future is the subject of intense speculation.

Shaw has been consistently impressive in the Premier League this season, and boss Nigel Adkins felt compelled to warn off potential suitors before he again caught the eye in Tuesday’s goalless draw with the Gunners.

But Targett, too, has been attracting the attention of some of the country’s biggest clubs with a string of promising displays for Southampton reserves in the Under-21 Premier League.

While only two months younger than Shaw, Targett would be available at a considerably lower price, due to his lesser profile and the fact he has yet to sign professional terms with the Saints.

Under the new rules laid down by the Premier League’s Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), players under the age of 18 on youth contracts can be transferred for a fixed fee determined by the player’s length of service in the selling club’s academy.

Consequently, despite Targett having been with the Saints – his boyhood club – since the age of eight, any transfer fee would be only a fraction of the £9 million received for fellow youth graduate Theo Walcott, or the £12m Arsenal paid for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in August 2011.

Southampton’s academy enjoys Category One status – the highest possible rating – under the new system, but this has no bearing on the fees they are entitled to receive for their youth products.

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Athletic Bilbao player Carlos Gurpegui has said that he hopes the Fernando Llorente “saga” will end soon.

The 27-year-old midfielder said he hoped his team-mate would remain with the club until the end of his contract in the summer.

“The club have said [that he will stay], at least until somebody pays his release clause. In that respect we are calm,” Gurpegui told a press conference on Thursday.

“We know that he belongs to Athletic until that day and the only thing that I ask of Fernando until June 30 is that he can be at the highest level and help us score as many goals as possible.”

Italian giants Juventus have begun negotiations with the striker who has spent nine seasons at the Liga club.

Llorente had previously rejected a new deal and stated that he would see out the remainder of his contract.

“Hopefully the soap opera is over,” added Gurpegui. “It is good for everybody that there is peace and that together we can only think of Athletic, which is where we are and we all want the best.”

Los Leones continue to ask for the payment of the termination clause in the player’s contract which would enable him to leave the club during the winter transfer window.

Southampton boss Nigel Adkins has denied claims that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has contacted him about signing talented left-back Luke Shaw, and insists St Mary’s is the best place for a player with “a big, big future”.

The 17-year-old defender has broken into the Saints’ first team this season and has featured in the last 11 league games for Adkins’ side, of which he started 10.

And while the starlet’s fine performances have reportedly turned heads at the Emirates Stadium, his 47-year-old manager recently declared Shaw is not for sale – and believes he is at the right club to develop into a top player.

“No, [Wenger] didn’t say anything,” he told talkSPORT. “As I have said before, Luke is better playing for Southampton, where he is being nurtured and looked after.

“He is still only 17 and playing in the Premier League, where he is getting an opportunity to flourish, to make some mistakes and to keep kicking on.”

Arsenal have signed two of Southampton’s most promising young talents in recent years, snapping up Theo Walcott in 2006 and beating a host of rivals to the signature of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2011.

However, Adkins is firm on his stance over Shaw, and says any team who wants to take the left-back away from St Mary’s will face a battle from chairman Nicola Cortese.

He continued: “We have a good culture here. [Shaw] is under contract. We are not looking to let him go.

“This is best place for him at this point in his career. He has a big, big future in the game, which he demonstrated with his performance against Arsenal the other night.

“If anyone wants to try and do business, all the best dealing with the chairman.”

The sides drew 1-1 at St Mary’s on New Year’s Day, leaving Arsenal in sixth place and Southampton 17th in the Premier League table.