Football transfer news

Lille defender Mathieu Debuchy remains keen to join Newcastle United but admits that a move to the North East is more likely to come to fruition in the summer than in the upcoming January transfer window.

The France international looked set for Tyneside in the summer but negotiations between the two clubs broke down over the agreement of a fee for the 27-year-old.

Lille have fallen to 11th place in Ligue 1 and are reportedly suffering financial problems but Debuchy says he would like to see out the campaign in his home country.

“The sport situation is not very good at the club now, but I don’t have real desire to leave in January and abandon my team,” Debuchy told L’Equipe.

“I would like to end the season here, even if things could happen quickly. No one at Lille has told me ‘you have to leave in January because we have money trouble’, but if an offer comes along and it would satisfy everyone…

“I have not changed my mind in six months about England and Newcastle. I asked my agents to only talk about it again if there is something serious.”

Debuchy hopes not to repeat the disputes of the summer negotiations but acknowledged that he found it difficult to accept Lille’s failure to agree terms with Newcastle.

“It was very difficult last summer so I don’t want to start it again,” he reflected. “We had tensions but I don’t want to leave on bad terms.

“At that time, I had several phone calls with the coach and indeed I had a grudge against him. But talking with people at the club, I finally resigned myself [to stay].”

COMMENT
By Kris Voakes | Italian Football Writer

There was a time when no Roma fan would dare contemplate the possibility of Daniele De Rossi leaving the club. A certain Goal.com correspondent once even had his head near bitten off for suggesting the scenario within earshot of a Romanista. The firey retort included the oft-repeated line which determined the Italy midfielder to be the club’s ‘capitan futuro’.

These days, though, it is an increasingly likely occurence. And, as Goal.com exclusively revealed earlier this week, Saturday night’s opponents AC Milan have joined the queue of parties interested in ending De Rossi’s long association with the Giallorossi.

As treasured as he is by fans and club alike in Rome, this may well be the right time for the Lupi to cut their losses. At 29, De Rossi’s value is only going to decrease in future transfer windows. Having been courted at length by Roberto Mancini and Manchester City, the local boy has so far remained committed to the Roma cause, but with his position in the first-team squad becoming increasingly tenuous under coach Zdenek Zeman, there is more than enough tension around for him to consider a fresh start. His marriage break-up was hardly the most amicable on record, and there is a feeling amongst many that it is partly due to off-the-field issues that the Azzurri regular has struggled on it.

DE ROSSI’S CAREER STATS
Competition Serie A Coppa Italia Champions League Europa League Supercoppa	Games 291 44 38 25 4	Goals 33 4 4 4 2

Zeman’s insistence on playing Panagiotis Tachtsidis in the midfield anchor role has forced De Rossi either into one of the wider channel positions where he becomes more exposed due to his lack of pace, or onto the bench. His frustrations over the entire episode clearly boiled over at last month’s Rome derby when he saw red for lashing out and belting Lazio captain Stefano Mauri in the face.

De Rossi is unhappy. Clubs rarely like to hold onto unhappy players, and for as long as Roma’s American bosses are keen to back Zeman’s vision for the club, the No.16 is likely to remain on the outside looking in.

One of the possible solutions is for a transfer to be conducted, and Milan could well offer De Rossi the kind of fresh start he craves. With Nigel De Jong missing for the rest of the season after damaging his Achilles tendon against Torino, there is a need to bring in another combative midfield anchor. CEO Adriano Galliani claimed this week that they will not look to sign another midfielder, but the same man claimed last summer that there would be no sales involving Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

What the Rossoneri must ensure is that they have the right kind of protection and penetration in the centre of the park, and even before his injury De Jong was only able to offer the former and not the latter. The 80-odd cap De Rossi could bring both. It could even benefit the national side for two of its midfielders, De Rossi and Riccardo Montolivo, to be partnering up regularly at club level.

A couple of years ago Romanisti would have found the possibility unthinkable, but one can’t help but think that if De Rossi was sold in January there would be fewer questions asked – fewer fingers pointed – than there would have been previously. The dip in form which has seen De Rossi have two below-par seasons in the last three years has now led to a serious impasse, and the fact that he has never again reached the heights he managed between 2005 and 2008 suggest that a resolution needs to be found.

And if that resolution is to benefit Roma in cold, hard cash, then they need to consider a sale sooner rather than later. The bonus for all concerned is that the player may also experience a welcomed new lease of life if he is running out regularly at San Siro after Christmas. As scenarios go, it is one all three parties should consider very seriously.

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Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has said he does not believe Kaka will leave the Bernabeu during the upcoming transfer window, despite rumours that the Brazilian could be leaving the club.

The 30-year old has been linked with moves to Corinthians and New York Red Bulls, but the Real coach said he wanted the former Milan forward to stay in Madrid.

“I don’t think we’ll do anything in January, and I don’t think Kaka will leave either,” Mourinho told a press conference.

“If he stays it’s good for the team,” he added.

Mourinho also took the time to speak about Uefa’s recent decision to fine and ban Saturday’s La Liga opponents Malaga.

The Spanish club have been excluded from the next Uefa club competition for which they qualify, and could face further sanctions after failing to meet financial requirements.

“I hope that the terms are given so that it is sorted out. If they earn [European qualification] on the pitch it would be sad that, for non-sporting reasons, they could not do it. It would be sad for the fans,” he said.

The former Inter coach also expressed his support for Barcelona boss Tito Vilanova, who has recently fallen ill.

“What I do in private, I do not say publicly. If I have talked to him [Vilanova] or sent him a message, it’s personal. When a fellow coach has a health problem, we are all on the same side. For Tito and his family, we are with them.”

Los Blancos currently lie third in the league table after amassing 33 points from their opening 16 games, and travel to face fourth-placed Malaga on Saturday who are just five points behind Mourinho’s men.

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Chelsea have placed Theo Walcott, Willian and Miralem Pjanic on their shortlist as they step up plans to replace Liverpool-bound Daniel Sturridge, Goal.com has learned.

The European champions want to sign a proven wideman to allow Rafael Benitez to rotate his attacking players.

Chelsea remain in pole position to sign Falcao from Atletico Madrid – although he might not join until next summer – but they also want a versatile attacker who can play anywhere across the front three.

Sources have told Goal.com that the Londoners have firm interest in Arsenal contract rebel Walcott, Shakhtar Donetsk forward Willian and Roma’s Pjanic.

Sturridge wants to quit Stamford Bridge and is in talks to move to Liverpool next month for a fee of around £12 million.

Walcott would prefer to stay in London if he cannot agree new terms with Arsenal, although Arsene Wenger insisted on Thursday that the England international will not be sold in the forthcoming window.

Willian, the Brazilian winger who caused Chelsea such problems in the Champions League group stages, remains on the radar of owner Roman Abramovich after a €25m bid (£20m) was rejected by Shakhtar in the summer.

Willian issued what was effectively a come-and-get-me plea this week, saying he wants to quit the Ukraine club and play in a more glamorous league.

“If I tell you that I was happy [the Chelsea move fell through], I would be lying,” Willian was quoted on Friday as saying. “The club knows that I want to leave, everyone knows that. The president has told me that he’ll let me go for €30m and my intention is to sign for a big club.”

Chelsea’s other principal target is Pjanic, the 22-year-old Bosnian who plays wide right for Roma and began the season on the bench but has recently been in excellent form.

Pjanic was the subject of strong interest from Tottenham in the summer but Roma have high hopes for the 2011 signing and it will take an offer beyond €15m (£12.2m) to capture him.

One player who seems destined to eventually wear a Chelsea shirt is the prolific Colombian Falcao, scorer of 17 league goals already this season, second in the Spanish league only to Lionel Messi, who has scored 25.

As revealed by Goal.com in November, Chelsea have already opened talks with Atletico Madrid about paying the £48m release clause in the striker’s contract.

A deal to take the centre-forward to Stamford Bridge is close to being secured after Chelsea offered what sources say is a “staggering” salary to the 26-year-old.

But the timing of the possible move has yet to be decided and Falcao could stay in Spain until the end of the season rather than move next month.

Harry Redknapp has insisted QPR must do their transfer dealings as early as possible in January.

The 64-year-old has a reputation for moving late in transfer windows, after bringing several players to Tottenham at the last minute – including Rafael van der Vaart and Niko Kranjcar – in the past.

Redknapp joked that he expects Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to be in touch regarding late deals, but has said he will not be drawn into discussions with the White Hart Lane supremo.

He told reporters: “Daniel will still no doubt be ringing up on deadline day offering me a three-for-one deal on players he cannot give away, but we will not be waiting until that late hour.

“We are going to have to do our stuff before then. We really need to be doing our business right at the start of January.

“We can’t wait. The chairman is going to have to bite the bullet and get on with what we have got to do. Otherwise we will be waiting for something that might never happen.”

The former Portsmouth boss dismissed claims that he will look to bring a raft of players into Loftus Road, but is targeting players with the right attitude to help QPR get out of the relegation zone.

The Hoops have been strongly linked with Nicolas Anelka, and Redknapp admitted his doubts over the Frenchman’s mentality, despite previously revealing his interest in a move for the striker.

“I don’t want to buy a lot of people,” he said. “It’s a lovely feeling being at a club where you do not need any players.”

“You’re looking for people with personality if you can find them. But there are a lot of good players who don’t have much personality.

“That’s the problem. Finding that balance is difficult. I can’t afford a Steven Gerrard or a Frank Lampard, someone with good personality, who trains hard, and plays every week. They wouldn’t come here.

“Is Anelka the right sort of character? What do you think? You are not going to get the full package, unless you are going to spend millions.

“We are not going to put the club in trouble. We have got to be clever and careful.”