Chelsea are still trying to flog Sam Dalla Bona and, according to Planet Football, a tasty swap with Internazionale could be in the offing. The website believes Claudio Ranieri wants Spanish international midfielder Francisco Javier Farinos and that Hector Cuper could be ready to offload his former Valencia charge in order to snap up the highly-coveted Italian.
Fulham have had a £7m offer for Lyon striker Steve Marlet turned down. The 23-year-old has replaced Nicolas Anelka in the French international squad today and Lyon are reluctant to let him go. "I spoke to Jean Tigana on the phone on Monday morning and he made a large offer," said Lyon's director of sport Bernard Lacombe. "We simply can't afford to let him go so close to the start of our Champions League campaign."
Bolton Wanderers will sign defender Sylvain Distin from Paris St-Germain this week for £4m, according to Midas Soccer. Sam Allardyce, obviously looking to attract the talent while Wanderers are sitting in a Champions League spot, has revived the deal which fell apart only last week.
Newcastle are being linked with a move for yet another obscure South American - midfielder Leandro Romagnoli of San Lorenzo. Planet Football believe the club's president is on his way to Tyneside to discuss a transfer for the 20-year-old. But maybe he's just going on holiday.
Yesterday, the Sun reported Sir Alex Ferguson saying: "The defence is a concern - there is a sluggishness about us." Today they helpfully suggest a couple of names to the knight of the realm. They include Auxerre youngster Philip Mexes and Jaap Stam play-a-like Kevin Hofland of PSV Eindhoven. The paper believes stalled moves for the pair, and long-time target Bixente Lizarazu, may be rekindled soon.
Portsmouth will sign Mark Burchill from Celtic this week, according to the Sun. The former striking prodigy has been linked with a few Nationwide sides this summer, but a Pompey spokesman said: "We are very hopeful the deal will be completed shortly."
Steve Bruce wants to sign Dean Saunders after a trial at Crystal Palace. "Dean has been a quality player for many years," he said. "He has gone home now to get himself in shape."
Despite the attentions of Rangers, West Ham are still in the hunt for Don Hutchison and, according to the Daily Express, are willing to offer Trevor Sinclair as bait. Sunderland are loathe to let their player of the year leave Wearside, but Sinclair is believed to want out of Upton Park and Glenn Roeder will let him leave if he can get Hutch, and the added bonus of £2m.
Ipswich are expected to complete the loan signing of 22-year-old Argentine midfielder Sixto Peralta later today, according to the Daily Mail. Peralta is an Internazionale player, but like a lot of youngsters, has been unable to break into the first team at the San Siro.
