Wednesday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

CITY BOLLOX
Liverpool Keen On £22m England Trio
Rafa Considers Audacious Move for Manchester City’s Onuoha, Richards & Johnson
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is considering moves for three Manchester City players who do not appear to be part of Roberto Mancini’s long term plans. The Anfield manager is working hard to bring in new additions on a shoestring budget and has already snapped up Jonjo Shelvey and Milan Jovanovic for next to nothing and now appears ready to tempt stars Nedum Onuoha, Micah Richards and Michael Johnson.
Benitez is keen to add more ‘homegrown’ players into his squad ahead of the new regulations set to be enforced by the Premier League next season and has therefore earmarked moves for these three Englishman who have all represented their countries at various levels, with defender Richards being the only one of the trio to have earnt full international honours.
The Spaniard has been linked with moves for Michael Johnson for some time now but could consider this summer to be the right time to nab a player has had a string of problems both and off the field over the past two seasons during which time he has managed just three Premier League starts.
Micah Richards has been fighting for a regular first team spot for some time now and has been linked with moves away from the club with both Tottenham and Aston Villa reportedly expressing an interest in the player who was a regular in the England set-up when Steve McClaren was at the helm. Nedum Onuoha was a player that Mark Hughes rated highly and the Nigerian born former England Under 21 international put pen to paper on a five year contract last summer but since found himself out of the first team reckoning when Mancini arrived, consigning the defender to just five starts last term.
Whilst Liverpool may not be able to afford moves for all three of the players seemingly deemed ’surplus to requirements’ at the City of Manchester Stadium, Rafa will apparently look to pounce for this £22m rated trio this summer, dependent on how much money he can make from offloading some of his squad players.

Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry, who has an ankle ligament problem, has told England manager Fabio Capello he will be fit for the second game of the World Cup against Algeria on 18 June.Daily Mail

Spurs line up Micah move
MICAH RICHARDS could make a £9million summer switch to Spurs.
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has been assessing Richards' situation at Manchester City and knows that the defender would be interested in a move.
Richards missed out on Fabio Capello's provisional World Cup 30 after an indifferent couple of seasons but believes he has got his focus properly back now.
At 21, a more mature Richards is determined to push his way into the international fold again next season and build on the 11 caps he won as an exciting teenager.
Although Richards has played both centre-back and right-back, Redknapp sees him first and foremost as an attacking full-back who can take over from Croatia's Vedran Corluka.
But before Tottenham can bid for Richards they have to raise money by making sales.
Scottish international full-back Alan Hutton, who has flopped at White Hart Lane, could be one of the first players to go.
He spent part of last season on loan at Sunderland and the Black Cats are keen to take him on full-time.
Jermaine Jenas and Robbie Keane, who has been on loan at Celtic, could also bring in cash.

WAG OF THE DAY
http://www.football.virginmedia.com/pag ... ?imageNo=1

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Manchester United are targeting a £20m swoop for Real Madrid's 27-year-old Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart.Daily Mirror

Prospective new Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, who is currently boss of Inter Milan, has told the Spanish giants to launch a £50m double bid for Chelsea stars Michael Essien and Ashley Cole. Daily Express

Valencia's Serbian striker Nikola Zigic - at 6ft 8in set to be the tallest player at the World Cup - flew in to Birmingham on Tuesday to complete a £6m move to the St Andrew's club. Daily Mail

Everton have slapped a £15m price tag on contract rebel Steven Pienaar, who has been linked to Tottenham. Daily Mirror

Bolton boss Owen Coyle says he will not stand in defender Gary Cahill's way if the 24-year-old wants to leave the Reebok Stadium - although he does mention a £30m asking price. The Sun

Aston Villa striker John Carew could be on his way to Serie A, with both Fiorentina and Sampdoria showing an interest. Villa could use the funds to splash out on Tottenham's Robbie Keane or Fulham's Bobby Zamora as a replacement for the Norwegian. Daily Mirror

Tottenham are set to make a £7m move for out-of-favour Aston Villa central defender Curtis Davies. Daily Mail

They face competition from Liverpool, though, who are eyeing a £5m move for the 25-year-old.The Sun

Arsenal are ready to turn to Fulham's Mark Schwarzer, 37, in a bid to solve their goalkeeping crisis. Daily Mirror

Aston Villa are lining up a £2m bid for Cardiff's 18-year-old right-back Adam Matthews as a replacement for Luke Young, who is set to join West Ham for £4m.The Sun

Sunderland have made a £2.7m offer to Estudiantes for Argentine right-back Marcos Angeleri - a shock omission from Diego Maradona's World Cup squad. Daily Mirror

Lokomotiv Moscow will resume their chase of Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, and are prepared to offer Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie in part-exchange.
Full story: Daily Mail

Blackpool must pay £1m to Leicester if they want to sign play-off hero striker DJ Campbell. Daily Mail

Manchester United are considering an £18m bid for Barcelona's out-of-favour midfielder Yaya Toure. Caught Offside

Ross County are leading the chase for former Kilmarnock defender Ryan O'Leary, 22, who is out of contract.
(Daily Record)

OTHER BOLLOX
Actually, England are going to wait until the last possible moment in order for Barry to prove his fitness ahead of Tuesday's squad deadline. The Independent

West Ham have sacked assistant coach Steve Clarke, paving the way for Avram Grant to be appointed the club's new manager. The Sun

Israeli Grant, who quit Portsmouth last week, will be named as the new Hammers boss next week.Daily Mail

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres - through his agent Jose Antonio Peton - says he will still be at Anfield next season. The Sun

Manchester United's Mexican new boy Javier Hernandez, 21, is still waiting for a work permit before rubber-stamping his £7m move to Old Trafford. The Sun

Former Reading manager Brendan Rodgers and Notts County boss Steve Cotterill are on Portsmouth's shortlist to replace Avram Grant, who left the cash-strapped Championship club last week.The Times

England striker Wayne Rooney says he will not stop his wife Coleen and son Kai going to the World Cup, despite coach Fabio Capello banning wives and girlfriends around the squad at this summer's finals. "I've said many times I'm not stopping them," said Rooney. "They're England fans as well." Daily Mirror

[john@staustell]

It's terrifying that Rafa is planning to raid our reserves bench, Whatever will we do? Shock, horror!

[ant london]

West Ham have sacked assistant coach Steve Clarke

I'd be very happy if we went in for Clarke. We can afford him and he could focus on the first team and allow Kiddo to be more directed towards the younger lads and the youth set-up liaison (where I believe his strengths historically have been proven).

Although maybe Clarke with reunite with the Special One at Real

[btajim]

West Ham have sacked assistant coach Steve Clarke

I'd be very happy if we went in for Clarke. We can afford him and he could focus on the first team and allow Kiddo to be more directed towards the younger lads and the youth set-up liaison (where I believe his strengths historically have been proven).

Although maybe Clarke with reunite with the Special One at Real

That's surprised me. Zola took Clarke to West Ham with him but Clarke didn't leave when Zola did. I thought this would pave the way for Grant to reunite with Clarke as they worked together at Chelsea.