Transfer Talk: Valencia to Auction Villa, Ranieri Wants Lampard Reunion

By: Daryl | December 11th, 2007

David Villa wanted by Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs There are about 14 shopping days til Christmas and we’re all going to experience some level of stress because of it. But your sympathies please for European football managers. Once their Christmas shopping is out of the way (and what are the odds on Mrs. Wenger getting something cheap and foreign but valuable in the long term?) these managers have some even bigger shopping to worry about. The transfer window swings wide open on January 1st and slams shuts just as dramatically on January 31st. So let the idle rumours begin…

Valencia could find themselves auctioning off David Villa between Chelsea, Man Utd and Tottenham. Bidding starts at £25 million.

Real Madrid have had their beady eyed scouts watching Strasbourg centre back Habib Bellaïd recently. They may as well send Bellaïd a Bernabéu bench sample so he can test it for comfort.

Wolves young winger Michael Kightly is being linked with a where-did-this-come-from? move to Italy with Torino.

Juventus bossman Claudio Ranieri is apparently interested in signing renowned author and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard Jnr for a second time.

Newcastle and Sunderland will fight each other to the death for Manchester United’s Wes Brown. If Wesley has got any sense he’ll steer clear of the centre-back’s graveyard that is St. James’s Park.

Sven Goran Eriksson still wants a new striker but can’t decide between Inter Milan’s troubled Brazilian Adriano (who still has a world of talent,) occasional Liverpool and England striker Peter Crouch and injury magnet Michael Owen. Even if these three remain respectively overweight, underweight and best friends with the physio, each would still score more than Darius Vassell this season.

Willy Sagnol has fallen out with the management at Bayern Munich and wants to run away from his problems by signing for AC Milan.

Derby County and Sheffield United are both after Bolton’s 38 year old Welsh legend Gary Speed. I hope he chooses Derby, because I literally can’t imagine the Premier League without Gary Speed.

Real Zaragoza will make Ricardo Oliveira’s Spanish vacation from AC Milan permanent in January by coughing up the required £7 million.