Hughes still keen on Diarra

"He's obviously a player I like. He's a good player, but
he's still a Portsmouth one. Things may develop for him but the window isn't
open at this moment so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

>>telegraph.co.uk

There was a piece in today's Express that suggested whilst Diarra favours a move to Madrid, he is willing to listen to other offers, which could obviously sway things in our favour.

As coy as Hughes was being with his comments, it is clear that he would like to sign Diarra but like I have posted previously, I'd be surprised if he didn't end up at Madrid.

It has been an up and down week with all the speculation and stories surrounding Diarra, and will only escalate the further we head towards January.

Diarra set for Real deal

"We have always said we would only allow our players to
leave if we received an exceptional bid. We could not stand in the way of a move
such as this for Lassana."

>>telegraph.co.uk

I guess this will now show if our reported interest in Diarra is genuine or not, and if the believed bid from Real is around £20 million, it will test the resolve that we will not overpay for players.

I would be hugely surprised if he didn't sign for Real now Portsmouth have accepted an offer (especially given these comments), and if he does slip away from us does Hughes have a Plan B for this area?

Diarra move in the balance

Some up and down news today regarding the possible signing of Lassana Diarra, with mailonline suggesting Real have captured his signature (after being fairly confident in recent days he would end signing for us), only for Guillem Balague to later suggest we could trump Madrid both in terms of wages and transfer fee.

Later in the day though, this piece on sport.fr (translation required) suggests though that a move to Madrid could be finalised in the next 'forty-eight hours'.

No wonder Jack is all over the place on this one.

Closing in on Diarra?

Manchester City remain the favourites to sign Portsmouth's Lassana Diarra in the January transfer window, despite reports in Spain suggesting new Real Madrid coach Juande Ramos is preparing a rival offer for the 23-year-old.

>>guardian.co.uk

Reports have surfaced since Juande Ramos took over at Real Madrid that he would also be looking to add Diarra in January, but it does appear we still hold the upper hand and given Portsmouth's financial situation, a rumoured bid of around £20 million would more than likely land him.

Interestingly, it does appear that Diarra may have a 'get out' clause in his contract - most likely as the result of a minimum bid, if his comments are correct:

'I was able to add a clause to my contract, so if I shine here, and if a big club wants me, I already know that everything will go well. I don't want any more battles.'

Transfer rumour round-up 12/09/2008

There's been a fair few rumours around the past day or so - inevitable I guess as our very own advent calendar counts it way down to the arrival of shiny new gifts in the form of new players come the opening of the January transfer window.

David Villa was the big rumour of course, with cash strapped Valencia reportedly looking to cash in on him either in January or the summer and Valencia know that any number of clubs are ready to beat a path to their door to secure his signature. What I'm sure Valencia do know of course is that any bid by ourselves is easily able to blow the competition out of the water. Clearly he is a player with undoubted pedigree and has all of the tools to be a fantastic success with us. Previously though, he has shown no sign of favouring a move to the Premier League (even when rumours of Arsenal and Chelsea's interest were high), instead preferring to orchestrate a move to either Barcelona or Real.

Both of those sides though do look well served in attack though, so it really could open up the door for ourselves if indeed he is available. He would unquestionably be a fantastic signing, and if we were to land just one player in January, for me, this would the one.

Antonio di Natale was linked yesterday, with reports that his agent was in London conducting talks with the City hierarchy. A bit out of the blue this one as nowhere has he been linked to us previously He is very much an underrated player, who has forced himself into the Italy side ahead of some more established and glamorous names with consistent performances both domestically and in Europe for Udinese over the past few seasons.

A surprise that he has been linked though given his profile at Udinese and earlier this season he was recognised by the region for his services to the community and does appear to be a long term fixture at the club.

My concern with him would be his size, and whether he could operate in the Premier League without a bigger, more established partner to take some of the load off him. Not forgetting also, is the worrying fact that the Premier League has overwhelmingly been a graveyard for Italian strikers and the ghosts of Corradi and Bianchi still loom large around Eastlands.

Meanwhile, in a Daily Mail article regarding the clubs 'concern' over the Michael Johnson's off-field lifestyle, it did also find time to state that it was certain that January would herald the arrival of both Roque Santa Cruz and Lassana Diarra, from Blackburn and Portsmouth respectively.

The interest around Diarra would have grown even moreso following the news that Portsmouth are officially up for sale and for me, would be a good addition alongside Kompany in midfield (or afford the possibility of moving Kompany back to defence). He is undoubtedly a good player, but given he has bolted on both Chelsea and Arsenal in his relatively short career, he wouldn't arrive without one or two warning signs.

Santa Cruz is a player that I initially thought would be a sound purchase, but in a struggling side this season has done little to prove the assertion he has been a one-season wonder, and that the player who struggled so at Bayern Munich is the real Santa Cruz as opposed to the player who lit up Ewood Park least season.