Manchester Uniteed: Tranfer Gossip

Eurosport added:

Despite his side marching back towards the top of the Premier League, he is still looking to strengthen his squad and, according to The Sun, he has turned his attentions towards Wigan Athletic midfielder Wilson Palacios.

Not satisfied with a pool of midfield talent that features Michael Carrick, Anderson, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, recent signing Zoran Tosic and - lest we forget - Owen Hargreaves, Fergie is ready to splash out £14 million on the 22-year-old Honduran.

That could set up yet another transfer tussle with Tottenham Hotspur, who had a £10m bid for Palacios turned down on Wednesday.

Wigan owner Dave Whelan turned that bid down, but The Mirror claims that Spurs will return with a £14m bid of their own.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce reacted with a sigh of resignation to Tottenham's original offer, saying: "How do you deny the player a move? It is a life-changing deal. It's going to be tough to keep him.

"I know we are already talking telephone numbers. When you go for that sort of fee, the contract will be big too."

Instead of referencing late-Nineties quiz shows fronted by Phillip Schofield and Emma Forbes, Bruce should be thinking about how he would spend that cash.

There is no doubting the Honduran's quality, but for the money being discussed Bruce could fund the permanent capture of Amr Zaki and offer the Egyptian's strike partner Emile Heskey a new deal that could keep him at the club - that is if Whelan doesn't gobble it up to compensate for the losses that JJB Sports are predicted to make this year.

Alternatively, he could make a bid for Fulham's Jimmy Bullard now that Lancashire neighbours Bolton have withdrawn their interest, following the rejection of their £5m bid. Even if Palacios leaves, the Latics will still have Lee Cattermole and Michael Brown at their disposal to do all the rough stuff in the centre of the park while Bullard pulls the strings.

Liverpool's own hardman, Daniel Agger - a defender so solid he played on after knocking out one of his own teeth by kneeing himself in the face against Bolton in November - could be on his way to Milan, according to The Guardian.

The Dane's agent has been in talks with the Rossoneri's sporting director to discuss an £8.5m move this month, though a move in the summer appears more likely - either through a £7m release clause that kicks in at the end of the season or by the 24-year-old using the Webster Ruling to buy out the last year of his Anfield deal.

It seems that Paul Ince was turfed out of Blackburn in such a hurry that he only had time to stuff a potted plant and a framed photo of the wife and kids into a cardboard box before being shown the door; because new Rovers boss Sam Allardyce has waltzed in, seen a Post-it note with 'Buy Red Bull Salzburg's 6' 5" striker Marc Janko ' scribbled on it, and has decided to do just that.

Janko has scored a frankly obscene 30 goals in 17 Austrian Bundesliga appearances this season, and fits the bill to replace Roque Santa Cruz, should the striker make the move to Manchester City.

The Times reckon that Rovers are holding out for a monster £25m before they are ready to lose the Paraguayan's aerial prowess and enviable cheekbones.
Portsmouth boss Tony Adams is looking to take Real Madrid striker Javier Saviola on loan for the rest of the season, as long as the Argentinian isn't used as a makeweight in a deal to bring Wigan's Antonio Valencia to the Bernabeu.

Djibril Cisse has told Marseille he wants to make his loan move at Sunderland a permanent one, even though l'OM want to take him back in the summer.

The French striker, who is single-handedly putting his hair stylist's kids through college, told the Daily Star: "I can understand why they would try to take me back, but no, to be honest, I want to stay here. For the moment, I'm good here.

"I have scored nine goals and my target was 15, which is still possible. If I'm offered a contract at the end of the season, why change?"

Elsewhere, Ivory Coast international Arthur Boka has rejected interest from Spurs in favour of a new deal at Stuttgart, Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia insists that Dean Whitehead won't be joining Hull City and Lauren is set to snub interest from Bolton and Blackburn to stay at

Portsmouth.Tony Mabert / Eurosport