In other news, recently promoted club Hercules are exploring the possibility of signing Marton Fulop from Sunderland. The Hungarian impressed in his brief stint at Manchester City last season and a host of clubs are vying for his sign. Premiership newcomers Blackpool have approached Valencia with a loan-move for their midfielder Sunny.

Deals within the top division have been few and far between. Atletico Madrid though recently signed Brazilian full-back Filipe from Deportivo la Coruna. The fee was touted to be around 13.5million euros (£11.3m). The player put pen to paper on a four-year deal.

Meanwhile, Sevilla’s bid for Juan Valero has been rejected by West Brom. WBA would need Valero’s expertise as they gear themselves to battle it out in the Premier League. Champions Barcelona have been busy in the off-season as well. Both Xavi and Pedro have agreed new contracts at the club while the club’s directors are pushing for Cesc to sign for the Catalans before the World Cup gets over. Real Madrid, on the other hand, are beginning their life under Mourinho. Higuain has signed a new contract with the club while Real are pushing for the signature of Lazio’s Kolarov.

Tottenham have beaten West Ham to the signature of former Chelsea midfielder Eidur Gudjohnsen. The Icelandic international was to join Upton Park from Spanish giants Barcelona but Tottenham came in at the last moment and stole a march on their London rivals. With the arrival of Gudjohnsen, the door may have closed on Roman Pavlyuchenko. Birmingham have opened talks to take the Russian international away from White Hart Lane. If you want to know the best odds on the market visit Partybets.com

We move to Scotland now where Pedro Mendes’ transfer to Sporting Lisbon seems to be in jeopardy due to his £25,000-per-week wage demand. Cross town rivals Celtic have expressed interest to sign Jeffren Suarez from Barcelona. They face stiff competition from Everton, Blackburn and Sevilla for his signature.

Liverpool are also targeting Sampdoria midfielder Konan Vladimir, who is currently on loan at Bari while Arsene Wenger is very keen on Mexican teenager Martin Luis Galvan. Manchester City have proclaimed that they won’t be spending big in January. But they are fiercely pursuing the signature of Yaya Toure. With Kolo already captaining City, it would be enticing for Yaya to join his elder brother. City are also keeping tabs on the Brazilian pair of Ramirez and Maicon. On the other hand, Juventus are keen on taking Pablo Zabaleta to Turin, but it would be unlikely for City to sell their priced asset.

Turning attention to lower leagues in England now, Watford are pushing hard to extend the loan deals of Tom Cleverley and Henri Lansbury, who are on loan from Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. But Ipswich boss Roy Keane has seen his bid to sign Danny Higginbotham and Leon Court on loan till January rejected by Stoke City.

And finally in some international news, Argentina coach Diego Maradona has tipped Benfica striker Angel di Maria to be the next worldwide superstar. Needless to say, Chelsea are tracking his progress with the Portugese outfit.

Back in Spain, Borja Valero is close to joining Mallorca on a one-year loan deal from WBA and as mentioned before Sevilla have signed Alvaro Negredo under the noses of Hull City. We head to France where St. Etienne have signed Werder Bremen striker Boubacar Sanogo for an undisclosed fee while Le Mans central midfielder Mathieu Coutadeur has revealed that he wishes to join Ligue 1 rivals Monaco. Reports in France also suggest that PSG migh move for Valencia striker Miguel Angel Angulo and Olympique de Marseille attacker Mathieu Valbuena.

We’ll be back with more last minute deals next week !

In Spain, Real Zaragoza have signed Colombian midfielder Abel Aguilar and goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo on a year-long loan deal. Napoli have also completed the signing of goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis from Sevilla. Meanwhile, the biggest news coming out of Spain is that Inter Milan and Barcelona have reached an agreement over the swap deal of Eto’o and Ibrahimovic. Barcelona are also close to completing the signing of Palmerias youngster Kerrison. But he will be immediately loaned out to either Ajax or Porto to gain valuable first team experience. Real Madrid have used their buy back clause to re-sign Esteban Granero from Getafe. And finally, Espanyol right-back Steve Finnan could make a return to the Premier League. Wolves, Stoke and Sunderland are all vying for his signature

Coming back to some not so larger than life transfers. Aston Villa look to Tom Huddlestone as Gareth Barry’s replacement. Nigel Reo-Coker will be offered to Tottenham as part of an exchange deal. Andrea Pirlo has welcomed a move to Chelsea. He was quoted as saying – “Perhaps it’s possible that I could join (Blues boss Carlo) Ancelotti. Maybe it’s time for a new chapter in my career.” Bayern Munich seem to have won their battle to sign Jose Bosingwa from English Cup champions Chelsea. Thomas Vermaelen is set to seal a 10 million pound switch to Arsenal. And finally in a deal that would get tongues wagging, Manchester United are poised to make an approach for Arsenal forward Robin van Persie. van Persie has been frustrated with the lack of trophies at Arsenal and fancies United as a good career move.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been in Madrid discussing a potential deal with Real’s sporting director Miguel Pardeza. Pardeza is in charge of the likely Real mass exodus this summer.

Former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben found some good form at the end of last season for Real, but with Real signing world class players from around the globe, the flying Dutchman could be about to depart the Bernabeu.

Compatriot Jan Klaas-Huntelaar had a slow start to his Real career, but also captured his best form scoring eight goals in twenty games, of which he started only thirteen games, yet with president Florentino Perez new policy of signing Galacticos the ex-Ajax striker is likely to be deemed surplus to requirements.

Ex-Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze is the third player who is believed to be involved in the deal, however the 31-year old also has other options with Paris St Germain his former club ready to snap him up.