Football Rumours

With just four days left for the transfer window to close, many Premier League side are jostling with each other for last minute signings. The biggest transfer of the week involved mega-rich Manchester City. They signed Joeleon Lescott from Everton for a fee of around £22 million. To fill the defensive void left by Lescott, Everton have made a £3 million offer for Portsmouth center half Sylvain Distin. Manchester City have agreed a £6 million fee for Richard Dunne. Dunne will complete his move to Aston Villa on agreeing personal terms. Martin O’Neill hopes that Dunne would add experience to his young defense and fill the boots of Martin Laursen who retired at the end of last season.

Roy Keane has made bids for four of his former Sunderland players – Carlos Edwards, Grant Leadbitter, Nyron Nosworthy and Daryl Murphy. Edwards and Leadbitter have been given permission to talk with Sunderland and are close to agreeing personal terms. Meanwhile, Birmingham City are keen on Middlesbrough’s Sanli Tuncay. Birmingham hope to tie up a £ 5 million deal for the Turkish star but they face stiff competition from Villa, Cologne, Stuttgart and Fenerbache. Al-Sadd, the Qatari club, have made an increased offer for Afonso Alves, the forward who cost Middlesbrough a club-record £12 million last year while Bolton Wanderers’ £6.5 million offer for Achille Emana has been turned down by Real Betis. The Cameroon midfield player cost £5.5 million when he moved from French side Toulouse last summer.