Khedira Latest: Arsenal expert pours cold water on Emirates move

John Cross believes Arsenal are out of the running to sign Sami Khedira.

The German midfielder is apparently being frozen out at Real Madid, and that will lead to fresh speculation of a move to the Premier League.

The Gunners have been linked with the 27-year-old throughout the summer, but Cross, the Daily Mirror's Emirates expert, doens't see the move happening.

"It will be interesting to see if people go for him," he told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast. "I don’t think it will be Arsenal. They’ve got so many midfielders there.

"And you’ve got to look at the package he wants. It’s a huge amount of money, beyond the transfer fee, for a player who has had a lot of problems with injuries and any buying club has got to have a look at that.

"I don’t think he’ll be heading for Arsenal unless it’s a dramatically good deal.

"What are you buying there? He’s basically a defensive midfield player. And do you bring a defensive midfielder in as your top earner? You top earner is normally a striker or a top playmaker. You won’t find too many clubs where the top earner is a defensive midfielder."

Manchester City youngster set for Spanish loan move

Manchester City youngster Bruno Zuculini is set to join Deportivo La Coruna on loan, according to Marca.

The midfielder only joined City this summer, arriving at the Premier League champions from Argentine side Racing.

He made his competitive debut for City in their 3-0 Community Shield defeat to Arsenal last weekend, coming on as a second half substitute.

However, Manuel Pellegrini has reportedly decided the youngster should go out on loan this season to gain first-team experience.

Newly-promoted Deportivo appear to have won the race, ensuring that the Argentine will play in Spain’s top flight this season.

Fellow La Liga side, Valencia, were also interested but seem to have missed out.

Transfer Rumours and Paper Review - Friday, August 15

Here are the latest transfer tales from Friday's papers...

Liverpool are set to offer England winger Raheem Sterling, 19, four-times his current £30,000 a week to ward off interest from Real Madrid. (Daily Mirror)

Real Madrid, Paris St-Germain and Monaco are monitoring 32-year-old goalkeeper Petr Cech's situation at Chelsea if Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois, 22, takes over the number one slot at Stamford Bridge. (Daily Mail)

Burnley have thwarted Brighton's hopes of signing Republic of Ireland left-back Stephen Ward, 28, from Wolves after the club and player had agreed a deal. (Brighton Argus)

Barcelona have dropped out of the race to sign Fiorentina's Colombia winger Juan Cuadrado, 26, leaving Manchester United and Chelsea to fight it out. (Metro)

Wigan have rejected a £4m bid from Premier League new boys Burnley for midfielder James McCarthur, 26. (Daily Mail)

Manager Roberto Martinez has denied that Chelsea have first refusal on Everton's star 20-year-olds Ross Barkley and John Stones. (Daily Star)

Chelsea have opened talks with Roma for £30m-rated defender Mehdi Benatia, 27. (Daily Express)

Classic transfer: Liverpool sign veteran in surprise move

When Gary McAllister arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2000, few could have foreseen the impact the veteran Scot would have on Liverpool football club and it’s emerging generation of talent.

Like some Kopites expressing bemusement at the potential arrival of veteran striker Samuel Eto'o, manager Gerard Houllier left many scratching their heads following the arrival of McAllister 14 years ago.

However, if Eto'o, who will be 34 soon, were to have a similar influence on Merseyside should he join, then the decision to bring him in could prove to be a masterstroke.

McAllister was once regarded as one of the best midfielders in the Premier League, but by the time he pitched up at Liverpool he was 35 and his star was on the wane.

Out of contract, having enjoyed four years with Coventry, he was brought in to help nurture a teenage Steven Gerrard, while helping lessen the burden on midfield general Dietmar Hamann.

His importance to the side, though, was quickly noticed as he put in match-winning performances and scored crucial goals along the way.

Perhaps his biggest impact came towards the end of his debut season with the club, as McAllister's glorious injury-time free-kick sealed a 3-2 win against Everton at Goodison Park and in the same week he bagged the only goal of the UEFA Cup semi-final win against Barcelona.

Liverpool beat Alaves 5-4 in the final, which provided McAllister with arguably his finest moment of his short spell on Merseyside. He was directly involved in four of the goals, which included scoring from the penalty spot as the club went on to finish the season with a unique treble of the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup.

Exclusive - Irvine not happy with balance of West Brom squad as he eyes more signings

West Bromwich Albion boss Alan Irvine admits he is still not happy with the balance of his squad ahead of the opening weekend of the Premier League season.

The Baggies, who kick off their campaign against Sunderland at the Hawthorns on Saturday, have made eight signings over the summer, with £10m striker Brown Ideye among the new arrivals.

Irvine, though, is keen to take the number of additions into double figures, telling the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “We are still working on the balance. When I came in, the squad had no full-backs and no wide players, with the exception of Chris Brunt, who is not a natural winger but a wide midfield player, or someone who plays narrower.

“We are still working on the wide players and we would still like to bring in another striker if we could, but it is extremely difficult completing deals at the moment.”

Irvine, who replaced Pep Mel in the Baggies' hot-seat in June, is set to hand Ideye his debut against the Black Cats, despite knowing next to nothing about the player.

The Nigerian barely featured in pre-season after seeing his switch from Dynamo Kiev held up by red tape, and Irvine freely admits he had little say in the 25-year-old’s arrival.

“I’m somebody who would always like to watch players before they come in, but we have a different system here,” he said.

“My title is head coach, not manager, so that is more of a foreign approach. I am perfectly comfortable with that system. It doesn't mean I'm not involved in the decisions on whether we sign players or whether we let players go, but it is not the same involvement you might have if you were the manager.”

Transfer rumours and paper review – Thursday, August 14

Here's the top transfer-related stories in Thursday's newspapers...

Hull are ready to make a record-busting move for Manchester United’s England World Cup striker Danny Welbeck. Steve Bruce will have to pay around £14million for Welbeck, who has been told his chances of first-team action will be limited under new boss Louis van Gaal. (Daily Mirror)

Louis van Gaal could turn to Atletico Madrid's Turkish winger Arda Turan if he cannot land Angel Di Maria. (Daily Mirror)

Atletico Madrid have opened talks with Chelsea over a potential deal for German World Cup winner Andre Schurrle. (Daily Mail)

Arsenal are still hoping to sign Paris Saint-Germain striker Edinson Cavani this summer despite the player suggesting that he will stay put. (Metro)

Arsene Wenger is considering a shock move to land former QPR midfielder Stephane Mbia on a free. (Daily Star)

Aston Villa have joined the list of clubs wanting to take Arsenal prospect Serge Gnabry on loan. The Villans' boss Paul Lambert is keen, along with Southampton, Newcastle, Crystal Palace and Sunderland to sign the Gunners' 19-year-old wide-man. (Daily Mirror)

Morgan Schneiderlin is claiming he has a gentleman’s agreement with Southampton that will force through his move to Tottenham. (Daily Mail)

Jack Cork is poised to become the eighth player to leave Southampton this summer as he closes on a move to Crystal Palace. (Daily Mail)

Crystal Palace boss Tony Pulis is trying to persuade former club Stoke to sell him Steven N'Zonzi. (Daily Mirror)

Moroccan midfielder Mbark Boussoufa could be on his way to Queens Park Rangers. Boussoufa, 29, is hoping to get a free transfer from Lokomotiv Moscow, which could enable him to join QPR. (Daily Mirror)

Allardyce targets two more attacking signings for West Ham

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has told supporters he still hopes to sign an attacking midfielder and another striker before the transfer window closes at the end of August.

Allardyce was speaking at a fans' forum at the Circus Tavern on Tuesday night and revealed that he is still hoping to bring in two more signings to give his side more quality in front of goal.

He has already been busy in the market this summer signing Mauro Zarate, Cheikhou Kouyate, Diego Poyet, Aaron Cresswell, Carl Jenkinson and Enner Valencia.

With club record signing Andy Carroll ruled out for four months with ankle ligament damage, the Hammers boss is determined to sign another forward and made an unsuccessful £4m bid to sign Connor Wickham from Sunderland.

Former West Brom midfielder Morgan Amalfitano has also been strongly linked with a move to Upton Park and as talkSPORT told you on Tuesday, that deal could be finalised in the next 24 hours.

West Ham transfer blow! Allardyce misses out on another striker

West Ham's move for Metz striker Diafra Sakho is off, according to reports in France.

The 24-year-old had looked set to complete a move to West Ham this week, having undergone a medical with the club over the weekend.

However, according to L'Equipe, the deal is now dead in the water and Sakho has returned to France.

West Ham thought they had agreed a £3.5m fee for the striker, who was the top scorer in Ligue 2 last season, but Metz have apparently changed their demands to a loan-to-buy deal with an option to purchase the player outright next summer.

The news will come as a blow to manager Sam Allardyce, who is on the lookout for attacking reinforcements following Andy Carroll's four-month long ankle injury.

Sporting vow to take action against Rojo as defender attempts to force Man United move

Manchester United target Marcos Rojo is facing disciplinary action from Sporting Lisbon for his ‘unprofessional’ attempts to seal a move away from the club.

The Argentina full-back, understood to be the subject of a £16million United bid, has refused to train with Sporting and handed in a transfer request as he looks to force a summer exit.

The Portuguese club’s president has warned the player and his fellow wantaway teammate Islam Slimani, however, that he will not bow to player pressure and has vowed to take action against both.

Announcing Rojo and Slimani will not play in the club's league opener against Academica on Saturday, a bullish De Carvalho said: "This will take as long as it takes. If something doesn't change, you're going to end up with the players seeing out their contracts.

"They can watch the game on television. On Saturday, against Academica, we will play to win and we will win.

"There is no player bigger than the club. I would not give up the honour, the club's history, for the attitudes of anyone.

"I give a piece of advice: don't use the press, be professional,” he added, in an interview with Sporting TV.

“These two, in defence of our magnificent group, must be removed. They are subject to strong disciplinary measures. Both players have taken decisions that have caused sharp indiscipline at Sporting.

"A message: any player who does not follow the rules of the club can have illusions and pretensions, but with the way these two did things, the situation is just complicated."

Former Liverpool boss targeting swoop for Anfield star?

Napoli boss Rafa Benitez is still hopeful of raiding a Premier League side for a defensive midfielder.

The former Liverpool boss has been linked with a move for Anfield star Lucas Leiva – having purchased the Brazilian during his time on Merseyside – with Tottenham man Sandro and Manchester United misfit Marouane Fellaini also reported targets.

So far Benitez has been constantly rebuffed but, after failing to complete a permanent move for Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who joined Bayern Munich, he is now fully focussed on capturing an anchor man and defensive shield.

“There are a lot of names on the list, but we are where we are and I, as the coach, have to think about preparing his team,” he said.

“We have tried to do something until the end but we haven’t had time. We will continue to work in the next days.”