Hot in the heels of other long-running rumour sagas like that of Fernando Torres and Darren Bent we have the issue of Carlos Tevez. According to the News of the World, the only sides who have a chance of snaring the West Ham striker are Manchester United and Arsenal.

Whilst the Sunday Express claims Tevez is also wanted by Chelsea, Liverpool and the Hammers, whether he is wanted by these three clubs is something of an irrelevance. I am sure there are 100 clubs in Europe who would want him, so the Sunday Express are simply stating something painfully obvious. Expect much more on this until the Copa is completed. 7/10 United, 7/10 Arsenal, 9/10 leaving the Premiership.

The People are reporting that Tevez’s Argentinian and former West Ham team-mate Javier Mascherano has yet to sign a full-time deal with Liverpool and Manchester City are said to be sniffing around. I think The People may be off the mark with this one; I am sure it is only a matter of time before Mascherano is contracted by Rafa Benitez as Anfield is the place to be, especially given Torres’s imminent arrival. No offence to Man City - I am sure they will start to get some quality players in the coming weeks. 10/10 Mascerano to stay at Liverpool

'I expect Frank Lampard to still be shooting over the bar from all angles and distances at the Bridge next season'


On the subject of City becoming a force to be reckoned with following the takeover and installation of Sven as boss,  a number of world-class players are being linked with a move to the blue half of Manchester.

Firstly we have Nicolas Anelka (Sunday Mirror), who in his first spell notched up 46 goals in 101 starts between 2002 and 2005. He apparently may be keen for a move back to the City of Manchester stadium. Given City’s quality-striker shortage (any squad that lists Darius Vassell as its most prolific striker is sure to be in trouble), Anelka would be a perfect addition to the rebuilding process and I can see this deal holding water. 8/10

Next we have Middlesbrough’s Aiyegbeni Yakubu (Sunday Mirror), another proven Premiership striker whose consistency is highlighted by the fact he has scored a dozen-plus goals in each of the last four Premiership seasons - and that with two sides who haven’t exactly been on fire. Maybe Sven will secure a double swoop? 7/10 on Yakubu, 4/10 for both.

The News of the World has a trio of other possible City targets which vary on the scale of believability from possible to just plain ‘made-up’. We start with 33-year old Christian Vieri, who is about to be without a contract as Serie A side Atalanta look to drop him and his massive wage demands from their books. Vieri was reportedly on a bonus of 100,000 euros per goal; if this is true, then Atalanta were fortunate that the former Italian international only managed to strike twice last season. Vieri will not be at City next season, take my word for it. 0/10.

The NOTW follow this up with the claim that Michael Owen could be on his way to Eastlands - this again can be assigned to the trash-can of impossibility. The third rumour that they have decided to pedal is an altogether more likely affair. Nigel Reo-Coker, West Ham’s troublesome but gifted midfielder is said to be showing on the City radar. Given the right circumstances, this could well become a reality. 9/10

The bods at the NOTW have been busy, very busy. They also claim that Frank Lampard has turned down a record wage offer of £121,000 a week at Chelsea. If this is the case, then I just don’t know what has happened to the state of morality in football. If he wants to leave, then fine, but if he deems that amount of money to be beneath him, then I have nothing but disgust for the man. Still it could just be a figment of an overactive journalist's imagination! Which I think may well be the case as I expect Frank to still be shooting over the bar from all angles and distances at the Bridge next season. 9/10 Lamps still at Chelsea come August.

New Spurs striker Darren Bent is doing his level best to annoy as many sets of London-based supporters as possible. Firstly he pointed out that Thierry Henry had been let go far too cheaply (I think Arsenal fans are well aware of that fact and probably don’t need a Spurs player to make their misery worse). Now, according to BBC Sport, Bent has said he thinks Spurs are a bigger club than West Ham.

I won’t get drawn into which club I think is bigger, for two reasons. One, because I know that it will result in a huge amount of comment-deleting for my Sportingo colleagues and two, it is impossible to measure a club against another in terms of how ‘big’ they are. It's 10/10 Bent to be booed even more vigorously than his Spurs team-mates when they travel to the Emirates and Upton Park.