Following his unsuccessful attempt to move from Manchester United to Liverpool, Gabriel Heinze now needs to work out what he will do next - and to that end we have a few rumours.

West Ham want to give Gabby a way out of the nightmare and will offer him a move to Upton Park (The Sun).
After losing his attempt to force Sir Alex to allow him to move to Anfield, Heinze said: "I am not anti-United but I have to consider that my stay at United is finished" (Daily Mirror). I think we can all agree that it seems very unlikely the 29-year old full-back will ever wear a United top on a football field again.

West Ham would probably be fine with Sir Alex as he will not see them as contenders to this side's Premier League crown and Rafa’s loss could be Curbishley’s gain. I think he could do well and at least his purchase will mean that the club shop won’t have to bin their half-and-half West Ham/Argentina scarves!

'I think Heinze could do well at Upton Park 'and at least his purchase will mean that the club shop won’t have to bin their half-and-half West Ham/Argentina scarves!'


Liverpool have come in for an attack from Sir Bobby Robson regarding Jamie Carragher’s decision not to put himself forward for England selection. The former national team boss stated: "If I was Liverpool manager I'd take him aside and say: 'Jamie, come on now, we need you for England. Go and play for your country'. There's no stimulus coming out of Liverpool to motivate him to play for his country. Rafa Benitez doesn't give a monkey's."

All I have to say to that is with Steve McClaren in charge of the side, I almost don’t give a monkey's myself.

Some astounding news, which on deeper examination turns out to be very much less exciting. But, hey, why don’t you decide on the Daily Star's claim that '£40million Kaka drops Arsenal hint'? Apparently the Brazilian, regarded by many as the best player on the planet right now, is a big fan of the Gunners and has been quoted as saying: “I’d only ever join Arsenal in England. I love the way Arsenal play football. If I were to come to England I would like to play for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger because of their style of football.”

Does Mr Hill-Wood have that kind of cash? That's doubtful, but something worth keeping in the memory banks, especially if the flair-ridden attacking midfielder finds himself at Chelsea in years to come. Then he can be reminded of his promise!

Portsmouth long-range goalscoring expert Matt Taylor is apparently nearing a Spurs move (Daily Telegraph). It is said that the valuation, somewhere between £4m and £5m, is being discussed between the two clubs. I am sure Tottenham fans have talked for hours in pubs and on away-trip train journeys about the age old ‘left-sided’ problems currently being suffered by their side. Would Taylor solve these problems? I think he could do; he is a consistent performer and apparently his whole family are Spurs mad, so that might give him an extra incentive to perform to his full potential.

Staying at White Hart Lane, Villarreal are considering an offer regarding their world-class midfielder Juan Riquelme. The Argentinian's representative Marcos Franchi confirmed that Tottenham had made an approach for his client, reportedly at around £10m. "We know that Villarreal has received a very important offer from Tottenham and that the president Fernando Roig is analysing it," Franchi said (The Times). Will it really happen? And will it happen before the end of the month? Touch and go on that one.

Not exactly the most popular potential signing, as I found out following yesterday’s column, Bolton's El Hadji Diouf is being linked with a move to West Ham after their boss saw him score for Senegal against Ghana at the New Den (tribalfootball.com). Steve Bruce and Harry Redknapp were also in attendance so maybe their Birmingham and Portsmouth sides will be looking to the former Liverpool man as a last-minute signing with the transfer window nearing its close.

My thoughts regarding striker Diouf were made clear yesterday; any move to secure the 26-year-old's signature would be a big mistake in my view. His only notable achievement to date, if you discount those multiple spitting offences, was his performance in the World Cup way back in 2002 - and he has been living off the back of that for way too long now.

Talking on living off a reputation, Manchester City are being linked with a sensational move for Inter Milan attacking midfielder Alvaro Recoba (various). The Uruguayan international has for many years been more famous for his pay cheque than his dead-ball prowess and it seems he is now ready to find another side to foot his huge wage bill.

Sven is said to be monitoring the situation with great interest regarding Recoba, a player who has never fully fulfilled his potential, I would advise him to make better use of his budget and steer well clear of this show-pony as he really doesn’t fit the requisite attributes currently in play at Eastlands, where passion and determination feature far higher than failed backheels and an umpteenth skied free-kick.

Talking of Manchester City, Derby boss Billy Davies is moving for striker Darius Vassell (The Sun). Apparently £1m is the asking fee, which is just about the right sum, I reckon. It would work out neatly as a million pounds per goal... that's if Darius has his scoring boots on!