Ricardo Quaresma has become a fixture in the rumours department for what seems like an eternity. At first it seemed all the speculation had been created by his agent, who was working overtime to get his player to the Premier League. Now it appears that a potential deal is once again on the cards.

Porto are said to be ready to offload their star who has become a target of the boo-boys. Not surprisingly, they have taken offence at the 24-year-old’s loud and regular whining about how he cannot wait to leave Portugal for pastures new (Various)

Porto vice-president Fernando Povoas has remarked in a double-edged statement: "I know that he is happy at Porto. Regarding a possible transfer, we will decide together at the right time." The club are believed to be looking for in the region of £30m for the attacker. Liverpool, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid were all high on the list of potential suitors, but now Juande Ramos at Spurs wants to get involved.

‘... any attempt to bring Becks back to the UK is surely doomed to failure.’


Personally, having seen the former Barcelona man in action a few times in recent months it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about, and at that price he had better start winning back the local supporters because I think he is likely to see out his playing days at Porto!

Rumour has it – and let me reiterate that these rumours do not begin with me; I am merely passing them on – that Arsenal are keen on signing West Ham keeper Robert Green (Daily Express). Any move involving Green was expected to wait until the summer, but now it has been revealed that a swap deal could be in the offing.

A while back it seemed that Arsenal's Danish giant Nicklas Bendtner may be moving to Upton Park, be it on loan or possibly even permanently, perhaps involving an exchange for Green. But attention has now switched from Bendtner to his team-mate Theo Walcott, who may be offloaded as Arsene Wenger looks to try to secure the services of one of the best keepers in the Premier League.

This doesn’t seem likely to me – first off, Manuel Almunia has shown his boss that he is more than capable of being the starting keeper and they have a more than capable back-up in Lukasz Fabianski , so I don’t see there is much chance of bringing in such a big-name keeper as Green. Another back-up stopper is the more likely target. While it’s true that Walcott has been a bit of a mixed bag this season, he is still maturing and, at just 18, still has time on his side and will surely be a big star in the future, and therefore unlikely to be a candidate to leave the Emirates.

News has filtered through that Newcastle are planning to make an audacious bid for the services of David Beckham (The Mirror). I think that Mike Ashley might be getting a little carried away here – OK,  he pulled off a major coup in bringing Kevin Keegan back, but any attempt to bring Becks back to the UK is surely doomed to failure. One can only imagine how much such a deal would cost given how much LA Galaxy paid to take English football's pin-up boy to the States. Apart from anything else, would such an expense be worth it?

More down to earth – Keegan is ready to offer Man City’s Micah Richards £70,000 a week to join the latest KK revolution at St James’ Park (Daily Mail), but that deal surely will also never happen. Richards seems a loyal type and I fail to see any reason why he would move from Eastlands. Can anyone explain why that deal would ever make sense?