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Latest News:
O'Leary eyes £6million Hendrie !
Leeds United have made a £6million move for Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie.
Elland Road boss David O'Leary has pinpointed the 23-year-old as the perfect midfield foil for new £7.2m signing Olivier Dacourt and has already made contact with Villa manager John Gregory over a proposed deal.
With £30m in his pocket ahead of his team's Champions League campaign next season, O'Leary is looking for extra depth in a central midfield that has already been deprived of the injured David Batty and may yet lose Lee Bowyer, who faces court proceedings in relation to an alleged street attack on a teenager in January.
Hendrie was last night flying home from Slovakia, where he has been playing in the European Under 21 Championships with England, and told Soccernet he would be going to see Gregory.
'I have always been happy at Villa and have not asked to leave but I heard that I might be on the list of players to go this summer,' he said. 'I need to sort this out as I'm confused.'
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Arsenal in for Panucci !
Arsenal have launched a £4million move for Italy defender Christian Panucci - and are also exploring the possibility of adding Brazilian striker Franca to the Highbury attack.
Panucci has publicly expressed his desire to leave Inter Milan and although former employers AC Milan have also shown an interest, Arsenal are still leading the chase.
The 27-year-old - a European Cup winner with AC Milan and Real Madrid - was in London this week, joining close friend and AC Milan star Alessandro Costacurta at Wednesday's match between England and Ukraine.
Arsenal have made three approaches to Inter, returning after an initial bid of £3m was rejected, and have now been given permission to discuss personal terms.
Panucci's massive wage demands - he earns £60,000 a week at the San Siro - will certainly test the north London club's resolve during a summer that has already seen hectic transfer activity.
The arrival of Panucci, able to play anywhere across the back but most comfortable at right back, would bolster the side's ageing defence.
However, manager Arsene Wenger is also seeking to strengthen his front line and he flew to Brazil this week to eye up Sao Paulo striker Franca, scorer of Brazil's goal in Saturday's 1-1 draw with England at Wembley.
Sources in Brazil say Sao Paulo expect Wenger to return with an official enquiry but add that the club will ask no less than £13m for the 24-year-old, who is undoubtedly the unrivalled star of their team.
Arsenal are also looking to add to their midfield, with Wenger resigned to losing Emmanuel Petit.
The unsettled French international, who said this week that he wanted to move to a 'dream club', is expected to leave Highbury if interest in Italy and Spain is converted into a reasonable offer.
Wenger has already preempted the loss by signing Cameroon international Lauren - a midfielder who is also comfortable in central defence - for £7m from Real Mallorca this week.
The Arsenal manager is also closing in on Lens midfielder Alexander Nyarko after meeting with the player's representatives in Strasbourg. A bid was due to arrive in Lens this week.
Personal terms have been agreed with Marseille's Robert Pires, leaving both clubs to finalise the £6.5m transfer first revealed in Soccernet.
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No Clear-Out !
Chelsea have insisted they were in no hurry to balance their books despite equalling the British transfer record by signing Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink for £15million.
The 28-year-old Holland striker's move from Atletico Madrid will be financed by the £40m BSkyB invested in the club in exchange for television negotiation rights three months ago and Chelsea's managing director Colin Hutchinson dismissed as premature talk of Tore Andre Flo or Chris Sutton having to be sold.
He told Soccernet: 'If Jimmy were our only signing this summer and we didn't sell anyone, there would be no problem financially.
'We've signed Hasselbaink because we have known for some time that we need a goalscorer. He fits the bill on that score. But his joining us doesn't change the situation as far as other players are concerned.
'If an offer comes in for a player who we can replace with someone better, then we'll look at that.
But at the moment we're not contemplating it. There are no plans to sell.'
While Hutchinson and manager Gianluca Vialli look to further signings to thrust Chelsea towards the Premiership title, they are aware that the Stamford Bridge funds are not bottomless.
The wage bill alone for Vialli's squad was put at £26.5m in last year's accounts. With Hasselbaink's arrival on around £45,000-a-week and George Weah's loan spell, that figure is expected to exceed £30m this year.
More worrying still for the Chelsea money men is that there will be no Champions League windfall next season to match the estimated £20m the club banked from their passage to the quarterfinals during the campaign just ended.
None of that worries Hasselbaink, who joins Alan Shearer as the most expensive player in the Premiership after scoring 24 times for Atletico, even though they were relegated from Spain's top flight.
'When I heard Chelsea were interested I was very pleased and hoped the deal would go through,' said Hasselbaink, who was omitted from Holland's Euro 2000 squad this week.
'I enjoyed my time in English football at Leeds and I know Chelsea are very ambitious. I had a lot of options but Chelsea seemed the best for me.'
Goal Chat
O'Neill set for Celtic ?
Argentine striker Gabriela Batistuta, now 31, will be paid a massive £4.75million-a-year when he joins AS Roma from Fiorentina.
Batistuta's salary - significantly above expectations - will make him Italy's best paid player by far and among the highest in the world.
Details of Batistuta's wages emerged on Friday when Roma announced they had finalised terms of his £22.4million transfer.
His nearest rivals in the salary stakes are Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero, who earns £2.5million a year and Christian Vieri of Inter Milan, on eight billion lire (.86 million).
Batistuta, who has a three-year contract with Roma, will return to Italy from Argentina for his official presentation by the club on Tuesday.
Batistuta, at Fiorentina for nine years, vowed earlier this week in Buenos Aires to repay Roma in goals. He was Fiorentina's greatest marksman, breaking the record of 1950s Swedish striker Kurt Hamrin.
He joined Fiorentina from Boca Juniors in 1991 for £1.5million and has said the Tuscan team would remain 'in my heart'.
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