UPDATE: According to Francisco Acedo at Sky Sports News, Birmingham have agreed to a deal with Sporting Gijon for Michel. The deal is thought to be worth £2.9million and Sporting Gijon will receive 10% of Michel’s transfer fee if he is sold in the future.

January 5th, 2010 According to Colin Tattum at the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham will find out today if they have a deal for Sporting Gijon midfielder Michel. The club already has arranged for Michel to take a physical tomorrow if the two clubs come to an agreement.

According to Marc Iles at The Bolton News, Bolton striker Danny Ward has extended his loan deal with Swindown Town until February 3rd, 2010.

According to Martin Lipton at MirrorFootball, Chelsea are tracking Palermo defender Simon Kjaer and midfielder Javier Pastore. Palermo are reluctant to sell any of their stars but a sale and loan back deal is a possibility.

According to Sky Sports News, Birmingham have decided against signing MFK Kosice striker Jan Novak, who spent time training with the club last month.

According to Matthew Kendrick at the Birmingham Mail, Aston Villa are keeping tabs on Glasgow Rangers striker Kris Boyd. Boyd’s current deal with the club is set to expire in the summer and could be acquired for as low as £1.5million.

UPDATE: According to Darren Lewis at MirrorFootball, Tottenham are planning to make one last attempt to sign Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira, who is currently destined for Manchester City.

January 4th, 2010 According to Sulmaan Ahmad & Zack Wilson at Goal.com UK, Manchester City are 99% likely to sign Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira on loan for the rest of the season. The deal could happen as early as this week.

According to John Percy at the London Evening Standard, Fulham boss Roy Hodgson will not go out and spend big money despite recent injuries to Bobby Zamora and Brede Hangeland. Hodgson said,

“Like most other clubs we’re not looking to go into a situation where we splash a lot of money around. We’ll be keeping a close eye on what is available and if something comes up at the right price that could help us out, we’ll be interested.”

“But there is a lot of big ifs involved in that and I would say we will be very conservative in the transfer market … This is expensive for us because not only have we lost the game but we’ve sustained injuries to two players who have been so important to us this season and the last. Bobby Zamora either has a dislocated shoulder or collar bone injury.”

“It’s certainly not a short-term injury and I can only hope that the prognosis is not too bad.
Either way it’s a bad injury for us and we were forced to replace Hangeland at half-time. We’re certainly not being fortunate on the injury front this season.”

UPDATE: According to Sky Sports News, QPR have agreed to sign Hull City striker Daniel Cousin on loan. His agent Willie McKay said,

“The two clubs have agreed a loan deal for Daniel … Paul Hart has spoken to Daniel and he is keen to bring him to Loftus Road.”

“Daniel is away with Gabon as he is captain of his country, but he is happy to make the move to QPR … He wants to be playing football regularly and he feels this is a good move for him as they are an ambitious club.”

January 2nd, 2010 According to the Hull Daily Mail, Hull City striker Daniel Cousin does not want to leave the club. His agent Willie McKay said,

According to Steve Wilson at The News, Portsmouth boss Avram Grant will consider in the next few days whether he will bring back striker David Nugent from loan at Burnley. Grant said,

“We are thinking about this. In the next few days we will know … It depends on many things. But it could happen.”

Bringing Nugent back will disappoint Burnley as they have made it clear that they are very interested in keeping David Nugent.

According to Chris Galea at Sky Sports News, Wolverhampton defender Greg Halford admitted that he is not leaving the club this month. Halford said,

“I definitely won’t be moving during the January transfer window … I’m 100 per cent sure about that because I’ve done enough moving about to last me a lifetime.”

Halford had been linked with a move back to Sheffield United.

According to Colin Tattum at the Birmingham Mail, Celtic winger Aiden McGeady is not for sale despite interest from Birmingham. McGeady is rated at around £10million.

UPDATE: According to the Hull Daily Mail, Benfica striker Freddy Adu has decided to sign with Aris FC on loan instead of Hull City. Adu wrote on Twitter,

“Alright guys done deal. Signed an 18-month loan deal with Aris FC. A lot of thought and research went into this. Thanks for the support.”

January 4th, 2010 According to the Hull Daily Mail, Benfica striker Freddy Adu, who is currently on loan at Belenenses, wrote on his Twitter account that he is considering a move to Hull City. Adu wrote,

According to QPR’s official website, QPR have signed Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme on loan until January 31st, 2010.

According to Tony Barrett at The Times, Dynamo Moscow are on the verge of signing Liverpool striker Andriy Voronin for around £2 million.

According to The News, Portsmouth midfielder Aaron Mokoena will not be leaving the club this month. Mokoena said,

“In this month’s transfer window I’ve been approached by several clubs, but I’m not going anywhere … I can’t risk my chances by moving where I might not be guaranteed playing regularly immediately.”

UPDATE: According to Andy Cryer at the Lancashire Telegraph, Blackburn are set to sign St. Etienne midfielder Amine Linganzi. It is reported that the club is hopeful of signing him this month but are not in a rush.

December 11th, 2009 According to Alan Nixon at MirrorFootball, Blackburn have been talking with St. Etienne about midfielder Amine Linganzi. It is reported that the 20-year-old is expected to sign with the club in January.

UPDATE: According to ESPN Soccernet, Ryan Babel’s agent Winnie Haatrecht confirmed that Birmingham made a bid for his client. Haatrecht told De Telegraaf,

“We know that Liverpool seriously thinks about the offer from Birmingham, we would consider a deal if both clubs come to an agreement … I have sent all interested clubs to Liverpool, finally five or six clubs contacted the club. None of them came to an agreement with Liverpool.”

“In general Ryan wats to succeed at Liverpool … But if the people at Anfield conclude it’s better he leaves, we have to think about the next chapter in his career. We will look then to the team, the perspectives of the club and Ryan as well as a meeting with the manager.”

January 5th, 2010 According to David Maddock at MirrorFootball, Liverpool turned down a bid of £9million from Birmingham for Ryan Babel. The club supposedly wants £12million for Babel, which is what they paid for him.

According to Darren Lewis at MirrorFootball, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is tracking 19-year-old CFR Cluj striker Lacine Traore. However Wenger has yet to make a bid for the 6ft 8in striker. Cluj president Luliu Muresan said,

“We have been in contact with Arsenal but have not received any concrete offer. Four million euros is the fee we are looking for.”

UPDATE: According to Sky Sports News, Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne is happy on loan at Portsmouth and plans on completing the season with the club. His agent told France Football,

“All the reports you have heard recently are unfounded … Frederic is happy at Portsmouth. For him to leave, Lyon, Portsmouth and the player would have to be in agreement.”

January 4th, 2010 According to the Daily Mail, Everton are considering making a move for Portsmouth striker Frederic Piquionne, who is currently on-loan from Lyon. Everton are willing to sign the striker on-loan if the deal between Portsmouth and Lyon collapses.

According to Chelsea’s official website, Chelsea midfielder Tom Taiwo permanently signed with Carlisle United for an undisclosed fee. Taiwo signed a two-and-a-half year deal.