Chelsea and Manchester United Transfer News
Who? - Leighton Baines
- Speculation
Where is he? - Wigan Athletic
Who is he linked with? - Sunderland
Sunderland will not be signing Leighton Baines after Wigan Athletic included the England Under-21 international in their squad for Wednesday's pre-season friendly against Blackpool. The Latics were reported earlier this week to have given the defender permission to talk to the Black Cats, but it now appears that Baines will not be moving to the north-east. Boss Chris Hutchings told the club's official website: "Leighton is finally over his virus. He trained for the first time this summer yesterday (Tuesday) and he will be involved in some capacity tonight. He's been laid low with a virus for the last couple of weeks and has been restricted to light training. He was with the rest of the squad in Holland working directly with our physiotherapists, but now he's been given the all-clear to get involved in the heavy stuff. Leighton is a first-class pro and a first-class person and, despite all the speculation and rumour surrounding his future, he's remained professional throughout and as ever is a joy to work with. I've coached him since he first broke into the first-team as a young apprentice and taken great satisfaction in how he's developed as a player and an individual."
Who? - Shaun Wright-Phillips
- SpeculationWhere is he? - Chelsea
Who is he linked with? - Aston Villa
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has dismissed reports suggesting he has made a bid for Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. The Villa boss has made only two major signings - West Ham duo Nigel Reo-Coker and Marlon Harewood - so far this summer but insists he will not be bringing Wright-Phillips to the club. O'Neill did make an enquiry about the former Manchester City star during the January transfer window but said: "I will not go into any other specifics about who I want or don't want to sign, but rumours that we're after Shaun Wright-Phillips aren't true. I don't even know where that's come from. To be perfectly honest, I don't think it will happen at all. It seems to be coming up all the time, but the truth is I haven't even enquired about him. We did so in January, as people know, but were led to believe by Chelsea that he wanted to fight for his place so I've done absolutely nothing about it. We want to strengthen because we don't want to be in a position like last November and December when we were desperate for the January transfer window to arrive. We had injuries and suspensions, we were left with the smallest squad in the country and the results went accordingly. I don't want to be in that position again. I'm hoping we will have more strength in depth."
Who? - Andrew Johnson
- SpeculationWhere is he? - Everton
Who is he linked with? - West Ham United
Everton striker Andrew Johnson has dismissed rumours suggesting he will not be at Goodison Park when the new season starts. The 26-year-old England international has been linked with a transfer to West Ham United, but says such stories are way off the mark. He told The Sun: "There's no way I'm leaving. No way at all. It never crossed my mind when I saw the stories. It was just speculation and you can't stop that. I suppose the speculation is good because it means you're doing your job properly. But the speculation was there for Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta as well. It was silly, stupid figures and stupid money. Yet it hasn't unsettled any of us. Tim and 'Micky' are sorted and I've got four years left on my contract. I'm not going anywhere."
Who? - Guiseppe Rossi/Gerard Pique
- SpeculationWhere is he? - Manchester United
Who is he linked with? - Parma/Real Zaragoza
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insists he wants to keep Giuseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique at Old Trafford this season. Both youngsters impressed during loan spells last term, 20-year-old Rossi at Newcastle United and Parma, and Pique at Real Zaragoza, but Ferguson thinks they have a role to play in his side in the forthcoming campaign. "The lads going away proved themselves," he told the club's official website. "Giuseppe scored nine goals in 16 matches for Parma and the consensus is that he kept them up. Everyone says that. Gerard played 24 games for Zaragoza and did exceptionally well. We got all the videos of the players and watched what they did in training. They will certainly come back. Hopefully we now have a strong enough pool of players. That's one of the reasons I was keen to get the young lads who were away on loan last year back at the club. They will develop better with us. They may play more regularly away on loan, but training with us and being part of the squad brings them on immeasurably. The really big test last season was when we got the injuries in March. When we got to the AC Milan game, we didn't have enough freshness in the team to prepare for a semi final. That was a blow. We hope now that if we do get those injuries again, this time we have better back-up."