Manager Phil Brown is reportedly also lining up offers for Wigan left footer Kevin Kilbane and Sunderland’s Michael Chopra. The Sun is suggesting he is prepared to bid £4million for Chopra, who has spent much of the season on loan at Cardiff.

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Hull City Transfer Rumours

Rodallega has scored 15 in 36 for Nacaxa this season and will be moving on an undisclosed deal.

A spokesman for the club commented:

“It is a fact. Hugo is joining Wigan on January 15.

“I’m afraid I cannot say much more as the board are in Mexico City at the Mexican Football Federation headquarters because the transfer window is closing, but I was told and I can say the transfer has been set.”

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Rodallega Set For Wigan Move

The 26 year old England striker only left Spurs for Portsmouth 12 months ago, after finding first team opportunities at the North London club limited.

It is believed that the deal is for a fee of around £15million has been agreed between the two clubs, representing a £7.5m loss on the sale of Defoe to Portsmouth a year ago.

A statement from Tottenham has said that personal terms have been agreed and that the player will be having a medical today.

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Defoe Signs For Spurs

It was suggested that a £12million bid had secured Parker’s services for Mark Hughes’ side, but West Ham have categorically stated that the player will not be leaving the East London club.

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West Ham Deny Parker To City Rumours

On the probable side - Spurs have made moves for Jermain Defoe, Craig Bellamy and Stewart Downing. All of these have been rejected, but in the case of the former duo, it appears it is a matter of valuation rather than intent to sell.

Also likely is a rumour that Ghana skipper Stephen Appiah is set to sign on a free.

Less likely for Tottenham are suggestions that Lukas Podolski may sign from Bayern and that, according to The Daily Star, Pascal Chimbonda could return on loan.

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Tottenham Transfer Rumours

Downing had been the subject of a £6million bid from Tottenham Hotspur, which Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lamb described as “derisory”.

Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson is quoted in The Times, saying:

“I’ve spoken to (Tottenham chairman) Daniel Levy and told him categorically that their interest is not welcome.

“I’ve also told him that we will not entertain any further offers for Stewart or, for that matter, any other senior member of our squad. The same applies to Tuncay and it also applies to Gary O’Neil.

“I repeat: none of our senior players will be leaving the Riverside Stadium this month.”

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Downing Requests A Transfer

Wright-Phillips was substituted during the match and scans reveal the injury will sideline the player for 4-5 weeks.

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Wright-Phillips Out For Five Weeks

10th : West Ham United

Very early in the season, before Alan Curbishley threw his toys out of the pram, West Ham were looking pretty good.

Since then, under new manager Gianfranco Zola, things have been more up and down. They certainly have the talent in the squad to be solidly mid-table this season. The returns to fitness of both Craig Bellamy and (remember him?) Kieron Dyer should mean they are an impressive attacking force.

That is, unless they sell their best players in January. Bellamy, Upson, Green are all rumoured to be moving and if they go, West Ham will be struggling. They won’t get relegated, but - if they do keep their better players - 9th or 10th is a realistic finish.

9th: Fulham

Roy Hodgson is a good manager. Lots of people knew this before he came to Fulham, but they’d just forgotten.

Taking over from Lawrie Sanchez with the club in real trouble last season, Hodgson’s side played their way out of trouble and they’ve carried that philosophy of attractive, passing football into this season too.

What Hodgson has added is a great goalkeeper in Mark Schwarzer;  some better defenders and at least one better striker (the jury’s still out on Bobby Zamora, I’m afraid). This has given the side more stability and more of a cutting edge in attack, so it’s no surprise that Fulham are currently 9th.

They’ll keep on doing this in the second half of the season, so an 8th place finish looks a solid possibility.

8th: Hull City

Every season, there is a surprise package. This season it’s Phil Brown’s Hull City, although recent results have been poor.

Unlike most pundits, I genuinely didn’t think Hull were in much danger of getting relegated this season. Buying Boateng, Geovanni, Mendy, Gardner and taking Marlon King on loan pointed to far greater ambitions than 17th place.

It’s been good to see an attacking mentality. Trying to win games seems to work well as a strategy for staying in the Premier League, even if it has meant Hull has been turned over a few times in recent weeks.

Injuries to key players have also played their part in Hull losing a few matches, but they’ll be absolutely fine this season, but I predict a 12th-14th place finish.

7th: Wigan Athletic

Wigan have been slowly, but surely moving up the league and now find themselves in the lofty heights of seventh.

This is no fluke - Steve Bruce has assembled a damn good squad of players, mixing creativity with strength. The likes of Valencia, Palacios and Zaki provide the creative spark and attacking threat, while recent signing Lee Cattermole provides the steel.

It’s a winning combination that will see Wigan comfortably in the top half this season. The only potential problem is that if they lose Emile Heskey in the January transfer window, they will need to get a similar replacement and those aren’t easy to come by.

6th: Everton

Once again, Everton manager David Moyes is working small miracles in the blue half of Merseyside. This time around, Moyes was pretty much unable to secure any of the players he wanted in the summer, mainly due to lack of funds or an unwillingness to join the club.

He picked up Maroane Fellaini and Louis Saha just as the transfer window was about to close and while Saha has - inevitably - been injured ever since Fellaini has proved himself a fine player.

Right now, Moyes has only one recognised striker fit and they are still winning games, using Tim Cahill as a makeshift forward.

To maintain sixth, they’ll need to start improving their home form and will need to pick up a half decent striker in the window. But don’t bet against it.

5th: Arsenal

Just what is going on at Arsenal?

They don’t seem to have bought any players for about a decade; those they have got are either fighting with each, arguing with each other or injured and what’s left are all kids.

Put like that - 5th is actually not too bad. But, being brutally honest, Arsene Wenger’s refusal to buy new or experienced players is becoming stranger and more perverse with each passing transfer window.

To be honest, the squad they have is too fragile to sustain an assault on the top four and I think they’re going to finish 5th.

4th : Aston Villa

Personally, I think Martin O’Neill is both a breath of fresh air and as canny a manager as you’re going to get in the Premier League.

Despite being back with Randy Lerner’s millions, O’Neill has been content to build a squad and a team where the players aren’t constantly worried about some over-pampered superstar coming in and taking their place.

Some of his signings have seemed a little uninspired (Carew and Sidwell come to mind) but have proven to be exactly what is required.

January should see him picking up either former charge Emile Heskey or Portsmouth’s Peter Crouch and I think the battle for a Champions League spot is well and truly on. It will be nice to see a new name among the top four for once.

3rd: Manchester United

Alex Ferguson’s side are 7 points off leaders Liverpool with two games in hand and don’t seem remotely phased by it.

Even considering that one of those two games is against Fulham, who - on current form - may well nick a point, there is a calmness around United at the moment that will be hard to shift.

It’s because - of course - they’ve seen it and done it all before and know exactly what is required to win a championship.

That having been said, United haven’t looked the force they were last season - not one of Tevez, Rooney or Ronaldo has been in great form. As for Berbatov - well, every Spurs fan knows he doesn’t get going until after Christmas, so we’ll see.

Still, come May, they’ll be in with a shout of winning the Premier League yet again, but I think they may be pipped at the post this time.

2nd: Chelsea

Apparently, Chelsea are in crisis. The players are revolting (well, that bit is true…some of them are truly revolting characters) and Scolari isn’t up to the job.

None of which explains why Chelsea are second in the league of course. It’s true that they’ve drawn a lot of matches they should have won and they aren’t closing out matches as they did in previous seasons, but they are still a formidable side and shouldn’t be written off as title challengers.

1st : Liverpool

The fact that Liverpool are still top, despite some unimpressive home draws is more down to Chelsea’s inability to capitalise than anything else.

However, it seems that Rafa Benitez’ side are in with a genuine shout of winning it this year. They’ve played and beaten Manchester United and Chelsea, haven’t slipped up badly anywhere and now have Fernando Torres back and ready to score goals.

They’ve got a stronger squad than last season and it looks like it could go down to the wire in May.

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Premiership Half Time Report: Part Two

Favourite rumour of the weekend is that, according to The People, Pompey boss wants to sign Joey Barton. The logic behind this is, apparently, that Adams worked with Barton at his Sporting Chance clinic. Nevermind the fact that Barton has a long term injury - you can’t make this stuff up.

The People also repeat the rumour that right back Glenn Johnson will move to Liverpool. A figure of £9million has been mentioned.

Oh, and according to The Daily Mirror, Defoe is going to Manchester City. Presumably because every club needs 7 strikers.

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Portsmouth Transfer Rumours

Defoe, who is officially ill for today’s FA Cup tie with Bristol City, has met with Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie and expressed a desire to leave the club.

Former club Tottenham have made a bid for the player, but Portsmouth manager Tony Adams has commented:

“Peter Storrie had a meeting with him last Wednesday, which I sat in on, and Jermain expressed a desire to leave.

“I think Peter is talking to a few clubs about him but the final decision will be mine and I have a price in mind of what I think he is worth.

“He is a superb player and a great goalscorer but I have not yet made up my mind whether or not I am going to sell him.”

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Defoe To Go

Bridge, who had five years at Chelsea, has been described by Man City boss Mark Hughes as an “outstanding young player” who has progressed “year on year”.

Hughes added:

“He [Bridge] is a successful player. He is an England international and has just played for one of the top four sides in the country.

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Bridge Signs With Manchester City

The first part of this article will focus on those sides that find themselves in the bottom half of the league.

20th: West Bromwich Albion

Hardly a surprise that West Brom are bottom. They’re just not very good. In fact, I suspect that the powers that be at West Brom had no real intention of trying to survive in the Premier League this season.

They’ve hardly been forthcoming with the money and manager Tony Mowbray’s signings have looked less than inspired.

Indeed, it is telling that he let his most talented and creative players leave even before the season started. He didn’t renew Kevin Phillips contract after the striker asked for a two year deal and also let Zoltan Gera go to Fulham.

Without those two actually putting the ball in the net, West Brom were always going to struggle. They do pass it around a bit, but Roman Bednar and Ishmael Miller are no more than squad level players at this level, so it’s back to the Championship for the Baggies.

19th: Blackburn Rovers

Apologists for Rovers and for ex-boss Paul Ince in particular have suggested that selling all the club’s best players inevitably made this season a struggle.

The thing is that while Brad Friedel and David Bentley were undeniably key players, they hardly represent ‘all the club’s best players’.  There was more than enough quality even without this duo for a respectable mid-table finish.

In fact, now that Ince has gone, I fully expect Sam Allardyce to pull Rovers out of the mire. A 14th/15th place finish beckons.

18th: Stoke City

At home Tony Pulis’ side have looked pretty solid. The combination of the long throws with some skillful players, particularly striker Ricardo Fuller, has served them well so far this season.

However, away from the Britannia Stadium, Stoke are yet to win and it is this that may see them relegated. Pulis is a savvy, experienced manager, but unless they pick up some real quality in the transfer window, he just doesn’t have the squad to keep Stoke in the Premier League.

17th : Middlesbrough

Ah, Middlesbrough. What can I say about Boro that doesn’t get said every year. Occasionally, they are very, very good, occasionally very bad but mostly they are mediocre.

Manager Gareth Southgate is doing OK on a limited budget, but his side just don’t have what it takes to get much above mid-table.

Alves has proven himself to be not up to the job at this level, while fellow striker Mido is always injured so Boro are lacking firepower. WIthout it, another season of inconsistency beckons.

16th: Tottenham

Spurs had an appalling start to the season, until Juande Ramos was replaced by everyone’s favourite cockney geezer, Harry Redknapp.

Even with a fairly decent run of results behind them, Spurs are still only 16th and are in great need of reinforcements. They have some good players, but what they don’t have is a team and it shows.

At least one striker, a left winger and a holding midfielder are needed if the second half of the season isn’t to be the same struggle the first half has been.

I don’t think Tottenham are for the drop, but if Harry doesn’t get the right players in, they’ll make it uncomfortable for the fans.

15th: Sunderland

Sunderland have a massive squad of players, assembled at great expense by former manager Roy Keane, before Keano decided that football management was too much like work.

Now, with Ricky Sbragia in charge, Sunderland will be expecting to stay in the division. And so they should - Cisse, Malbranque, Kenwynne Jones are all quality players and they have sufficient strength in depth to withstand injuries later in the season. Expect a 12th or 13th placed finish.

14th: Newcastle United

If you take a look in the dictionary, next to the word ‘crisis’ is a particular of whichever brave fool is currently manager of Newcastle United.

Currently occupying this position is Joe Kinnear. Kinnear is a man with the necessary experience and savvy to keep Newcastle out of trouble, as his results so far have shown.

However, with Shay GIven looking like he’s on his way out, plus injuries to Viduka, Beye, Martins, Smith, Barton, Cacapa and probably some others I’ve forgotten, it’s going to be very, very tough for the Magpies in the second half of the season.

They might not make it, particularly as I can’t see top players wanting to go to a club in such turmoil. And, if the club accept a decent offer for Michael Owen, well…it could be curtains for Newcastle United.

13th: Manchester City

City are, apparently, the world’s richest football club. Which is nice.

What they shouldn’t be, however, is 13th in the Premier League. They have a better squad than last season, when they were 7th at this time.

Robinho, Stephen Ireland, Wright-Phillips - all are having good seasons, so there is clearly something not quite right in the background at City.

Still, when they turn on the style, as against Hull City, they are a fantastic team to watch. They could end up in a UEFA Cup spot…they could finish where they are now. With Manchester City, who the hell knows?

12th : Portsmouth

Portsmouth are a team that are heading in the wrong direction. They had some reasonable results under ex-boss Harry Redknapp, but under current manager Tony Adams, they look vulnerable.

They’ve already lost Lassana Diarra to Real Madrid and it looks more than likely that Jermain Defoe will be following him out of the club.

Adams believes that much of that money will come to him to buy reinforcements, but with the club up for sale, it is more likely that a healthy balance sheet with attract a better class of buyer.

With a once formidable defence now looking shaky, and Portsmouth’s best players gone, it’s going to be difficult for Portsmouth in the second part of the season. I think they’ll probably survive, but fans shouldn’t expect much more than that.

11th: Bolton Wanderers

Gary Megson’s Bolton Wanderers have, I believe, the smallest squad in the Premier League. When fit, they have a good mix of quality and competitiveness and some of Megson’s signings - Matt Taylor, Gary Cahill and Gretar Steinsson have been impressive.

Four away wins already this season is testimony to this but Bolton will need to bring in some bodies in the transfer window if they are to maintain their form in the latter stages of the season. Right now, they just don’t have enough players, but don’t look in danger of relegation.

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Premiership Half Term Report : Part One

Saha, who has suffered from injury problems throughout his career, has not played for Everton since the end of November.

His injury, combined with injuries to fellow strikers Yakubu, James Vaughan and Victor Anichebe means that a new striker is a priority for manager David Moyes in the transfer window.

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Saha Out For Four-Five Weeks

WIth McCann suspended and Cahill out with rib and hip problems, Bolton manager Gary Megson will bring Nicky Hunt back into the starting line-up and will bring Fabrice Muamba into the midfield.

Sunderland are still missing ‘keeper Craig Gordon and left-back George McCartney, but centre back Anton Ferdinand and midfielder Andy Reid have overcome illness and may start.

Also back in contention is defender Danny Collins, who has recovered from a facial injury.

It is thought that Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia may rest Djibril Cisse and Kenwynne Jones, bringing Michael Chopra and El Hadj Diouf into the starting line up as the forward partnership for this FA Cup match.

KICK-OFF: SATURDAY JAN 3rd 2009 15:00 GMT

SUNDERLAND v BOLTON MATCH ODDS

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Sunderland vs Bolton Match News

Definitely out for Joe Kinnear’s side are Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka, defenders Habib Beye and Claudio Capaca plus Shola Ameobi and Ignacio Gonzalez.

Returning, however, are midfielder Nicky Butt and Jose Enrique, both of whom are likely to start for Newcastle.

Also starting will be goalkeeper Shay Given, despite his intention to review his position at the club.

Youngster Andy Carroll could partner Michael Owen in attack.

Hull City manager Phil Brown could ring the changes for this FA Cup tie.

Craig Fagan may start upfront, with Marlon King being rested. Also in contention are midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos and Nathan Doyle, while Dean Marney, Dean Windass and George Boateng are all back in the squad, after missing Tuesday’s defeat to Aston Villa.

KICK-OFF: SATURDAY JANUARY 3rd 15:00 GMT

HULL CITY v NEWCASTLE UTD MATCH ODDS

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Hull vs Newcastle United Match Preview

Kennedy intimated that Given felt at the lowest point of his eleven year career at Newcastle United and was disillusioned with the state of the club - both on and off the field.

The Republic of Ireland ‘keeper has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Tottenham or Manchester City but current Magpies manager Joe Kinnear insists that the player is going nowhere.

Kinnear is quoted as saying:

“I’m not sure of the facts that he [lawyer, Michael Kennedy] has said that or how it’s been interpreted, but what I will say is Shay is contracted until 2011.

“He is our player and he is going to stay our player, it’s as simple as that.

“We are not interested at all. I want to be clear about that - that is probably the last time I will be talking about it.

“He is here, he is our player and he is going to stay our player.”

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Given Looking For A Move?

Winger Zoran Tosic and midfield playmaker Adam Ljajic have joined on undisclosed terms, although figures around the £16million mark have been mentioned for the duo.

Tosic will join United immediately; although 17 year old Ljajic will remain at Partizan until the end of the season.

Tosic - who is just twenty one years old - has played twelve times for his country and is expected to be a replacement for veteran Ryan Giggs in the United squad.

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Belgrade Duo Join United

Anyway, according to The Daily Mail, Carlos Tevez is desperate to get a permanent deal tied up, which sounds the most likely Man Utd transfer rumour.

Elsewhere, The Sun are suggesting United will bid £10m for Leeds’ Fabian Delph while The Times suggest that they will bid £16.3 for Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic from Partizan Belgrade. For those who don’t know, Tosic is a winger and Ljajic is a playmaking midfielder.

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Manchester United Transfer Rumours