Adebayor to Chelsea???

Nothing new about reports that Didier Drogba is on his way out of Chelsea, but wait until you find out who'll be replacing him.



That's what the Daily Mirror claims anyway, reporting that Carlo Ancelotti has targeted the Arsenal striker as his first buy when he takes the Chelsea helm in the summer.

Chelsea are also tailing CSKA Moscow's Yuri Zhirkov, apparently on the recommendation of current boss Guus Hiddink. However, it doesn't take a genius to know that the £15 million-rated Russia international, who can take up pretty much any role on the left side of the pitch, would be a tidy purchase.

Manchester United love it at Wigan. United boss Alex Ferguson in particular loves it at the JJB because, not only do they always leave with all three points, but every match the two sides play gives Latics winger Antonio Valencia another glimpse of what he's missing.

The Ecuadorian has long been linked with a move to United, and The Sun says that the Old Trafford side will beat Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and, best of all, Liverpool in the race to sign him this summer.

Steve Bruce can moan all he wants about the big boys continuously coming to poach his best players, but a fee of £20m for a player they only signed permanently in January 2008 is not to be sniffed at.

United are also set to strengthen at the other end of the pitch too, and they will fly Brazilian defender Dodo in for a two-week stay that will include a trip to the Champions League final. Not bad for a 17-year-old who hasn't even started a game for Corinthians yet. The plan is for the ball-playing centre-back to sign a deal that will see him become a United player in January, allowing him to play in the Brazilian league until then.

Across Manchester now, and any talk of Stephen Ireland leaving City should soon stop when he signs a new four-year deal. The midfielder, by far City's best player this year, and his new £80k a week wage will give him parity with others at the club such as Shaun Wright-Phillips and - wait for it - Wayne Bridge.

Newcastle temporaryinterimcaretakermanager Alan Shearer insists that Michael Owen still has his part to play in the Toon's battle against relegation.

By way of endorsement, Shearer decided to remind us of the qualities the little striker showed a decade ago: "You can't forget about Michael. He was always a threat with his pace and he worked his socks off."

Shearer's is also planning to sign Wigan's versatile defender Paul Scharner in the summer should Newcastle stay up (does anyone really think Joe Kinnear is coming back?), and he will do so by triggering a £6m release clause in the Austrian's contract.

According to the Daily Mail's Sports Agenda, Portsmouth will have to shed several players come the end of the season.

Pompey are £65m in debt, £40m of which is owed to South Africa's Standard Bank, who want a hefty part of that sum paid back sharpish. The other £25m has been loaned to the club by owner Alexandre Gaydamak, who won't be ploughing more money in anytime soon.

Receiving a phone call demanding such a large sum of cash would be a fright, but to hear it from a South African accent would be downright chilling.

Elsewhere, Harry Redknapp wants to bring Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz to Tottenham Hotspur, Rovers will shell out £4m to make Gael Givet's loan from Marseille permanent and Bolton will offer the same amount for Middlesbrough midfielder Gary O'Neil.