Juventus closing in on Luca Toni; Manchester City star threatens to leave

Juventus closing in on Luca Toni

Juventus are set to bid for Genoa striker Luca Toni after Fabio Quagliarella picked up an injury in the 4:1 defeat to Parma.

Fabio Quagliarella could be sidelined for several months if the knee ligament injury is confirmed, and with Iaquinta and Amauri also struggling with injuries, Juve are desperate to sign a striker as soon as possible.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Bianconeri have singled out Luca Toni as their number one target, and one of the reasons is that the former Italy international should be pretty easy to acquire.

Genoa are looking to sell the veteran striker, but Juventus reportedly wants to sign him on loan, and that could prove to be an obstacle to the deal.

The Bianconeri obviously see Toni as a quick fix for their attacking problems and are unwilling to buy a player whose career is on the downtrend, and nobody can blame them for that.

Toni’s career started taking the wrong turn when he clashed Louis van Gaal and he is now far from the form that saw him earn the starting place for the Azzurri.

[Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport]

Manchester City star threatens to leave

Manchester City defender Micah Richards has threatened to quit Eastlands in order to get first team football.

Richards issued a come and get me plea after talking to England manager Fabio Capello.

“Mr Capello has told me that if I’m not playing regularly he will find it hard to pick me.

“Being back in the England set-up after so long away from it really got me buzzing again and I know I’m good enough to make that right-back position my own. But that won’t happen if I’m not playing consistently.”

“I’m not the sort of player who can just sit around and bank his wages. I’ve got no problem with the club or Roberto Mancini as a manager but he knows how I feel.

“I went to see the boss and told him how frustrated I was. He said I was part of his plans but I went three Premier League games without even getting on, started against Aston Villa, then didn’t play against Blackpool.

“I love City. I’ve been there since I was 15 and I got capped by England while playing for this club. But having reached that level I want to keep myself up there.

“This is not me telling the boss, ‘you must pick me for every game’, I’m just telling it as I feel it. I want to be somewhere where I’m kicking a ball every week.”

[Source: The Sun]

Birmingham lead the race to sign Keane

Birmingham want to know as soon as possible whether they will be allowed to sign Robbie Keane from Tottenham.

The Blues have opened talks with Tottenham regarding Robbie Keane but they want the response as soon as possible so that they could look elsewhere if needed.

“What is the timescale with Keane? I think you will see something in the next few days. It can go to the last day in January but I don’t think it will go as long as that because you always want answers,” said Peter Grant, first team coach.

“If it’s not Robbie Keane then hopefully it will be the next one, somebody else. We know he’s a top, top player. We know he’s not playing at this moment in time.

“Harry (Redknapp) has made it clear that he would like to sell him as they don’t want him any more.”

The Irish forward is desperate to leave White Hart Lane in the search for first team football and Birmingham could be a good team for him as he would again be considered a key player, which is the situation that works best for him.

[Source: Daily Mirror]

For more news about football transfers and rumours, visit our Transfer News section. To view all football transfers for 2010/11 season, visit our Soccer Transfers section.