January 28th, 2009
11:46 AM ET

Beckham 'dreams' of Milan move

Stay up to date with all the comings and goings in the transfer window with CNN.com's daily wrap of the latest rumors and gossip from Europe's sports pages.

LONDON, England (CNN) – All the dancing, rumors, subterfuge, lies and (very) occasional actual transfers come to an end in but a few days time. But there's still time for a last minute flurry of activity with most of the juiciest action taking place at Manchester City and AC Milan.

First to Milan where attempts to sign David Beckham on a permanent deal are gathering pace. After announcing their interest in signing the midfielder earlier in the week, Sky Sports is reporting that AC Milan's vice chairman Adriano Galliani is deep in fractious negotiations with an unhappy LA Galaxy, warning that if no deal is struck this weekend then it never will.

"If Galaxy change ideas with Beckham then we will evaluate the situation and we will keep him," he said. "The player wants to stay with us, but he knows he has to return."

Even the Englishman has decided to get off the fence telling Il Corriere Della Sera that it would be "a dream" to move to the city full time. Still, Milan's football shirt manufacturers should be putting those bumper Beckham replica shirt orders on ice for a few days, just in case.

What do you think about the Beckham transfer saga?  Tell us on Football Fanzone.

La Gazzetta Dello Sport has had its hands full reporting on all the other (non-Beckham) transfer activity going on in Serie A. Cash rich UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg have put in a €10million bid for Juve's talented forward Vincenzo Iaquinta.

Which may add more grist to yesterday's frankly ludicrous transfer mill that West Ham United's in form striker Carlton Cole could be a target for The Old Lady. Their manager Claudio Ranieri used to coach Cole at Chelsea. It can't possibly be true, can it?

Over at Middle Eastlands this week's ongoing transfer saga revolves around Newcastle United's want away goalkeeper Shay Given who, The Times reports, is angry that a deal between the two clubs cannot be made. Oddly, Manchester City seem to be getting shy about throwing around their cash.

Initially the club offered just £3 (€3.24) million before making a final £5 (€5.39) million take-it-or-leave-it bid, far less than the £10 (€10.78) million originally mooted in the press. Which is quite frankly a derisory sum given that (a) Given is arguably currently the form goalkeeper in Europe and (b) Sunderland's Craig Gordon cost £9 (€9.71) million. £9MILLION! Still CNN can only thank Manchester City for their continued ability to stir controversy. Without them we'd have nothing to write about.

Elsewhere one of Europe's great enigmas might be moving to the Premiership after being linked with over a dozen clubs during every single transfer window over the past half decade. The Argentine striker Javier Saviola was (rightly) lauded as a potential world beater but poor form, perceived indifference and an inability to hold down a regular starting place at both Barcelona and Real Madrid has seen his stock fall faster than a suicidal Wall Street trader.

In fact, it has fallen so far that he is apparently considering a move to Portsmouth, according to The Express. But if you happen to be reading Marca, they insist that the current Real Madrid forward may well be used as a makeweight in the deal to take Wigan Athletic's Antonio Valencia to the Bernabeu. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place...

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