Monday's round up of the top transfer stories

- Didier Drogba insists no clubs have made moves to sign him from Shanghai Shenhua amid speculation linking him with AC Milan and Juventus.



- Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric is considering a return to England, putting Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United on alert, according to the Sunday Mirror.



- Manchester United have stepped up their interest in Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sven Bender, according to the Sunday Times.



- Manchester United youngster Andreas Pereira has put pen-to-paper on a first professional contract with the Red Devils.



- Manchester United face competition from Tottenham in the race to sign Crystal Palace starlet Wilfried Zaha, according to theMail on Sunday.



- Sir Alex Feguson is ready to call time on David De Gea's career at Old Trafford as he seeks a new goalkeeper in the January transfer window, according to Dailymail.



- Manchester City midfielder Abdisalam Ibrahim is set to rejoin Stromgodset on a six month loan deal.



- Arsenal and Man Utd are monitoring Frank Lampard's contract situation at Chelsea, according to Goal.com.



- Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has spoken to Barcelona forward David Villa about a move to Emirates Stadium, according to The People.



- Arsenal have offered Napoli just under £1 million to take Eduardo Vargas on loan for the rest of the season, according to The Corriere dello Sport.



- And Wenger has indicated that Arsenal are looking to sign "one or two" players during the current transfer window.



- Chelsea risk losing January target Taison after his club Matalist Kharkiv set a deadline of Wednesday for the deal to be completed.



- Liverpool have made an offer of £7million for Italy international Davide Astori but are likely to miss out to Southampton.



- Sylvain Distin is likely to reject any overtures from Queens Park Rangers and Sunderland.



- West Ham have made a £3million bid for Blackburn’s Martin Olsson.



- West Ham face stiff competition from Fulham and QPR as they look to make a move for Newcastle defender Danny Simpson.



- West Ham could make a move for American duo Juan Agudelo and Graham Zusi.



- West Ham have signed Brazilian Wellington Paulista from Cruzeiro on a six-month loan deal with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.



- QPR have emerged as frontrunners in the race to sign Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila, who has been linked with a move to Arsenal, according to L'Equipe.



- Aston Villa are set to make a move for Swansea striker Danny Graham.



- Aston Villa are among those clubs keeping a close eye on Lazio defender Luis Cavanda, according to his agent.



- Sunderland have agreed a £3million fee for Bursaspor midfielder Alfred N’Diaye.



- Newcastle left-back Paul Dummett admits he is keen to return for a second loan spell at St Mirren.



- Blackpool boss Michael Appleton has warned Liverpool he's under no pressure to sell Tom Ince in order to fund his January spending.



- Jonathan de Guzman has an open mind on whether he will return to Villarreal when his loan to Swansea City expires.



- Norwich City striker Chris Martin has extended his loan spell with Swindon Town until February 2.



- Fulham target Maarten Stekelenburg will hold crunch talks with Roma officials on Tuesday after falling out of favour at the Stadio Olimpico.



- Southampton are ready to boost their survival bid with a £10m offer for Inter Milan youngster Philippe Coutinho, according to sources in Italy.



- Yossi Benayoun faces anxious wait over his future after Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez dropped a strong hint that he is no longer needed at Stamford Bridge.



- Sao Paulo are optimistic regarding their chances of turning Denilson's loan move from Arsenal into a permanent stay.



- Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has admitted they will have to spend carefully this month rather than make wholesale changes to the squad.



- Napoli striker Edinson Cavani is wanted by Manchester City as a replacement for Mario Balotelli, according to The People.



- Napoli forward Eduardo Vargas will move to Brazilian side Sao Paulo by the end of the week according to the club’s president.



- Fiorentina say they have no plans to sell striker Stevan Jovetic following the signing of Giuseppe Rossi.



- Israel defender Rami Gershon will join Celtic at their Marbella training camp after agreeing a six-month loan deal, according to his agent.



- Marseille have admitted that Loic Remy, who has been linked with Newcastle and Tottenham, could be sold this month.



- Marseille sporting director Jose Anigo has praised Joey Barton and suggested the Ligue 1 club would be interested in retaining the midfielder beyond his season-long loan from QPR.



- Schalke have opened the way for Tottenham to sign Lewis Holtby this month, rather than at the end of the season, for a cut-price £1.6million.



- Canadian midfielder Kyle Bekker has signed a deal with MLS that will see him made available in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft along with recent Generation Adidas addition Eriq Zavaleta, forward from Indiana.



- Dean Saunders has been appointed the new Wolverhampton Wanderers manager, replacing Stale Solbakken who was sacked on Saturday.



- Coventry have completed a permanent deal for striker Leon Clarke from Charlton on a two-and-a-half-year deal.



- Tranmere have secured a one-month extension on Bolton forward Michael O'Halloran's loan deal.



- Midfielder Oliver Risser has left Stevenage at the end of his loan spell and joined League Two Aldershot.

Anelka working on Shanghai exit

The chances of Nicolas Anelka gracing the Premier League in January have increased with the news he is in talks to end his contract with Shanghai Shenhua.



Anelka made the move to the Chinese club last season, but he has struggled to adapt and is reportedly keen on a return to Europe.



Queens Park Rangers boss Harry Redknapp has suggested he would be interested if Anelka became available, while West Ham have also been linked.



And it could well result in a flood of offers being made when the window opens in January as Shenhua have confirmed club and player are talking about the French striker's exit.



"The discussion is between the club and himself, I don't know about the specific details," Shanghai spokesman Ma Yue said. "But so far we haven't got the final result."

FIFA reject Drogba loan appeal

FIFA have turned down a request from Didier Drogba to be allowed to leave Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua on loan ahead of the transfer window.



The Ivory Coast striker, who has been linked with a short-term move back to previous club Chelsea, had put in a request to the world governing body only for it to be rejected.



FIFA said in a statement: "We can confirm that the player Didier Drogba submitted a request for authorisation to be registered outside an open registration period for a club on a loan basis.



"FIFA has informed him about the relevant regulations... that players may only be registered during one of the two annual registration periods fixed by the relevant association."



FIFA said the only exception was when a player's contract expired outside a transfer window.



Drogba had been hoping to get a temporary move to build fitness ahead of the African Nations Cup in January.

Drogba requests Shanghai exit on loan

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has asked for special permission to move on loan from his Chinese club despite the official transfer window being closed.

FIFA says it is considering the request for an exemption from international rules which currently prevent Drogba from representing another club until January 1.



Drogba's season with Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua finished this month and a move would allow the Ivory Coast captain, 34, to play for a new team and prepare for the African Cup of Nations, begins on January 19. Drogba is contracted with Shanghai until 2014.



Since Drogba's departure from Chelsea last summer the club's attacking options have been limited, leading to speculation that a short-term return to Stamford Bridge could be considered, as well as Roman Abramovich's longer-term desire to sign Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid.

Since his departure to Chinese club, Chelsea

 missing  the hit-man badly. 

Liverpool are keen to buy Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea, having failed to land him on-loan in the summer transfer window, and with the England striker anxious for regular football there could be a flurry of transfer activity following the departure of manager Roberto Di Matteo on Wednesday morning.



Manchester City and Real Madrid are also interested in Falcao, 26, but the Colombian striker's €48 million buy-out clause has not been met, and Atletico Madrid have shown no intent of dropping their asking price.



With Fernando Torres' days at Chelsea looking increasingly numbered, Abramovich could concede defeat in his £50 million gamble and offer the Spanish striker as a makeweight in the deal.



Falcao, who scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in the European Super Cup, recently talked up a move to the Premier League, and claimed to have been a big fan of Chelsea great Gianfranco Zola.



"Chelsea are champions of Europe and there is not much more to say than that," he said. "Even after winning the Champions League they still go and sign players of the highest quality. Their ambition is clear.



"I would not be worried about the physical aspect of the Premier League. I have scored goals in Argentina, Portugal and now Spain. I am confident I can adapt my game to any league. I would welcome the challenge of the Premier League.



"I was also a big fan of Gianfranco Zola when I was growing up. I have watched the Premier League for a long time. There is so much quality and it is such an exciting league. Of course it is nice to think I might play in it.'



Didier Drogba's departure from Chelsea in the summer, has limited the team's options in attack, and the priority is to find a new goalscorer now that Torres continues to misfire in front of goal.



Abramovich promised Torres, 28, his big chance this season by declining to buy a replacement for Drogba but he has failed to make the expected impact, scoring only four Premier League goals so far.



After facing Falcao in the 1-1 draw between Brazil and Colombia in New Jersey, David Luiz welcomed any potential move for the Atletico man.



"I'm happy when there are great names attached to Chelsea," he said. "He's a great player. It would be a good choice for Falcao to come to Chelsea. All of the players would be happy."

Drogba insists money not a factor

Didier Drogba insisted a new challenge and not money was the motivating factor for his move to Shanghai Shenhua.



The former Chelsea striker was presented by Shanghai today after last month agreeing a two-and-a-half year contract reportedly worth £200,000 a week with the Chinese Super League outfit.



The 34-year-old Ivory Coast international said at his unveiling that the desire for a "big challenge", and not financial reasons, was behind his decision to quit Europe for Asia.



When quizzed on his salary, Drogba said: "It's not really important, the most important thing is I come here to help Chinese football."



He added: "The money's not really what is the most important thing, because everybody knows that I give a lot of my money to my foundation, so really I didn't come here with the idea of making a lot of money



"I know China is a great sports country, so for me it was also a big challenge because it would have been easy for me to stay in Europe and go to another team, another big team, but I want to achieve this challenge so that's why I decided to come here."



Drogba played a key role in last season's Champions League success with Chelsea, while he also won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups during eight hugely successful seasons at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba seals Shanghai move

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba today confirmed his long-expected move to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.



 The 34-year-old, who confirmed his intention to leave Stamford Bridge following Chelsea's UEFA Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich, has signed a two-and-a-half year deal reportedly worth £200,000 a week with the Chinese Super League side.



He will join up with former Chelsea colleague Nicolas Anelka, who joined the club in January. Drogba has been linked with Shanghai for several months after contract talks with Chelsea stalled over the length of a new deal.



The Premier League club had said they hoped to keep the Ivorian after he scored the all-important equaliser and then the winning penalty in the Champions League triumph in Munich last month. Drogba today said in a statement released by his agents: "I have considered all the offers I have received in the past few weeks, but feel that Shanghai Shenhua FC is the right move for me at this time.



"I am looking forward to a new challenge, to experiencing a new culture, and excited about the new developments in the Chinese Super League. When Chelsea went to China last year, we had a great time and I met some amazing fans. I hope to help promote Chinese football around the world and further improve the links between China and Africa."



Drogba scored 157 goals in all competitions for Chelsea, finishing with 100 in 226 league appearances since signing from Marseille for £24m in 2004, one of Jose Mourinho's first major signings for the club. He had an exceptional record in cup finals, scoring nine goals in nine different finals, including one in this year's 2-1 FA Cup final victory over Liverpool.



However, he failed to gel with Fernando Torres and began to find himself rotated at Stamford Bridge, despite the huge struggles of the Spaniard following his £50m switch from Liverpool, making it likely he would leave this summer.



Shanghai owner Zhu Jun said: "We have been wanting to sign Didier for a while, and are very happy that it has finally happened. He is an incredible player, who has won so many trophies in his career, we feel that his experience and ability will be a very valuable asset to our squad. Shanghai is one of the most influential cities in the world, and we are very excited to welcome Didier here."



Shanghai's new manager Sergio Batista said: "Drogba is a very good soccer player, his outstanding skills and amazing experience will give us motivation to improve our games. It is my honour to invite him to join in our team. At last I have to say that the club owner Zhu Jun did his utmost to bring Drogba to Shenhua."

Drogba set to sign for Shanghai Shenhua

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is set to sign for Shanghai Shenhua, joining Nicolas Anelka at the Chinese club, its chief investor said.



The Ivory Coast international, 34, will announce the move on his personal website, Zhu Jun told the state Xinhua news agency, in a deal that will reportedly put Drogba on 200,000 pounds ($314,000) a week.



French forward Anelka, who joined Shenhua in January also from Chelsea, has openly said that he wants Drogba to join him at the ambitious Chinese club.



Zhu denied a report in Shanghai's Xinmin Evening News that Drogba, who left Chelsea after helping the English Premier League club to their first Champions League triumph last month, would earn an annual salary of 12.0 million euros ($15.1 million).



Another Shanghai newspaper, the Oriental Morning Post, said Monday that Shenhua have offered Drogba 200,000 pounds a week.



Deep-pocketed Shenhua have spent lavishly on foreign talent, including coaches. They sacked head coach Jean Tigana earlier this season and replaced him with former Argentina manager Sergio Batista last month.



They are currently 12th in the 16-club Super League.

Anelka targeting Drogba swoop

Shanghai Shenhua player-manager Nicolas Anelka is eyeing a swoop for Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.



The Frenchman moved to the Chinese club in January to take on a playing role but was recently promoted following the sacking of Jean Tigana.



And he has now admitted he hopes to raid his former club as well as attempting to bring in one of his countrymen from Portugal's Maritimo.



"I hope Selim Benachour and Didier Drogba will quickly join us," Anelka told Le Journal du Dimanche.



"I hope they come. It is up to the club to see if we have the right means."



As for his new job, Anelka has admitted that the influence of some of his own former managers convinced him to take the plunge into coaching, and noted that playing in the Premier League for much of his career has given him an English sensibility.



"I have been impressed by Carlo Ancelotti, Kevin Keegan, Arsene Wenger, Guus Hiddink, Christoph Daum and Sam Allardyce," he said.



"I have also looked at Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp. I have a very English philosophy of coaching."



The 33-year-old also conceded that he faced a difficult challenge in his first role as a manager, but says he was unaware of the specifics regarding his promotion.



"Jean Tigana? I don't know what happened with the coach, but it looked like an impasse," Anelka said.



"As usual I will take on, trying to seize that challenge, which is the greatest of my career. We start almost from scratch again.



"Florent Ibenge will take the daily training sessions. To assist us there will be Alioune Toure and Ian Walker for the keepers."