SOCCER: Chelsea are considering the sale of Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff. Tottenham lodged a £5 million offer at the weekend that was immediately rebuffed and Duff was yesterday still training with Chelsea at their base in Surrey.

The 27-year-old, who cost £17 million from Blackburn three years ago, had hoped to conclude a contract extension on his £70,000-per-week deal, which has two years to run. In close-season contract talks, however, Chelsea informed him he would have to take a significant pay cut to remain at Stamford Bridge.

Having made only 63 Premiership starts in his three seasons in west London, Duff has failed to reproduce the form that saw Chelsea and Manchester United enter a bidding war for his signature. Tottenham, though, must at least double their bid to be sure of securing Duff.

Chelsea have inquired over the availability of Gianluca Zambrotta at Juventus. Although the World Cup-winning full back is understood to favour a move to Real Madrid, where he would link up again with the departed Juventus coach Fabio Capello, Chelsea are keen to strengthen their options in defence.

The Premiership champions are particularly keen to seek left-back alternatives. The Spain international Asier del Horno is set for a return to his homeland with Valencia after a disappointing season at Stamford Bridge and Jose Mourinho regards Wayne Bridge as only a second choice.

Zambrotta impressed during the World Cup and is seeking a move away from Stadio delle Alpi following his club's relegation from Serie A as part of the match-fixing scandal in Italy.

However, the Premiership champions' principal target to replace del Horno remains Ashley Cole, Arsenal's England left back. Cole, who has made public the extent of his dispute with the Gunners prior to the publication of his autobiography this month, has no intention of remaining at Arsenal. However, with so few clubs capable of competing for his services, Chelsea are refusing to meet the £16 million release clause in Cole's contract.

Chelsea will remain among the second seeds for the Champions League next season despite the almost-certain exclusion of Juventus and AC Milan from the competition.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool will be among the eight top seeds for the draw but even with the top Italian sides missing Chelsea remain among the second seeds.

French champions Lyon will benefit, however, as they will now become one of the top seeds.

Despite being Premiership champions for two years running, Chelsea's English rivals who have notched up more Uefa co-efficient points by having a longer history in Europe's elite club competition.

It will mean Mourinho's side have a one-in-five chance of being in the same group as European champions Barcelona, who beat them in the first knockout phase of the competition last season.

Arsenal's Swiss centre back Philippe Senderos will be out of action for another three months after dislocating his shoulder during the World Cup.

Senderos suffered the injury during the group game against South Korea on June 23rd and had an operation a few days later.

"We have lost Senderos for the next three months," said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger yesterday.

Liverpool will know whether their interest in Dirk Kuyt could prompt a transfer from Feyenoord by next Monday. "I have an arrangement with the coach, Erwin Koeman, that I can take some more days to think about my future," said the Netherlands striker, who wants to move to the Premiership after Feyenoord failed to qualify for this year's Champions League. Despite his disappointing performances in the World Cup, Feyenoord want £13.8 million for the player. Rafael Benitez will await Kuyt's response before lodging a formal inquiry.

Alex Ferguson has reaffirmed his determination to keep Cristiano Ronaldo but the Manchester United manager has received mixed messages about the availability of Fernando Torres.

The impending departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy is set to create a major vacancy in United's striking department and it is thought Torres is the man Ferguson will look to fill it.

Although the Spanish World Cup star has a £41 million buyout clause in his contract with Atletico Madrid, United officials are confident they can land the 22-year-old for far less.

The exact funds Ferguson has available are not likely to be established until an agreement is reached with Real Madrid over a fee for van Nistelrooy.

So far, the Spanish giants have failed to get anywhere near the £15 million United are hoping for and the indications from Old Trafford remain they will not budge on their valuation, even though Ferguson has written the Dutch striker out of his plans for good following their massive end-of-season bust-up.

The problem for Ferguson is the longer the van Nistelrooy saga drags on, the less likely Torres is to move.

"El Nino", as he is dubbed in La Liga, is one of the hottest properties in Europe and his strength and size appear to be ideally suited to Premiership combat.

However, there are conflicting signals about his desire to quit the Spanish capital, with his agent insisting Torres wants to stay and his coach believing he does not.

Although the likelihood of Torres joining United is open to considerable debate, the short-term future of Ronaldo appears to be becoming much clearer.

The Portugal winger twice stated his desire to quit Old Trafford during the World Cup, claiming he could not return to Manchester because of the abuse he would receive in England for the part he played in Wayne Rooney's dismissal during their quarter-final confrontation. But the 21-year-old's stance appears to be softening.

The clearest indication about his future plans will come on July 31st, when he is due to return from a three-week break and, in any case, Ferguson is not contemplating a sale.

"Cristiano will definitely be coming back," said Ferguson firmly, backing up the more forceful statement issued from Old Trafford last week.