Damien Duff's arrival at Newcastle has possibly signalled the end of James Milner's Tyneside career. The winger, on his return from a year-long loan at Aston Villa, has been discreetly offered to several clubs including Middlesbrough, West Ham, Wigan and Fulham. Milner's departure could pave the way for Shaun Wright-Phillips's arrival on a season-long loan from Chelsea although that is looking increasingly unlikely.
Glenn Roeder's side, aiming to fund impending transfer market moves for the two strikers they urgently need, have been linked with Juventus's Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Newcastle have released Robbie Elliott while Jean-Alain Boumsong is understood to be on the brink of joining Monaco, though the transfer may be hijacked by Marseille.
Wayne Rooney has claimed a fall-out with Everton manager David Moyes prompted his exit from Goodison Park. The England international insists he "would have gone almost anywhere to get away from David Moyes" and considered a move to Newcastle before joining Manchester United in a deal worth £27 million two years ago.
"If no-one else had come in I would have gone to Newcastle," says Rooney in his autobiography My Story So Far. Rooney added: "To me he appeared overbearing, just wanting to control people. I suppose being young and confident and playing for England at 17, I wasn't bothered about upsetting him or answering back."
And, while there was interest from St James' Park, Rooney only wanted to join United when it became apparent Alex Ferguson was interested in him. "I knew that was the club I wanted to join," he said.
Meanwhile, Gareth Southgate, who spent much of yesterday trying to persuade Julio Arca to swap Sunderland for Middlesbrough in a mooted £2 million move, is attempting to convince Chelsea to loan him Robert Huth for the season. The centre-half failed a medical at Boro earlier this month and club surgeons vetoed a permanent £5 million deal. However, Southgate hopes to push through a compromise giving Huth a year to prove medical opinion wrong while bolstering his defence.
Wigan Athletic are confident of deflecting interest from Charlton to complete the £1.75 million signing of Emmerson Boyce from Crystal Palace. He declined a new contract at Selhurst Park after making 77 appearances for the club. That decision prompted Palace to place him on the transfer list.
Palace's winger Jobi McAnuff has handed in a transfer request amid interest from Premiership clubs. Watford want the 24-year-old, who would cost £1.5 million, but are likely to face competition from Sheffield United and Charlton, whose manager, Iain Dowie, worked with him at Palace last season. Dowie is giving a trial to the Liverpool utility player Salif Diao.
