TRANSFER NEWS:  Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has urged Manchester City "to blow us out of the water" as the Roque Santa Cruz transfer saga continues. Arsene Wenger is insisting "no news is good news" on the Andrei Arshavin front and dismissing suggestions the Gunners are set to bid for Irish goalkeeper Shay Given.

City manager Mark Hughes confirmed yesterday the club had made a "significantly higher" bid than the £12million offered during the summer for the striker, only for Rovers to swiftly say no.

With money seemingly no object to City's Abu Dhabi owners, the ball is now in their court as to whether they make a new offer Blackburn would be unable to refuse.

"I can't second guess what Manchester City are going to do," said Allardyce. "Whatever happens between now and next week, as time goes on in this usual transfer window of mayhem, we will wait and see.

"You never say never about anything because you never know what is around the corner when January is on the boil.

"At the end there is always going to be a price, but there is no price we are going to put on Roque's head.

"It is down to Man City to make the offer and blow us out of the water.

Allardyce has also this week been linked with a move for Sunderland striker El Hadji Diouf, a player he successfully managed during his time at Bolton.

But it appears unlikely Diouf will again work with the Rovers boss for the foreseeable future as Allardyce revealed: "My information is he is not available."

Arshavin has been linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium this month and it was reported earlier this week that talks had begun over the transfer of the Russian forward, who could cost up to £20million.

Wenger, refused to rule out a move for Arshavin last week but remained coy when asked about whether the 27-year-old was close to signing for the Gunners on Friday.

"We do not want to talk too much about who we want to buy," Wenger told Arsenal TV online. "At the moment I cannot give you any good news but in this job no news is good news. Nothing has fallen through. We are on alert in the transfer market."

He also hinted he is in the market for a defensive midfielder to bolster his injury-hit squad.

"That is also a priority," he said. "We are not in the big league. We are a little short because we wanted a player like (Tomas) Rosicky to play 80 per cent of games and he has not played at all.

"We want to spend money but as everyone knows, and as the the chairman has said, we have money available but we have limited resources, and you want to spend it in the best way possible," he added, before insisting defender Kolo Toure will remain a Gunner.

Wenger rubbished claims he is set to bid for Newcastle goalkeeper Given by saying he has full faith in his number one and back-up Lukasz Fabianski.

"We have two keepers in Almunia and Fabianski that we rate highly," Wenger said.

Midfielder Graham Kavanagh has left Sunderland by mutual consent.

Kavanagh, 35, one of six men to sign for Roy Keane's Sunderland on the final day of the summer transfer window in August 2006, has agreed to end his contract after spending two months on loan at League One Carlisle.

Former Republic of Ireland international Kavanagh, whose deal was due to expire at the end of the season, made only 15 appearances for the Black Cats after being hampered by a knee injury.

He said: "I'm gutted that, due to my knee injury, I didn't get to play more games for the club.

"I'll be moving on to pastures new, but I'd like to thank everyone at the club, especially the fans for their fantastic support during my time here."

Lee Bowyer has moved to Birmingham on loan after finding opportunites limited with West Ham this season.

"Lee's a dynamic player and I want to bring a dynamic look back to the team," said Birmingham boss Alex McLeish. "Roy Aitken, one of my assistants, has worked with him at Leeds and knows him as an attacking midfielder but he also knows that Lee can give a lot to the team as well."

Bowyer, 32, rejoined West Ham when he returned to the Boleyn Ground from Newcastle in June 2006 but so far this campaign has featured in only seven games for the Hammers, scoring one goal - in the club's 4-1 Carling Cup win over Macclesfield.

Jermain Defoe is set to feature against Wigan on Sunday after he officially completed his move back to Tottenham from Portsmouth.

Defoe agreed terms to rejoin the club he left just over a year ago earlier in the week and was paraded to fans ahead of the Carling Cup semi-final first leg victory over Burnley but the paperwork was not filed immediately.

The Premier League now have the 26-year-old's registration and he is free to play at the JJB Stadium this weekend. The deal is valued at around £15million, with the delay occurring as Spurs were entitled to a sell-on fee, even though they were also the club buying the player. It is thought that he has agreed a five-year contract.

Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie and manager Tony Adams are set to discuss whether they will make an increased offer for Middlesbrough's Gary O'Neil, after an initial approach was rejected.

"It was what we thought was a reasonable price," said Storrie.

Defoe's former Portsmouth team-mate and defender Glen Johnson has signed a new four-and-a-half year contract with the club, ending speculation linking him with Liverpool.