MAN CITY ENTER ELM CHASE

Manchester City have joined the chase for highly-rated Swedish midfielder Rasmus Elm, who has also attracted interest from Everton and Fulham.

Elm is one of the best prospects to come out of Sweden in recent years and is expected to leave Kalmar FF before the close of the transfer window.

Heerenveen and Valenciennes have seen bids rejected for the 21-year-old, while Fulham have also reportedly failed with an offer.

He visited Everton's training ground recently and David Moyes' side had been in pole position to agree a deal for the youngster.

However, big-spending City are now showing an interest and have sent a scout to watch Elm in Kalmar's clash with Elfsborg on Sunday.

"It is correct that Manchester City will be here," Kalmar FF chairman Jonny Pettersson toldSportbladet.

"The more clubs who are interested, the better for us.

"What is important is to find a solution which is good for both Rasmus and us."

Pettersson also confirmed that Everton are still to make a concrete offer, but says Kalmar have received a bid from another Premier League side.

He added: "A serious offer has not come in from Everton. We have got offers from another English club and a Dutch one.

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UNITED TELL VALENCIA TO 'NAME PRICE'

Sunday's premier rumour rag reports that Manchester United will use Wednesday's friendly against Valencia for more than a fitness exercise, claiming they will meet the Spanish top brass and tell them to 'name their price' for David Silva.

The paper has a good crack at predicting their response, floating the figure of £25million, and United might be willing to deal despite saying they wouldn't be buying anyone else this summer.

United are also apparently interested in David Villa, and The People claims they will ask about him too on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, The Sunday Express claims United are counting out the coppers in preparation for a bid for Sergio Kun Aguero.

Apparently Aguero is seen as the ideal replacement for Carlos Tevez, and Fergie is weighing up a bid of around £35million.

And back to The News of the World now, and they claim United are about to call off a potential deal for Brazilian winger Douglas Costa over 'concerns about the player's private life'.

Costa was apparently arrested for driving without a license last week, this after being dressed down by his club for habitual lateness and a 'party lifestyle'. Interestingly, despite this 'party lifestyle', he apparently doesn't drink.

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Van der Vaart confirms he'll leave Real Madrid

Rafael van der Vaart is expecting to leave Real Madrid after learning he is not in new coach Manuel Pellegrini's plans for the season.

The Holland international only joined Real from Hamburg last summer, but has been deemed surplus to requirements following the big-money arrivals at the Bernabeu.

Chelsea have previously been linked with a bid for the midfielder, while former clubs Ajax and Hamburg are also reportedly keen.

Van der Vaart confirmed Pellegrini has told him he will be on the periphery this term and revealed Real want to recoup the 16m euros (£13.5m) paid to Hamburg 12 months ago.

"The coach told me I won't get much chance to play, so it's not an option to stay here," Van der Vaart told De Telegraaf. "Real want to get my transfer fee back. I completely understand that clubs want to wait."

The 26-year-old would be prepared to return to Hamburg and admits his priority is to find a club where he will play regular first-team football.

He added: "Of course I am interested in HSV, but it's not the only option for me. The most important thing is that I will play at a new club."

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Birmingham waiting to hear over Traore loan

Birmingham hope to find out in the next 48 hours whether Arsenal will allow them to sign defender Armand Traore on loan.

Armand Traore: Wants to fight for place at Arsenal

Blues boss Alex McLeish has identified the left-back role as the one which is giving him most cause for concern with David Murphy and Franck Queudrue currently not fit.

Stuart Parnaby has switched from right-back to fill the position during the majority of pre-season.

McLeish said: ''I don't want to upset Arsene Wenger by speaking (about Traore). I also see he has got a couple of injuries himself, like Gael Clichy, so I hope that's not ominous.

''We've got other targets but we want to bring in a bit of quality for the position.

''It's not a bottomless pit in terms of the money and we'd try to structure a deal on maybe a loan.

''I'm not talking necessarily about Traore, there's one or two options. It's better that I don't talk about other people's players at the moment.

''All that does is upset the Birmingham fans when we don't get them.''

McLeish is also keen to bring in another midfielder, with Sporting Gijon's Michel understood to be on his radar.

The Spanish player is rated in the £3m bracket - the same as Aston Villa's Craig Gardner who has been another potential McLeish target this summer.

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City-boy Toure: Gunners lost too many leaders

Manchester City's latest recruit Kolo Toure believes he was right to swap the Emirates for Eastlands because Arsenal have failed to replace too many big names.

Toure moved to City for £16m.

The Ivorian, the last remaining member of their 2003/04 'invincibles' squad, believes the failure to replace a host of star players has made the club a less attractive proposition than Mark Hughes' City.

The 28-year-old said: ''I came to Man City because when you look at Arsenal you see all the great players have left the club and are now in the past.

''Look at what has happened there.Thierry Henry has gone, Patrick Vieira has gone, Ray Parlour has gone.

''These were the players that brought success to Arsenal and I believed it was right at this stage of my career to also move on.

''We lost too many leaders at Arsenal. When we were winning the league title the spirit was fantastic, we were like a band of brothers.''

Toure also defended City's spending policy, which has seen them criticised in some quarters for distorting the market.

''The best teams are at the top only because they have the best players and to get those players you have to spend a lot of money,'' he said.

''You can't be successful in football without money. This is the football business. City have a project to build a big team and so it is natural it is going to cost money.''

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Bruce frustrated by Bent transfer saga

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is ready to pull the plug on his attempt to buy Darren Bentfrom Tottenham.

Steve Bruce: Now in charge at Sunderland

Bruce's on-going and highly-publicised bid to bring Bent to the Stadium of Light took a bizarre twist on Friday when the player outlined his frustration on the internet networking site Twitter.

After watching his side beat Celtic 2-1 at Parkhead in a friendly, thanks to goals byKieran Richardson and Kenwyne Jones, the Black Cats boss expressed his exasperation that no deal has yet been done.

''What time is it in America?'' he said. ''I think the Tottenham chairman Mr Levy is in America at the moment and talks are on-going.

''It is a frustrating time for everyone concerned but until we reach an agreement with Spurs then obviously we can't get the player.

''We thought we had an agreement a couple of times but things have changed.

''I have to say this though, there comes a time when I have to draw the line.

''I have been at it for weeks and one or two of our other targets have drifted away from us because I have been targeting Darren, but we will see.''

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Moyes hits out at City over lack of respect

David Moyes has accused Manchester City of showing a lack of respect to Everton in their chase for Joleon Lescott.

Lescott: City just won't let it go.

The Toffees have turned down two bids for the defender and boss Moyes is not happy at the way their cash-rich Premier League rivals are going about their business.

He told the Sunday Mirror: ''It's about showing respect and we're not being shown that. I'm sure if I was (City boss) Mark Hughes, with all the money he has, I would try to buy the best players.

''But we try to go about it in a different fashion. I would think I would go about my business in the way I've always done.''

City have had bids of £15m and £18m for Lescott turned down - and are now believed to be returning soon with a £22m offer.

However, Everton are insisting they will not sell the England international defender, even for £30m.

Moyes continued: ''I've always tried to contact the managers and show respect to them in terms of transfers - and no matter how much money I might have to spend I would always want to keep that up.

''It goes back to the managers having a drink together after the game, to the fact managers would still phone each other up when they are looking for a player. That is part of the way it should be done.''

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Redknapp denies making £10m bid for Bassong

Harry Redknapp has rubbished reports that Tottenham have submitted a bid for Newcastle defender Sebastien Bassong, although admitted the defender is a player he is interested in.

The defender will leave Newcastle this summer.

Reports emerged that Newcastle had rejected a £10m bid from Spurs after the club's chief scout watched the 23-year-old Frenchman in action in the friendly at home to Leeds in midweek.

Redknapp is likely to be in the market for a defender with Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Dawson set to miss the start of the season through injury whileLedley King has yet to kick a ball this summer.

But, speaking in Hong Kong following Tottenham's 2-0 defeat to South China in an exhibition match, Redknapp denied the club have made a bid for Bassong.

''It is not true. Not since I have been here today,'' he said. ''He is a player that I was interested in. I like Bassong, he is a young player with a good future and a good central defender.

''I don't think we have made an offer as far as I know. I am sure the chairman has not made an offer.''

Tottenham's defeat at the Hong Kong stadium was their first in the Far East this summer after they beat Premier League rivals West Ham and Hull last week to win the Asia Trophy in Beijing.

Spurs now head back to England following a busy few weeks but Redknapp believes the intense schedule will prove beneficial for the players come the start of the season.

''It has been tough but we go home now and have a break this week while even next week in the last friendly before the start of the season I won't take chances with many of the players because a lot have international games before the Liverpool game,'' he said.

''I changed things around an awful lot (today) and gave the ones who haven't played a game a chance. It was a good experience for the younger players as they had not played on this trip.''

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Liverpool's Carragher wary of Owen threat

Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is pleased to see former Red Michael Owen back at a top-four club, but hopes his friend finds life at Manchester United tough going.

Carragher will look to keep the striker quiet.

Carragher predicted United's latest signing could prove a masterstroke for Sir Alex Ferguson, but is crossing his fingers the England striker struggles for goals in the Premier League title race.

''Signing Michael Owen was a clever piece of business by United and he has started really well in pre-season,'' Carragher told the Sunday Mirror.

''In a way I'm pleased he's got a big move to a big club because he came in for a lot of criticism at Newcastle. Why? What did he do wrong up there?

''For me, Michael Owen is still a great player and great role model and I have this feeling he'll be good for United.

''But he plays for our biggest rivals now so he'll know I won't want him to carry on scoring once the season starts.''

He added: ''He's scored a lot of goals in the first few games for United and I hope he scores a few more pre-season because I want him to do well.

''But as soon as the season starts I hope he has a drought.''

Despite his respect for Owen's talents, Carragher believes Liverpool's forward pairing ofFernando Torres and Steven Gerrard could not be bettered.

''No other team in England has a partnership like Gerrard and Torres. There is no better partnership in the world at the moment.

''It's strange to be talking about Stevie as a striker, but that's what he has become and, for me, in that position behind the main forward there is no one better.

''When he's playing alongside Torres they have the ability to tear defences wide open in a split second.''

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Stuttgart delight as Pogrebnyak signs from Zenit

Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt was delighted to welcome Pavel Pogrebnyak to his club after the Russia international passed a medical.

The 25-year-old has joined for an undisclosed fee from Russian side Zenit St Petersburg on a four-year contract and will take the place in the Stuttgart attack left vacant following the sale of Mario Gomez to Bayern Munich.

''We are delighted that it has worked out,'' said Heldt. ''He fulfils precisely the profile that we were looking for. He is a target man, just like Mario Gomez.''

Heldt denied reports that the 25-year-old had cost his side a third of the 30m euros they had earned from the sale of Gomez, saying the fee was ''in the region of five million''.

''We said that we would not do anything crazy,'' explained Heldt on DSF television.

''Pavel only had six months left on his contract so 10m would have clearly been too much.''

Since Stuttgart have managed to sign Pogrebnyak relatively cheaply, Heldt would not rule out making any more signings this summer after the club also agreed a one-year loan deal with Barcelona for Alexander Hleb last week.

''Theoretically, we could make some more additions,'' he said. ''The window is open until the end of August and we will leave this opportunity open to us.''

Pogrebnyak was heading back to Russia to obtain a work permit and he is due back in Germany on Monday when he will be officially presented as a Stuttgart player.

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