David Villa has quashed rumours saying he would be sold to finance a bid for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.
David Villa has quashed rumours saying he would be sold to finance a bid for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas. Reuters

The pick of today's European football transfer rumours for 20 June 2011. Any transfer gossip surrounding Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Roma, Barcelona and Real Madrid will be covered here.

Premier League

According to the People, Arsene Wenger is lining up one of the summer's more unlikely transfer moves -- a £1.5m deal for resident Premier League bad boy Joey Barton. The Gunners are also in advanced talks with Blackburn defender Chris Samba who is keen on a move to the Emirates.

In the Metro, globe-trotting midfield workhorse Lassana 'Lass' Diarra has caught Sir Alex Ferguson's eye. The taciturn Scot is monitoring developments at the Bernabeu where Diarra is superfluous to Jose Mourinho's plans. Ferguson has turned his attentions to the 26-year-old after missing out on Yann M'Vila of Rennes and Roma's Daniele De Rossi.

Meanwhile, Diarra's old club Chelsea are preparing a foray into the summer's transfer dealings with a £17m bid for Dutch international Eljero Elia, who is definitely not the new Ryan Babel. The Blues are also preparing an improved bid for Luka Modric which includes a cash-plus-Michael Essien deal which Spurs will inevitably reject as they wait on Manchester City's millions to get involved.

According to TalkSport, Roma are set to trump Liverpool for the signature of Arsenal's Gael Clichy with a £8m offer for the French defender. The Merseyside club continue to be linked with Blackpool captain Charlie Adam, Aston Villa's Stewart Downing, Ipswich forward Connor Wickham and Southampton's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

And over at Eastlands, Manchester City continue their underwhelming summer by being half-heartedly linked with Everton starlet Jack Rodwell; It's almost like this never happened.

La Liga

With gossip column nom-de-guerre Alexis Sanchez having concluded his move to Barcelona the red-tops are left frantically searching for a new summer protagonist to take the Chilean's place.

The Mirror has chosen to fall back on a reliable name from yesteryear to shore up the ranks of perennial will-they-won't-they transfer targets with the suggestion that David Villa could be allowed to leave Barcelona for £40m. Inevitably, and almost by definition, Manchester City and Chelsea have been linked with the soul-patch sporting Spaniard.

Having beaten Manchester's City and United to the Sanchez's signature, Villa will be allowed to leave in order to fund the second stage of Barca's summer spending. Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, this means their eight-year relationship with the much-coveted, soft-shoe midfielder Cesc Fabregas will reach its predictable conclusion before July is out. Cesc has the eight-year itch and the £35m-rated skipper is ready to make his three-year affair with Barcelona official.

Serie A

Inter Milan will attempt to cure Carlos Tevez's homesickness by bringing him to the San Siro where he can hang out with a bunch of Argentine players and continue to not learn English. The Manchester City striker is coveted by Inter and they are prepared to swap want-away forward Samuel Eto'o for the dinky Argentine, according to Corriere dello Sport. The Cameroon international recently revealed he's keen to play in the Premier League. "I am now 30 years old and it is very important for me to think about my future before I sign what could be my last contract," he said.

"If it is about 200 or 300 thousand that will not make a difference to me," he added, not-at-all convincingly.

Across town, AC Milan have concluded a £6.8m deal for Genoa's Stephan El Shaarawy. The deal also sees Milan's German midfielder Alexander Merkel move in the opposite direction in a half-share arrangement for next season.