Football transfer rumours: Rasmus Elm to Manchester United?

Rasmus Elm, left, goes toe to toe with Jack Rodwell during Sweden's international friendly against England. The Swedish midfielder is being linked with a January move to Manchester United Photograph: Michael Regan/The FA via Getty Images

With a confused and saddened football world struggling to get its head around the tragic passing of Gary Speed, it's no surprise that many of the sports pages are dedicated to echoing the poignant and fitting tribute paid to the Wales manager before kick-off at Swansea City's Liberty Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The understandable upshot is that there's little room for comparatively irrelevant nonsense such as this, so it is to the outer reaches of cyberspace we turn for today's tittle-tattle and tell-all.

Despite Sir Alex Ferguson's assertion that he doesn't need to bring in new blood to cover for his injured Brazilian midfielder Anderson, Inside Futbol suggests AZ Alkmaar's Swedish midfielder Rasmus Elm might be off to Manchester United in January, although the player's agent has refused to confirm the club's interest in his client. "I can't comment on individual clubs, although I am aware of what is happening," said Patrick Mork, the Mr 15% in question. "But what I can say is that many of the biggest clubs follow Rasmus."

Juventus have ruled out a January move for the Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, with the Old Lady's general director Giuseppe Marotta sounding fairly emphatic about his lack of interest in the Argentinian in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "Tevez is not a player who interests us; absolutely not," declared Marotta, before pouring himself a cup of relaxing camomile tea and adding: "We will calmly ponder what to do in the January transfer window."

With a starting berth in Barcelona's first team no longer assured, theSpanish striker David Villa could be tempted to calmly ponder a move to Liverpool, subject to Kenny Dalglish's side qualifying for the Champions League. Villa turned down a move to Anfield in favour of signing for Barcelona in the summer of 2010, but Liverpool's interest in securing his scrawl remains undimmed despite the snub.

The Udinese winger Gabriel Torje has been the subject of inquiries from Arsenal, with the 22-year-old agent having confirmed that the young Romanian won't be going anywhere in January, a move next summer is a realistic possibility. "Yes, it's true Arsenal like him," said Giovani Becali. "There's nothing official. We can say there have been talks, even when the player does not move. In January there is no chance that he moves. For June, we'll see."

Having made so many shrewd purchases from the fertile hunting ground of Ligue 1 in the past 12 months, Newcastle United are planning another cross-channel raid, with the Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud the latest young Frenchman to have got antennae twitching at St James' Park. The 25-year-old made his international debut earlier this month, coming on as a substitute in France's 1-0 win over the USA, and did his chances of securing a January move to Tyneside no harm by orchestrating all three of his side's goals in their weekend win at Sochaux.

And with his Milan contract set to expire at the end of this season,Clarence Seedorf could be given the option of finishing his career in Brazil. Having turned down offers from Corinthians, Flamengo and Botafogo last summer in favour of spending another season at the San Siro, the 106-year-old Dutch midfielder is wanted by posh Rio side and three-times Brazilian champions Fluminese. Elsewhere in Brazil,Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assis Moreira has insisted that his sibling is eager to stay at Flamengo, despite talk of tears and recriminations over unpaid wages, not to mention speculation linking the 31-year-old nightclub enthusiast with the Greek side Panathinaikos.

"I have not spoken to anyone about a potential transfer," said Assis. "He is very happy here where he can always visit his friends. He's still a big name in world football. He's getting some good results here. He has made over 50 appearances and has scored 20 goals. He has even returned to the Seleção. He is very happy and wants to focus on his performances on the pitch."