Paper Talk - 28 December 2011

• Juan Mata fears that Chelsea face a struggle to finish in the top four this season.


• Alex McLeish will ask owner Randy Lerner to loosen the Aston Villa purse strings in January in response to a growing injury crisis.


• Blackburn , who we have revealed are close to buying Fulham's Andy Johnson , will also bid £5m for Watford's Marvin Sordell.


• Roma will end Vedran Corluka's Spurs misery.

• Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas has instructed intermediaries to sound out representatives of Gonzalo Higuain to establish if the Real Madrid striker would consider moving to Stamford Bridge.

• Manchester United are facing a fight to keep two of their brightest young stars - Ravel Morrison and Paul Pogba - out of the hands of rivals Manchester City.


• Chelsea's January exodus is likely to swell further, with Florent Malouda set to join Nicolas Anelka and Alex by leaving the club.


• Tony Pulis is set to reward winger Ben Marshall with a new deal at Stoke - and then loan him back to Sheffield Wednesday.


• Landon Donovan is due to arrive on Merseyside on Wednesday to begin his second loan at Everton.

• Mick McCarthy accused referee Stuart Attwell of crumbling under the pressure of the Emirates after Wolves' 1-1 draw with Arsenal.


• Florent Malouda is ready for a reunion with his former Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti at PSG.


• Roma want Tottenham right-back Vedran Corluka, who has been squeezed out by Kyle Walker.


• Bolton boss Owen Coyle hopes to land £2million USA defender Tim Ream, 24, as a replacement for Gary Cahill.

• Bolton will give Owen Coyle the January transfer window to turn their fortunes around before deciding on the manager's future.


• Aston Villa, QPR and Bolton have been offered ex-Newcastle defender Jean-Alain Boumsong.


• Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will consider a move for Blackburn defender Chris Samba.


• Bayer Leverkusen have made contact with Manchester United over their former striker Dimitar Berbatov.


• Eden Hazard's agent has confirmed that Manchester City are considering a £25million bid for the Lille winger.


• West Ham are facing a battle with Real Betis for Valencia defender Ricardo Costa.


• Corinthians are back in for Carlos Tevez and Manchester City also hope Juventus will come in with a cash offer for the forward. The Blues are worried that AC Milan , who want the Argentinean on loan, do not have the cash to complete a permanent move.

• Florent Malouda has become the latest Chelsea player to signal that he is dissatisfied with life under Andre Villas-Boas when he announced that he favoured a move this January to Paris Saint-Germain, having been given little playing time this season.

• AC Milan have warned they are prepared to drag out negotiations for Carlos Tevez for a month.


• Blackburn boss Steve Kean expects to be given the green light to bid for Fulham striker Andy Johnson on Wednesday.


• Stoke boss Tony Pulis wants to sign Saint-Etienne's Senegal midfielder Moustapha Bayal Sall in June - after he first goes to Doncaster on loan.


• Former Manchester United star Andrei Kanchelskis has accused Arsenal's Andrey Arshavin of being a mercenary. 

• Porto striker Hulk fancies a reunion with former manager Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea.

• Chelsea could be interested in Arsenal flop Andrey Arshavin , who seems certain to leave the Emirates in January.

• Marouane Chamakh and Sebastien Squillaci can also leave the Gunners.

• But Arsenal will make only loan signings in January before spending big this summer on Lukas Podolski, Juan Vargas and Yoann Gourcuff.