Real Madrid look set to steal Sao Paulo star Lucas from Chelsea's clutches, despite the west London club's best efforts.
The Premier League side have already been dissatisfied by their chase for Brazilian star Neymar, who has snubbed all proposals from Chelsea to leave Santos.
To add insult to injury, Real Madrid are now looking like top contenders to sign Lucas, whose representative Juan Figer has been speaking to the La Liga side, according to reports in El Confidencial.
The 19-year-old attacking midfielder is highly rated, already marking ten appearances for the Brazilian national team, and also scored debut goal against Argentina earlier in September.
However, he has signed a long-term deal with Sao Paolo, which means the South American side have the ability to demand big money for the young star.
Reports in talkSPORT indicate that the teenager is rated at around the region of £45 million by his club.
However, both clubs may end up being dissatisfied should a bidding war explode for Lucas, as Manchester City have also been recently linked to the player by the Spanish press.
Fabio Capello's worst worries were realised when UEFA handed England striker Wayne Rooney a three-match ban that will see him miss all of England's Euro 2012 group matches.
Rooney's kick at Montenegro's Miodrag Dzudovoic last Friday was judged "an assault" by UEFA's control and disciplinary panel, who stuck to the letter of the law in handing out the penalty despite a plea for leniency from the Football Association.
It means the Italian manager now has to decide whether to take Rooney as part of his squad to Poland and Ukraine, and hope that he can make an impact if England make it through to the knock-out stages of the tournament.
The FA will wait for the full cause behind the decision before deciding whether to appeal. The ban could even be increased by an appeal panel, but that would be unlikely and it looks odds on that the FA will try to have the suspension reduced.
The Manchester United ace is understood to be extremely disappointed in the outcome but will follow the FA's advice about any appeal.
Former England star Alan Shearer described the ban as "a huge blow" to England's chances in the European Championships, and called the kick "a silly error".
Shearer told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's a huge blow. It's not only a huge blow to the team, to the fans and to football followers but to Wayne himself because he realises he's made a stupid error.
"I still think whoever replaces him in the team, England still should have enough to get through the three games without him."
Phil Neville, Rooney's former team-mate labeled the ruling "a joke".
The Everton skipper said on Twitter: "Rooney banned for 3 games what a joke- if it was a Dutch Spanish Italian german player they wouldn't even get 1 game #fact."
The 25 year-old was shown a straight red by German referee Wolfgang Stark for kicking Dzudovoic - England manager Capello admitted it was a "silly mistake" by Wayne, who immediately put himself in danger of receiving the three-match ban.
UEFA's disciplinary rules state that a player will receive a "suspension for three competition matches or for a specified period for assaulting another player or other person present at the match".
A UEFA statement said: "Today's decision was taken in relation to the red card shown to Rooney for assault after 74 minutes of England's final Group G game, the 2-2 draw with Montenegro in Podgorica.
"The striker will now be suspended from playing in his country's next three UEFA national competition matches for which he would be eligible."
The FA have 72 hours to decide whether to appeal, and they said in a statement: "Further to UEFA's decision to impose a three-match suspension on Wayne Rooney following his sending-off against Montenegro, the FA await the full reasons from the disciplinary committee, and will give full consideration to the decision internally, before deciding on any response to UEFA or making any further public comment."
The FA had taken some optimism from a previous case involving Arsenal forward Andrey Arshavin, who was given a two-match ban and missed Russia's first two games of Euro 2008 after being sent off against Andorra. But in that case television proof was less clear cut than in Rooney's.
Juventus chief Giuseppe Marotta has denied reports that his club have started talks to sign unsettled Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.
The Argentina international looks set to leave Eastlands in January after allegedly refusing to play as a substitute against Bayern Munich in UEFA Champions League last month.
Tevez has been linked in recent months with a move to Italian league, with Juve and Inter among the clubs reportedly eager to acquire the 27-year-old's services, but Marotta played down any link with his club.
"It's normal to talk about players when it comes to Juventus," said Marotta to Gazzetta dello Sport. "But we have not started negotiations to sign Tevez.
"We have a squad that meets our needs and we will evaluate week by week if we are lacking something.
"We are not the ones to discover Tevez.
"He is a great player and we are a great club so it's normal that there is a link, but to say that we are negotiating is a different matter."
Bayern Munich rising star Thomas Muller reveals he turned down an offer from English Premier League side Chelsea after starring for Germany at the 2010 World Cup.
Muller, who came to the lime-light in the 2009/10 season after an remarkable season with Bayern, earned himself a place in the German squad for last year's World Cup in South Africa, where he suitably went on the make an even bigger mark for himself.
Muller scored five goals and three assists in Germany's run to the semi-finals, and was awarded the Golden Boot, as well as named the Best Young Player of the tournament.
And the 22-year-old has now revealed that Chelsea came in with an offer immediately after the tournament, which he turned down because he felt it would be advantageous for him to remain at Bayern in the immediate future.
"I wasn't just offered a little after the World Cup - I refused several offers, including one from Chelsea," Muller said according to The Sun.
"It's an honourable club and it's not something that's offered every day, but I didn't think it was reasonable to make that step at such a young age.
"A change would have been ridiculous after only one year playing as a pro, and at my age you have to play [regularly]."
Having built on his remarkable debut campaign with another impressive season last term, where he netted 19 goals in 48 appearances, Muller can't see himself leaving the Allianz Arena at the moment.
"Now I see no reason why I should move, I love Bayern."
Brazilian center-back Alex has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, and Villas-Boas is said to be willing to offload the defender should he be able to prise Godin away from Atletico Madrid.
1)Tottenham are planning a £15m January raid for Chelsea pair Didier Drogba and Alex.
2)Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal are interested in Plymouth’s 16-year-old forward Matt Lecointe, who is rated as “the next Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain”.
3)Stoke City defender Robert Huth is attracting interest from German outfit Wolfsburg as he looks to catch the eyes of national team selectors.
4)United have joined Arsenal in the chase for Fiorentina playmaker Riccardo Montolivo.
5)Villarreal midfielder Bruno Soriano is wanted by ‘the Red devils’, who will have to pay more than €10m (£8.7m) for the Spaniard.
6)Spurs and Liverpool are battling each other for £12m-rated Lille front-man Moussa Sow.
7)Fulham boss Martin Jol is planning to raid his former club Ajax with a bid for forward Mounir El Hamdaoui, a player that he has signed and managed twice before.
