Arsenal are center of most of today’s transfer rumors as The Guardian is reporting that Arsenal are in hot pursuit of West Ham’s Matthew Upson. The move will follow Kolo Toure’s departure to Manchester City.

Wenger is a known admirer of Upson, having previously purchased him in May of 1997 from Luton Town. In order to clinch the deal for the defender, Wenger is prepared to part with striker Niklas Bendtner, a player who would greatly benefit Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham. Arsenal’s main obstacle in the deal is West Ham’s reluctance to sell their star names, especially considering the uncertainty of the club’s ownership.

West Ham’s other transfer struggles involve Scott Parker negotiating a deal with Manchester City, Craig Bellamy a target for Tottenham, and Calum Davenport to Bolton. Meanwhile, Arsenal are determined to shore up their defense and midfield during this January transfer window, so Upson is targetted along with Portsmouth’s Niko Kranjcar.

If this move goes forward, it can only mean one thing for Kolo Toure. City are confident of securing a deal, so expect Arsenal to make a more serious move for Upson.

Discuss this January’s transfers and more on the forums, and tune in to this Sunday’s LIVE Podcast.

Silly season has taken a little longer than usual to get started, and Arsenal in particular have been busy prodding but not buying. The latest rumor floating around the English tabloids is that the London outfit are interested in Portsmouth’s Niko Kranjcar.

Arsene Wenger has been looking for a midfielder since the summer, with Xabi Alonso his clear first choice. With Liverpool reluctant to sell, though, Wenger has had to look elsewhere. His further pursuit of Mikel Arteta was quickly rejected by David Moyes, so Arsene and Arsenal are now turning their attentions towards the Portsmouth financial mess. Kranjcar was a target for Wenger over the summer, but all attempts to sign the player were thwarted. Now Arsenal believe they stand a chance of signing the Croatian.

Kranjcar has stated before that he would not abandon the Pompey ship this January, so it would take a sizeable offer to land the midfielder. Lassana Diarra has already left Tony Adams’ side, and Jermain Defoe is widely expected to rejoin Tottenham this month.

Would Kranjcar be a good fit at the Emirates? Have your say in the forums, and tune in to this Sunday’s LIVE Podcast.

Alright, so maybe the player linked with a move to Major League Soccer is a former Liverpool standout. And yes, you may be thinking that this has little to do with the Premiership. Well, the player in question is Robbie Fowler, and after all, he is the fourth highest Premier League goalscorer of all time.

Several sources around the internet are now reporting that the Chicago Fire are in talks with Robbie Fowler over a move to America. The club are hoping to wrap up the signing in time for the new season (which starts in just a few months), and Fowler’s agents are in ongoing discussions.

Fowler has been out of contract since last month after being dropped by Blackburn, and I think this would be a good move for him. The pace of the MLS isn’t quite as fast as the Premier League, so Fowler would fit in a bit better. In addition, he’d be joining former Fulham star Brian McBride. The strike duo of McBride and Fowler would be a force to be reckoned with in the MLS, so Fowler should consider the move.

How likely is this? It’s hard to say. Reports indicate that the Fire are offering in the region of £6,000 per week, so he’d be expensive by MLS standards. As an American, I must admit I’m excited about the prospect of seeing Fowler’s finishing in action against some of the US’s youngest and brightest talents.

Do you think he should make the plunge to America? Have your say in the forums.

This past week Manchester United announced the signing of Zoran Tosic, the Serbian winger from Partizan Belgrade. The signing signals more competition amongst Manchester United’s wingers, and potentially could see the exit of someone like Ji-Sung Park. Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that it also means a lot to the future of Wayne Rooney.

It’s no secret: Wayne Rooney has lost that spark that he had as a teenager. Long gone are the powerful runs through the center of defenses, and instead we are left watching a watered down Wayne Rooney try to work some magic on the flanks. Now, with another natural winger in the side, Manchester United has ensured that Wayne Rooney will never be resigned to playing on the wing again. Zoran Tosic’s arrival signals the return of Wayne Rooney to the pinnacle of the Manchester United attack.

“There is no harm in having three or four wide players given the pace of our game,” said Ferguson.

“We don’t consider Ryan (Giggs) a wide player now, which leaves us with Park Ji-sung, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“We have tried Wayne Rooney there and we played Darren Fletcher wide right. But in terms of natural width Zoran is a natural.”

Other Partizan signing Adem Ljajic will remain with Partizan Belgrade until the end of the season, but Tosic is expected to make an instant impact at Old Trafford.

Following their FA Cup exit at the hands of Nottingham Forest, Manchester City have moved quickly to improve the squad. Mark Hughes is on the verge of wrapping up yet another two January transfer deals, this time bringing Scott Parker and Roque Santa Cruz to the City of Manchester Stadium.

The deal between Blackburn and Manchester City would send Roque Santa Cruz to City with Tal Ben-Haim and £18 million heading towards Ewood Park. Hughes has been a long time admirer of the Paraguayan striker and was responsible for bringing him to Blackburn. This deal has been in the pipeline for a while now, and City have finally come to an agreement to sign the striker.

The £12 million deal for West Ham’s Scott Parker is all but wrapped up, and Manchester City will unveil the industrial midfielder within 48 hours. Parker previously played for Chelsea, and will be hoping to link up with Robinho and company immediately.

City’s spending shouldn’t be done just yet, with the club also having wrapped up a deal for Wayne Bridge, who signed a £100,000 per week contract that makes him the highest paid fullback in the world. City are also interested in Craig Bellamy of West Ham, Jermain Defoe of Portsmouth, Kolo Toure of Arsenal, and many other targets.

With Manchester United and Aston Villa joining most of the other Premier League clubs in the fourth round, the FA Cup draw has cooked up some interesting draws.

The pick of the bunch is perhaps the Merseyside derby. Everton will be making the short trip to Anfield in the fourth round to take on cross-town rivals Liverpool. The other big draw of the round will take place when Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United play host to Harry Redknapp and his determined Tottenham side.

The potential for a Sunderland v Blackburn tie is likely, with Blackburn only needing a win against Blyth to secure that fixture. Middlesbrough have the most difficult match against lower league opposition as they will be going up against the winner of the Birmingham v Wolves tie.

Full FA Cup 4th Round Draw:

Liverpool v Everton
Manchester United v Tottenham
Hull or Newcastle v Millwall or Crewe
Sunderland v Blyth or Blackburn
Hartlepool v West Ham
Leyton Orient or Sheffield United v Charlton or Norwich
Cardiff v Arsenal
Portsmouth or Bristol City v Histon or Swansea
Chelsea or Southend v Ipswich
Cheltenham or Doncaster v Aston Villa
West Brom or Peterborough v QPR or Burnley
Torquay v Coventry
Kettering v Fulham
Watford v Leicester or Crystal Palace
Derby v Nottingham Forest
Birmingham or Wolves v Middlesbrough

Once viewed as one of the greatest young strikers in the world, Lukas Podolski is now struggling to get games at Bayern Munich. The German striker has confirmed that a move to the Premier League could be on the cards, as Manchester City and Tottenham are both chasing him.

In the 2006 World Cup, Podolski led Germany to the finals with three goals, leaving him the runner-up for the Golden Boot award. After the tournament he was also named the World Cup’s Best Young Player. Following that, Bayern Munich snapped him up, but it hasn’t been an easy transition. No longer getting regular games in the Bundesliga, Podolski is ready to move on.

“I need to play, I cannot continue to sit on the bench. I’m just not happy in Munich anymore,” Podolski confirmed.

“I think it is time for me to leave Bayern so that I can do my job, which is playing football. I feel ready for an experience overseas and that of course includes Italy.

“I know Roma are interested, but so are several other sides. In Germany the likes of Hamburg, Cologne, Werder Bremen and Borussia Dortmund. In England I’m of interest to Manchester City and Tottenham.”

Discuss this potential move and much more in the forums!

The FA Cup is always good for a few surprise results, and this year has already proved to be no different. Both Chelsea and Manchester City faced lower league opposition at home in the third round, and neither side came out with the result they wanted.

The more surprising of the two is perhaps Manchester City’s 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest. Mark Hughes’ side has been trying to turn the corner in recent weeks, and this loss will have set them back a few steps. The match wasn’t even close, as Forest attacked City from the opening whistle and never looked back.

City’s result came on the same day that the club wrapped up a deal that welcomes Wayne Bridge to the City of Manchester Stadium. Bridge looked on as his new teammates could not muster up a win against Championship opposition.

Down in London, Chelsea squared off against League One outfit Southend United. Salomon Kalou put the heavily favored Blues up 1-0 in the first half, and Chelsea looked like they’d stroll to an easy third round victory. If there’s one thing the FA Cup has taught us, though, there are no such things as easy victories. In the 90th minute Southend completed the dream as Peter Clarke notched an equalizer. The replay will be held at Roots Hall, to the delight of Southend fans.

Other shock results involving Premier League clubs involve Stoke losing 2-0 at Hartlepool and West Brom only salvaging a 1-1 result against Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough side.

Stay tuned with all of the FA Cup’s latest scores with Premiership Talk’s Live Scores!

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate today reiterated his desire to keep winger Stewart Downing at the Riverside. Despite not having the best season ever, Southgate believes it is not in the club’s or the player’s best interest to move just yet. Downing has clearly been affected by transfer speculation in recent weeks, and Boro fans are hoping the issue can be resolved as soon as possible.

“Spurs have expressed an interest in Stewart but we’re not interested in selling him,” Southgate said. “We think we need to keep hold of our best players.

“If Tottenham are really interested then they have not shown that in the way they have approached it, so there’s nothing doing there.

“We feel that keeping the squad we have together is the most important thing we can do.”

If I were Stewart Downing, I’d jump ship at the first opportunity. Tottenham, unlike Middlesbrough, is a club that looks like it is moving upward, while Middlesbrough have remained stagnant for a while now. Harry Redknapp is an excellent manager who could surely get the best out of Downing.

Downing and Bentley on the wings? You tell us! Voice your thoughts in the forums, and be sure to tune in to Sunday’s LIVE Podcast at 1:00pm EST, 6:00pm GMT.

The worldwide credit crunch is taking its toll on football clubs around the world, and it has prompted Spanish side Valencia to admit that they may have to part ways with David Villa.

“Whatever offer comes in we will have to study it although the idea is not to have to sell David Villa or David Silva,” said Valencia’s sporting vice-president Fernando Gomez Colomer.

“It would have to be an exorbitant offer.”

Last season Valencia found themselves in an extremely difficult financial struggle, even teetering on the edge of relegation for much of the season. Selling Villa and/or Silva this season would help get rid of some debts, so clubs around Europe have been alerted to the situation.

“We will fight to give the club the economic stability that it needs,” said the club’s president Vicente Soriano.

“Right now that is the most important thing - more than any kind of sporting success.”

Manchester City and Liverpool are the two most linked English clubs with David Villa, while Manchester United were close to signing a deal for David Silva over the summer. United’s signings of Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic might have scuppered this potential deal, but City remain very interested in David Villa.

Have your say on these transfers in the forums, and be sure to tune in to this Sunday’s LIVE Podcast at 1:00pm EST, 6:00pm GMT.