Anelka apathy (or indeed, antipathy) is spreading. AFP reports that Juventus have formally denied an interest in Nicolas Anelka, or in Christian Vieiri whose move yesterday smashed the world transfer record.

'Anelka is not in our plans,' said Juve's director-general Luciano Moggi, 'because he would be poorly adapted to moving forward from a position behind Del Piero and Inzaghi.' The piece suggests that it was Zinedine Zidane who had been pressing for Anelka's arrival in Turin, even though he would only have been a second-string player. (If ZiZi is so keen to play alongside Anelka, perhaps he might consider a move to Highbury?)

But Moggi has confirmed Italian press reports that the club is interested in Darko Kovacevic, the Yugoslav international currently at Real Sociedad: no deal has been done just yet, he said, but Juve have secured an option.