Papa Bouba Diop: He's a big strong skillful midfielder. He's the nearest thing anyone can think of to Patrick Vieira. He's even from Senegal! So of course, Arsenal want to sign him in the transfer window. Fulham bought Diop from Lens for £2m at the start of last season and has 2 more seasons on his Cottagers contract after this one. According to reports, Fulham boss Chris Coleman is taking the rumours seriously enough to keep on raising the bar. "Every player has his price", he says, and the latest price quoted is £15million (although it's probably gone up again already). Rumour has it that Man Utd and Fiorentina are interested. Chelsea don't need him, but did they really need Essien? Diop says he's not fazed by the attention. He doesn't look like the type to be fazed by anything, and would be an excellent addition to the squad. But for £15million, for a player not guaranteed to keep out, say, Gilberto or Cesc...? We'd take him, but it seems unlikely. Back at the start of the season, Fulham were said to have fended off interest from Everton by slapping an £8m price tag on him. If that's true, then it's clear that the £15m figure is designed to be unrealistic. There are even suggestions now that Fulham have offered a 12 month extension, and that Diop will be happy to sign it.

Helguera, Adu, Ledley King, anyone with a pulse.... Talking Soccer (sub-heading: "Talking Sense") is fast establishing itself as the premiere dealer in utter tripe on the misinformation superhighway. Their speciality is eye-catching headlines designed to attract hits to the site, with little or no content behind them. A prime example: "Ledley King in Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man Utd and Tottenham talks", which when you click on it (oh, ok, if you must) tells you that King might extend his Spurs contract soon, and that he is a good player and so might be of interest to the top English clubs. Their Helguera and Adu stories follow the same pattern, but with even less actual content. Ok, enough links to bullshit blogs.

Carlo Cudicini: See how differently Sky sports handle these situations. Carlo Cudicini is a good keeper, and being kept on the bench at Chelsea by Petr Cech. But they have to admit that Man Utd and Arsenal are only "thought to be very keen", and that "reports that talks are already underway have been denied". What reports? Bah, more bullshit! But their restraint when it comes to the headline is inspirational: "Carlo Content At Chelsea", even though they have an actual quote saying he's "a little bit unhappy".

Hossam Ghaly: Clubcall claim an exclusive on this one: an Egyptian midfielder currently at Feyenoord but who's fallen out with their manager Erwin Koeman and could be shipped out in the transfer window. The player's already expressed an interest in Arsenal, but us having an interest in him seems a bit tenuous if he's as much trouble as they imply. He's nearly 24, and does at least seem to fit the Wenger blueprint for a creative midfielder. However.... Sporting Life have a few more quotes from Koeman: it sounds like Ghaly gave the ball away with an unnecessary nutmeg in a dangerous position. Apparently Koeman is the 3rd coach in succession to fall out with Khaly. The player says that he hates simple football, "If they say to me to play it simple I get enormously nervous... I have to take initiative and yes, taking risks is part of that". I'm not sure that the attitude sounds like it fits Wenger's blueprint. Thanks to "Sir Basil" for the tip-off.

Anyone got any more rubbish they think we should pick up...?