Newcastle are closing in on a move for Senegal defender Lamine Diatta. Diatta is available outside the transfer window as he is a free agent having bought himself out of his contract with Besiktas.

The powerful defender is believed to have travelled over to England earlier this week as he seeks to secure a move to the Premier League. Birmingham and Wigan have been linked with the 32-year-old, but it appears Newcastle have jumped to the head of the queue.

Magpies boss Kevin Keegan is keen to shore up his leaky defence as he looks to arrest their slide down the table and he is believed to be ready to offer  a short-term deal at St James’ Park.

Diatta has a wealth of experience having played for Toulouse, Marseille, Rennes, Lyon and St Etienne in France before making the move to Besiktas.

Barcelona have reportedly made Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger their top target to replace Frank Rijkaard.

Reports emanating from Spain suggest Barca chiefs have targeted Wenger as the man to take charge at Camp Nou, should Rijkaard leave the club this summer. Rijkaard’s future at Barca has been the subject of intense speculation over the last few months after an indifferent season to date.

Barca currently trail Real Madrid by eight points in La Liga and if they fail to win the title, Rijkaard is expected to be axed. The likes of Jose Mourinho and Marco van Basten have been mentioned as possible candidates for the job, but Catalan daily El Mundo Deportivo claims Wenger is the preferred choice of the Barcelona board.

Barca president Joan Laporta and vice president Ferran Soriano are known to be big admirers of Wenger and believe the Frenchman is the right man to replace Rijkaard. Arsenal would resist any move to lure Wenger away from North London and the Frenchman only signed a new three-year deal at the Emirates last September.

According to today’s papers, Chelsea trio Wayne Bridge, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard could be set to leave the club this summer.

The three English Premier League stars are said to be unhappy at Stamford Bridge after manager Jose Mourinho left the club earlier this season, and the players don’t seem to see a future under new boss Avram Grant.

The possible deals include Didier Drogba going to Barcelona for a fee of around £25 million, with Frank Lampard set to move to Juventus, if the Italian giants make a bid for the England international. Wayne Bridge may also be on his way out if Grant fails to select him for the final of the Carling Cup later this month.

Manchester United are expected to offer Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo a new, 6 year contract.

United have been tempted to offer Ronaldo the new deal after Real Madrid showed an interest in signing Ronaldo. Madrid were supposedly lining up a £80 million offer for the winger.

The six-year contract is expected to be worth a massive £44 million, which would make Ronaldo the best paid player in the Premier League. The deal, would mean Ronaldo would be paid £150,000 per week.

Ronaldo has been in stunning form for the current English Premier League Champions, and has been pivotal to their success, scoring 27 goals for the Manchester side.

As would be expected with such poor results recently, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez is expected to have a mass clear-out of his squad next summer.

The major player expected to leave the club is Spanish international Xabi Alonso. The 27-year-old is expected to be dropped, after Rafa Benitez bought Javier Mascherano in a £19.8 million deal. Although, Benitez will not let Alonso leave for less than £15 million, meaning he will probably return to Spain.

Other players expected to leave are John Arne Riise, Peter Crouch, Harry Kewell and Andriy Voronin.

Riise has struggled to find his form since Benitez became manager; and Andriy Voronin has show he is not able to perform at the level of the English Premier League.

Peter Crouch will only be allowed to leave the club if Rafa can bring in another high profile striker to join Fernando Torres up front. The sale of the players is expected to raise about £40 million.

Tottenham have accepted a bid from Aston Villa for midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, thought to be in the region of £6 million.

The former Hertha Berlin player moved to Tottenham in the summer but has seen himself limited to making substitute appearances for the club.

He has only made three appearances this season where he has started from the beginning of the match. The German Under-21 star has been allowed to talk to Villa about a possible move away from White Hart Lane and Juande Ramos has told told Boateng he is surplus to requirements.

Boateng will go to Villa Park and have contract talks and a possible medical before completing the move in time before the transfer window shuts tomorrow at midnight, if Vila can complete any other outstanding deals.