Today’s babble is after one final pay day

Moonlit strolls along the banks of the Seine following romantic dinners for two in the Musée d’Orsay all soundtracked by clichéd accordion music played by a man wearing a beret, blue and white striped shirt, and an onion necklace could soon become a staple in one Chelsea midfielder’s life if TalkSport’s reports that Carlo Ancelotti has made enquiries about bringing Frank Lampard to Paris Saint-Germain turn out to have a grain of truth in them. With his place in midfield far from secure under current manager André Villas-Boas, Lampard has 18 months left on his contract and has already been the subject of enquiries from Manchester United and LA Galaxy, so it’s far from inconceivable that his head wouldn’t be turned by the prospect of one last big day in the French capital. In other news pertaining to Chelsea, Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk say they’ve rejected a £16.7m bid from the west London club for Brazilian midfielder Willian.

Gus Poyet has hatched a fiendish plan to bring Michael Owen to Brighton, according to this morning’s Sun. The former England striker’s opportunities have been strictly limited at Manchester United, but quite how he’d feel about moving so far down south when his well-documented racing and bloodstock interests are based in the north-west is anyone’s guess. Both Manchester clubs are also believed to be interested in Benfica winger Nicolás Gaitán, who has been making reassuring if unconvincing noises about how he won’t be letting talk of a lucrative move to the Premier League distract him.

Manchester United’s increasingly tight-fisted board have refused to countenance a £10m bid for 17-year-old Dinamo Zagreb playmaker Mateo Kovacic, presumably on the grounds that it would be cheaper to coax Sir Bobby Charlton out of retirement. Tottenham and Manchester City will now go head-to-head in the battle to bring the young tyro to Blighty.

The Mirror reports that Liverpool have approached Real Madrid with a view to taking attacking midfielder Esteban Granero to Anfield on loan. Known as “El Pirata” (The Pirate), possibly because he says ‘Arrrr!’ a lot and habitually plays with a parrot perched on his shoulder, the 24-year-old Spaniard has been restricted to just four appearances under José Mourinho this season and is very much for sale, but without any club having put in a concrete offer, Kenny Dalglish is hopeful of sorting out something more short-term with the Bernabéu suits. Liverpool have also denied claims by the father of Rangers striker Nika Jelavic that they are interested in securing the scrawl of his boy, but are believed to be interested in Udinese’s Chilean versatility man Mauricio Isla.

Currently top of the Premier League player ratings awarded by readers of a website not a million miles from here, Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm’s consistently excellent performances have aroused interest at Manchester United and Chelsea, according to Swansea director John van Zweden. Swans fans need not fret over the possibility of losing their Dutch keeper, as Vorm insists he has no intention of going anywhere.

Despite being temporarily confined to the dock of Southwark crown court and generally having more important things than usual to worry about in the final week of the January transfer window, Harry Redknapp wants to bring Lazio striker Mauro Zárate to White Hart Lane. Currently on loan at Inter, the Argentinian has previous in England where he spent time on loan at Birmingham City, scoring four goals in 14 appearances, but failing to help them avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Sunderland want to maintain their charge towards the Champions League title by bringing Mohammed Abdellaoue to the Stadium of Light from Bundesliga side Hannover 96. A Norwegian international striker of Moroccan descent, “Moa” has scored 13 goals in 24 starts in all competitions this season.

Newcastle have made an offer for Watford captain Aidy Mariappa, a 25-year-old English defender of Fijian extraction who has spent his entire professional career to date at Vicarage Road. Elsewhere in the Championship, Barnsley manager Keith Hill is hoping to bring Stoke City midfielder Michael Tonge to Oakwell, while Reading are hoping to recruit Blackburn striker Jason Roberts.

Transfer windowChelseaParis St-GermainManchester UnitedBrighton & Hove AlbionLiverpoolReal MadridTottenham HotspurEuropean footballBarry Glendenning
guardian.co.uk

Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal are not as strong as English quartets of recent seasons as the Champions League reasserts itself

No one in England can complain about the monotony of the Champions League anymore. It had been a smug lament that was really more of a boast about the domination of our clubs. Those times seem distant in a week when three of the four representatives might be eliminated in the group phase. The tournament has suddenly reasserted itself against the Premier League sides.

An element of surprise has returned. Manchester City, given the scale of the budget, were supposed to impose their will. Instead they are at the mercy of events since they may still be knocked out even if they beat Bayern Munich. Any onlooker will have begun to accept that our domestic football cannot be quite so challenging as we supposed until very recently. City themselves will testify to the shock of the experience.

While this is the club’s debut season in the modern form of the European Cup, there appeared to be substantial sophistication in the Serie