Manchester United want £11m Kjaer to replace Vidic

Sir Alex Ferguson has lined up a replacement for Nemanja Vidic, should the unsettled Serbian defensive stalwart leave Manchester United in the next transfer window. The Daily Mail claims that Danish international Simon Kjaer, who currently plies his trade with Palermo in Italy's Serie A, has been targetted as a like-for-like replacement. Manchester United will need to pay at least £11m to activate the buy-out clause in the 20-year-old's contract, and could also face competition for the Dane's signature from Juventus and Liverpool, where Kjaer's compatriot Daniel Agger has tipped off manager Rafa Benitez about the youngster...

Chelsea will swoop for Italian midfielder Antonio Candreva in the transfer window, according to the Sun. The versatile 22-year-old has impressed this season at Serie A side Livorno, where he is on loan from Udinese, and has also attracted the attention of Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus, as well as West Ham. Chelsea would look to bring Candreva in immediately to plug the gap that the imminent departures of Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel to the African Cup of Nations will cause...

Ruud van Nistelrooy is ready to leave Real Madrid and sign a loan deal with Liverpool, the Daily Mirror reports today. The 33-year-old Dutchman has now slipped behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Kaka, Gonzalo Higuain and Raul in the Madrid pecking order, and has been weighing up offers from Premier League clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool. But the former Manchester United hitman is set to eschew the chance of hooking up with compatriot Robin van Persie at the Emirates in favour of returning to the north-west with Rafa Benitez's troubled Anfield outfit. Nistelrooy spent five years at Old Trafford, scoring 95 times in 150 games...

Van Nistelrooy's fellow outcast at the Bernabeu, winger Royston Drenthe, could also be on his way out after he was linked by Spanish media with a move to AC Milan. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is desperate to claw back some money from the players sidelined by his summer splurge of Ronaldo, Kaka et al, and would accept a bid of €6m for Drenthe, who himself will want some time on the pitch to force his way into the reckoning for Holland's World Cup team...