Manchester United must pay £75m for David Villa

Manchester United have been told that they will have to shatter the British transfer record if they are to bring David Villa to the club from Valencia. The La Liga strugglers, who are sinking under estimated debts of almost £500m, have let it be known that they will only listen to offers for their Spanish international striker in excess of £75m. Valencia president Manuel Llorente said: "This figure has nothing to do with the price of Villa, the price is what the market decides. If he scores the goals that help us get into the Champions League, then his initial value is added to by what we earn from the Champions League." Manchester United would baulk at paying such a figure and are expected to test the Spanish club's resolve with a £35m bid in the January transfer window...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that, following the news Robin van Persie will be out for practically the rest of the season, the club will be forced into the transfer market this January. "[The injury situation has impacted on our thinking] because I didn't feel we were in the need to buy anybody, but we will be out on the market, that is for sure. But we will only make a decision if it suits us," the Frenchman said. Top of his list would appear to be Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, although the Ligue 1 club is unlikely to sell until next summer as they are still in the Champions League. Bordeaux president Jean-Louis Triaud told reporters: "As far as we are concerned, it is out of the question for Chamakh to leave us. Marouane is such a key player for us, and we have important challenges coming up in both our own league and the Champions League"...

Other targets for Arsene Wenger, according to the Guardian, include Andre-Pierre Gignac of Toulouse, AC Milan's Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Mario Balotelli of Internazionale and Sampdoria's Giampaolo Pazzini. Closer to home, the former Chelsea striker Carlton Cole, who now plies his trade with West Ham, could enter Arsenal's thinking, although he is now out of action for weeks with injured knee ligaments. The more intriguing prospect of former Manchester United hitman Ruud van Nistelrooy pitching up at the Emirates from Real Madrid was talked up by Ian Wright in his Sun column yesterday but is unlikely to tempt the youth-oriented Gunners boss...

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is ready to get tough with his failing defence, the Sun reports today, and could sell both Wayne Bridge and Micah Richards in the transfer window. City are on a seven-match drawing streak in the Premier League, a record, and Hughes is furious at his team's inability to hold onto a lead. Bridge, bought from Chelsea for £14m in January 2009, is deemed most at fault for the run of results, but Richards, an England under-21 international and product of the club's youth scheme, is also held responsible and could go - he has reportedly interested City's crosstown rivals Manchester United...

Jermaine Pennant, the peripatetic former England under-21 international who now plays in La Liga for Real Zaragoza, could be on his way back to England the Daily Mirror says. The former Arsenal, Liverpool and Birmingham winger has not taken to life in the Spanish league, where he transferred to this summer, and has alerted Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa to his plight. It is thought that the Spanish club would accept a bid of just £2.5m for the 26-year-old, who has yet to realise his full potential as a player...