Bologna are ready to open negotiations for the signing of Andrea Ranocchia, the Inter defender, and Fiorentina striker Giuseppe Rossi in the January transfer window.
Bologna director Marco Di Vaio told reporters the club wants to preserve its status in the Serie A this season and coach Roberto Donadoni is keen to strengthen his squad.
Di Vaio said: “We’ll meet with Donadoni this week to set out the first plans. Historically Bologna has been a place where players who seemed to be at the end of their careers were suddenly revitalised, including myself.
“Ranocchia and Rossi are two players going through a difficult moment.”
Welbeck setback
Arsenal forward Danny Welbeck’s return following knee surgery has been pushed back again.
Welbeck has been out since April and Arsene Wenger thinks it will be February before the 25-year-old is fit.
Wenger had initially said the England international would be fit in September before revising the date to Christmas.
“He is not available because of a bone bruising,” Wenger said.
“That deteriorated and it is a big blow to us because we cannot rotate.”
Van Gaal defiant despite sack fears
Louis van Gaal admits he does fear the sack but insists he is still the right man to lead Manchester United.
Van Gaal is facing even greater scrutiny after his side suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Norwich at Old Trafford. It was United’s sixth game without a win.
Asked if he feared for his position, the Dutchman said: “Yes, of course, I am worried about that because I know that belief in a manager is very important, and when you lose the games you play then the belief in a manager shall decrease.”
But asked if he still believed in himself, Van Gaal added: “Yes. I don’t think a change of management shall bring direct success.”
O’Neill: Leicester could win the title
Leicester City will top the Premier League at Christmas and former Foxes manager Martin O’Neill believes they could go on to carry off the trophy.
O’Neill led Leicester from 1995 to 2000, winning the League Cup twice, but he never achieved the Premier League success the current team are enjoying.
And when asked if Leicester could go on to win the league, O’Neill, now boss of Ireland, said: “It is an extraordinary run, it is absolutely phenomenal.
“The very fact we’re asking this question, it would seem ludicrous a couple of months ago even with the great, great start.
“Now you think this is actually possible.”
Capello not keen on Roma return
Fabio Capello said there is no chance that he will be coaching Roma in future with rumours rife that Rudi Garcia’s days at the Olympic Stadium are numbered.
Capello led the Giallorossi to their last league title in 2001 and many are seeing him as an ideal replacement if Garcia is fired.
But the former Russia coach said: “There is absolutely no chance I could return to Roma, because I have wonderful memories of what we did together and I want everyone to remember me for the Scudetto we won.
“I hope Roma do wonderful things and I hope they can knock Real Madrid out of the Champions League to go through.”
Kramny appointed permanent boss
Juergen Kramny has been appointed as the full-time coach of Stuttgart on a contract until 2017 after initially stepping in on a caretaker basis last month.
The 44-year-old won his first game in charge against Wolfsburg on Saturday, having drawn his first two matches since replacing Alexander Zorniger.
That win lifted the Swabians out of the bottom three and to their highest position in the Bundesliga this season and earned Kramny – the club’s former reserve-team coach – a permanent promotion.
Kramny will welcome the squad back from their winter break on January 5, when they will head for a nine-day training camp in Belek, Turkey, in preparation for the second half of the season, which starts with a trip to Cologne on January 23.
Blanc savours a job well done
Manager Laurent Blanc reflected on the near perfect year after Paris SG set a new record for points in the first half of the season with a 3-0 win at Caen.
PSG moved onto 51 points in week 19, which beat the previous mark of Lyon from 2006/07.
Angel Di Maria’s opener, followed by a superb volley from Zlatan Ibrahimovic, set the runaway Ligue 1 leaders on course for a fifth successive win.
“Victory is what we came for, and in getting it, we beat the record number of points during the first stage (of the season), so this is good thing,” said Blanc.
“PSG had a very good year in 2015, and we almost achieved all of our objectives.”