What can Sneijder offer to Tottenham?

Sneijder has been linked with a move out of San Siro in just about every transfer window in the previous 3 years, but it looks as though he could finally make an exit from Italy after serving the Nerazzurri for 3 and a half seasons, though he only featured 6 times this term.

Dutchman has gotten into a dispute with club directors over his wages, as they tried to reduce his annual salary from €6M to €4M, though Sneijder didn't share the same vision and has since been frozen out and told he would not feature for the club until he accepts the wage reduction.

With just a week away from the beginning of January transfer window, various reports from Italy have emerged linking Sneijder to Premiership, but this time, his suitor is not Sir Alex, who followed Sneijder for quite some time now and has agreed a deal with Inter at one point, but the deal never materialized due to wage demands. Now appears that London-based club, Tottenham Hotspur, is close to signing the ex-Ballon d'Or candidate and have, apparently, managed to agree terms with Sneijder, and just need to agree a transfer fee for him.

Spurs are not known for their high wage bills, with their top earner, Gareth Bale earning £100k-per-week, it becomes fairly obvious that Sneijder will take a wage cut, should the deal go through.

But the question remains: Can Sneijder replicate his form yet again and beat the odds, as he did when he made a move from Madrid to Inter, when he was also dubbed a surplus at the club that didn't want him. His talent remains indisputable, but his injury problems have kept him out through several periods, as he never managed to make more than 26 league appearances for Inter.

Spurs are in need of some creativity in their midfield, considering the poor run of form during Dembele's injury problems. Summer signing from Hoffenheim, Gylfi Sigurðsson wasn't able to reproduce his last season form and has seen his chances limited, though at 22, he's seen as a future of the club and Sneijder's arrival could mean an instant boost for the Champions League hopefuls.

Inter have valued their star playmaker at €40M at one point, but will have to accept a significantly smaller sum and Daniel Levy, chairman of Tottenam, is well known for his bargaining skills, so you can expect Spurs to pull of quite a coup with Sneijder deal.

Jack Wilshere ready to sign new Arsenal deal

In the recent weeks, sun has definitely not been shining on the Emirates, as Arsenal continues their struggle in the league, making just 24 points out of 16 games so far, and the biggest shocker came on on Tuesday night, when Gunners were knocked out of the Capital One Cup, after losing on penalties to a low-tier team Bradford. After a poor league run so far and the unexpected early exit form the cup, people have started questioning Wenger's methods yet again, wondering if he's the right man for the job.

Despite the negative energy circulating among the supporters, there is a timid light in the darkness, as their most promising star is ready to commit to a club and accept the offer of £80,000 a week contract in the duration of 5 years, meaning he'll earn somewhere around £20M during the time span, provided that he does see out his contract.

He has recently recovered from a serious ankle injury, which eventually required operation and kept young Englishman from the pitch for almost 15 months now. Before the blow, he was considered to be the most promising player England had, though expectations faded away, as the injury dragged on.

Wilshere has made his debut for London-based club in 2008 as a 16 year old and has so far made 49 league appearances, scoring just once. He also had a loan spell with Bolton Wanderers, scoring also one in the 14 league appearances he made.

Cesc Fabregas out for a month with hamstring injury

Barcelona playmaker, Cesc Fabregas, was forced off the field in a match against Betis and it looks as though former Arsenal captain could face a spell on the sidelines for up to a month.

Cesc was replaced by Alexis Sanchez just 10 minutes into the game and Barcelona went on to win the game 2:1, without the help of Fabregas.

Barcelona medical staff were quick to react and after a scan, they revealed publicly that he'll be out of action for about a month, due to a ruptured hamstring in his left thigh.

Fabregas rejoined his boyhood club in the summer of 2011 for a reported fee of €34M, and has since made a total of 69 appearances for Catalonians, netting 22 times.

What's next for Fernando Llorente?

There has been much speculation lately about the future of Basque attacker, Fernando Llorente, who is out of contract with Athletic Bilbao in summer 2013. Llorente, being 27, has declared his intention to leave Bilbao by rejecting a contract extension.

This being his 9th senior season at the club, could be his last, as big fish are lurking around, looking for a bargain in January, with various reports saying Llorente could leave the club for a lot less then speculated in the previous transfer window, when he was linked to Italian giants, Juventus, who had a bid of €20M rejected. It is said that Juventus have not given up hope of signing Llorente, and are preparing a new bid, though it'll surely come shy of €20M offered in the summer, but they're likely to face competition, as both Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in the powerful forward.

Llorente was also monitored by several English clubs during the summer, primarily London-based clubs, Arsenal and Tottenham, who were also unsuccessful with their approaches. Move to Tottenham seems unlikely at the moment, due to a big competition for his signature and player's wage demands that would exceed Spurs's wage cap.

Fernando was arguably the most influential player Athletic has had in the past couple of seasons, with him making over 300 appearances, netting 115 goals, but after his public declaration, his playing time was limited in favor of Arduiz. Llorente featured just 8 times this season, mostly coming on as a substitute.

Atheltic Bilbao are yet to comment on availability of the player and have been dismissive of suggestions of him leaving in January, but it would be sensible to sell the player in January, instead of letting him walk for free in summer, when his professional obligation with the club comes to an end.

RVP pulls out of Netherlands squad with thigh injury

Manchester Striker striker, Robin van Persie has been withdrawn from Netherlands squad, after picking up a thigh injury against Aston Villa in United's 3:2 away win.

Former Arsenal captain will miss a friendly between Netherlands and Germany. It is still unknown how long van Persie will be out, but he'll probably miss Manchester United's next weeks clash against Norwich.

Wolfsburg striker, Bas Dost, has been called by Louis van Gaal to replace van Persie, as Netherlands take on Germany on Wedneseday at Amsterdam Arena.

Alen Halilovic - the next big thing from Croatia

Alen Halilovic first caught the attention of the media worldwide not few weeks ago when he made his Champions League debut for Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, against French giants, Paris Saint-Germain.

At the tender age of 16, young Halilovic has managed to break into Dinamo Zagreb squad, which is no short of talent and is posing himself as one of the most promising youngsters world of football has to offer. Halilovic is often compared to his compatriot, Luka Modric, not just for the looks, but also the his football strengths. He's great on the ball, possesses a great vision and has an eye for a goal.

Young Croat has appeared for Croatian U17 side 6 times and has netted 2 goals so far. His impressive performances have not gone unnoticed by the bigger sides, as Manchester duo, United and City are believed to be preparing offers around £6M, though it is understood that Dinamo is looking a lot more than the quoted sum.

Video highlighting his talents can be seen bellow:

Falcao arrival at Chelsea could mean game over for Torres

According to various reports, Falcao is number 1 target for the European Champions. Colombian has been sensational since his switch from Porto in summer 2011, bagging a total of 49 goals in 59 appearances and helping them win Europa League last term.

Currently considered among the utmost best goalscorers in the world of football, you'd expect a player of his standing to be playing for a club stronger than Atletico Madrid, who, despite their European success last term, have failed to challenge domestically in a long while now.

Chelsea are preparing a bid around £50M, same sum they shelled out for Fernando Torres, who turned out to be one of the most disappointing signings in Abramovich's reign at London club. Spaniard never really rediscovered his Liverpool form in the blue shirt and has scored only 18 goals in 82 appearances.

The two are arguably very alike, in their style of play, though Falcao's stats speak for themselves, as do Torres's. Bringing Falcao to Stamford Bridge would definitely mean trouble for Torres, who hasn't really shone lately and is doing little to convince Roberto Di Matteo he's worthy of being Chelsea's lone striker in their 4-3-3 system.

Fernando was the reason why Drogba left for China, despite his performances in the Champions League that helped Londoners lift the title and later being named in the Ballon d'Or shortlist. Torres could face the same fate as Ivorian, should Falcao arrive.

Atletico are keen to keep their star man, but Falcao himself declared he's unsure of what the future holds. Should the Spanish team manage to keep him at Vicente Calderón, they'll face an even bigger challenge to keep him in the summer.