Man Utd and City at war again – over Chiellini

It appears the Carling Cup isn't the only thing up for grabs in Manchester right now. According to the Daily Mail, United and City are both "courting" the Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini, and the player's agent was in the city this week to watch the fierce rivals battle it out in the first leg of the Carling Cup semi-final.

City were victorious on the pitch on that occasion but agent Davide Lippi has given little away when it comes to which club might succeed in securing the services of his player: "I was invited by the two clubs and I was pleased to see a good match," said Lippi later, before adding with a smile: "The market is open all year, talking with everyone and everything."

The Mail reports that Lippi also took time out in England to visit Tottenham, what he described as a "courtesy call", but that Chiellini's likely destination, should he come to the Premier League, is Manchester. The 25-year-old centre-back came to prominence with Fiorentina but it was a 2005 move to Juventus that propelled him into the big time. Since then he has been a regular in the Italy squad.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has been linked with most clubs in the Premier League these last few weeks but the Mirror has it on reliable authority that the ageing Dutch master is about to join West Ham for a cool £100,000-a-week. Even though the Hammers' new owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, have confessed that the club is more than £100 million in the red, they know that relegation from the top flight could prove a mortal blow and for that reason are desperate to bring a proven goal-scorer to Upton Park.

"We've offered £100,000-a-week to a player today and we are still not sure we are going to get him," said Sullivan, who refused to disclose the player's identity though the Mirror has been told it's van Nistelrooy, currently out of favour at Real Madrid. The former Manchester United striker, now 33, would love to make the cut for Holland's World Cup squad and doesn't care who he joins just so long as he gets regular game time.

"There's no transfer fee involved and he's got the choice of almost every club in Europe," said Sullivan. "Whether we get him is another thing. We can carry one exceptional player, who would make a difference on that wage, but generally we have to bring the wages down and in the summer we would hope to sign younger players on a fraction of those wages."

In other news, the Sun reports that Manchester City are about to "swoop" for Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson. Sunderland, Chelsea and Wolves are said to have shown an interest in the 22-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, with Sunderland particularly keen to sign the England Under-21 star. They are reported to have agreed provisional terms with Middlesbrough for a £3m transfer fee but the Sun says City could win the race with a £5m bid.

The Mirror reports that German club Wolfsburg have made an offer for Arsenal reject Philippe Senderos but that their highly rated striker Edin Dzeko doesn't come as part of the deal. Swiss defender Senderos, 23, is being virtually given away by the Gunners at £1m as his contract expires in the summer, and though Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had sounded out Wolfsburg as to the availability of Dzeko, the Mirror says the Wolfsburg striker is "out of Arsenal's price range". ·