Arsenal and Spurs chase Patrick Vieira

Patrick Vieira

Transfer Talk: Patrick Vieira is being sought by Arsenal and Spurs while Everton have rejected Man City’s bid for Joleon Lescott

BY Rory Finnegan LAST UPDATED AT 09:51 ON Thu 30 Jul 2009

Flushed with success following their £14m signing of Kolo Touré from Arsenal last night on reported wages of £90,000 per week, Manchester City immediately tabled a new £19m bid for Everton Joleon Lescott.

Everton, who believe their defender is worth something more like £30m, have rejected the offer. Meanwhile, City striker Valeri Bojinov looks to be on the verge of a move to Italian Serie A side Parma.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Chelsea have not given up the hunt for Franck Ribery, despite Bayern Munich slapping a somewhat unrealistic £80m price tag on the midfielder following a £40m offer from Stamford Bridge.

The Sun claims that North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham  are both offering one-year contracts to Inter Milan midfielder Patrick Vieira. The 33-year-old played for Arsenal for nine years before moving to Italy. 

Meanwhile, the Sun is claiming a more unlikely comeback for Kevin Keegan, who will return to manage Newcastle if Dubai tycoon Sirous Mahjoob buys the club.

Aston Villa are planning to beef up their defence with a £12m raid for West Ham's Matthew Upson and a £4.5m bid for Portsmouth's Sylvain Distin.

Liverpool are close to a deal to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid for a shade under £30m, says the Daily Mail. They will use the proceeds to bid for two Englishmen: Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole and Hull defender Michael Turner. ·