AC Milan ‘vow to build team around Fabregas’

With only one day to go until June's transfer window opens, Transfer Talk is as excited as a Manchester United player in a luxury hotel. Who will be coming, who will be going and who will be slipping through Arsenal's fingers?

One player the Gunners seem certain to see leave the Emirates is club captain Cesc Fabregas, though will it be for Barcelona or AC Milan?

Only yesterday the European champions were confidently predicting the 24-year-old midfielder would be returning to Camp Nou, but that was before the news emerged that AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani allegedly met with Arsenal directors over the weekend to talk about Fabregas.

According to Sport Italia, Galliani slipped into London ostensibly to see Barcelona humble the once great Manchester United, but in fact that was just his cover story and his real mission was to discuss terms for Fabregas.

Apparently Galliani's strategy is to sit down with Fabregas and persuade him that if he moves to Milan the team will be built round him, whereas if he heads to Barcelona he'll just be a bit part player in a side already teeming with superstars. How successful Galliani's daring mission was isn't yet clear, but reports filtering out of Italy indicate Milan are increasingly bullish about getting their man.

While it's probably too early to talk of Manchester United as a club in crisis, there's no doubt their aura isn't what is was following their Wembley whacking and the first player to signal his dismay is Benfica defender Fabio Coentrao.

The Portuguese defender had been tipped to move to Old Trafford in June but according to Talksport he now sees Real Madrid as a better option. The 23-year-old Coentrao was wanted by Alex Ferguson to put pressure on Patrice Evra at left back but Talksport quotes the Portuguese powerhouse as saying: "If Real Madrid show an interest they will be my first option."

The Sun claims discontented Dimitar Berbatov is on Newcastle's shopping list. Apparently the Magpies will meet Manchester United's asking price of £7.5m for the bolshy Bulgarian and a deal will be done in the next week or so. Berbatov was left out of United's Champions League final squad and that allegedly sparked a furious response from the 30-year-old who struck 20 Premier League goals this season.

German rag Bild reckons that Chelsea centre-back Michael Mancienne could be on his way to Hamburg in the coming days. Apparently the Bundesliga outfit will fork out around £2.5m for the 23-year-old defender whose youthful promise hasn't been fulfilled. Mancienne has been farmed out on loan to QPR and Wolves in recent season and, now an offer has come in for him, the Blues will let him go with barely a backwards glance.

Lille might have just won the league and cup double in France but coach Rudi Garcia is powerless to stop his players leaving for bigger and better offers. Midfielder Yohan Cabaye is reportedly set to join Newcastle having decided he's achieved all he wants at the French club.

The 25-year-old Cabaye, who made his international debut for France last year, is believed to be the subject of a £4.5m offer from the Magpies and Garcia is quoted as saying to French reporters: "Yohan told us on Saturday that he had made the decision to join Newcastle. I respect his choice, even if I am disappointed because I would have liked to have continued with him."

Finally, the Daily Mail says that Tottenham are lining up Dinamo Zagreb midfielder Milan Badelj as a replacement for Luka Modric, tipped to be moving next month to either Chelsea or Manchester United. The 22-year-old Badelj has been in sparkling form this season for Zagreb and it's believed that Spurs are happy to meet the asking price of £8.5m for a gifted playmaker. ·