Arsenal and Spurs scrap over Christopher Samba

Arsenal midfielder Denilson has used his Twitter page to tell Santa what he wishes for Christmas, tweeting yesterday: "I want to stay at Arsenal..." The Brazilian playmaker had been scurrilously linked with a move away from the Emirates last week, having failed to nail down a regular starting spot in the Gunners XI this season, but now it seems Denilson realises staying loyal to Arsenal would be a far more rewarding present than either a new Scalextric or Subbuteo set.

Meanwhile Arsenal and Tottenham look set to have a New Year scrap over Blackburn Rovers centre-back  Christopher Samba. The 26-year-old defender has let it be known he no longer wants to be a part of the club following the dismissal last week of manager Sam Allardyce.

Now the Metro newspaper says the two north London clubs are chasing the signature of the 6ft 4in powerhouse, who was born in France but plays his international football for the Congo. Both Arsenal and Tottenham are lacking in the defensive department and, as Transfer Talk reported yesterday, they are also rumoured to be interested in French international centre-back Philippe Mexes.

Samba joined Blackburn in 2007 and though his preferred position is centre-back he loves to attack when given the chance, as he showed against the Gunners last season when he scored the winner for the northern club in their 2-1 defeat of Arsenal at Ewood Park.

In other news, Manchester City are said to be waiting to pounce for Renato Augusto, the 22-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder of whom great things are expected. Inter Milan and Bayern Munich are also said to be making enquiries about Augusto, a star for Brazil Under-20 last season. But according to Talksport, City scouts have been seen at Leverkusen’s last two matches and they weren’t there purely for the half-time schnitzels. Apparently, Augusto is contracted to the Bundesliga outfit until 2014 but any bids in excess of £10m would be enough to loosen Leverkusen's morals.

City are also said to be circling Wolfsburg striker  Edin Dzeko, the Bosnian hitman who’s been mulling a move away from the German club for the best part of a year. The ‘Will he, won’t he?’ saga has now taken another twist with Dzeko telling the Press Association he’s no longer sure of his future: "That is up to Wolfsburg,” he replied, when asked if he was headed to Eastlands, adding: "I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression: I very much enjoy playing for Wolfsburg. But I also have a dream. I want to play in the Champions League every year.”

Still in Germany, Bayern Munich “'will not hang around' when it comes to Everton left-back Leighton Baines. It’s claimed by Talksport that the 25-year-old Baines has won over Bayern Munich with a string of assured performances this season for the Toffees, and director Christian Nerlinger was present at Eastlands on Monday to see Baines score a cracking goal to help defeat Manchester City 2-1.

The German club will make Everton an offer of £12m for Baines next month and they reckon that will be enough to land their man, despite David Moyes stating publicly he doesn’t want to sell.

The one catch might be the timing of any deal: apparently Bayern want to have Baines by the second week of January, before they head to Dubai for a short bonding trip, and Talksport quotes a source close to the German club as saying: "Bayern want to move quickly. With the training camp in early January, there will be a definitive answer on Baines by then. They don't want to hang around."

Finally, all that remains is to wish our regular readers a merry Christmas and to remind you both that Transfer Talk will be back on January 4 – fit, fresh and fired up for another year of what for some are hard facts, and for others unsubstantiated tittle-tattle. ·