North America

+ Paul James: Regional disparity in Canadian men’s squad?

+ D.C. United has signed Australian striker Danny Allsopp.

+ In an interview with Everton’s official site, Galaxy midfielder Landon Donovan indicated that he would be open to staying with the club past his initial ten-week loan.

+ Clint Dempsey has told the US Soccer Federation to keep him in their plans for the World Cup this summer, despite suffering knee ligament damage in the 2-0 defeat by Blackburn at Ewood Park at the weekend.

England

+ David Sullivan has vowed to save West Ham from oblivion after completing the takeover with David Gold. Boss Gianfranco Zola has been told his job is safe, while Karren Brady arrives as the new vice-chairman at Upton Park.

+ Tottenham Hotspur were last night in talks to sign Ruud Van Nistelrooy from Real Madrid on a free transfer. It is expected that a deal for the 33-year-old Dutch striker will be announced today.

+ Liverpool are pressing ahead with their move for Kenwyne Jones and hope to have him signed to face Tottenham in their vital Premier League clash on Wednesday night.

+ Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has urged manager Rafa Benítez to sign his Spanish international team-mate David Villa to help turn the club’s fortunes around.

+ The Glazer family could take out more than £600m from Manchester United’s revenues over the next seven years in dividends, interest payments and fees arising from the club’s bond issue.

+ Manchester United are bracing themselves for a massive bid from Barcelona for star striker Wayne Rooney. (It’s a News of the World Report)

+ Roberto Mancini has said he will offer Sir Alex Ferguson a special consolation prize should Manchester United fail to make the Carling Cup final. "Does Alex like pizza?" inquired Manchester City’s new Italian manager as he prepared for the semi-final first leg against United at Eastlands. "If we win then, OK, I’ll bring the pizza if he brings the wine – a really nice bottle."

+ Paul Wilson: Classy or costly? Carlos Tevez has a chance to settle the debate.

+ David Conn: The night in 1975 when Dennis Tueart sparked City’s last grab for silverware.

+ Manchester City are on the verge of completing a shock loan deal for former Arsenal star Mathieu Flamini as new manager Roberto Mancini steps up his recruitment drive.

+ Michael Essien is due back in London by Thursday amid fears that the Chelsea midfielder has torn the medial ligament in his left knee. He will miss at least six weeks if that is confirmed, ruling him out of next month’s potentially critical derby against Arsenal and the first leg of the Champions League tie against Internazionale.

+ Kevin McCarra: Nicolas Anelka goes from loner to leader by pursuing his instincts.

+ Florent Malouda has warned the chasing pack that Chelsea’s scintillating dismissal of Sunderland was "just the start" of the team’s sprint towards the Premier League title, with the leaders convinced they are capable of dazzling their way to the trophy.

+ Everton striker Louis Saha was reportedly involved in a tussle with a fan during an autograph session.

+ Everton playmaker Mikel Arteta believes he is close to making his first-team comeback after 11 months out with a cruciate knee ligament injury.

+ Knut Olav Rindaroy, a left-back who plays for the Norwegian club Molde, will travel to Everton to discuss a transfer.

+ Birmingham are close to completing a deal for Aston Villa midfielder Craig Gardner, according to Blues vice-chairman Peter Pannu.

+ Birmingham City have made an offer to Standard Liege striker Milan Jovanovic. The Serbia international claims Liverpool and AC Milan have also tabled offers for him.

+ Bolton manager Owen Coyle admits he is still a big admirer of Arsenal youngster Jack Wilshere.

+ Theo Walcott will return to Arsenal’s squad on Wednesday against Bolton.

+ Arsene Wenger hopes Robin van Persie can feature for Arsenal in the final month of the season.

+ Portsmouth have all but agreed to sign Romania midfielder Razvan Cocis on a free transfer.

+ Wolves are trailing £3m-rated Stoke striker James Beattie.

+ Fulham are closing in on Lincoln City’s rising young Scottish star Graham Hutchison.

+ Northern Rock’s £10m sponsorship deal with Newcastle United has been branded a ‘disgrace’.

+ Derby midfielder and all round irritating so-and-so Robbie Savage was hit in the face with a ball while commentating on Aston Villa’s game at home to West Ham.

African Cup of Nations

+ Angola and Algeria both advanced to the quarter-finals of the African Nations Cup thanks to a goalless draw in Luanda.

+ Algeria coach Rabah Saadane has angrily denied the suggestion that the 0-0 draw with the hosts Angola was contrived to ensure both countries qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.

+ A dream start for Mali gave them a first win in this year’s African Nations Cup, but Angola’s goalless draw with Algeria meant both they and Malawi missed out on a place in the quarter-finals.

Spain

+ Pep Guardiola has received offers from six leading European clubs, according to Josep Maria Orobitg, the Barcelona coach’s agent.

+ Racing Santander’s exciting young midfielder Sergio Canales is reportedly a target for Arsenal.

+ Johan Cruyff has warned Racing Santander starlet Sergio Canales of the risks of moving to one of Europe’s big boys at such a young age.

+ The latest golasso from Canales:

Italy

+ David Beckham has said he will not celebrate if he scores for Milan at Manchester United in their Champions League meeting in March. The midfielder spent more than a decade at United before joining Real Madrid in 2003 and has not played at Old Trafford since he left the club.

+ Fiorentina have officially signed Mario Ariel Bolatti from Porto.

+ Palermo have insisted Manchester City and Tottenham target Simon Kjaer will be staying with the club until the end of the season at least.

+ Former Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named Italian players’ association player of the year on Monday despite now being with Barcelona.

Germany

+ Arjen Robben has played down a training ground incident with Philipp Lahm yesterday, claiming the disagreement was resolved immediately afterwards.

+ American midfielder Ricardo Clark stands a mere medical exam away from joining Eintracht Frankfurt.

+ Hannover have sacked coach Andreas Bergmann after a run of poor results saw them drop into the bottom three of the Bundesliga.

+ Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller will be out for up to five weeks after suffering a deep flesh wound in his left knee at the weekend.

France

+ Marseille defender Gabriel Heinze suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Bordeaux and will be sidelined for up to a month.

Portugal

+ American midfielder Stuart Holden is now set to sign for Sporting Braga.

Russia

+ Zenit St. Petersburg are interested in Fluminense’s star striker Fred.

+ Zenit St Petersburg have pulled out of the race to sign Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko from Tottenham.

+ Even Pavlyuchenko’s wife is stuck on the bench.

Greece

+ Olympiacos have sacked coach Zico following a string of poor results, the Greek champions confirmed.

Israel

+ Wigan’s Daniel de Ridder is keen to join Hapoel tel Aviv as he steps up his pursuit of regular first-team football away from the DW Stadium.

Czech Republic

+ Ex-Toronto midfielder Johann Smith has quietly left NK Rijeka and is auditioning for Viktoria Plzeň.

Argentina

+ Diego Maradona has named an Argentina squad comprised almost entirely of domestically-based players for the friendly against Costa Rica in Cordoba.

Australia

+ Angry Gold Coast United chairman Clive Palmer has labelled the Australian government’s immigration policy "racist” after an unnamed Ghanaian trialist was refused an entry visa into the country.