Football transfer rumours: Paul Pogba to Manchester United?

Having finally decided the time is right to give their former employee Paul Pogba a run in their first team, Manchester United have hit a giant Juventus-sized stumbling block. The Italian club, who so upset Sir Alex Ferguson by luring the French midfielder from Manchester to Turin, has no intention of letting the 20-year-old go anywhere, despite interest from United, Arsenal and Manchester City. In Manchester United's favour, the Serie A champions are reported to be in the market for a Portuguese winger who bears a passing resemblance to Thriller-era Michael Jackson, so some manner of agreement may be reached.

Still in the box seat to sign Wilfried Zaha on loan from Manchester United, Newcastle United will increase the number of Frenchmen in their ranks by signing 25-year-old striker Cheick Diabaté from Bordeaux. Seattle Sounders striker Clint Dempsey is also likely to be offered a loan deal by Alan Pardew, who is hopeful Tottenham Hotspur won't take up their option to bring the USA striker and amateur hip-hop enthusiast back to White Hart Lane during the MLS close season. Aston Villa, Southampton and Fulham are also interested in borrowing the man some call Deuce. Newcastle are also giving 17-year-old Brazilian left-backAbner the glad eye, but will have to duke it out with Roma and Benfica to prise the youth international away from his current club Coritiba.

Having sent scouts to watch Kostas Mitroglou star in both legs of Greece's two-legged World Cup play-off win over Romania, Liverpool are preparing a £7m bid for the Olympiakos striker, who has already scored four hat-tricks this season, but will hope not to be outbid by Arsenal or Inter.

Intrigued at the prospect of having a German international who sounds like he might be a Bond villain in their squad, Arsenal are hoping to sign 20-year-old Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler, but will have to wait until after the World Cup to do so. The Germany international has already spoken to his compatriots Mesut Özil and Per Mertesacker about life at the Emirates, but insists he has no intention of moving anywhere until after the World Cup. "It's very important for me to play nearly every game," he said. "For my club I have the chance to play nearly every game. Every summer I have to look what is the best for me and I will do that in the summer again. We will see what happens. I have always said English teams are very big clubs and Arsenal is of course one of them. I sometimes speak to Mesut or Per about the team and they always have good words and they tell me nice things."

Meanwhile in Norway, Manchester City midfielder Abdisalam Ibrahim is wondering what to do next after completing a successful loan spell in which he helped Stromsgodset win their first league title in 43 years. Arsenal, Roma, Lille, Marseille, Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen and Fenerbahce all like the cut of his jib.

And finally, that little green blob moving across the radars of Norwich, West Brom, Crystal Palace, QPR and Leicester looks suspiciously like 22-year-old Bournemouth defender Steve Cook.