Transfer news:Patrick Vieira is to meet Manchester City officials this evening to hammer out a move from Inter Milan. Liverpool are closing in on Maxi Rodriguez, while Arsenal are keeping an eye on Gonzalo Higuain, Bologna want Manchester United's Federico Macheda and Sporting Gijon have announced the departure of midfielder Michel to Birmingham.
Vieira flew into England today, having seemingly played his last match for Inter Milan against Chievo on yesterday.
Unless there are any late hitches, Vieira is expected to be confirmed as a City player on Friday morning, probably on an initial six-month contract that can be extended by a further 12 months.
At 33, Vieira is hardly an investment in youth by new Blues boss Roberto Mancini.
However, the France international will bring a wealth of experience to Eastlands and should help bring more stability to the Blues midfield and make them less easy to score against, one of the major drawbacks of the team Mark Hughes put together.
Vieira has been desperate to secure regular first-team action, having fallen down the pecking order at Inter following Jose Mourinho's arrival at the San Siro.
And not only will the move to City offer the best chance possible of making Raymond Domenech's squad for next summer's World Cup, it also leaves open the prospect of playing in the Champions League next season given owner Sheikh Mansour's stated aim of finishing in the top four this term.
Having Vieira in Manchester should also add extra spice to the two-legged derby confrontation with United later this month, given his memorable confrontations with former Red Devils captain Roy Keane down the years.
Vieira's arrival would represent Mancini's first signing since replacing Hughes nearly three weeks ago.
However, it almost certainly will not be the last before the current transfer window closes.
A trio of current Inter players have been heavily linked with the cash-rich north-west club, whose annual loss of £92.8million has been absorbed by their Abu Dhabi backers.
Ivan Cordoba and Cristian Chivu are also said to be on Mancini's shopping list.
Indeed, the former Sampdoria star spoke positively about both men earlier this week.
However, it also seems Rubin Kazan left-back Cristian Ansaldi could also be on Mancini's shopping list.
Although City have not commented on Ansaldi, reports in Russia suggest a fee has already been agreed for the Argentina star, with the virtually automatic agreement on personal terms still required before he can link up with international colleague Carlos Tevez.
It appears to be all go at Liverpoolwhere Andrea Dossena and Andriy Voroninare both set for moves to Italy and Russia respectively, while Argentine international Maxi Rodriguezis reportedly on the verge of arriving at Anfield from Atletico Madrid.
Voronin's agent has confirmed the Liverpool forward is weighing up a move to Russia. The Ukraine international does not figure in Rafa Benitez's plans and the Reds boss is ready to offload him to raise funds for his own signings in this month's transfer window.
Dinamo Moscow are understood to be the Russian side chasing Voronin and the player's agent, Andriy Golovach, has confirmed the striker is poised to leave Anfield.
"He has received a concrete offer from a Russian top-flight outfit as he is having the final say," Golovach told Ukrainian newspaper Gaseta. "In terms of his Liverpool deal it is about a cancellation right now, not about a new loan transfer."
Dossena is expected to sign a four-and-a-half year contract with Napoli and the 28-year-old is excited by his impending return to Italian football.
"I'm looking forward to embracing Napoli and to experience the emotion of the Stadio San Paolo," Dossena told Il Mattino.
"It's missing the official news of the move and so I can't say a lot, but I'm waiting.
"I thank Napoli and I'm happy to meet up with friends such as De Sanctis, Quagliarella and Maggio."
Marca, meanwhile, has reported Rodriguezhas told his Atletico team-mates he is moving to Liverpool and the paper expects a €1.5 million transfer to be completed this evening.
Arsenalboss Arsene Wenger has been heavily linked in Spain with weighing up a move for Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Higuain.
Wenger is short of options in attack as Robin van Persie is out for most of the season with an ankle injury and the extent of Nicklas Bendtner's groin problems will not be known until the Denmark striker undergoes a series of tests this week.
West Ham's Carlton Colehas been suggested as a striker who fits the bill, and now so has Argentina forward Higuain.
Federico Macheda'sagent says Bolognawant to take the young Manchester Unitedstriker back to Italy on a loan deal, although he feels it is unlikely to happen.
Macheda burst onto the scene last year when he scored a stoppage-time winner against Aston Villa on his debut.
The teenager then scored again less than a minute into his second match for United as a second-half substitute at Sunderland.
However, Macheda has not made a league appearance this season and Alex Ferguson could consider loaning the 18-year-old out in order to gain more first-team experience.
Michelwill undertake a medical before completing his move to St Andrew's, for a fee reported to be around £3 million.
His Spanish club stated on their website that the deal had been agreed and that Michel will say his goodbyes to team-mates and Sporting staff on Friday before departing for England.
Michel, 24, has been a regular in the Sporting first team since 2005 and Birmingham have had a long-held interest in him.
Speaking before Sporting announced the deal, Birmingham manager Alex McLeish said: "We've watched Michel for over a year and a bit now and we need to try and get this one over the line, but it looks likely.
"I think Gijon also hit a stumbling block with getting in a replacement.
"You can understand their coach's situation when he has to get a replacement, because Michel has been his captain this season and he's rightly trying to cover himself.
"It doesn't look likely that anything will be completed before Manchester United (on Saturday) because the registration deadline is noon tomorrow."
Wiganhave completed the loan signing of Serbia international Vladimir Stojkovicafter the goalkeeper received his work permit.
The 26-year-old has joined the Latics from Sporting Lisbon until the end of the season and will go straight into the squad to face Aston Villa on Saturday.
"Everyone knows about the quality of the English Premier League," said Stojkovic. "So to get a chance like this is a fantastic opportunity for me.