City chasing Gunners great

New Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini wants to be reunited with Patrick Vieira. Mancini signed the 33-year-old Frenchman when he was in charge of Inter Milan and they enjoyed great success together. Vieira however has fallen out of favour under new Inter coach Jose Mourinho and is believed to want to move back to the EPL where he enjoyed enormous success while playing for Arsenal between 1996-2005. Vieira made more than 400 appearances for the Gunners, winning three league titles and four FA Cups. His last game in English football was the 2005 FA Cup final, in which he scored the winning penalty for Arsenal to beat Manchester United.

United ace to Real and other transfer gossip

Real Madrid are on the brink of signing powerhouse Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic. According to reports, the Spanish giants are ready to capitalise on the growing rift between United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and the Serbian by making a £30m bid for the player. Speculation around Vidic’s United future intensified over the weekend when he was a late withdrawal for Sunday's FA Cup match against Leeds, which the Red Devils lost 1-0. Elsewhere, Liverpool are keen to bring Atletico Madrid's Argentine winger Maxi Rodriguez to Anfield this January, initially on a short-term loan deal; Tottenham will attempt to beat the Reds to Rodriguez's signature though by offering midfielder David Bentley on loan as part of the deal; and Birmingham will test Liverpool's desire to hold on to Ryan Babel by bidding £8m for the Dutch winger in January.

Vida’s United career in doubt

Star Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic's future at the club has been thrown into fresh doubt after his sudden omission from the team that lost to Leeds on Sunday. According to reports, the Serbian international claimed to suffer a hip injury during the warm-up for the FA Cup third round tie. He then clashed with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after refusing to take the field. "I couldn't tell you what the situation is with Nemanja. I couldn't tell you at all," was all Ferguson would say. Vidic has long been a target for Barcelona and Real Madrid as it is widely known that his wife has failed to settle in England.

United slip a boost?

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims Manchester United's shock FA Cup loss to Leeds on Sunday will give them an advantage in their quest for European glory but not in the EPL title race. According to the Frenchman, United will now be able to get extra rest when the fixture list gets very busy in February. "Manchester United won't gain a great advantage in the EPL, it is more with the Champions League that the FA Cup is conflicting," said Wenger. Arsenal booked their place in the FA Cup fourth round with a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Ham."The fifth round is just before a Champions League game and before that we play a lot in midweek. But at the moment, I don't think Manchester United have gained an advantage in the title race."

JT hoping to inspire young guns

John Terry hopes Chelsea can stay in the FA Cup as it gives the club’s younger players the chance to develop. The Blues earned a fourth-round tie away to Preston after beating Watford 5-0 over the weekend. Unheralded youngsters such as Gael Kakuta, Nemanja Matic and Daniel Sturridge, who scored twice, all starred against Watford. “The FA Cup was such a big thing when I first came here. I was at Wembley in 1997, still a schoolboy, when Dennis Wise led the boys to the first trophy in 26 years. That day Jody Morris was on the bench as well and it was really important in giving us the belief we could make it here,” said Terry. “I honestly believe there are some youngsters at Chelsea now who can make this year's FA Cup work for them in the same way," he added.

Fergie ready to wield axe

A furious Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to axe seven players who did duty in Manchester United’s shock FA Cup loss to Leeds on Sunday. United play archrivals Manchester City in a Carling Cup semi-final on Wednesday. The Red Devils crashed out of the world’s oldest cup competition after going down 1-0 at Old Trafford to a club two divisions below them. Dimitar Berbatov and Gary Neville look set to be dropped, while Anderson, Gabriel Obertan, Danny Welbeck, Darron Gibson and Fabio da Silva also look set for bench duty – or worse. "We will start to think a little bit differently with our selection for Wednesday,” said United assistant manager Mike Phelan on Monday. "I don't think we did ourselves justice against Leeds in certain departments of the field. We had players out there who play for Manchester United and they did not perform as expected of them."

Blues linked to Italian star and other transfer gossip

Chelsea have been linked to yet another striker. This time it is Italian Giampaolo Pazzini who plays for Sampdoria. He is valued at £22m. The Blues have lost Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou to African Nations Cup duty for the whole of January and speculation is rife that manager Carlo Ancelotti is prepared to spend on a striker during the transfer window. This has led Chelsea to being linked to just about every available striker in Europe in recent weeks! Elsewhere Manchester City are in advanced discussions with Inter Milan to bring Patrick Vieira back to the EPL; Tottenham’s £15m flop David Bentley could be off to Atletico Madrid on loan; and Everton want Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne, who is currently on loan at Portsmouth, to Goodison Park.