Sunderland expected to make third bid for Hunt

Transfer news:Roy Keane will urge his chairman, Niall Quinn, to make a third bid for Reading's Stephen Hunt this week after the club had a second offer of €4 million turned down for the Irish midfielder.

Reading's manager Steve Coppell insisted yesterday he will not be allowing any of his players to leave during the January transfer window, even though Hunt has indicated he is interested in a move to the north-east.

The 26-year-old is a Manchester United supporter and idolised the Sunderland manager as a youngster and has refused to accept a transfer is out of the question this month, a view that is apparently shared by Sunderland.

Hunt has made his feelings clear to Coppell and it could be that Reading's hardline stance has been designed to maximise the fee they receive for the player.

"Only time will tell," said Hunt. "I made myself clear in the week so we'll see what happens. Who knows what the future holds? Two years ago I never thought I'd be at Reading, but I'm still here. The club knows my situation and how I feel and that will remain private. Now it's entirely down to the club.

"Sunderland is a big club and Roy's doing a great job there. You never know what's around the corner, but I'm doing my best for Reading and, until that changes, I'm still here."

Despite the lure of Wearside, Hunt is expected to play for Reading at Aston Villa on Saturday, although a third Sunderland offer is anticipated before then.

Sunderland have also expressed an interest in Hunt's Reading team-mate, the England Under-21 international Leroy Lita. Keane spent around €48 million in the summer - including the record signing of the goalkeeper Craig Gordon for 12 million from Hearts - but Quinn and the Drumaville consortium, which has financed the club's return to the top flight, are willing to back the manager's judgment again as they look to avoid an immediate return to the English Championship.

Meanwhile, Derby are closing in on the signings of three new players as they step up their bid to avoid relegation from the top flight.

Blackburn's Robbie Savage, former Newcastle star Laurent Robert and Tottenham misfit Hossam Ghaly are all poised to complete moves to the English Premier League's bottom side.

The Rams are eight points adrift at the foot of the table and manager Paul Jewell is working at a furious pace to strengthen his squad following the opening of the transfer window.

Middlesbrough are interested in the Sheffield United forward Rob Hulse as the club distanced itself from speculation that it has made a 16 million offer for Heerenveen's Brazilian striker, Afonso Alves.

The Boro chairman, Steve Gibson, is refusing to panic in the transfer window, despite the club's lowly Premier League position, and says he will not risk signing players who are no better than the ones they already have. Gibson had promised the club's supporters "spectacular" signings in the summer, but failed to secure the signatures of the likes of Liverpool's Peter Crouch and Tottenham Hotspur's Jermain Defoe.

Meanwhile, Southampton are set to complete the 1.3 million signing of Middlesbrough's 23-year-old defender Andrew Davies, following a successful loan spell at St Mary's.

Guardian Service

In, Out and Talked About

Arsenal

In: None.

Out: Matthew Connolly (QPR). Rumours: Lassana Diarra (Newcastle, Lyon).

Aston Villa

In: None.

Out: None. Rumours: Martin Laursen (Tottenham, Juventus); Gary Cahill (Sheffield Utd).

Birmingham City

In: None. Rumours: James McFadden (Everton).

Out: Sam Oji (Leyton Orient).

Blackburn Rovers

In: None. Rumours: Yoon Bitgaram (South Korea U-17).

Out: Robbie Savage (Bolton).

Bolton Wanderers

In: Tamir Cohen (Maccabi Netanya).

Rumours: Djibril Cisse (Marseille); Matthew Taylor (Portsmouth); Javier Saviola (Real Madrid).

Out: Gary Speed (Sheffield Utd, loan). Rumours: Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea, Manchester City).

Chelsea

In: None. Rumours: Nicolas Anelka (Bolton); Vagner Love (CSKA Moscow); Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham); Ro'naldinho (Barcelona); Branko Ivanovic (Lokomotiv Moscow).

Out: None. Rumours: Wayne Bridge (Liverpool).

Derby County

In: Emanuel Villa (UAG Tecos); Danny Mills (Manchester City, loan); Robbie Savage (Blackburn); Laurent Robert (Levante). Rumours: Hossam Ghaly (Tottenham).

Out: Steve Howard (Leicester City); Mo Camara (Norwich, loan).

Everton

In: Dan Gosling (Plymouth).

Out: None. Rumours: James McFadden (Birmingham).

Fulham

In: None. Rumours: Harry Kewell (Liverpool); Eddie Johnson (Kansas City); Marlon King (Watford).

Out: None.

Liverpool

In: None. Rumours: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea); Martin Skrtel (Zenit St Petersburg).

Out: None. Rumours: Javier Mascherano (Juventus, Barcelona); Harry Kewell (Fulham); Mohamed Sissoko (Juventus).

Manchester City

In: Nery Castillo (Shakhtar Donetsk, loan). Rumours: Nicolas Anelka (Bolton); Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace); Djibril Cisse (Marseille).

Out: Danny Mills (Derby, loan). Rumours): Rolando Bianchi (Torino).

Manchester United

In: Manucho (Petro Atletico). Rumours: Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham).

Out: Johnny Evans (Sunderland, loan). Rumours: Phil Bardsley (Sunderland).

Middlesbrough

In: None. Rumours: Afonso Alves (Heerenveen); Jermain Defoe (Tottenham); Rob Hulse (Sheffield Utd).

Out: Andrew Davie (Southampton).

Newcastle United

In: None. Rumours: Dean Ashton (West Ham); Lassana Diarra (Arsenal).

Out: Tim Krul (Falkirk, loan).

Portsmouth

In: Danijel Subotic (Basle).

Out: None. Rumours: Matthew Taylor (Bolton).

Reading

In: Marek Matejovsky (Mlada Boleslav).

Out: None. Rumours: Stephen Hunt (Sunderland); Leroy Lita (Sunderland).

Sunderland

In: Johnny Evans (Manchester Utd, loan). Rumours: Marlon King (Watford); Leroy Lita (Reading); Phil Bardsley (Manchester Utd); Stephen Hunt (Reading); Matt Taylor (Portsmouth).

Out: Stanislav Varga (Burnley, loan).

Tottenham Hotspur

In: Chris Gunter (Cardiff). Rumours: Martin Laursen (Aston Villa); Urby Emanuelson (Ajax); Maniche (Atletico Madrid).

Out: Ben Alnwick (Leicester, loan). Rumours: Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester Utd, Chelsea); Jermain Defoe (Middlesbrough); Hossam Ghaly (Derby).

West Ham

In: None. Rumours: Djibril Cisse (Marseille).

Out: Hogan Ephraim (QPR). Rumours: Dean Ashton (Newcastle).

Wigan Athletic

In: None. Rumours: Wilson Palacios (Birmingham).

Out: Fitz Hall (QPR).