2250: Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies watched Colin Nish help book a Scottish Cup clash with Celtic - and then insisted there is no chance he will allow the striker to leave Rugby Park on the cheap this week.

He said: "I've not had any offers - I've had plenty of people telling me they are going to speak to his agent.

"What I can say is, if there is anybody out there thinking that we are going to let him go prior to the transfer deadline because he is out of contract at the end of the season and we are going to let him go for some paltry figure of £30,000, £40,000 or £50,000, it's a no-goer.

"I would rather keep the player for two reasons. I'm not going to see the money anyway, and the other reason is that we need the player more than the money - unless it's something really, really exceptional."

2215: Michael Bullard has e-mailed in to tell us that Ipswich Town chairman David Sheepshanks has suggested that a new signing will be revealed at a press conference on Wednesday.

Michael thinks the signing in question might be Plymouth's David Norris.

2130: Terry Butcher and Steven Pressley took their first steps towards joining George Burley's back-up staff as they held talks with the new Scotland manager on Monday.

2105: Espanyol have reached an agreement with Real Zaragoza and Stuttgart to bring forward Ewerthon to the club on loan for the rest of the season.

The 26-year-old Brazil international had been on loan at Stuttgart from Zaragoza, but he is now set to join Espanyol until June 30, after which he is due to return to Zaragoza.

2100: Diego Maradona Jr claims he has been contacted about the prospect of joining a club in La Liga.

2055: Ajax have signed defender Samuel Kuffour on a free transfer from Roma.

2050: Birmingham manager Alex McLeish is to hold talks with midfielder Mehdi Nafti regarding his future at the club when he returns from African Nations Cup duty.

2015: Hull winger Stuart Elliott has rejected a move to League Two high-fliers Darlington.

2005: Gillingham manager Mark Stimson has made another raid on his former club Stevenage by signing Barry Fuller and Stuart Lewis.

Defender Fuller, 23, and midfielder Lewis, 20, have both penned two-and-a-half-year deals at Priestfield after moving for an undisclosed fee.

1930: Burnley manager Owen Coyle admits he is keen to give Wade Elliott a new contract.

1925: Barnsley have completed the permanent signing of Derby striker Jon Macken for an undisclosed six-figure fee.

1920: Colchester midfielder Kemal Izzet is concentrating on keeping the U's in the Championship after signing a new contract at Layer Road.

1915: Sheffield Wednesday's teenage defender Mark Beevers is "delighted" after signing a new four-year contract at Hillsborough.

1840: Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez wants to return to play domestic football in Argentina in "four or five more years".

1822: Sky Sports News are reporting Jonathan Woodgate has completed his move to Tottenham.

1820: Stewart Downing's agent insists the England international has no intention of signing a new contract at Middlesbrough.

The 23-year-old winger, who has two years remaining on his current deal, has rejected the offer of an extension and has been the subject of repeated speculation that he could leave for Tottenham during the current transfer window.

1800: It is now time for another Gary Cahill update.

The Aston Villa defender now appears to be wanted by a trio of Premier League clubs with Birmingham and Sunderland joining the race for the player.

Bolton had agreed a fee - believed to be in the region of £4.5-£5million - with Villa earlier in the day for Cahill.

1750: Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has now revealed that the club are close to signing Norway striker Erik Nevland.

1735: Gretna have signed Hull midfielder Ben Wilkinson on loan until the end of the season.

1720: Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has spoken about Woodgate's situation, he said: "We have got to be realistic. When I look at the whole thing, I think Jonathan Woodgate had made a commitment already to another club and the deal was seven-eighths done before I even came to this club.

"That's the advantage of clubs being able to plan for four or five weeks of a transfer window, not two weeks.

"I jumped in because I thought there was an opportunity there - and I genuinely believed there was - but we were not able to take advantage of sweet-talking and things like that.

1715: Tottenham are understood to be close to completing a deal for in-demand Middlesbrough defender Jonathan Woodgate.

The 28-year-old is now certain to leave the Riverside after a fee of around £8million was agreed with both Spurs and Newcastle, as well as a third unnamed Barclays Premier League club.

1710: Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has not given up hope of bringing in Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill even though a fee has been agreed with Bolton for the player.

But he has dismissed reports linking him with former Rangers winger Peter Lovenkrands - now with Schalke 04 - and does not expect to sign FC Lorient defender Michael Ciani before the window closes.

1700: Michael Ballack maintains he is "completely happy" at Chelsea and is not about to consider a move away from Stamford Bridge.

1635: Brentford manager Andy Scott has extended the loan deal of Reading goalkeeper Ben Hamer until the end of the season.

1625: Marseille have completed the signing of Elliot Grandin from fellow Ligue 1 side Caen.

The 20-year-old striker has penned a three-and-a-half-year contract with the Mediterranean side, according to Caen's official website www.smcaen.fr.

1615: Fulham have had a £1.85million bid for Norwegian striker Erik Nevland accepted by FC Groningen.

The Dutch club will receive a further £370,000 if the struggling Cottagers retain their Premier League status this season.

1610: More news now on that breaking news regarding Dennis Wise's departure from Leeds United.

Leeds have released a statement which reads: "We have agreed a compensation package with Newcastle for the services of our manager Dennis Wise and he will part company with the club on Tuesday, after completing the preparations for our game at Southend that evening.

"Newcastle had approached us for permission to speak with Dennis on Friday and since then things have happened very quickly.

"We will always be grateful to Dennis for the way he has turned things around at the club on the playing side and he goes with our best wishes for the future.

"We are not prepared to comment on the inevitable speculation that will now follow about who will replace Dennis. That is not the way we do our business at this club."

1605: Dennis Wise will quit as Leeds manager after tomorrow's game at Southend after the League One club confirmed they have agreed a compensation package with Newcastle for his services.

More on that news as we get it.

1600: Bradford have signed Watford goalkeeper Scott Loach on loan following Donovan Ricketts' departure to QPR.

1555: Arsenal are tracking Wolfsburg's Edin Dzeko and could be lining up a bid for the striker in the January transfer window.

1540: Sunderland manager Roy Keane insists he would have no qualms about paying top wages to land the best players.

However, he is adamant he will not be held to ransom as he attempts to strengthen his squad.

1535: Bristol City starlet Jennison Myrie-Williams is set to remain on loan at Tranmere until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old marked the last game of his initial two-month stint at the League One club with the winning goal from the penalty spot as Rovers overcame Yeovil 2-1 at the weekend.

1515: Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is determined to sign another striker before the close of the transfer window despite the emergence of teenage star Daniel Sturridge.

1450: Bolton have agreed a fee with Aston Villa for defender Gary Cahill. The fee is understood to be between £4.5million and £5million, and has been accepted after Villa boss Martin O'Neill rejected previous bids from the Trotters and Birmingham.

1445: There's been plenty of speculation today, but finally we've got the first confirmed move in the Premier League with Reading signing Mali international Jimmy Kebe. He's been on loan from Lens to French second division side US Boulogne which may not fill Royals fans with confidence, but Nicky Hammond is chuffed.

1440: QPR have agreed an undisclosed fee with Bradford for goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, who has travelled to London for talks. Reader Scott Dresser follows the story up by saying the Bantams have signed Scott Loach on loan.

1425: Kevin Keegan has ruled out the possibility of Pascal Chimbonda joining Newcastle from Tottenham.

1410: Bristol City boss Gary Johnson has revealed he has enquired about the possibility of signing Coventry striker Dele Adebola.

1350: The Jonathan Woodgate story is showing no signs of slowing up - Arsene Wenger has now gone public to claim Arsenal are NOT one of the three teams tohave had a bid accepted.

1320: Hearts striker Juho Makela has joined Dutch side RKC Waalwijk on trial.

The Finnish forward has not featured in the Hearts first team since October and could move before Thursday.

1300: CSKA Moscow are determined to keep hold of Jo, who as we told you earlier has been linked with a move to Manchester City.

1250: Norwich have "first option" on signing an unnamed Arsenal youngster on loan but Glenn Roeder isn't expecting Birmingham defender Martin Taylor to join the Canaries this week.

1245: Dennis Wise may not have agreed to move to Newcastle yet, but Sky Bet have already opened a market on his successor. Gary McAllister is the 5/2 favourite, Steve McClaren is 6/1 and it's 80/1 for Kevin Blackwell to return to the club.

1220: Another player making the move from England to Juventus is Liverpool midfielder Momo Sissoko. His £8.2million transfer is apparently set to go through later today.

1210: It's been heavily trailed for a few days now - but Juventus have now confirmed Olof Mellberg will join them from Aston Villa in the summer. The Swedish defender has signed a three-year deal.

1155: After reports Arsenal were monitoring Vitesse Arnhem goalkeeper Piet Velthuizen, the player has insisted he is not interested in a move away from the Gelredome. He does, though, describe Arsenal as a "nice club". Which is nice.

1150: Rangers are reportedly in talks with a view to signing Manchester City striker Georgios Samaras. The player's father is apparently conducting negotiations but it is not clear if the former Heerenveen forward would accept a permanent move to Ibrox.

1150: A response (of sorts) from Leeds to the 'Wise to Newcastle' reports that have just emerged. A club spokesman says: "We don't comment on speculation. We have an important game at Southend on Tuesday night and Dennis is preparing his team for that."

1140: Leeds manager Dennis Wise is considering an approach from Newcastle to join Kevin Keegan at St James' Park as director of football, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post. The story has been doing the rounds in Leeds for the last couple of weeks but has only now come to a wider audience. One to keep an eye on.

1100: The Manchester Evening News claims Manchester City are being linked with CSKA Moscow striker Jo (full name Joao Alves de Assis Silva) as Sven-Goran Eriksson tries to recruit up front.

1055: Heerenveen coach Gertjan Verbeek believes midfielder Michael Bradley will not leave the club in the transfer window.

1055: Mansfield have signed versatile Hull midfielder Will Atkinson on a month's loan with a view to extending the deal.

1045: Under-pressure Valencia coach Ronald Koeman insists he has no intention of quitting despite seeing his side suffer yet another setback this weekend. Los Che have taken just six point from a possible 30 since Koeman replaced Quique Sanchez Flores in the hotseat back in November, and lost 1-0 to Almeria on Sunday.

1045: Things - as predicted - have cranked up a level today as the closure of the window draws closer, and Aston Villa central defender Gary Cahill finally looks poised to join Bolton with a Villa source revealing: "There is nothing concrete decided but it wouldn't be a surprise if something happened in the next 24 hours or so."

1040: Another story from the Amsterdam giants - Ajax have swooped to sign Swedish midfielder Rasmus Lindgren after they triggered a clause in his contract with a 2.5million euro bid.

1035: Ajax midfielder Gabri has dismissed speculation liking him with a move away from the Eredivisie club.

1025: Sky sources are reporting the third team to agree a fee with Middlesbrough for defender Jonathan Woodgate are...Arsenal. Tottenham beat them 5-1 in the Carling Cup last week, but can the Gunners now gain a measure of revenge in the transfer market?

1020: More on Alfonso Alves' proposed move to Middlesbrough from Heerenveen - Boro supremo Keith Lamb hopes the deal will be done in the next 24 hours. Alves is likely to cost £10million-plus.

1015: The Burnley Express claims Burnley are interested in signing striker Andy Cole on loan from Sunderland.

1005: Managerial news now and Chris Coleman has refused to rule himself out of the running for the Southampton job, but he says he is in no hurry to return to management.

0955: Tottenham's planned double swoop may be unravelling before our eyes this morning. After the news on Woodgate, it was now emerged Rangers defender

>Alan Hutton has returned to Glasgow after a flying visit to London. Stay tuned for developments.

0950: The Jonathan Woodgate story has taken something of a twist. He could well still join Tottenham, but Middlesbrough chief executive Keith Lambhas now revealed Boro agreed a fee for the defender with three clubs - Newcastle, Tottenham and another as yet unnamed side. Boro are "waiting to see" what happens next.

0920: Arsenal have been checking on Vitesse Arnhem goalkeeper Piet Velthuizen, according to reports in Holland. Velthuizen is rated as one of the most promising 'keepers in Europe and has established himself as Vitesse's first choice this season.

0915: As we told you earlier, Jonathan Woodgate is on his way out of Middlesbrough but Stewart Downing is set to stay at the Riverside until at least the summer after being told he is not for sale.

0910: Walsall have confirmed they are trying to thrash out a deal with Oldham to retain former England striker Michael Ricketts beyond the end of his original three-month loan term.

0900: David Bentley has been linked with a move to Newcastle since Kevin Keegan returned to St James', but the England midfielder expects a new deal with Blackburn to be "sorted".

0830: 'Afonso Alves to Middlesbrough' has been one of the more annoying sagas of this transfer window, but it looks to be reaching a conclusion, with Gareth Southgate "confident" a deal is close.

0800: We told you earlier that Juande Ramos had refused to confirm yesterday that Jonathan Woodgate was heading for Tottenham, but this morning's papers are convinced the deal is all-but done, while Alan Hutton and Gilberto are also thought to be set to sign.

0750: Today's Paper Talk is now live. Let us know your thoughts on the papers' offerings - and send us your own stories and rumours as well - by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

0725: Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks' interview with BBC Five Live's Sportsweek programme yesterday morning included the headline story that he had held talks a while back with ubai International Capital, but when questioned about manager Rafael Benitez's future, he said: "Rafa has a contract for two more years. He will be here for at least the length of it and hopefully longer than that."

0715: A couple of lines from over the weekend that may have escaped your attention - Portsmouth have signed Milan Baros from Lyon, while Tottenham head coach Juande Ramos refused to be drawn after the 3-1 defeat by Manchester United on whether Jonathan Woodgate is poised to move to White Hart Lane.

0700: Just 89 hours to go until the transfer window shuts and you can bet agents' phones are starting to ring off the hook. Stay tuned, and we'll keep you across all thelatest transfer news.