Transfer Rumors (24 Jan 09): Tottenham offer Bent plus cash for Sunderland’s Jones, Arsenal to rival Fulham for Leeds wonderkid Delph, Real Madrid fail in bid for Roma striker Vucinic, and more

With action on the pitch dominating the sports pages today, there’s not a lot of transfer news and rumors to report on, but we still have a few tidbits for you to tide you over until tomorrow..

England

Tottenham have offered Darren Bent plus £6m to Sunderland for striker Kenwyne Jones. (Daily Mail)

Analysis: Is it so much about getting a new striker as it is about getting rid of Bent?

Fulham want to sign highly-rated midfield sensation Fabian Delph from Leeds (Daily Mail), but Arsenal could be set to make an £8m offer for him. (The Mirror)

Analysis: Delph shouldn’t leave Leeds yet, but the longer they’re not in the top flight or making a serious push to be in the top flight, the harder it will be for Leeds to turn down sizable offers for him.

Bolton are making an audacious £12m move for Sporting star Miguel Veloso, with club officials going to Lisbon to try to hammer out the deal. (The Mirror)

Analysis: It’s going to be a hard sell to push this one through. £12m is a lot less than what Sporting value him at, but if Bolton can convince Sporting – and then Veloso – that they’re a worthy buyer, it’d be a job and a half well done. Unfortunately, their interest could spark superior bids from Manchester City and maybe United as well.

Wigan are trying to hijack Middlesbrough’s £2m deal for Crystal Palace star Ben Watson, as Watson’s personal demands have put his move to Teeside in limbo. (The Mirror)

Analysis: Good to see the £15m+ they’re getting from the sales of Palacios and Heskey isn’t going into one or two players. Wigan might be a better move for Watson, since there’s a good chance he could be back down in the Championship pretty quickly with Boro, if they can’t escape the clutches of the drop.

Blackburn are set to offer £1.5m for Egyptian winger Ahmed Al-Mohammadi, who plays for Egyptian club ENPPI. (The Mirror)

Analysis: Egyptian players have really gotten a lot of interest from English clubs in the last several months, as it should be. There’s a reason why they’ve won back-to-back African Cup of Nations titles, even though their names may not be as flashy as Eto’o, Drogba, and so on.

Spain

Real Madrid have had a bid of 30 million euros for striker Mirko Vucinic rejected by Roma. (Goal.com)

Analysis: Vucinic will be key to Roma’s hopes of making another deep run in the Champions League and securing European football for next season, so Real will have to wait until the summer, at the earliest.

If you have a juicy rumor that we may have missed, post it in the comments along with a link to the source.

And if you want to keep up with all of the latest confirmed transfers from several of Europe’s top leagues, check out our updated January 2009 transfer lists.

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