Newcastle United Sam Allardyce is to travel to Barcelona armed with new owner Mike Ashley's chequebook, and the instruction to bring back Portuguese-Brazilian schemer "Art" Deco, if the News of the World is to be believed.

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• Premier League transfers

First on the Toon's agenda is to wrap up the signing of right-back Juliano Belletti, the rag claims, and while those talks are going on, the plan seems to be to see if they could possibly have Deco too. They are set to be, somewhat optimistically, ready to offer Emre as a makeweight in the deal, along with £8 million.

Sound fanciful? Transfer talk is certainly not convinced, though far more plausible is the News of the World's claim that Allardyce is ready to offer Reading £5.75 million for England international (you'd forgotten, hadn't you) Nicky Shorey.

Down on the Tees, Middlesbrough fans may be rejoicing in the warm glow provided by Saturday's 2-1 win over Fulham, though this morning's Independent on Sunday should bring them back to earth with a bang.

The rag claims that Everton have agreed an £11 million fee with Boro for Nigerian striker Yakubu. Mido's move to Teesside had opened the door for the burly striker to move on, though now he seems certain to leave.

Another striker reportedly on the move is Nicolas Anelka. Sammy Lee seems unable to get control of the reins at Bolton, and could now lose his best player, with the Sunday Mirror claiming Portsmouth have agreed a £9 million fee for the striker. Whether or not Anelka would welcome a move to Fratton Park is another matter - he is said to be keen on playing Champions League football again. Should 'Arry fail to get his man, he could console himself with a £3 million move for "the Wardrobe" himself, Pape Bouba Diop.

The Sunday Mirror also reports that Sven-Goran Eriksson has not finished his summer spending, and will try and prise Guti away from Real Madrid for £5 million. Bernd Schuster doesn't seem to be planning with the Spanish prima-donna, though Eriksson seems convinced he could prove a source of inspiration in central midfield for City.

Perhaps the most interesting rumour of the day is the Mail on Sunday's claim that Arsenal will raid Dinamo Zagreb once more, this time for £10-million rated Luka Modric. The paper reckons the Gunners face competition from Bayern for the 21-year-old midfielder, though Transfer Talk would be amazed if the Bavarians managed to find yet another pile of cash after having already shelled out over 70 million euros in transfer fees.

No Transfer Talk would be complete without the latest on the Gabriel Heinze tug-of-war, and various papers are now claiming Sir Fergie is keen to nark Rafa Benitez by flogging the Argentinian to anyone on the continent for £4.5 million. Nice to see some things never change.