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Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld have handed a trial to a certain Mr Drogba as the Ivorian seeks to get his career back on track.

Having struggled for form for much of the season, the striker is now looking for a fresh challenge - and the not-so-crack German side are willing to offer him a lifeline should he impress while on trial.

Bielefeld, currently 14th in the Bundesliga, have been taking a look at Drogba this week and he has until Friday to convince coach Michael Frontzeck he is worth a permanent deal.

Now this may sound like crazy talk to Chelsea fans, who have seen their Drogba playing like a man possessed over recent weeks. Why should he seek a move elsewhere now he has been rejuvenated by the arrival of Guus Hiddink?

No reason at all - it seems Eric Cantona is not the only one with a less famous, less good brother called Joel.

Gossip Shop is, of course, talking about Didier's 23-year-old brother Joel Drogba, who is looking for a fresh start in the Bundesliga having failed to make the grade at French clubs Le Mans and Metz.

The younger Drogba, who once had a (failed) trial at Leyton Orient, has most recently been playing for Metalurg Donetsk in Ukraine, is hoping the move will reignite his faltering career. So Chelsea fans can relax. For now.

Poor old Mark Hughes. The Manchester City manager cannot be sleeping too well at the moment, what with all the speculation surrounding his future at Eastlands.

And the circles under his eyes could be about to turn a shade darker after revealing he has been given the dreaded vote of confidence by the club's Abu Dhabi owners.

"I think the owners are pleased," Hughes said in The Sun. "The view (at the start) was to make progress and we've done that as a team - the chairman understands where we are."

Hmmm. Gossip Shop thinks it has heard that one before. Admittedly when Thaksin Shinawatra was in charge and Sven-Goran Eriksson was the manager, but nevertheless Hughes's words are worryingly familiar considering City's recent history of grand turnarounds.

Look, here's the proof:

City's head of communications Paul Tyrrell, April 2008: "The chairman made it clear recently that he was happy with the progress made (by Eriksson) and that a top-10 finish was his target this season."

City chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, June 2008, after City secured a ninth-place finish in the Premier League: "The board of directors and all at Manchester City would like to thank Sven for his efforts and contributions throughout the season and we wish him all the best for the future."

So down the road to Old Trafford, where Carlos Tevez continues to dominate headlines that don't centre on either Nemanja Vidic's performance at the weekend, Alex Ferguson's words of wisdom, Gary Neville's choice of hedge design (it spells out MUFC when viewed from above), Ryan Giggs's chances of winning Player of the Year or Cristiano Ronaldo's form/hairstyle/girlfriends/car.

The Argentinian striker will not be allowed to renew his current loan arrangement with Manchester United this summer because third-party ownership deals are no longer permitted under new Premier League rules.

Over to a Premier League spokesman, who can explain the technicalities of the story far better than GS: "He would not be eligible to play under the new rules on third-party ownership we introduced.

"But the rules are not applied retrospectively so he can play under his two-year loan arrangement from 2007."

So that means the only way United will be able to retain Tevez's services is to meet the asking pricing of £32 million to buy him outright from agent Kia Joorabchian. If not, the striker will go elsewhere to the highest bidder.

In other news, Titus Bramble's stellar performances this season appear to have earned him a new contract and a pay rise at Wigan while fellow defender Sebastien Bassong has done nothing to ward off reported interest from Arsenal by refusing to pen a new deal with Newcastle - at least for the time being.

And finally, Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is keen to tie down Stiliyan Petrov by offering a new contract to the Bulgarian as soon as possible.

O'Neill said: "I have spoken to Stiliyan's agent and we would be hoping to be speaking (to Petrov) very shortly.

"I spoke to him before we went out to Dubai recently for a training break and we will be having a meeting sometime in the very near future."

Mike Hytner / Eurosport