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Rafa Benitez, presumably on horseback, toting a rifle and wearing a beagler hat, has set his sights on capturing Julio Baptista (aka the Beast) from Real Madrid. Indeed, the Reds have already tabled a 20 million euro (£13.5 million) bid for the Brazil international, should reports in Marca be believed.

Quite why Liverpool would want to sign yet another striker is beyond Transfer Talk's comprehension, but Real's motives for wanting to sell are crystal clear - the cash raised from the sale of Baptista would help persuade Sevilla to let Dani Alves move to the Bernabeu.

Should a deal be agreed, Baptista would join an already striker-heavy line-up at Anfield, with Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Andriy Voronin and Peter Crouch all currently competing for a spot in the starting line-up.

One Brazilian who will not be swapping Spain for England though is former world player of the year Ronaldinho after Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain insisted his star man will not be sold.

Chelsea had reportedly met the playermaker's representatives with Roman Abramovich willing to splash up to £40 million, but Begiristain remained adamant Ronaldinho will stay at the Nou Camp.

He said: "Ronaldinho is our player and I am totally convinced that he will remain at the club."

Meanwhile, Manchester City will be encouraged to hear that Adriano, yet another Brazilian linked with a late summer transfer, will refuse a loan move away from Italian champions Internazionale in favour of a permanent deal.

The tubby striker has become disillusioned with the way he has been treated since an awful patch of form last season - which he himself blamed on too much drinking and partying - and wants a way out of the Giuseppe Meazza after falling to fifth in the pecking order.

"Now if I must really leave, I'll go and that's it," Adriano told the Gazzetta dello Sport. "What I and my agent don't understand is why they did not tell me immediately at the start of the summer that I had not re-entered their plans."

Back to more mundane stuff, and Aston Villa are close to capturing defender Zat Knight from Fulham in a £4 million deal. The 27-year-old has been with the Cottagers for eight years, but is keen to return to the city of his birth where he will provide competition for Olof Mellberg, Martin Laursen and Gary Cahill.

Up in Newcastle, Obafemi Martins has put an end to speculation that he will not be wearing a black and white shirt come Saturday (unless he signs for Juventus) by claiming he will stay and fight for his place at St James' Park.

Charles Nzogbia is equally committed to said shirt (the Newcastle one, that is) after dismissing reported interest in him from Arsenal and Fulham.

And finally, Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez has reportedly contacted Monaco about the transfer of Jan Koller, although the Czech striker claimed he is happy at Monaco.

Mike Hytner / Eurosport