Turf war

Today brought news and rumours that other clubs are trying to muscle in on not one but two of our transfer targets.

First Bolton became the first club to go public with a bid for Crystal Palace winger/striker Wilfried Zaha. Trotters boss Owen Coyle isn't getting his hopes up, though, acknowledging that the two clubs are "way apart in terms of valuation". A much likelier outcome than Zaha moving to the Reebok is a furious final-day bidding war - one which we probably wouldn't win either, given the financial clout of some of his other suitors.

It'd probably be much the same story if the Sun are right and Arsene Wenger is eyeing up Watford's Adrian Mariappa to help shore up Arsenal's shaky defence. We've apparently now had no fewer than three bids rejected by the Hornets and had Steve Stone on a watching brief for their Friday night FA Cup tie against Spurs, but the paper alleges there was representation from the Gunners in the stands too.

On the other front, there have been no rumblings of imminent departures. Prior to Saturday's game, Tim Krul - one of the likeliest targets - declared "I'm playing for the club I've always wanted to play for". Of course, with Jabba around that doesn't necessarily count for that much - while we couldn't sell the Dutchman completely against his will, there's no doubt that his future will be largely determined by whether or not a sufficiently sizeable bid materialises before close of play tomorrow. Here's hoping not.