Redknapp In Italy To Watch Adriano?

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp is in Italy to run the rule over Inter Milan striker Adriano, who is due to start for Inter in their Coppa Italia clash with Genoa at the San Siro on Tuesday, according to Corriere della Serra.

Despite securing the return of Jermain Defoe to White Hart Lane from former club Portsmouth last week, Redknapp is still keen to add another striker to the squad at Spurs, with Brazilian International Adriano reportedly on the Redknapp radar.

26-year-old Adriano has fallen down the pecking order at the Nerazzurri since the arrival of former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho at the Serie A Champions and has been widely tipped to leave Inter this month.

Redknapp is in Italy to check the form of Adriano out for himself, according to the Italian paper, with a view to bringing the striker to the Premier League. In what will be a rare start for the Brazilian, who has 31 goals in 51 caps for his country.

However, despite being one of the most feared strikers in Europe not so long ago, Adriano is deemed surplus to requirements at Inter for Mourinho, who has preferred Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Julio Cruz upfront in the Scudetto for Inter this season.

Adriano has scored 67 goals in 155 appearances for the Italians since joining from Flamengo in 2001 and spent time on loan at Fiorentina in 2002, before scoring 26 goals in 43 appearances for Parma in two seasons at the side, who, had co-ownership of Adriano’s registration at the time.

Inter Target Arsenal Striker?

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Inter Milan are planning a shock swoop for Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner, with Nerazzurri boss Jose Mourinho seeing the Danish International as a replacement for Adriano, who looks set to leave the San Siro in January, according to the Mail online.

Mourinho had been heavily linked with a move for his former charge Didier Drogba at Chelsea next month, with Adriano to go the other way to Stamford Bridge. However, Inter declared on Monday that Ivory Coast International Drogba was not a target for the Serie A side, with it now emerging that Bendtner is a possible target for Inter.

Whether Gunners manager Arsene Wenger will allow Bendtner, who had previously been linked with a move to Spartak Moscow in January, to leave the Emirates Stadium remains to be seen, but with Croatian International Eduardo on the verge of a return to action for the Premier League club. Wenger could decide to cash in 20-year-old Bendtner in order to strengthen other areas of the squad at the North London club.

Bendtner has been at Arsenal since 2004 and made his senior debut for the Gunners in 2005, with the Dane making 59 appearances and scoring 14 goals during his time at the Emirates. Bendtner spent the 2006-2007, season on loan at Birmingham City, where he scored 13 goals in 48 appearances for the Midlands side and has 8 goals in 22 caps for Denmark.

Chelsea's Drogba In Talks With Inter?

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Ivory Coast International Didier Drogba's Chelsea future has become surrounded in doubt, with the Blues striker understood to have held discussions with officials at Serie A club Inter Milan, according to the La Gazetta Dello Sport website.

30-year-old Drogba is understood to have met with Nerazzurri coach Jose Mourinho’s agent Jorge Mendes and Marco Branca the technical director at the San Siro along with his agent Pierre Frelot at a restaurant in West London.

Former Stamford Bridge boss Mourinho was a huge influence on Drogba, while at Chelsea and had been heavily linked with a move to bring the former Marseille striker to Inter in the summer. However, Drogba, who is currently serving a three-match ban for throwing a coin in the Carling Cup defeat to Burnley, remained at the Premier League side.

Mourinho has an abundance of striker’s at the San Siro, with Hernan Crespo, Adriano, Mario Balotelli, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Julio Cruz and Victor Obinna all fighting for a starting berth upfront for Inter. Despite this Mourinho is expected to offload Adriano in January, with Balotelli a reported target for Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, while Crespo never made the grade under Mourinho at the Blues.

Young striker Obinna had been heavily linked with a loan move to Everton in the summer, but this didn’t materialise due to work permit problems and this deal could be resurrected in January, which if as Mourinho has stated recently that some forward’s will leave Inter in January then the path would be clear for Inter to sign Drogba, who would be keen on a reunion with his former boss.