<div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/20842?ns=guardian&pageName=Football+transfer+rumours%3A+Daniele+De+Rossi+to+snub+Manchester+City%3AArticle%3A1790460&ch=Football&c3=GU.co.uk&c4=Football%2CSport&c5=&c6=Barry+Glendenning&c7=12-Aug-21&c8=1790460&c9=Article&c10=Feature&c11=Football&c13=Rumour+Mill+%28series%29&c25=&c30=content&c42=Sport&h2=GU%2FSport%2FFootball%2F" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Today's tittle-tattle is amazed the ball didn't get lost in Marouane Fellaini's barnet</p><p>If they're anywhere near as excitable as their British equivalents (and at the risk of embracing lazy national stereotypes, let's face it they almost certainly are ... and then some), at around 1pm this afternoon the presenters on Sky Sports News in Italy will hand over to their man or woman in the media room at Roma's stadium or training ground, where the camera will be pointing at a couple of empty chairs behind the top table, occasionally panning to a doorway through which nobody is walking.</p><p></p><p>As the clock ticks and nothing continues to happen, viewers will be informed that at any moment, <strong>Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi </strong>is due to show up and announce that despite being a long-term target of the world's richest club Manchester City, he has decided to remain with the <em>Giallorossi</em>. Moments later, he'll do exactly that.</p><p></p><p>Last Saturday the English champions submitted a bid for £31m for De Rossi, a player they were prepared to offer an annual basic stipend of £7m, but it seems Roma and their star turn, who joined them as a whey-faced teenager, are prepared to politely decline City's offer in a turn of events that is likely to leave Roberto Mancini and his employers with a rare feeling of rejection.</p><p></p><p>Already the highest paid player in Serie A, De Rossi is already woven into the tapestry of a club where his old man, Alberto, is on the coaching staff. Off the pitch, an ongoing custody battle for his daughter with her mother currently occupies much of his time and energy, a state of affairs which makes his decision to stay put quite understandable.</p><p></p><p>In other rather depressing news for City, their contract talks with <strong>David Silva</strong> have stalled like a learner driver's car at a set of traffic lights, with the Spaniard's representatives reported to be demanding a contract that would put their client among the top earners at the club who are forced to struggle by on £200,000 per week. With a certain precious metal currently trading at £33,195.72 per kilo and the zippy little Spaniard weighing in at 67kg, a year's worth of that salary would make - cough - Silva worth more well over four times his weight in gold. Considering how much he brought to City's title-winning party last season, who could argue that he isn't worth every doubloon?</p><p></p><p>Harry Redknapp may have left the club and embarked on a new career as a BBC pundit and one of the public faces of Sky's Sports' Fantasy Football League, but that hasn't stopped Tottenham Hotspur hogging more than their fair share of the transfer speculation headlines. In what seems like a ringing endorsement for the Hollywood maxim that "nobody knows anything", despite yesterday's widespread speculation to the contrary, club suits are <em>not</em> interested in signing <strong>Arsenal's Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh</strong>, but are likely to focus their energies on bringing <strong>Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic</strong> to White Hart Lane instead. Tune in tomorrow to discover that's turned out to be a skip-full of cobblers as well.</p><p></p><p>Queen's Park Rangers want to sign <strong>Michael Dawson</strong> from Spurs and if their shambolic opening day defensive performance is anything to go by, they could do a lot worse than take a punt on the dependable, albeit injury prone centre-half from Yorkshire. <strong>Tom Huddlestone</strong> also looks to be heading for the white Hart Lane exit door, with Stoke City reported to be keen on bringing the burly midfielder to the Britannia Stadium.</p><p></p><p>In a bid to avoid any transfer deadline day palaver involving Sky's Jim White shrieking manically as a tall man from Newcastle pitches up at a new club's car-park carrying a monogrammed Louis Vuitton washbag, Liverpool will give striker <strong>Andy Carroll</strong> a week to decide what he wants to do next before consigning him to the first team fringes until they can get a decent price for him in January. Carroll has already been linked with West Ham, who are set to concede defeat in their pursuit of Wolves winger Matt Jarvis and try to bring his 25-year-old <strong>Rennes counterpart Razak Boukari </strong>to the Boleyn Ground instead.</p><p></p><p>Sunderland have added <strong>Blackburn defender Martin Olsson</strong> to a shopping list that already includes <strong>Manchester City winger Adam Johnson</strong> and <strong>Wolves striker Steven Fletcher</strong>, but reports elsewhere suggest they will have to go toe-to-toe with Liverpool if they're to bring Johnson to the Stadium of Light. A few miles south of Wearside, Southampton are close to wrapping up their what you might call their £18m "double-swoop" for <strong>Bologna winger Gaston</strong> <strong>Ramirez</strong> and his Blackpool counterpart <strong>Matt Phillips</strong> to <strong>St Mary's</strong>. Meanwhile in Wales, Cardiff City are on the verge of signing QPR defender <strong>Matthew Connolly</strong>.</p><p></p><p>And finally, 19-year-old <strong>Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Moussa Konate</strong> has subtly intimated that he could, y'know ... <em>possibly</em> be open to offers from Premier League clubs, should the right one come along: "Any club that is interested can contact Mr Joseph Donkor in England," he said, stopping just short of reciting his English representative's phone number for anyone who might want to give him a call.</p><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/barryglendenning">Barry Glendenning</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" /><img width='1' height='1' src='http://guardian.co.uk.feedsportal.com/c/34708/f/639039/s/22933b0a/mf.gif' border='0'/><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/139263377004/u/49/f/639039/c/34708/s/22933b0a/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/139263377004/u/49/f/639039/c/34708/s/22933b0a/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/139263377004/u/49/f/639039/c/34708/s/22933b0a/a2t.img" border="0"/>
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