The 20 Hottest Premier League Transfer Rumours

The January transfer window for Premier League teams might yet be six weeks away, but that hasn't stopped the world's media from looking at players in demand from every possible angle and trying to analyse—or just plain invent, perhaps—which teams might be interested in securing their signature.

Every year, we see countless players, both domestic-based and abroad, linked with Premier League sides in the winter window as they try to secure a European berth, challenge for the title or merely survive after a poor start to the campaign.

Of course, far fewer deals actually get done in January than in the summer window, but it nonetheless presents managers with an opportunity to strengthen or offload if the right deal comes along.

Here are the 20 hottest rumours right now. They could come to fruition, but for now they'll continue rumbling along in the papers and on the Internet.

The Premier League's top scorer at present, Demba Ba of Newcastle United has attracted transfer attention almost since the moment he set foot in England with West Ham United.

After leaving the Hammers when they were relegated, Ba has been a big success at the Magpies and has scored six times this season after suffering a barren spell last term, when he was pushed out wide.

Ba has most recently been the subject of rumours linking him with Liverpool, though other sides are expected to be monitoring the situation, too.

Much of the interest in Ba is because of his relatively low transfer value; manager Alan Pardew has confirmed that the striker has a £7 million release clause in his contract.

A summer target for Roberto Mancini who slipped away at the time, Daniele De Rossi is now back in the sights of the Manchester City manager.

The Italian midfielder is regarded as one of the best in the world at his position. He would attract an enormous fee in the region of £30 million.

Seemingly unhappy about the role he has been asked to play in the Roma team, De Rossi spent part of last season playing from central defence. He would offer Mancini cover in this area of the team while primarily being a first choice in the middle of the park.

Athletic Bilbao striker and Spanish national team squad member Fernando Llorente is certain to leave his team in 2013. The only questions remaining are exactly when and to which club.

Llorente has only nine months left on his contract and will not renew with the Basque club as he seeks to test himself at a higher level.

Aged 27, Llorente is at the peak of his powers and offers strength, movement and goals.

Arsenal are rumoured to be interested in bringing him to the Premier League, but Juventus of Italy are likewise interested in the powerful forward.

Manchester United striker Chicharito has barely gotten a look at Old Trafford this season. It looks like he could be headed for the exit.

Rated at around £8 million, the Mexican forward has been linked with Italian Serie A side Fiorentina.

With Wayne Rooney and Danny Welbeck already established at the club, Javier Hernandez has dropped to fourth-choice forward since the arrival of Robin van Persie this summer.

Birmingham City's young winger Nathan Redmond could be on his way out of the club after it emerged that contract talks between club and player had broken down.

A pacey, tricky and confident wide attacking midfielder, Redmond is seen as one of the best young players outside of the Premier League and will be keen to test himself in the top flight.

Liverpool are one of the clubs monitoring him, but Spurs and Manchester City also have their eyes fixed.

Crystal Palace attacker Wilfried Zaha is another who, like Redmond, is attracting attention from clubs in the league above his own, the Championship.

Zaha plays either wide or centrally as an attacker, and big clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Man City have been linked with him.

Steve Parish, co-chairman of Palace, has said it will take a monster bid of around £20 million to take him away.

Another Liverpool target is Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge. Attacking players being linked with the Reds is no surprise, of course, given Fabio Borini's recent injury and the failure of the club to sign a replacement for Andy Carroll in the summer.

Sturridge has been well out of favour at Stamford Bridge under Roberto Di Matteo. He sees himself as a central striker rather than a wide forward, where he has usually featured.

Brendan Rodgers seemingly wants to take him on loan to Anfield with a view for a permanent deal at the end of the season, when Sturridge would have just 12 months left on his contract.

As well as Daniele De Rossi, it seems Roberto Mancini has lined up another big-name midfield target for his Manchester City team.

Barcelona's Sergio Busquets is the second name in the frame, with Mancini said to be willing to spend up to £60 million to bring the holding midfielder to the Etihad Stadium.

It seems unlikely that he would leave Barça, having already turned down Chelsea and Manchester United previously.

If Hernandez thought his plight was bad being fourth-choice striker at Manchester United, then Federico Macheda must be even more despondent.

The Italian striker is barely even on the United radar at present. Macheda is said to want to leave the club in the January transfer window as he has not been given a chance to show his worth.

No mentions of fee or teams to move to have emerged yet, but it seems certain Macheda could be on his way.

This doesn't seem a hugely likely move, especially this January, but stories continue circulating that Neymar will move to the Premier League.

This time around Chelsea are the club in question, with Neymar claiming he wanted to learn English being the source of the rumour.

Eden Hazard, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata, Oscar and now Neymar? Quite a formidable attacking lineup if they pulled it off.

Leandro Damiao has been a wanted man for some time, and now Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are said to be heading the race to sign him.

The Brazilian striker would add plenty of goals to either team, though the Gunners are reported as favourites to land him.

One wonders how they would partner him, Lukas Podolski, Santi Cazorla, Olivier Giroud and the earlier-rumored Fernando Llorente in the same team.

Manchester United are said to want £20 million to let winger Nani leave the club after disappointing form and an expiring contract have left him close to leaving the club.

AC Milan are one of the interested parties, but they are not keen on paying so much when they might get him for around £12 million in the summer.

A move to Russia and Zenit St. Petersburg over the summer failed to go through, leaving Nani somewhat in limbo.

Chelsea might not get Neymar this winter, but perhaps a more attainable target is French attacker Loic Remy.

Roberto Di Matteo is said to want to spend around £15 million to bring Remy to Stamford Bridge as they prepare to let Daniel Sturridge leave.

Remy can play either as a central striker or a wide forward. He currently plays in Ligue 1 for Marseille.

With Scott Parker injured for most of the first half of this season, Tottenham Hotspur are perhaps unsurprisingly being linked with new central midfielders.

The latest target is Dutchman Jordy Clasie, who might be allowed to leave his current club, Feyenoord, for around £5 million this winter.

The 21-year-old is also regarded as a transfer option for several Italian sides.

Arsenal's forgotten attacking midfielder, Andrei Arshavin, could have an escape route out of North London and back into the first-team picture—in another part of London.

Fulham are said to want to sign the Russian on a free transfer during the January transfer window, though they would need to negotiate a deal to lower his wages—or else pay only part of them—to conclude a deal.

The Russian playmaker was a big hit at the Emirates when he first joined but is no longer considered a first-team player with the likes of Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain well ahead of him.

Controversial full-back Ashley Cole could be heading for a surprise exit from Chelsea after failing to come to an agreement for a new contract with his club.

Though the report claims he will wait until the end of the season to walk away on a free transfer, if clubs get wind of the chance to sign one of the most consistent full-backs on the planet in recent years on a reduced price, they could well swoop earlier.

Cole has won 99 caps for England.

Arsenal forward Marouane Chamakh has been a big disappointment since he arrived on a Bosman free transfer from Bordeaux.

Now it seems the French club want to take him back from the Gunners, returning to where he played over 200 times before moving to England.

Wages again are proving a thorny issue, with the deal he's on at Arsenal unlikely to be replicated at Bordeaux.

Colombian striker Radamel Falcao is one of the biggest names in football at the moment after a prolific period playing for Atletico Madrid.

Rated at anywhere between £35 million and £45 million, Falcao would instantly be a record signing for most teams who could stump up the cash.

Arsenal and Chelsea have been linked with him in the Premier League, but the top clubs on the continent would also come calling if Atletico gave any sign of letting him go.

Another striker making a name for himself and being targeted by Premier League teams is Celtic forward Gary Hooper.

With no Rangers in the SPL this season, truly competitive games are at a premium until Champions League fixtures roll around.

Newcastle United and Liverpool are two teams in the mix for his signature, while he has just a year-and-a-half left of his current contract.

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent figures highly in transfer rumours most years, not least because of his ability to score goals in the Premier League on a relatively regular basis.

With Christian Benteke being preferred to Bent in recent league games, the rumours have started up again. Bent is being linked with a January exit from Villa Park.

Despite having signed for Villa for over £20 million two years ago, a fee of just £12 million has been mentioned, with Liverpool and QPR in the mix.

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