Cardiff City are making an astonishing move to bring Craig Bellamy 'home' - and the Manchester City ace may help the amazing bid.

Boss Dave Jones has been given the go-ahead from the Welsh club's new Malaysian owners to pull off the coup of the year. And Bellamy is willing to move to his favourite club, who are trying to find ways of making it happen.

Bellamy is on around £4million a year at City and valued at £7million by the mega-rich club. But Cardiff have two ways of getting round that and are working on it.

The fiery forward could ask to be paid a settlement by City in return for cancelling his contract and that would let him go to Cardiff on a sensible deal.

Or Cardiff could take Bellamy on loan for a year and ask City to pick up a chunk of his wages.Cardiff insiders reveal that the plan is advanced and claim Bellamy is 'up' for the idea that will stun football.

Bellamy watched Cardiff in the play-offs and would be happy to go back to his roots with his family.

The far-travelled star has clashed with Roberto Mancini and some City officials lately as his days at the club seem numbered.

But while Tottenham and Everton were lining up for a signing war it appears Bellamy's heart is set on Cardiff and the Championship.

Cardiff know that the move would make them promotion favourites after their Wembley heartache and also fill their new ground.

The new owners have cash for big projects but the real impetus with the Bellamy deal is that their target is willing to give up cash.

Bellamy is a multi-millionaire and can make this dream final move. Now City will have to find a way to make the numbers work.

One top Cardiff source said: "It may sound like a dream bout could be reality soon and it will take the roof off this place."

Source : www.mirrorfootball.co.uk

The England defender faces the bleak prospect of becoming public enemy No 1 next season following his bitter split from national sweetheart Cheryl Cole.

The Sun exclusively revealed yesterday that the Girls Aloud star has filed for divorce in London.

Cole is now certain to suffer a terrace backlash - with his life on and off the pitch continuously under a microscope.

That has alerted Europe's biggest clubs - and especially new Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho, who has never hidden his love for his former Chelsea player.

A Madrid source confirmed: "The feeling is Ashley will have a terrible time if he stays in England next season.

"Clubs like Real are hoping Chelsea will sympathise with Cole's plight and let him escape all the abuse and find a new life - hopefully with us."

Cole has become increasingly worn down with life in England, although he has never fallen out of love with Chelsea, where he has three years left on his current contract.

There is no doubt the Double winners want to keep their prized defender - but even Stamford Bridge insiders realise they face a tough battle.

One said: "Everyone at Chelsea can see Ashley loves the club, his team-mates and the fans. There's no doubt about that.

"But who could blame him for not wanting to live in England any more, especially after his divorce from Cheryl?

"We can all imagine what kind of abuse he'll face from away fans next season. Who'd want to put up with that?"

There will be no shortage of offers for Cole, widely regarded as the world's best left-back.

While Mourinho will be at the front of the queue, Real's rivals Barcelona would also be keen to capture the Three Lions star.

AC Milan, Roma and Bayern Munich are also said to be monitoring events.

Chelsea are planning a stunning double raid on Liverpool for star pair Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun.

The Daily Mail says the Blues are considering a double swoop for Argentina captain Mascherano and his Anfield team-mate Benayoun this summer.

Liverpool don’t want to sell to Chelsea but if the financial offer is bold enough they may have little choice with Benitez’s budget almost non-existent.

Benayoun is hoping to discuss a move to Stamford Bridge for around £6m this week.

The 30-year-old Israel international said: “(Carlo) Ancelotti wants me for next season and now everything depends on Liverpool. Chelsea will have to pay some £6m but I believe that in the end I’ll be moving there.” (Daily Mail as reported on Tribalfootball.com)

Now then, could this be true? Can’t see it myself, our players are being linked with exits all over the place. Why for instance would Yossi Benayoun leave us for Stamford Bridge? He would get even less time in the Chelsea team than Rafa gives him right now. I can understand a move to the likes of West Ham or Man City where the Israeli would get a decent shot at first team football, but this makes little or no sense to me.

I rate Benayoun, hes a crafty player who gives his all but I reckon he will leave this summer. As for Javier Mascherano, well he has been linked with a move away from Anfield pretty much from day one. A World class player who on his day is unplayable, we shouldn’t even consider any offers for the Argentine captain, even if they are astronomical ones.

This summer promises to be a very interesting one at Anfield. There are players Rafa will have to convince to stay, others who have no intention of leaving but are apparently set to leave and then those players we simply must offload in order to make space, and funding, for much needed additions.

Who do my fellow Liverpool fans think definitely needs to be sold this summer?

Cesc Fabregas moved closer to his dream move to Barcelona last night after his father insisted he WILL quit Arsenal.

Francesc Fabregas has turned up the heat on Arsenal after publicly admitting for the first time that his son wants to join Barcelona this summer.

Arsenal insist they will not sell at any price and Barcelona have yet to table a bid but are now being forced into a corner as Fabregas' father has admitted that the Spanish midfielder has told Arsene Wenger he wants to leave.

Fabregas senior said: "He has decided. It appears more clearly that he will do it. Whatever happens, he has great respect for Arsenal.

"When these things happen I think that there can be misunderstandings and I think that everyone should just respect the decision of the player.

"Cesc has been very clear. He mentioned it early to give himself the best chance. This would have caused a lot more bother had it been brought up after the World Cup because then there is not much time to react and look for a new player.

"At 23 he has shown his maturity and it has been only him that has spoken, without any agents talking. He has wanted to speak out because he did not want to have any problems. It is a choice and now time is required so that a solution can be found.

"I thought that this might be quick, all done, and now I see that maybe we will need to talk more to sort things out. After what I have seen this week this could be a long process, although I hope not."

Just to compound the major problem facing Arsenal, the club's Mexican forward, Carlos Vela, has also claimed that he can understand Fabregas' decision to quit.

Vela said: "It is difficult for big players, they want to win trophies and play in games like the Champions League final. I'm sure he's disappointed we have not won anything for five years."

MirrorFootball revealed last week that Fabregas had told Arsene Wenger face-to-face in a meeting at the club's training ground last Tuesday that he wanted to join Barcelona.

But Arsenal insist that Barcelona have not made an official bid and they are determined not to sell a player who has extended his contract until June 2015.

John Carew could be heading to Serie A this summer as Aston Villa seek to raise funds for new players.

Norwegian hitman Carew, 30, has just 12 months left on his contract at Villa Park.

And both Fiorentina and Sampdoria are keen on the strapping 6ft 4in frontman, who earns £52,000-a-week at Villa.

Carew is very popular with supporters after netting 52 goals in 122 games following a move from Lyon in January 2007.

But Villa have to sell-to-buy as owner Randy Lerner seeks to make the club more financially sustainable.

Now Carew could be offloaded as he will be a free agent next summer and has an uneasy relationship with boss Martin O'Neill.

The pair have had differences of opinion over how to treat Carew's back problems in the past.

Carew was also fined for controversially visiting a strip club in October 2008 the evening before a game.

Carew's probable exit could help fund moves for Spurs' Robbie Keane or Fulham's Bobby Zamora.

Carew, also fancied by Fenerbahce, has admirers in the Premier League but Villa would prefer to sell the marksman abroad so he doesn't return to haunt them.

Villa are Carew's seventh club and he had a spell in Italy before from September 2003 with Roma.

Chelsea are ready to make a big money move for Real Madrid misfit Karim Benzema this summer. Carlo Ancelotti has earmarked the former Lyon man as the striker he hopes to be a long term solution to his aging front line and is set to make an offer of around £28m for the French 22 year old.

The Bernabeu man has found his first team chances limited and as a result was sensationally left out of Raymond Domenech’s World Cup squad, despite scoring in the last two games of the World Cup Qualifying Group he was then dropped from both legs of their controversial play-off with Ireland.

With Jose Mourinho rumoured to replace Manuel Pellegrini Benzema’s chances may well become even more infrequent as he is linked with moves for all manner of big name additions. Ancelotti has also reportedly considered a move for AC Milan youngster Alexandre Pato but may feel it more likely to snare the Frenchman.

There is an argument that of the two high profile strikers Benzema is more likely to suit the physical nature of the Premier League and even though he has had an average season he is still very much one of the best young finishers around.