Transfer Talk: Ricky Lambert off to Liverpool, Negredo, Sagna and Benatia all moving too

Today's Transfer Talk is brought to you by The Big Foot Appreciation Society.

What's happening lads? There are transfers happening, that's what. Southampton's resident scouser Ricky Lambert (pic below) is about to realise a boyhood dream. No, he's not joining the cast of Hollyoaks, he's about to sign for Liverpool. Brendan Rodgers is keen to add the 32-year old to his ranks and is prepared to spend £4m on him. Lambert, who is in the England World Cup squad, is said to be growing a perm and a moustache in anticipation. The deal could be completed as early as tomorrow. The Daily Mirror are reporting that Manchester City striker Alvaro Negredo (pic above) is a target for Atletico Madrid. Atleti are resigned to losing their big physical Spanish striker Diego Costa to Chelsea so they have decided that they will replace him with another big physical Spanish striker in the form of Negredo. No fee has been mentioned, but Atleti will be blinging it around the the transfer market after the Costa to Chelsea deal is completed. French publication L'Equipe, which, incidentally, translates as The Team and not The Kip, are telling us that Bacary Sagna (pic below) has said au revoir to Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. He's off on a free transfer as his contract is up and Manchester City are looking to sign him so he can sit on the bench and marvel at the brilliance of Pablo Zabaleta. Arsenal, undeterred, said to Sagna, 'See if we care, we're going to sign Juanfran from Atletico and he's miles better than you.' The Daily Mirror report that Atletico Madrid have told Arsenal, '£9m for JuanFran? Are you having a laugh? He's not for sale.' Expect Arsenal to sign him for £1.5m and a bag of rashers. The Daily Express have rather dramatically told us that Chelsea have 'hijacked' Manchester City's bid to sign Roma's Moroccan international centre-half Mehdi Benatia (pic below). Are they saying that Chelsea have walked in on negotiations between Roma and City and have shouted 'Okay, everyone on the floor, this is a hijacking. Nobody gets hurts if Benatia signs for us. We are here purely to sign him and do not want to see any blood shed. Put your hands where I can see them Manchester City!!" They've apparently offered the Romans £18m and Romelu Lukaku. Romelu off to Rome? Long-time Liverpool target Yevhen Konoplyanka (try saying that with a few scoops on you) is rumoured to be on his way to age old bosom buddies Manchester United according to TalkSport. The Ukrainian winger (pic above) has been identified by LVG as a key signing and the Manchester club are ready to part with £12m in cold hard cash to land him. Nani, Young and Valencia are refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Mohamed Diame wants to leave West Ham and sign for a top six club according to the Daily Mail. Don't we all Mohamed, don't we all? Manchester United are reportedly even happier now that they finished 7th and have sent David Moyes an unexpected bonus. There's a story in the Daily Star which informs us that Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria (pic above) has admitted he might leave Real Madrid this summer. This has caught the attention of both Manchester clubs and Chelsea, who happened to be walking past the Bernabeu while out shopping when he said it. All three clubs stopped dead in their tracks and said 'Did you hear that? Angel of the wings might be off! Let's stick in massive bids which will never be accepted because we know he is just jockeying for another contract"....allegedly. We're off to learn how to pronounce Yevhen Konoplyanka.