Contenders eye January sales

The winter transfer window opened on 1 January, offering the 16 sides still entertaining hopes of lifting the UEFA Champions League trophy the opportunity to strengthen their squads ahead of the resumption of the competition in February. uefa.com considers who is likely to be active in the January sales.

Striking reinforcements
With goals hard to come by at the highest level, it is perhaps little surprise that a number of the contenders are looking to bolster their forward lines. Ronaldo has been linked with CR Flamengo and Fenerbahçe SK, so the onus is particularly strong on holders AC Milan, only the tenth-highest scorers in Serie A, to add to their attacking arsenal. Ronaldinho and Didier Drogba have been outlandishly mooted, though neither FC Barcelona nor Chelsea FC are likely to be too keen to lose their services, and neither would be eligible for the UEFA Champions League; all sides can register one player who has appeared in UEFA competition for another team provided it is not the same tournament.

Amauri link
More likely is Amauri, the Brazilian striker who has scored seven goals for US Città di Palermo this season, and the Sicilian club may have their hands full in January batting away suitors, with FC Internazionale Milano apparently keen on midfielder Fabio Simplicio. Sevilla FC's Enzo Maresca could also fill a midfield void left by injuries to Patrick Vieira, Dejan Stanković and Olivier Dacourt, and the Andalusian side's striker Aleksandr Kerzhakov is apparently attracting admiring glances from FC Dynamo Kyiv. Indeed, among Spain's three remaining UEFA Champions League hopefuls, much of the talk has been of exits rather than entries.

Barça departure
Real Madrid CF duo Javier Balboa and Roberto Soldado have voiced desires for more first-team football, and Jerzy Dudek has said similar as he looks to keep in the thoughts of Poland coach Leo Beenhakker ahead of UEFA EURO 2008™, though he admits Bernd Schuster is unlikely to let him go. The Madrid coach is no doubt aware of the value of good goalkeepers, as is FC Barcelona counterpart Frank Rijkaard after injury to second-choice Albert Jorquera left Víctor Valdés exposed. They have been linked with Manchester City FC youngster Kasper Schmeichel, though this has been rather buried amongst talk of Ronaldinho joining either Milan or Chelsea, and Gianluca Zambrotta and Eidur Gudjohnsen returning to Italy and England respectively.

African contingent
No talk of transfers would be complete without mention of Chelsea, who already seem set to sign promising Serbia centre-back Branislav Ivanović from FC Lokomotiv Moskva in a deal worth €13m. With Drogba among four stellar names likely to be in African Cup of Nations action in January and February, strikers are top of the agenda, however. Dimitar Berbatov and Nicolas Anelka would fit the bill, the latter revealing that "the chairmen [of Bolton Wanderers FC and Chelsea] are discussing it. I really hope it happens, especially as I am able to play in the Champions League". Reading FC's Kevin Doyle may present a cheaper option, yet as manager Avram Grant admits: "The media will link us to 2000 players." The same is true of Manchester United FC, who have already signed Angolan striker Manucho, and are also rumoured to be interested in the unsettled Berbatov, as well as FC Porto right-back Bosingwa and even an audacious bid to re-sign Henrik Larsson on a loan deal.

Defensive reinforcement
Another of Larsson's former employers, Celtic FC, have been tipped to make a similar bid, though far more likely are the arrivals of two full-backs – Sevilla's Andreas Hinkel and Brazilian Dyego Coelho. The Scottish champions are eyeing attacking midfielders too, as were Olympiacos CFP before securing Slovenian Mirnes Sisič on a three-and-a-half year contract. CA River Plate midfielder Fernando Belluschi could be next on Takis Lemonis's wish list. In Turkey, Fenerbahçe's over-reliance on Semih Şentürk has sparked interest in Ronaldo, and their Brazilian coach Zico is keen to add to the six compatriots he can already call upon. One may be on his way, however, as Mehmet Aurélio is reportedly attracting interest from Valencia CF.

Zé Roberto II
Some clubs appear to be settling for status quo. Liverpool FC are keen to secure on-loan Javier Mascherano on a permanent contract, while Arsenal FC manager Arsène Wenger, despite casting admiring glances at Samir Nasri, insists he "will not go into the transfer market". AS Roma seem happy with their lot, as do Porto, whose coach Jesualdo Ferreira rubbished a move for Belluschi, adding that while the club was "not sleeping", he had total confidence in his squad. Porto's last-16 opponents FC Schalke 04 have also been linked with a move for South American talent, in the form of Uruguay striker Vicente Sánchez and Brazilian José Roberto de Oliveira, dubbed Zé Roberto II due to his similarity to the FC Bayern München man. A busy month is in prospect.