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Zarate is on loan at Inter Milan. Antonio Calanni/AP/Press Association Images
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The Departures Lounge: your daily transfer gossip round-up

Which ex-Birmingham City striker have Spurs set their sights on?

MAURO ZARATE IS the latest name to be linked with a move to Spurs this month. Ring a bell?

The 24-year-old Argentinian rose to prominence when he scored the winning goal in the 2007 U20 World Cup final playing alongside Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and had a stint at Birmingham City back in 2008 before heading off to Italy.

Under contract at Lazio, Zarate is on loan at Inter Milan but would be available to buy for somewhere in the region of €12m – although Tottenham are looking for a similar deal to the one he has at Inter, which would see them take him for the remainder of the season.

Knowing the north Londoners however, they will stay quiet until Deadline Day, then make a raft of bids for strikers all over European with hours remaining… and fail to sign a single one.

Then there is also the small matter of Harry Redknapp’s court case, which has him little preoccupied with at the moment.

Two clubs who are tied as the most mentioned during this transfer window are Paris Saint-Germain and Queens Park Rangers.

And after Mark Hughes failed to persuade Chelsea defender Alex to join him at the Rs, the Brazilian could instead now follow his former manager to Paris.

Club mate Frank Lampard has been the subject of a fair amount of speculation already this month and while a move to Los Angeles with his fiancee Christine Bleakley might suit, word is that Carlo Ancelotti is interested in getting the 32-year-old on board at the French side.

Nicknamed ‘The Pirate’, Real Madrid utility player Esteban Granero would be a useful addition to most Premier League squads and Kenny Dalglish is looking to aquire his services according to reports today.

Liverpool want a loan move but Madrid boss Jose Mourinho would prefer to hold onto the Spaniard.

In the best of the rest, Blackpool have had a bid rejected by Celtic for ‘The Derry Pele’ Paddy McCourt, Brighton believe they have a hope of luring Michael Owen away from Manchester United and Sunderland have targeted Mohamed Abdellaoue of Hannover 96.

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