Barcelona have never been too efficient at keeping their transfer agenda water-tight, and the Sunday Times has gleaned a sliver of info that will gladden the hearts of Blues fans today.

How many times have they been linked with the smiling Brazilian? If you were to put all those recent stories in a line, they'd stretch, oh, a very long way, we estimate here at WTPS Towers.

But it appears that the European champions are now tiring of their pursuit of Robinho, and are thinking about switching their sights closer to home with a bid for David Silva instead.

They definitely need somebody to succeed Dublin's Man of the Year Thierry Henry, who has to use only his feet and his head in La Liga so is forced to operate under a certain handicap.

The ST, usually sound on European matters, confides: "Though City's owners rejected a bid for their record signing in August, Barca have begun exploring other options to replace Henry on the left side of their attack. Silva would be a cheaper option with his asking price of around £25m and an easier fit in the side."

The Spain striker already knows a good few of his potential team-mates at the Nou Camp, the ST adds, while for good measure, as a Spaniard he helps when the Champions League quota is tallied. And Robi won't have to start worrying about missing Corrie.

Elsewhere, the People's Hotline gossip column reports that Mark Hughes is considering a loan deal  to allow winger Vladimir Weiss to get more match experience, with Burnley and Stoke interested.

The Observer's David Hills notes in his pithy Said & Done column that Thaksin Shinawatra is the new economic advisor to Cambodia, having once tripled City's pre-tax losses to £32.6m.

And the News of the World reckons that Emmanuel Adebayor paid a taxi driver £40 for a UB40 CD he spotted on the dashboard. Manu, come round to ours, I've some old Toots and the Maytals you can have for a couple of grand.