Football transfer rumours: Stéphane Sessègnon to Arsenal or Tottenham?

As the Mill awoke this morning to discover that a silent, black and white movie whose biggest star is a dog forced to turn tricks on command has been crowned king at the Oscars – the Oscars of the film industry – we were transported back to a simpler time when the transfer game was a more straightforward operation. After signing on the dotted line at a new club, a player would immediately be treated like the four-legged star of The Artist and put to work at his real trade: a spot of plumbing or perhaps fixing some rickety shelves in the players' lounge. It was the close season, after all, and the wily chairman would know that the new signing would be eager to make an impression and was unlikely to charge a fee. But time, sadly, keeps moving on and these days the Oscars of the transfer tittle-tattle industry is the winter and summer transfer windows but, just like the movie business, the wheel never stops turning. There are power lunches to be had and deals to be done. And today is no different. Arsenal and Tottenham are set to duke it out for Sunderland's stocky goal getter Stéphane Sessègnon . Both north London clubs are big fans of the Benin international's work, loved him in that thing with Martin O'Neill and want to get him on board as soon as possible. Liverpool's head of waffle, Damien Comolli , claims that several "big players" want to join the club in the summer. It's unclear if he means "big" as in tall and cumbersome, like Andy Carroll, or "big" as in rotund and not very good at taking penalties, like Charlie Adam. Or he may just mean "big" and good at football, but that doesn't sound like the kind of signing Liverpool would make. Barcelona are ready to fight it out with Manchester City for Athletic Bilbao's rangy midfielder Javi Martínez . Quite how this fight will manifest itself remains to be seen but given the Spain international has a £34m release clause in his contract it is likely that it will involve money in some way. In just the kind of move that will excite Aston Villa fans and help convince them that Alex Mcleish is indeed the man to revitalise the club, it seems that Scott Dann is being lined up for a switch from Ewood Park to Villas Park . That could spell bad news for James Collins or Richard Dunne who could be shown the door at Villa and may even be asked to leave through it, but not close it on the way out because McLeish wants to leave it open in case Robbie Keane gets tired of the LA lifestyle and fancies a return to Brum. "Hopefully, he will think of us first if he does it again." McLeish said of the Ireland's international's short-term loan from MLS. The former Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra is set to sign for Fulham until the end of the season but hopes to impress enough to be given a longer deal. Neil Warnock wants Bolton's Paul Robinson as his first signing as Leeds manager and hopes to finalise a deal before the emergency loan market closes. In fairness to Warnock it does sound desperate. Manchester City have too many players so Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman plans to temporarily lighten their load by taking 18-year-old "Spanish starlet" Joan Roman on loan for the rest of the season. And there was the Mill thinking Penelope Cruz was the only Spanish starlet that mattered.