Barcelona Wonderkid Has Liverpool On Alert

Barcelona fear that Mexican Giovani dos Santos will join Manchester United, Liverpool or Chelsea in the New Year because the 18-year-old has hired Pini Zahavi as his new agent.

United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are all keeping close tabs on the skilful attacking midfielder — touted as a successor to Ronaldinho at the Nou Camp — who made his debut for Mexico against Panama recently.

Giovani, who starred in Mexico's Under-17 World Cup win in 2005, is under contract at Barca until 2008 and has a buy-out clause of around £10 million. But because he signed his contract before he turned 18 and was not officially an adult, his deal may not be legally enforceable.

Zahavi, who fixed Roman Abramovich's deal to buy Chelsea and who has negotiated many transfers for United, will act for Giovani in November.

Zahavi said: "Until then I will not speak to anyone about him. There has been no contact with English clubs. But obviously Giovani is a diamond of world football. He has a contract until 2008 but he signed when he was under 18, so you can look at that how you wish."

Barca fear that Zahavi's links with Abramovich and Sir Alex Ferguson mean they may have to break their budget to keep him.

Dos Santos, son of former Brazilian player Zizinho, has a European Union passport and will not require a work permit.

Liverpool Target Cagliari's Foggia

According to the 'News of the World', the Reds want to sign the talented Rossoblu midfielder for a sum of around 18 million Euros.

Pasquale Foggia has caught the eye of various clubs, both in Italy and abroad, thanks to some excellent performances and his prolific goal scoring record which saw him already net three goals in Serie A from two matches played.

Liverpool are ready to pay 18 million Euros to buy the 24-year-old Italian midfielder who just received his first call-up for the Azzurri's squad following the first two positive matchdays in Serie A.

The main problem for the Reds is that the player is currently on loan at Cagliari from Lazio, and neither club has any intention of losing the midfielder in January.

The Sardinian side have the option of buying the player at the end of the season, whereas the Biancocelesti see him as the ideal player for the future, therefore a January transfer to Liverpool seems highly unlikely.

However, the 18 million Euro price tag might convince both President Cellino (Cagliari) and President Lotito (Lazio) that selling Foggia in summer would be the best choice.

Atletico Linked With Reina

Atletico Madrid are reported to have set their sights on luring Jose Reina away from Liverpool and back to La Liga.

Spanish daily AS claims Atletico have made the former Villarreal goalkeeper one of their top transfer targets.

Atletico are searching for a new goalkeeper with Leo Franco failing to perform on a consistent basis and Christian Abbiati only being on loan until the end of the season.

The capital club are believed to have sounded out Reina's representatives to find out if the keeper would be interested in a move back to Spain.

However, Liverpool are unlikely to entertain any move for Reina who is firmly established as the No 1 at Anfield.

Reina has previously expressed his happiness at Anfield and he signed a new deal earlier in the summer to keep him at the club until 2012.