The news that Marseille manager Elie Baup has been charged with fraud relating to unemployment benefit that he allegedly claimed while working for television when he was between jobs in 2009 has alerted the Mill to an opportunity missed. Baup has said that he acted on the advice of "professional experts" and that if he took any money to which he was not entitled, then he will pay it back forthwith. The Mill, however, would have been more impressed if he had claimed that punditry is not work and so any payments that any TV company may have made to him around that time were actually artistic expressions of the absurdity of modern life. While he is sorting out that unfortunate tangle, Baup is also involved in jobs potentially being offered to other people, such as Chelsea's Gaël Kakuta, whom Marseille want to take home to France.

The Milan clubs, meanwhile, want to lure youngsters away from France. Internazionale are giving serious consideration to a bumper bid for Marseille's Ghanaian winger André Ayew, while Milan have their eyes on a pair of centrebacks: PSG's Mamadou Sakho and Montpellier's Yanga Mapou-Mbiwa. Napoli hope to nab whichever of that pair does not go to Milan. But, ominously for both clubs, Manchester City have locked their tractor beam on both players, just in case they fail to land their primary defensive target, Liverpool's Daniel Agger. Further forward, however, City may miss out on Robin van Persie, as sources of known worth claim that Juventus are increasingly confident of getting their hands on the Dutchman.

Liverpool, meanwhile, hope to strengthen their rearguard by grabbing Jack Butland from Birmingham City. More intriguingly, Brendan Rodgers also wants to bring Nicolás Gaitán to Anfield. The 24-year-old Argentinian midfielder would cost close to £20m, and Liverpool hope to raise some of that by flogging Alberto Aquilani – although there is also the possibility that the Italian will be exchanged for Fiorentina frontman Juan Manuel Vargas.

The prospect of Real Madrid meeting Tottenham's asking price for Luka Modric will recede further than Monty Burns's hairline if the Spanish club fork out £40m to Benfica to procure Belgian midfield bruiser Axel Witsel.

When word breaks that Tony Pulis is preparing to make a bid for a player, every centreback in the land gets ready to feel a vibrating phone but there are rumours that Stoke's latest signing could be a winger: Pulis wants to give the Wolves wideman Michael Kightly a proper crack at the Premier League. Sunderland, meanwhile, are willing to pay up to £10m to spare Wolves striker Steven Fletcher from the Championship.

The Mathieu Debuchy to Newcastle story looks like reaching a conclusion soon, with – and you may have seen this coming – Mathieu Debuchy going to Newcastle.