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LONDON - When European footballs January transfer window opens for business on Wednesday, the market is expected to have a slow start. Ahmad Bradshaw Womens Elite Jersey . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Chasing their first league title in 10 years, the Gunners are reportedly looking for a forward to add to France international Olivier Giroud, who ended a seven-match scoring drought with the winner at Newcastle on Sunday, ensuring that his club starts 2014 at the top. Although Giroud said Arsenal has sufficient attacking options for the remainder of the season with himself, Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hinted he could be tempted to sign a couple of new players. After failing to lure Luis Suarez, Wenger wont bid again for the Uruguay striker, who signed a new deal with Liverpool this month. "We are, as many clubs, certainly on alert. If something special turns up, we will not turn it down," Wenger said. "But we are not as well desperate because we have a big depth in our squad." Lagging two points behind Arsenal in the standings, Chelsea could also be looking for extra firepower after Samuel Etoo, Demba Ba and Fernando Torres scored only six goals between them in the league so far this season. With Ba, Juan Mata and Kevin De Bruyne possibly leaving, British media reported that Chelsea and Liverpool have held discussions about the possible arrival of Suarez at Stamford Bridge that could make up for Jose Mourinhos failure to sign Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney in the off-season. While a Suarez move to Chelsea looks highly unlikely, Monaco forward Radamel Falcao is a more realistic target for Mourinho, with the Colombian reportedly unhappy in the French league. Xabi Alonso has also been linked with a move to the Blues. After a shaky start to the season, defending champion Manchester United has managed to limit the damages with four consecutive wins and trails Arsenal by eight points going into the new year. David Moyes has not been able to replace Paul Scholes and is in need of a creative midfielder. The Red Devils manager could make a 50 million pound ($82 million) offer for Everton marvel Ross Barkley. Avoiding the drop to the second-tier League Championship is crucial, with topflight teams boosted by increased revenues. And last-place Sunderland will beef up its defence with Marcos Alonso, who will join from Fiorentina until the end of the season. "Marcos is a player that I have known well for a very long time," Sunderland manager Gus Poyet said. "He was desperate to come and play for Sunderland and he is a player I am excited to work with." Staying among the elite is also vital for West Ham. The London club is languishing in 19th place after scoring only 18 goals in 19 matches and signed 18-year-old striker Jaanai Gordon from Peterborough. Everything looks relatively quiet in Spain, too. Barcelona seems more concerned with getting Lionel Messi healthy again for the second half of the season, and will probably be more than content to have its star forward playing at full speed again. The only possible big move would be Barcelona signing a replacement for goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who has said he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. Atletico Madrid is reportedly reinforcing its title challenge by bringing in midfielder Jose Sosa from Metalist. In Germany, Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski is expected to confirm in the coming days that he will be leaving for Bayern Munich at the end of the season, while AC Milan has already announced the arrivals of Adil Rami and Keisuke Honda. In France, winger Jeremy Menez is lacking playing time at Paris Saint-Germain and has been linked with a move to Juventus to boost his chances of making the trip to the World Cup in Brazil, and Bastia signed former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse on an 18-month deal. T.Y. Hilton Womens Elite Jersey . And this recent run of success also has general manager Bryan Murray re-thinking his plans for the near future with the March 5 trade deadline not too far away. Womens Blue T.Y. Hilton Elite Jersey . - The NFLs officiating chief has cleared Broncos receiver Wes Welker of any wrongdoing for his hit that knocked Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib out of Sundays AFC Championship.SOCHI, Russia -- An activist who has been monitoring environmental fallout from the Sochi Olympics has been jailed for five days for resisting police, apparently part of a continuing harassment campaign against local activists. Igor Kharchenko was grabbed on the street in the regional capital of Krasnodar late Tuesday afternoon as he left his house and found his car smashed, an associate, Olga Soldatova, said Wednesday. Police charged him with resisting police orders. Soldatova, who was with him at the police station, said Kharchenko was given a blank sheet of paper instead of a protocol sanctioning his detention. Kharchenko was put on trial behind closed doors Wednesday and sentenced to five days in jail for disobeying police orders. "They were leading Kharchenko out, and he told us he got 5 days, without a proper trial, lawyer or witnesses," said Soldatova, who was at the courthouse. Like Yevgeny Vitishko, who was jailed Monday for swearing in public, Kharchenko is a member of the Environmental Watch on the North Caucasus, a group that has been monitoring the environmental effects of Olympic construction. Activists have been raising concerns for months about an apparent campaign of intimidation and harassment of activists and journalists in the Sochi area. Human Rights Watch said the harassment campaign against the local activists does not deal with the problems that the activists have uncovered but only dampens Russias image abroad. "Vitishkos imprisonment on trumped-up charges, and his colleagues arbitrary detentions and vicious harassment, are more damaging to Russias Olympic host reeputation than any criticism they could have voiced," the groups Russian co-ordinator, Tanya Lokshina, said in a statement Tuesday. Coby Fleener Jersey. Activists and opposition leaders in Moscow also have experienced harassment in recent years but authorities in the capital seem to be employing more sophisticated methods to silence them. Some have faced elaborate criminal investigations; others have been kicked out of their jobs. Tactics in Russian regions, including the Krasnodar region where Sochi is situated, seem to be more primitive and reminiscent of the harassment of Soviet dissidents. Vitishko, who is serving a suspended sentence for spray-painting the fence of what activists say is the illegal property of the local governor, was detained on the doorstep of a prison office on Monday after he applied for permission to travel to Sochi for the Games. In a trial that barely lasted 10 minutes, Vitishko was found guilty of swearing in public, a rarely enforced misdemeanour punishable by a fine of up to 15 days in jail. Other activists in the region have been cited on similar charges. Natalya Kalinovskaya, an activist in the village of Psou, which is adjacent to the Olympic park, had protested the destruction of the sandy beach in her village. She received a court order in February 2013 that barred her from going to the beach, which is public property. Svetlana Kravchenko, an investigative reporter in Sochi for the Caucasian Knot publication, was found guilty in 2012 of beating up a security guard, even though a medical examination documented only a 0.3 millimeter scratch on the guards ear. ' ' ' |
