Manchester United set to make final attempt to sign Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels in next 24 hours... and Tottenham will go for Kevin Mirallas transfer from Everton

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West Ham are bracing themselves for frenetic transfer deadline activity.

Boss Sam Allardyce wants to hold onto his squad as they seek a top six Barclays Premier League finish and an assault on the FA Cup.

But even though Chelsea have secured to services of Juan Cuadrado from Fiorentina for £26.8million, the Blues may yet follow a bid for Ecuadorian international Enner Valencia who joined the Hammers last summer from Pachuca for £12million after impressing at the World Cup.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce could face a fight to keep hold of Enner Valencia (right)

Valencia is a wanted man by Chelsea even though the Premier League leaders have got Juan Cuadrado

West Ham boss Allardyce is bracing himself for a hectic transfer deadline day on MondAY

But in Premier League terms Valencia's wages are relatively 'low' as they are in the £30,000-a-week bracket. And it is believed there is a clause in his contract whereby a bid from a Champions League club would trigger a move.

A bid in the region of £20m plus is believed to be the fee. West Ham would be willing to increase Valencia's personal terms to stay but the player may yet force a move.

If that is the case then West Ham would follow interest in Swansea's £8m-rated Bafetimbi Gomis.

The Hammers could also offload Matt Jarvis with Cardiff and West Brom are interested.

West Ham would follow interest in Swansea's £8m-rated Bafetimbi Gomis (pictured) if they lose Valencia

Gomis could be on his way to Upton Park if West Ham manager Allardyce cannot keep hold of his star man

Manchester United could make one last attempt to sign Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund in the next 24 hours.

United are prepared to pay about £37m for the German international. 

But the player could wait until the summer before deciding on his future.

Manchester United could make one final attempt to sign Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels in the next day

United are prepared to pay about £37m for German international Hummels but he may decide to stay

Tottenham will make one final move to try to sign Kevin Mirallas from Everton.

Everton insist they won't sell but the 27-year-old Belgium wants to leave Goodison Park.

With 18 months left in his contract Spurs have only offered £3m.

Everton view that as too low. But a £5m cash offer and perhaps 'throwing in' Aaron Lennon in part exchange might persuade Everton to cash in on a diminishing asset. 

Tottenham Hotspur will make one final move to try sign Kevin Mirallas from Everton

The 27-year-old Belgium wants to leave Goodison Park but Everton are insisting they will not sell him

As ever Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is trying to play a cute game around the negotiating table.

But if Spurs mess about too much over relatively small amounts with regard to the fee they will then risk losing out on Mirallas and moving out of favour Lennon on.

It is understood both Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund are also interested in Mirallas. 

QPR boss Harry Redknapp, meanwhile, is considering a deadline loan swoop for Tottenham's out of favour Emmanuel Adebayor. 

A £5m cash offer and 'throwing in' Aaron Lennon (pictured) in part exchange might persuade Everton

QPR boss Harry Redknapp may go for Tottenham's out-of-favour striker Emmanuel Adebayor

Diego Costa should be banned from the Capital One Cup final against Spurs at Wembley, NOT the big Premier league title decider against Manchester City this weekend, according to the man who managed and played for both clubs – Glenn Hoddle.

Hoddle believes that the FA should revert to the rules whereby players picking up suspensions in a cup competition are punished in the competition where they picked up the cards - even if it means the heartbreak of missing out on the final.

Costa is banned for Chelsea's next three Premier League games beginning with the top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City.

Chelsea striker Diego Costa (right) moves towards the ball after Emre Can takes a tumble off the pitch

Costa appears to stamp on Can's right leg during a feisty Capital One Cup semi-final second leg

Jose Mourinho watches on as his striker stands on Can early in the first half at Stamford Bridge

Can was left writhing on the ground in pain but Costa was not punished my referee Michael Oliver

But Hoddle, who works as a coach at QPR and also runs a project for young footballers called Zapsportz, says: 'Punishments should stay within the same competition.

'For me it is ludicrous that a player booked in the cup misses games in the Premier League – that doesn't make sense

'Players booked in our domestic competitions, whether they are cup or league, are not suspended from the Champions League.

'All suspensions are kept within the Champions league and that how it should be in our FA Cup and Capital One Cup.

'Yes, it's tough missing a cup final, but you know the score, and that's how it should be.

'Here we have the nonsense of Diego Costa being suspended for the Chelsea-Manchester City Premier League game as a consequence of what he did in a League Cup game.

'It's the game of the season and I know Jose Mourinho would prefer his top striker to be available for the City game even though he would miss the final.

Steven Gerrard grabs Costa's shirt as Eden Hazard plays peacemaker by pulling the Liverpool captain away

'But managers cannot pick and choose, it would be the same if Chelsea were playing a team down at the bottom rather than the current champions.

'And I am sure Mourinho would still want Costa for the Premier League games rather than even the cup final.

'Disciplinary action in our cup and league games doesn't affect the Champions League, and that's how it should be, so the FA need to look again at keeping disciplinary actions within each competition.'

Costa could now face a three-game ban after being charged by the FA for his stamp on Can

Chelsea manager Mourinho managed his team at Stamford Bridge as they settled for a 1-1 draw

Luis Figo is serious about challenging Sepp Blatter as FIFA president.

Unlike David Ginola's PR stunt backed and paid for by a bookie, Figo has serious people around him.

Despite only announcing his intention to stand at the start of the week, within two days he met the FIFA criteria of getting the five nominations required to canvas ahead of the vote at the end of May.

Luis Figo surprisingly announced his intention to stand against Sepp Blatter to become FIFA president 

Former Tottenham and Newcastle winger David Ginola's suspected PR stunt seems to have failed

Figo has serious people around him to stand against FIFA president Blatter (pictured) 

Indeed, Figo claims he has six executives in member countries standing.

But Figo and other candidates still await approval to stand against Blatter who is seeking fifth term in charge.

The deadline for FIFA presidency nominations has passed and the wait is on to see if Blatter will serve a fifth term in the role.

FIFA's three-man Ad Hoc Electoral Committee, chaired by Domenico Scala, now has the task of sifting through the nominations and deciding who will appear on the ballot paper.

The FA has formally nominated Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein as a candidate to stand against Blatter. 

Former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne is also hoping to gain the five nominations required to be in contention. Dutchman Michael van Praag is another.

Prince Ali bin Al-Hussein (left) hopes to challenge Blatter after being nominated by the FA

Former FIFA executive Jerome Champagne (pictured) is also hoping to gain the five nominations required

It remains to be seen when Champagne or Van Praag may join forces with Figo who has powerful support from the football world.

I met Figo in Madrid just before Christmas in his capacity as an ambassador of the Network 90 - a new global football social media and networking platform.

One of the issues that most concerns Figo is that FIFA has become a byword for corruption and the negative effect that has had on football.

He also told me about his concerns about the World Cup being staged in Qatar in 2022.

The 42-year-old former Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan star is not oblivious to politics within football. After ended his playing days he spent fours working as Inter's international ambassador.

Figo has immediately gained the support of powerful football voices such as Chelsea boss and fellow Portuguese Jose Mourinho: 'Luis Figo's candidacy is a great step forward for football. His career over many years guarantees a better future for FIFA.

'I believe in his character and determination as well as his passion for the game. He will be a president focussed on football and its general improvement, acting closely with all.'

The FIFA committee will now assess each candidate to make sure they meet all the criteria, including whether they have five association nominations and have participated in the game for two of the last five years.

They must also ensure each candidate has not broken any FIFA ethics rules. FIFA will announce the new president at their Zurich headquarters on May 29.

Figo in action for Real Madrid against Porto in the 2003 Champions League

Figo avoids a challenge during Real Madrid's 2-1 Champions League final win over Bayer Leverkusen in 2002

Figo played for Barcelona for five years before moving to rivals Real in 2000

I am hearing...

New West Brom boss Tony Pulis has given the club's 'fitness department' short shrift.

Pulis arrived the Hawthorns last month and quickly decided the players were not fit for football in the way he demands.

I am told the 'old school' boss quickly side-lined most of the complex fitness sessions and routines and instead had the squad 'running their balls off'.

I also hear that when he was confronted with some statistical data about a player from one of the backroom staff he tossed it away and then asked: 'Yeah but he can ******** head the ball.'

West Brom manager Tony Pulis has given the club's 'fitness department' an overhaul 

Pulis arrived the Hawthorns last month and decided the players were not fit enough for his standards

I am also hearing...

Wilfried Zaha is ready to re-join Crystal Palace on a full-time basis.

Zaha is currently on loan to the Eagles from Manchester United - the club he joined from Selhurst Park for £10m rising to £15m with performance-related add-ons 18 months ago.

But he never got a chance under David Moyes and it seems successor Louis van Gaal has no interest in the 22-year-old.

The winger won two England caps in 2012 and is now coming around to the way of thinking that his career has a better chance of being re-booted at Palace where so far this season he has shown sporadic signs of his talent.

Wilfried Zaha (left) is ready to re-join Crystal Palace on a full-time basis from Manchester United

Zaha is currently on loan to the Eagles from United - the club he joined from Selhurst Park 18 months ago

BTW

In 1968 Italy drew 0-0 with Soviet Union in the European Championship semi-final.

Italy progressed to the final on the toss of a coin at the final whistle. They went on to draw 1-1 with Yugoslavia in the final then won the replay 2-0 two days later. Penalty shoots-outs were then introduced to end such farce.

But that was a year before man landed on the moon. Since then there have been one or two innovations in the game - most for the better.

So it was a surprise last week that after each drawing all their group games 1-1 it was Guinea not Mali who progressed from their group to the knockout stage of the Africa Cup of Nations on the basis of drawing lots. 

Guinea qualified for the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nation at the expense of Mali after the drawing of lots

CAF General Secretary holds up the number two designating Guinea as the quarter-finalists

The organisers said that with such a tight schedule there was no alternative.

Surely though there must be, I am not fan of the blizzard of statistics that swirl around every football match these days. But some are relevant and should be used in such as circumstance as arose in Africa last week.

A system akin to the Duckworth-Lewis method used in cricket, for instance.

Using relevant statistics such as shots on target and corners against, fouls conceded, and cards could create a score which would then decide which team if their results are identical should progress in a tournament.

Modibo Maiga celebrates after scoring for Mali against Guinea in the Group D clash on Wednesday

The Mali players celebrate with goalscorer Maiga, formerly of West Ham

iSay

It is not quite clear why Chelsea appealed Diego Costa's retrospective red card unless somehow they thought they could drag out the process beyond the weekend so the striker could play in Saturday's top-of-the-table clash against Manchester City.

Perhaps even if they knew an appeal was doomed they could at least whip up a siege mentality within the squad ahead of the Stamford Bridge clash.

Manager Jose Mourinho often uses the 'world is against us' mentality in a bid to whip up emotions among his players and even put extra pressure on the ref of the day. It's a method straight out of Sir Alex Ferguson's mind game manual.

The FA have taken no further action against Costa for this altercation with Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel

Costa lands on Skrtel's left foot as he runs after the ball during the second period at Stamford Bridge

Once ref Michael Oliver told the FA panel he hadn't seen the incident when replays clearly showed Costa had stamped on a prone Martin Skrtel it was always going to be a retrospective red for violent conduct and thus a three-game ban. Any appeal was futile since there were no grounds.

Those ex-pro pundits who had argued Costa's case and questioned intent misunderstand the law in such cases. It's not a question of intent but whether the violent conduct is of excessive force and likely to endanger the safety of another player.

Costa's stamp on Skrtel (and it wasn't the only one) fell into that catagory.

The situation though has raised the issue once again of how random the retrospective system is. There have been other similar cases to the Costa one this season that haven't been reviewed.

Loic Remy wheels away in celebration after handing Chelsea the lead at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea players celebrate after taking the lead even though they were without Costa

Surely the time has come for a weekly panel which meets say on a Tuesday to adjudicate over issues of whether cards and bans should be issued retrospectively, or indeed rescinded…including single yellow cards too.

The panel would be made up of an ex-player, and ex-ref, an FA official, a Premier League official and chaired by a legal man.

They could decide on a whole variety of major incidents when cards should have been given or have been missed.

I'm sure many refs would welcome this because in many ways it takes a certain pressure off them. Certainly in the cases of 'off the ball stamping' and elbowing or indeed simulation such a panel would have an instant impact. And in general players and manager, even Mourinho, would see that justice is being fairly and equally done. 

Sergio Aguero's speculative shot was turned in by David Silva (left) for City's equaliser

Silva (top) and Aguero celebrate after combining to bring City level in the first half as Chelsea missed Costa

iBet

Luis Figo declaration to stand for election as the next FIFA president has injected life and colour process.

But William Hills are convinced Sepp Blatter will be re-elected for a fifth term. So much so his currently odds on at 1-6.

Hill's doubt Figo's chances offering 16-1 behind Jerome Champagne who is 12-1. Michael van Praag is 25-1.