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• No decision whether midfielder will have surgery
• Alberto Aquilani cannot be recalled from Milan

Kenny Dalglish has ruled out a possible return to Liverpool for Alberto Aquilani and insisted there is no pressure to act in the January transfer window as a result of Lucas Leiva’s injury.

The Brazil international will miss the rest of the season having ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during Tuesday’s Carling Cup quarter-final victory at Chelsea. Liverpool and Lucas are now considering whether last season’s player of the year should undergo surgery.

The injury comes at a terrible time for player and club, with the 24-year-old in outstanding form and Liverpool now required to maintain their recent momentum without their key defensive midfielder and their captain, Steven Gerrard, who faces several more weeks on the sidelines with an ankle problem.

Dalglish, however, is philosophical about Lucas’s injury and claims that, in Jay Spearing, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and Jonjo Shelvey, he has the squad to withstand such a loss. Liverpool also have the £20m Italy international Aquilani on loan at Milan for the season but, under the terms of the arrangement, there is no option for an emergency recall. “If you check the rules, you will see he is not in a position to come back,” said Dalglish.

As for signing a replacement for Lucas when the transfer window reopens, the Liverpool manager said: “We don’t need to make a decision about January at the beginning of December. We have a really strong squad and have to cater for suspensions, injuries, loss of form, fatigue, whatever. That’s why you have a strong squad.

“We’d much rather have Lucas fit and well but we don’t have that. It’s up to us to accommodate that and make sure that we can handle it. That’s one of the tests you get at a football club. Someone’s always going to be missing. We feel sorry for Lucas but not for ourselves.”

Dalglish had condemned the scheduling of Liverpool’s trip to Stamford Bridge in the weeks leading up to the game, prophetically claiming there was a risk of serious injury to players who had drawn 1-1 with Manchester City just 48 hours before. But he said: “It was innocuous. Lucas’s studs stuck in the ground and resulted in his knee going. I don’t think it was as a result of the two games coming quickly. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. He’s just unlucky.”

Dalglish again refused to put a timeframe on Gerrard’s return. “We are delighted with his progress but we don’t have any date for him to come back. It will be sooner rather than later, though,” he said.

LiverpoolKenny DalglishAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk

Today’s Mill can see the wood for the poppies

The Mill is no fan of international breaks, never has been, never will. Out goes this country’s love of all things domestic, most notably transfer tittle-tattle, and in comes a whole load of patriotic piffle and posturing, three lions this, three lions that. Where, for Anelka’s sake, are the rumours?

This week things seem to have taken a turn for the worst. Alongside the usual worries and woe regarding the national team there is now a row raging over the wearing of poppies. Yes, poppies. It’s enough to make the heart sink to a new depth.

“POPPYCOCK” is how one newspaper is reporting the story this morning, while others speak of Fifa “banning” England from wearing the Remembrance Day symbols on their shirts during Saturday’s friendly with Spain. Just to make clear, Fifa is not “banning” anything. Rather, it is upholding a long-standing regulation which prevents international kits carrying “political, religious or commercial messages”. So can we all just calm down for a second and focus on more important matters, like the news that Didier Drogba is wanted by Milan.

Yes, thankfully there is space in today’s papers for some transfer juice and none more refreshing than the news that the Ivory Coast veteran could be leaving London for Italy in the new year. Milan, the Serie A champions, are short of a goalscorer following Antonio Cassano’s recent illness and feel Drogba could be the answer to their short-term prayers.

Should the 33-year-old depart from Stamford Bridge, then he may well miss out on the opportunity to play with Gary Cahill, who is wanted by Chelsea. Having seen a move to Spurs fall through during the summer, the defender is now desperate to leave Bolton in January and is supposedly enthused by the prospect of a switch to the deposed Premier League champions, who are willing to spend £8m on the 25-year-old.

What’s this, Jermain Defoe is wanted by Queens Park Rangers? Not a new tale but one worth repeating given such a transfer would see the striker join his 700th different club. Apparently the 29th-year-old has become frustrated with his lack of opportunities at Tottenham and is now willing to join Neil Warnock’s band of misfits in January. And to fill the gap left by the former Charlton, West Ham, Bournemouth, Portsmouth … striker, Spurs are apparently ready to sign Juventus’s Brazilian-born Italy forward Amauri.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have made an enquiry about the Barcelona midfielder Seydou Keita, according to reports. The 31-year-old is out of contract in the summer and could be tempted by a move to Anfield. Also on their way out of Camp Nou could be the less heralded Martin Montoya and Marc Barta, who are on Spurs’s radar. The pair are both just 20-year-old.

Across north London, Arsenal want to sign the Borussia Dortmund midfielder Kevin Grosskreutz. The 23-year-old has been watched by Arsène Wenger’s scouts and they seemingly like what they saw.

In the Championship, meanwhile, Nottingham Forest are keen to “raid” Portsmouth for Liam Lawrence. Forest’s new manager, Steve Cotterill, knows Lawrence from his time at Fratton Park and is happy to spend £1.5m on the Republic of Ireland winger.

And just to prove there is no news like old news, Manchester United are back in the hunt for Wesley Sneijder and have been told by Internazionale that they can have the Dutchman for £40m. A tedious affair in what is proving to be a truly tedious week.

ChelseaBolton WanderersTottenham HotspurQPRLiverpoolBarcelonaArsenalNottingham ForestPortsmouthManchester UnitedSachin Nakraniguardian.co.uk

• Liverpool midfielder wants permanent move back to Serie A
• ‘The club must think about it. It’s a difficult deal’ – agent

The Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani has a 50% chance of joining Fiorentina, according to his agent.

Reports suggested a deal to move to the Serie A club had fallen through as the 27-year-old wanted a permanent move as opposed to another loan spell like the one he had with Juventus last season.

“As Alberto doesn’t yet fall in the plans of Liverpool, we want to find a solution so that next year the current situation will not recur,” Aquilani’s agent, Franco Zavaglia, told Sportitalia. “The player wants to come to Italy on a permanent transfer.

“I met [Fiorentina's sporting director, Pantaleo] Corvino, and the club must think about it. It’s a difficult deal but let’s see.

“There is a 50% chance that my client will transfer to Florence. Last year, in August, there was ‘magic’ [Aquilani's loan deal to Juventus], let’s see if this year will be the same. There is still time.”

FiorentinaLiverpoolTransfer windowguardian.co.uk