The latest chapter in the William Gallas story involves the defender being linked with a move to Spurs.

Tottenham Hotspur are set to make an audacious bid for Arsenal defender William Gallas, if a report in the Sunday Mirror is to be believed.

The paper claims that Gallas’s future remains unclear after recent events, which have seen him stripped of the club's captaincy and dropped for the game against Manchester City.

Although the defender has since regained his place in the team and looks set to play for the Gunners today against Chelsea, the Mirror suggests that he will shortly depart the Emirates, possibly as early as the January transfer window.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is reportedly prepared to offer Gallas a way out of Arsenal in a move that is likely to rile both sets of supporters and echo Sol Campbell’s switch when he left Spurs to join Arsenal back in 2001.

Gallas never appears to be far away from controversy at the moment having hit the headlines recently after comments made about his team mates riled manager Arsene Wenger and led to him losing the Arsenal captaincy.

Last season the defender’s actions also caused much debate in a match against Birmingham City when Gallas refused to watch a penalty taken against his side and staged his own personal ‘sit in’ after the final whistle.

The centre-back also left Chelsea amid reported accusations that he would score an own goal if he remained at Stamford Bridge and should ensure he receives a hot welcome when he returns to West London this afternoon.

Of course Spurs manager Redknapp has experience of the friction caused when leaving a club to join their local rivals.

The 61-year-old left his role in charge of Portsmouth to join Southampton back in 2004 before moving back to Pompey after a year at St Mary’s and may therefore have no qualms about asking Gallas to swap North London clubs.

The official world XI has been announced by FIFPro and the best team has split fans, pundits, journalists and professionals across the globe. Goal.com reporters from Europe, America, Asia, and Africa got together and voted for their favoured eleven from the nominations provided by FIFPro. Who would have made your dream team?

From the nominations provided by FIFPro, who would have been in your World XI?

Nominees (teams played for last season)

Goalkeepers:
Artur Boruc [Poland/ Celtic]; Gianluigi Buffon [Italy/ Juventus]; Iker Casillas [Spain/ Real Madrid]; Petr Cech [Czech Republic/ Chelsea], Edwin van der Sar [Holland/ Manchester United].

Defenders:
Daniel Alves [Brazil/ Sevilla]; José Bosingwa [Portugal/ FC Porto]; Fabio Cannavaro [Italy/ Real Madrid]; Ricardo Carvalho [Portugal/ Chelsea]; Gaël Clichy [France, Arsenal]; Ashley Cole [England/ Chelsea]; Patrice Evra [France/ Manchester United]; Rio Ferdinand [England/ Manchester United]; Philipp Lahm [Germany/ Bayern Munich]; Ferreira Lucio [Brazil/Bayern Munich]; Paolo Maldini [Italy/ AC Milan]; Alessandro Nesta [Italy/ AC Milan]; Pepe [Portugal/ Real Madrid]; Carles Puyol [Spain/ Barcelona]; Sergio Ramos [Spain/ Real Madrid]; John Terry [England/ Chelsea]; Nemanja Vidic [Serbia/ Manchester United]; Gianluca Zambrotta [Italy/ Barcelona]; Javier Zanetti [Argentina/ Inter]; Yuri Zhirkov [Russia/ CSKA Moscow].

Midfielders:
Deco [Portugal/ Barcelona]; Michael Ballack [Germany/ Chelsea]; Michael Essien [Ghana/ Chelsea]; Gennaro Gattuso [Italy/ AC Milan]; Cesc Fabregas [Spain/ Arsenal]; Steven Gerrard [England/ Liverpool; Andrès Iniesta [Spain/ Barcelona]; Kaká [Brazil/ AC Milan]; Frank Lampard [England/ Chelsea]; Javier Mascherano [Argentina/ Liverpool]; Andrea Pirlo [Italy/ AC Milan]; Franck Ribery [France/ Bayern Munich]; Marcos Senna [Spain/ Villareal]; Wesley Sneijder [Holland/ Real Madrid]; Xavi [Spain/ Barcelona].

Forwards:
Andrei Arshavin [Russia/ Zenit St Petersburg]; Dimitar Berbatov [Bulgaria/ Tottenham Hotspur]; Didier Drogba [Ivory Coast/ Chelsea]; Samuel Eto'o [Cameroon/ Barcelona]; Thierry Henry [France/ Barcelona]; Zlatan Ibrahimovic [Sweden/ Inter]; Lionel Messi [Argentina/ Barcelona]; Ruud van Nistelrooy [Holland/ Real Madrid]; Ronaldinho [Brazil/ Barcelona]; Cristiano Ronaldo [Portugal/ Manchester United]; Wayne Rooney [England/ Manchester United]; Carlos Tévez [Argentina/ Manchester United]; Luca Toni [Italy/ Bayern Munich]; Fernando Torres [Spain/ Liverpool]; David Villa [Spain/ Valencia].



Here is the official World XI according to FIFPro:

A selection of Goal.com's international journalists got together and voted for their own World XI. The weighting from our international office was as follows:

Casillas - 61 per cent of the vote

Ramos - 61%
Ferdinand - 50%
Terry - 45%
Evra - 45%

Xavi - 61%
Gerrard - 45%

Ronaldo - 78%
Ribery - 39%
Messi - 67%

Torres - 45%

Those unlucky not to make Goal.com's World XI were:

Buffon - 17%

Vidic - 33%
Carvalho - 28%

Senna - 33%
Fabregas - 39%
Iniesta - 28%

Ibrahimovic - 39%


Interestingly, the dominant division in Goal.com's world XI was the Premier League.

Premier League: 54%
La Liga: 37%
Bundesliga: 9%

The dominant nationality though was Spanish.

Spanish: 37%
English: 27%
French: 18%
Portuguese: 9%
Argentinian: 9%


We at Goal.com want to know who would have made your World XI! Scribble down your dream team below and hit enter... is it any different to the FIFPro or Goal.com's favoured selection? Do you think either teams made a serious error in omitting Ibrahimovic, Fabregas, or Vidic? Let us know...

An incredible game at the Emirates saw Arsenal and Spurs share the points and four goals each in the North London derby. Goal.com rates the performers.

ARSENAL

Almunia: 5.0 - Strangely chose to punch on some occasions and his howler gifted Darren Bent his goal. 

Sagna: 7.5 - Got forwards well and defensively fairly solid.

Silvestre: 8.0 - Opened his Arsenal account with a great header to level the scores and could have had two but his second header was wide.

Gallas: 7.5 - Missed a half chance by blasting well over and distribution was poor early on but atoned by scoring Arsenal’s second.

Clichy: 6.0 - An all action performance by the full back yet he loses marks for an awful mistake which allowed Jenas in to score. 

Walcott: 7.0 - Lively, his pace and direct running worried Spurs but his decision making and shooting were poor at times.

Fabregas: 8.0 - His passing and movement were as superb as ever.

Denilson: 7.5 - Decent shot tested Gomes and saw plenty of the ball in his return to the side.

Nasri: 7.5 - An influential performance, set up Adebayor’s goal and a decent display.

Van Persie: 8.5 - Involved in just about everything. Got his rewards with a great finish for Arsenal’s fourth. 

Adebayor: 8.0 - Had an excellent chance to make the game safe but smashed it wide before showing the desire to outsprint Hutton and finish the third and laid on Van Persie for the fourth.

Substitutions

Eboue: n/a

Diaby: n/a

Song: n/a

TOTTENHAM

Gomes: 5.0 - His unconvincing form continues. He got nowhere near the ball for Silvestre’s goal and might have been expected to at least get a hand to the second.

Hutton: 4.0 - Should have been closer to Silvestre for the first goal, beaten by Adebayor for the third and guilty of giving the ball away for Arsenal’s fourth. Not a good night.

Corluka: 6.0 - Some dodgy clearances and struggled to cope as Arsenal poured forwards in the second half.

Woodgate: 7.0 -  Tottenham's best defender and kept Adebayor quiet in the first half, although second half was a different matter.

Assou-Ekotto: 6.0 - Had his hands full against the pace of Walcott and endured a frustrating evening.

Bale: 6.0 - Hit the post in the opening exchanges on a run forward but saw very little of the ball after that and came off early.

Bentley: 7.5 - Responded to the boos by scoring a quite exquisite goal and posed problems with his deliveries.

Modric: 7.5 - Showed his quality and his fierce shot which struck the post set up Lennon for the winner.  

Jenas: 8.0 - Quick to press the ball and close Arsenal down and a super finish to put Spurs right back into the game.

Huddlestone: 7.0 - Solid but some shaky moments. Put Bale through early on but it was his foul from which Arsenal took the lead.

Pavlyuchenko: 6.5 - Hard working although he looked lonely up front.

Substitutions

Lennon: 7.5 - Introduced in the second half and was in the right place to slot home a late, late winner.

Bent: 7.5 - Came on and scored within minutes of his introduction.

Gunter: n/a

Harry Redknapp hailed his side’s character after they came from behind to secure a 4-4 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates this evening

Tottenham took an early lead in the game and speaking to Sky Sports after the game Redknapp admitted the game had been a classic. He said: “It was amazing, I thought we started great. You know we kept the ball, passed the ball, got a great goal from David Bentley and then we conceded from a set play.”

Arsenal then roared into a 4-2 lead before two late goals from Jermaine Jenas and Aaron Lennon sealed the draw and the Spurs boss paid tribute to the character of his side. Redknapp explained: “Great character from the players, fantastic to come back and score two late goals like that was magnificent.”

The draw follows on from last weekend’s win against Bolton and the former Portsmouth manager confessed that things were going well for his new side. Redknapp said:  “It’s been a good week so far. We had a great start on Sunday and today we showed the character needed to come back was fantastic.”

Despite claiming an impressive point, the result leaves Spurs still bottom of the Premier League yet Redknapp insisted he was happy with the draw. He said:  “It was a great result for us. You would always take a point, especially in the situation we are in.”

Tottenham now face league leaders Liverpool at White Hart Lane on Saturday and the Spurs boss admitted his side can go into the game with confidence. He concluded:  “The dressing room is buzzing, the lads are up and we know we can give Liverpool a real game on Saturday.”

Arsenal's pacey wingman Theo Walcott says he cannot wait to zip down the lines at the Emirates Stadium this evening as he will be up against fellow Brit Gareth Bale.

Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale will now much about each other's game as they used to train and play together during their Southampton days.

Since then they have moved on to two of the most successful clubs in English football, although one is enjoying more fame than the other.

While Walcott has put in some assured performances for club and country, Gareth Bale on the other hand has never won a Premier League match with Tottenham Hotspur. All of Spurs' league wins have come when Bale has been absent.

Walcott has said he is relishing the chance to come up against his former team-mate in tonight's north London derby.

"I’m sure he’ll get everyone’s confidence up. I get messages from Gareth all the time and I’m looking forward to it," Theo told the Telegraph.

"Hopefully, deep down, he isn’t looking forward to it. I’ve never played against him. It will be a big challenge – he’s one of the best left-backs and he could play left wing as well.

"A lot of people are surprised about Tottenham’s start, the amount of money they’ve spent and the players they’ve got. Obviously there has got to be something going on in the background, they have so many world-class players," he said.

"I’ve been lucky to come into an Arsenal team that’s doing well. It’s difficult when a team’s struggling to find your top level, but they will find their form, I’m sure."

Arsene Wenger has criticised Tottenham Hotspur's decision to axe manager Juande Ramos, insisting that the Spaniard was not given a fair chance...

Ramos was replaced by Harry Redknapp, the former Portsmouth manager, at the weekend after Tottenham had failed to procure a single win in their first eight games of the season.

It was a highly disappointing end to a tenure which many believed would see Spurs succeed in their long-held ambition to challenge for Champions League places. Last season's Carling Cup win was supposed to be a stepping stone to greatness - but, alas, it was not to be.

Despite the Lilywhites' dreadful form, the club's board have received harsh criticism from some quarters for sacking Ramos so soon into his his first full season at the helm. Wenger is one of those critics.

Patient

"I don’t think he’d have been sacked if he had only arrived at Tottenham in July," the Arsenal manager said in The Sun. "But the fact is he arrived in the middle of last season and people were less patient with their league position.

"What sometimes happens in this league is when a team doesn’t go for Europe and wins the Carling Cup, they suddenly switch off.

"Without anyone noticing, slowly you lose results. And then, if you don’t start the next season well, which is what happened to Ramos, his environment slowly lost confidence in him."

Ramos arrived at White Hart Lane with a sterling reputation after winning back-to-back UEFA Cups at Sevilla, and Wenger is not the only one who is confused by the Ciudad Real native's failure in the Premier League.

"I am very surprised it didn’t work for Ramos and I feel sorry for him because I rate him as a coach and as a man," he said.

"It takes time to get your ideas through. I understand Tottenham have to make decisions but you would want anyone to be given more than eight or nine games."

Different Direction

Damien Comolli, the Spurs sporting director, was also relieved of his duties after taking much of the blame for the club's transfer blunders over the past few summers.

Ramos was less than sympathetic towards his former colleague, however, insisting that he (the manager) had no say in the signings of David Bentley, Giovani Dos Santos, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Luka Modric and Heurelho Gomes.

Tottenham have opted not to replace Comolli for the time being, drafting in Redknapp - a traditional English manager - to oversee all team affairs.

Wenger is interested by the appointment: "Now they have gone a completely different way and done away with the director of football because they were suddenly convinced it doesn’t work for them.

"Only time will tell whether Harry Redknapp will be a success."

Spurs claimed their first win of the season at the weekend, but the odds will be against them when they take on Arsenal in the North London derby this evening.

Kings Road billionaires Chelsea are keen to swoop for Inter striker Mario Balotelli, according to the Daily Mirror...

Following much hype and speculation regarding interest from Spanish giants Real Madrid, Chelsea have now jumped on the Balotelli bandwagon and they are ready to make old coach Jose Mourinho a mega offer for the Italian hit-man.

Fireworks are likely to start exploding between the English and Italian clubs, given the relationship 'Special One' and the Blues, who sacked him last year.

The Daily Mirror claims the West London club are keen on the Italian under-21 international following his outstanding performances. Balotelli fired the Azzurrini to a 3-1 win over Israel on Wednesday night and he is quickly becoming one of the hottest properties in football.

However, the striker is not finding much space at San Siro, fuelling speculation over his future as well as posing new questions on whether he would be keen on a move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea are looking at Balotelli as an interim replacement for the injured Didier Drogba, but reports in Italy suggest the striker isn't keen on moving to the Premier League as it may ruin his chances of making a step up to Marcello Lippi's senior Azzurri squad.

A January bid for the player is expected and Inter may be tempted to part company with the rising star if they recieve a good offer from Chelsea supremo Roman Abramovic.

However, there is still the question regarding Mourinho, the coach is likely to shackle his player and scoff at his old club when he hears of their plans.

According to british medias, in case of a negative result against Hull City, Tottenham are ready to hire Terry Venables that would replace Damien Cormolli and would work together with boss Juande Ramos.

It's been a busy summer so far for Andrei Arshavin and the Russian playmaker is in the news again today after it has been revealed the self confessed Barcelona fan is so desperate to leave Russia he would even join Real Madrid...

Despite the fact that Andrei Arshavin has not actually left Russia this summer, the diminutive playmaker has rarely been out of the headlines. Following a fine European Championships Arshavin is believed to have been courted by various clubs around Europe but with Zenit asking for €30 million for the player there was no deal done.

Now though, with the January transfer window in mind, it has been revealed that Arshavin is so desperate to leave Russia he would join Spanish giants Real Madrid, even though he confessed recently that he is a fan of arch rivals Barcelona.

It is thought that his agent, Dennis Lachter, has been in the Spanish capital this weekend to suggest the possibility of the move to Real Madrid chiefs Ramón Calderón and Pedja Mijatovic. The main problem for any potential transfer though is that Zenit have in the past refused to lower their price tag on the player of €30 million and if they continue to do so a move might be difficult to broker.

For his part the Russian is known to be keen to leave his native country and to prove himself in one of the top leagues in the world before he gets too old to do so. Currently twenty eight, the playmaker could be at his peak now and it is understandable that he wants to join a bigger club whilst at the top of his game.

The revelation that he would join Real Madrid is a suprise one though, not only because he is a fan of Barcelona, but also because it is thought the Spaniards were offered him over the summer but were not interested, preferring to focus on other targets instead.

James Walker-Roberts