Chelsea wants Adebayor to replace Drogba

The following is a roundup of soccer stories from U.K. newspapers.

Bye, Adebayor?

Chelsea is targeting Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor as a replacement for Didier Drogba, the Mirror said.

Adebayor's performances this year have disappointed Arsenal supporters, and Carlo Ancelotti, who is planning to quit as AC Milan coach to take over at Chelsea, wants the player to replace Drogba, the newspaper said.

Drogba will leave the west London club because of his outburst after the team's loss to Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal, the newspaper said. Chelsea will want about 10 million pounds ($15.2 million) for the striker, who has 12 months left on his contract.

Ancelotti also wants to buy Aston Villa winger Ashley Young, the Sun reported. The Italian coach has been promised a new signing worth as much as 30 million pounds. Aston Villa signed the 23-year-old winger for 9.65 million pounds two years ago, and will want double that for the England national team player, the newspaper added.

Argentina and Genoa forward Diego Milito and CSKA striker Yuri Zhyrkov are also targets for Chelsea. To buy the players, Ancelotti will sell Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou, the newspaper said.

Valencia hunt

Manchester United leads the race for 20 million-pound rated Wigan winger Antonio Valencia, the Sun reported.

Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are also interested in the Ecuadorian player, who is willing to move to Old Trafford, the paper reported.

"It's inevitable Antonio will leave, but where he goes I'm not quite sure," Wigan manager Steve Bruce was quoted as saying.

United boss Alex Ferguson is also ready to complete a 6 million-pound move for Corinthians' 17-year-old defender Dodo, the Daily Mirror reported. The youngster, who has a Portuguese passport and hasn't played for the Brazilian club's first team yet, will fly to England on Monday and United is ready to sign him in January, leaving him to play in Sao Paulo for the first half of next season.

Santa Cruz to Tottenham?

Tottenham may sign Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz before next season after fighting off competition from Manchester City, the Daily Mail said.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp put the injury-prone Paraguay ace at the top of his wish list and Rovers boss Sam Allardyce is ready to sell Santa Cruz in a cash-plus-player exchange deal, which may involve Tottenham striker Darren Bent.