Chelsea firm as favourites to sign Arsenal target Sami Khedira

While Arsenal have been distracted by an injury crisis and rumours Mesut Ozil wants to move to Bayern Munich, Chelsea have stolen a march on their London rivals by sounding out Sami Khedira -- Arsene Wenger's No. 1 January transfer target.According to The Daily Express, the Blues have stormed ahead of Arsenal in the race for the German international's signature, after it emerged Real Madrid is open to a player-exchange deal for Khedira involving Chelsea's second-choice keeper, Petr Cech.Having already been linked to Manchester United's David De Gea, the European champions are clearly in the market for a replacement for Iker Casillas, and Blancos manager Carlo Ancelotti sees the Cech-Khedira swap as an excellent cut-price alternative to the United man, whose form would no doubt command a transfer fee of upward of 30 million pounds.Show me the money!Ron Vlaar has issued Aston Villa an ultimatum: Double my wages, or I'm going to Manchester United.Rumours of the Dutch centre-back joining his World Cup coach, Louis van Gaal, at Old Trafford have swirled for quite some time now, with the United manager keen to add some experience to his struggling backline.The Daily Star said Tottenham, Everton and Roma are all monitoring the situation, and with Vlaar's contract expiring at the end of the season, a bidding war could erupt in January if Villa don't agree to the 29-year-old's demands.Ancelotti calling the shots at ... Milan!?In one of the more bizarre stories surfacing Tuesday, former AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi told Gazzetta dello Sport the man who approved the Rossoneri's summer signings of Alex, Jeremy Menez and Diego Lopez was none other than Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti!Ancelotti, of course, has a deep history with AC Milan, having won two European Cups there as a player and another two Champions Leagues later as manager.Surely, though, there is a conflict of interest when it comes to advising his old club -- particularly the Diego Lopez transaction which transpired between the two teams.One wonders if any other Real Madrid discards will end up in Milan come the end of January?(espnfc.com)Bakudaily.Az