AVB not optimistic over Moutinho

Spurs are renowned for their last-minute forays into the transfer market. Last season they snapped up Scott Parker on deadline day and the year before they made a sensational swoop for Rafael van der Vaart.

Moutinho was expected to be the focus of their attention on deadline day tomorrow, but Tottenham appear unlikely to sign the 25-year-old due to a 40million euro (31.7million) release clause in his contract.

"It's an impossible deal for the club," Villas-Boas told a press conference.

"You have to bear in mind that this is a player with a 40million euro release clause.

"This volume of money is out of Tottenham's possibility.

"Bearing in mind that this is a key player for club and country, you wouldn't say that you would get him at half the price and half the price is already bigger than Tottenham's record fee."

The Portuguese, who has added Jan Vertonghen, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Mousa Dembele and Emmanuel Adebayor this summer, als o appears pessimistic about his chances of signing Brazil forward Willian from Shakhtar Donetsk for the same reason.

"We had initial contact with Shakhtar, (who) again (are) a club in a position with wealthy owners, (and are) not easy to deal with," Villas-Boas added.

"We can't say that it's over but we have approached the club and at the moment it's a deal that doesn't seem to be happening."

A last-minute bid for both players tomorrow cannot be ruled out given Daniel Levy's history of 11th-hour deals, but it is unclear whether Porto or Shakhtar will be willing to drop their asking price for the respective players.

What did become clear today is that Jermain Defoe is certain to stay at White Hart Lane.

Defoe has been linked with a number of clubs after Spurs chased a host of international strikers, but Villas-Boas has persuaded the 29-year-old that he is an integral part of his plans this term.

The former West Ham man, currently in h is second spell at the north London club, has signed a new three-year deal.

Of the players who could leave Spurs tomorrow, Van der Vaart is the most high-profile.

Hamburg have bid around 8million for Van der Vaart but Villas-Boas has told the German club they must up their bid significantly if they are to re-sign a player they sold to Real Madrid in 2008.

"We have had interest from Hamburg, but an offer of that dimension is not something the player deserves," Villas-Boas said.

"Tottenham should be respected as a club. (The transfer) doesn't seem to be happening."

Villas-Boas confirmed his interest in signing Lyon goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, with whom the Londoners have been in contact regularly for the last week or so.

"We are very comfortable with our goalkeepers, (but) we can take into account that there is a future that we have to prepare for," said the Spurs boss, whose current first choice, Brad Friedel, is 41.

"In that sense we have studied possibilities in that position as well and throughout the goalkeepers available, Hugo is one of the best."

Villas-Boas' plans for the season were dealt a major blow today when Younes Kaboul was ruled out for between three and four months after undergoing knee surgery.

The France defender excelled for the Londoners last term and was seen as Villas-Boas' first-choice centre-back - a stance which seemingly left Michael Dawson with no future at Spurs.

The club captain held talks with QPR but decided against moving to the west London outfit, but they may rekindle their interest tomorrow.

Kaboul's injury may mean the England centre-back remains at White Hart Lane even though Villas-Boas confirmed that he already knew Kaboul could be sidelined for some time when he told Dawson he was free to talk to QPR.

When asked whether he would consider a bid for Dawson, Villas-Boas replied: "I don't think so.

"We have known about this possibility (that Kaboul would be ruled out) for quite some time. It was even in the discussions I had with Michael.

"At the moment that leaves us with four (fit) central defenders, so we are happy with the situation as it stands.

"It is a massive blow to lose Younes."

Rooney facing four weeks out

Rooney was stretchered off the Old Trafford field after the accidental clash with Hugo Rodallega in the home side's 3-2 victory.

Rooney was charging down a shot by the Fulham substitute, whose boot connected with the England striker's leg.

Television pictures showed a severe gash down Rooney's right leg, with blood coming from the deep wound.

Ferguson said: "It was a very bad one. He has gone to hospital. It looks like he will be out for four weeks."

Chelsea survive Royals scare

Torres appeared a yard in front of play when he completed his side's comeback in an early-season Premier League thriller but his finish was allowed to stand by Lee Mason and his assistants.

It was harsh on Reading, who brilliantly battled back from Frank Lampard's penalty to lead at half-time through Pavel Pogrebnyak and Danny Guthrie.

Guthrie's goal came courtesy of a Petr Cech howler and opposite number Adam Federici had a nightmare of his own - his second in five days - in conceding Gary Cahill's equaliser.

Branislav Ivanovic scored into an empty net in the final minute of stoppage-time after Federici bombed forward in search of a draw.

The victory put Chelsea top of the table for the first time since November 2010, a fact pointed out by manager Roberto Di Matteo ahead of a fixture brought forward due to the European champions' involvement in the UEFA Super Cup.

But the Italian will be concerned at how hard his side made it for th emselves against the npower Championship winners, who had several other chances to score.

For 25 minutes, it was the Chelsea show, with Eden Hazard showing the skills that yesterday saw Di Matteo dub him an "artist".

The Belgian had taken less than two minutes to make his mark on his league debut at Wigan and it could have been the same story tonight had he not screwed Juan Mata's through ball wide.

Hazard, Mata and Ramires were constantly on the move behind Torres and more fine football saw the latter force a good stop from Federici.

Torres went close to a superb solo goal before Chelsea inevitably took the lead in the 18th minute, the skills of Hazard again the inspiration.

The 32million man tormented Chris Gunter to distraction and when the leg was dangled, he hit the deck, giving Mason no choice but to award the penalty, Lampard giving Federici no chance from the spot.

If Chelsea thought the floodgates would open, they were given the rudest possible awakening as Reading amazingly turned the game on its head in the space of four minutes.

Pogrebnyak equalised with a brilliant header, getting in front of Cahill to glance home Garath McCleary's cross.

But the visitors had an almighty howler from Cech to thank for going in front, the goalkeeper embarrassingly allowing Guthrie's powerful free-kick to spin off his body and into the net.

John Terry powered over a header from Mata's free-kick and Hazard's blockbuster was also too high but Chelsea had lost the initiative and had lost their way at the back.

Terry was being given a torrid time on his 550th club appearance and conceded a free-kick that Ian Harte whipped in and Alex Pearce somehow failed to connect with.

Torres could also have done better than glance wide a pinpoint Hazard cross on the stroke of half-time.

Ivanovic blazed over after the restart but Chelsea were struggling to penetrate a wall of yellow as Di Matteo sent on Oscar for Ramires before the hour mark.

Jem Karacan became the first player booked for upending Mata and Pogrebnyak quickly followed for tripping Ashley Cole but the home side were just as ragged.

They were rushing what few shots they had, Hazard's blocked effort typical of their floundering, and Di Matteo took action again when he threw on Daniel Sturridge for John Obi Mikel in the 68th minute.

It immediately paid off in unexpected fashion thanks to another goalkeeping howler from Federici, who palmed Cahill's swerving 25-yarder into his own net.

Reading sent on Adam Le Fondre for Karacan and Noel Hunt for Pogrebnyak but the force was with Chelsea and Mata screwed wide before they completed their own comeback thanks to a huge slice of luck.

The build-up was the equal of anything they had produced all evening but Torres appeared clearly offside tapping home Cole's low cross.

Reading went for broke late on, with Hal Robson-Kanu replacing McCleary and Federici bombing forward and they were caught out when Hazard squared for Ivanovic to tap home.

Bassong: Boss made difference

The 26-year-old Cameroon international completed a move to the Canaries on Tuesday after spending the second half of last season on loan at Wolves.

Bassong first moved to the Barclays Premier League in 2008 when he was signed by Hughton at Newcastle and the former France Under-21 defender was pleased to seal a deal to play under the new Norwich boss.

"Chris was the first coach in England to give me a training session when I came here from Metz so I have known him for a long time," Bassong told talkSPORT.

"To be honest that made the difference, when you get a chance to work with someone you know really well...it helped me a lot."

Bassong could not help Wolves avoid relegation last season but returned to White Hart Lane with a chance to break back into the side under new Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas.

However, despite featuring on a regular basis throughout pre-season, Bassong admitted both he and the former Chelsea manager came to the decision his future lay away from the club.

He said: "It has been quite a confusing situation for me, I came back from loan and we had a new manager so I wanted to prove myself.

"When you get a new manager everyone starts from zero. I was talking with AVB (Villas-Boas) a couple of times and we reached an agreement that it would be better for me to leave.

"He is the kind of manager who wanted to give everyone the chance and see everyone playing, we had too many centre-backs at Spurs. He was really fair to me and told me I was playing well but in football there are many facts that count to make the team."

City's Aguero out for a month

There had been fears the Argentinian had suffered major ligament damage when he fell awkwardly early in the 3-2 season-opening win on Sunday.

But a scan has found no major damage, and City are now optimistic the 24-year-old will be back in contention for the trip to Stoke on September 15.

"I don't think Sergio will be out for long and we are hoping he will be back after the international break which is obviously fantastic news for him and for us," manager Roberto Mancini told the club's website.

"We were very worried a couple of days ago because we feared he could be out for six months or maybe even more which would have been very bad news."

Modric's Real move 'imminent'

Modric, 26, has been chased by the Primera Liga champions for most of the summer and a deal appears imminent.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy had steadfastly refused to sell the Croatia international unless their valuation was met.

But it appears Tottenham will now accept a reduced fee for the former Dinamo Zagreb starlet who seems intent on leaving White Hart Lane.

"You read many things in the media but from the information that I have, Luka will move to Real Madrid for sure," Mamic told 24sata.

"I've heard it's almost done, so I don't have any doubts Luka will play for Real Madrid next season.

"It is just a question of when the official announcement will be."