Benitez said told the clubs officials website:

"Our chief executive Rick Parry is talking with their Chairman about the possibility of a deal.

"I also spoke to Sam Allardyce about the player last night because we need to know if he'd be available. At this moment Stelios is one possibility for us."

"We are working hard to strengthen the squad before the deadline."

Dean Ashton - Norwich City to Wigan Athletic - £7.5m bid to be made

Javi Venta - Villarreal to Bolton - Bid made

Hasan Salihamidzic - Bayern Munich to Liverpool

Joseph Desire Job - Middlesbrough to West Ham United - Fee agreed

Steve Lomas - West Ham United to Burnley - Enquiry made

Michael Essien - Lyon to Chelsea - £25.9m - Player under going medical in France

Michael Ricketts - Leeds to Sheffield Wednesday - Enquiry made

Jiri Jarosik - Chelsea to Birmingham City - Loan

Matthew Spring - Leeds to Watford - £200,000

Derek Riordan - Hibernian to Cardiff City - Enquiry made

Allardyce said:

"We are better prepared as a club now than when we had Nishizawa and have a much stronger support system for players.

"Nishizawa simply couldn't handle the game in England, but I think more clubs will look to the Far East now, especially when you consider the success of Park Ji Sung at PSV Eindhoven before his move to Manchester United."

Allardyce said:

"We are still reasonably confident that Juanfran should join us soon,"

"Nothing is certain about the deal and there is still a little work to be done, but I remain hopeful that it can be pushed through in the near future."

The defender previously played at La Liga side Celta Vigo, who paid £21m for the player in 2000

Mark Viduka - Middlesbrough to Newcastle - Move could be close

Michael Owen - Real Madrid to Man Utd - Reds set to make a £12m bid this week.

Gonzalo de los Santos - Valencia to Bolton, Mallorca

Paul Robinson - West Brom to West Ham - £1m

Matt Fryatt - Walsall to Aston Villa, West Ham, Sunderland - £1m

Emmanuel Adebayor - AS Monaco to Arsenal - £5m

Julien Rodriguez - AS Monaco to Rangers

David Bentley - Arsenal to Crystal Palace - Loan

Liam Miller - Man Utd to Derby - Loan

Jack Hobbs -  Lincoln City to Liverpool, Arsenal - Liverpool lead the race for the 16 year old, after making a £500,000 bid

Dean Marney - Tottenham to Norwich City

Szilard Nemeth - Middlesbrough to Wigan - £1.5m

Nicolas Anelka - Fenerbahce to Newcastle United - £6m bid made, but the Turkish club are said to want nearer £10m

Juanfran - Besiktas to Bolton - Loan

Alberto Luque - Deportivo la Coruna

Steve Lomas - West Ham to Crystal Palace - Trial

Phil Neville - Man Utd to Arsenal - £3.2m

Nicolas Anelka -  Fenerbahce to Newcastle - £??

Hugo Viana - Newcastle to Stuttgart -  Newcastle spokesman: "Stuttgart have come in for Viana and we are currently talking to them." (Evening Chronicle)

Clive Clarke - Stoke to Sunderland, West Ham - West Ham to up Sunderlands offer of £125,000

Antti Niemi - Southampton to Portsmouth - £2m

Yossi Benayoun - Racing Santander to West Ham - £2.5m - Benayoun: "I had many offers, but West Ham attracted me most. My dream has come true. It is not about money. I want to be part of the club's adventure back in The Premiership."

Jared Borgetti - Pachuca to Bolton - £950k deal completed

David Pizarro - Udinese to Inter Milan - deal completed

Jon Dahl Tomasson - Milan to Benfica - Fee reportedly agreed

Jermaine Jenas - Newcastle to Arsenal - £15+ - Newcastle are believed to want Sol Campbell in the deal, though wages could be a stumbling block.

Luis Boa Morte - Fulham to Newcastle - £4m deal agreed

John Hartson - Celtic to Blackburn, Bolton  - £??

Mark Viduka - Middlesbrough to Newcastle - £3m

Walter Pandiani - Deportivo to Birmingham - £2.7m - Fee agreed

Sylvain Distin - Man City to Newcastle - £6m

Jonathan De Guzman - Deportivo to Tottenham - Loan deal

Steve Lomas - West Ham to Crystal Palace, Preston - £Free

Jared Borgetti -  Pachuca to Bolton - £900k

Mahamadou Diarra - Lyon to Arsenal - £10m - Lined up to replace Juventus bound Viera

Steve Lovell - Dundee to Aberdeen - Fee agreed between clubs

Mbesuma, nicknamed "The Hurricane" had been on trial at Bolton Wanderers this week but boss Sam Allerdyce decided not to make a move to sign the player after he failed to impress during the trial spell.

His agent, Mike Makab, told Portsmouth's official website that the deal was subject to Mbesuma getting a work permit.

"There were no hard feelings with Bolton and the manager was great - but they just wanted to look at Collins for a three or four days," said Makab.

"There was enough interest from other clubs for Collins.

"I think Pompey's gain will be a few other clubs' loss." 

Kaizer Chiefs official website states that the player, who has scored 25 goals in 30 games last season was due to have a medical at either Blackburn Rovers or Bolton Wanderers over the weekend, though the club will not name which club it was

Robbie Keane - Tottenham to Newcastle - £6.5m

Luis Saha - Manchester United to Everton - 1 year loan deal

Javier Portillo - Real Madrid to West Ham, Getafe, Real Zaragoza and Racing Santander - 1 year loan deal

Jack Hobbs - Lincoln to Liverpool - Trial

Anthony Gardner - Tottenham to Charlton - £1.6m deal close

Mike Pollitt - Rotherham to Wigan - Move said to be completed

Matteo Ferrari - Roma to Everton

Steven Taylor - Newcastle to Lyon, Liverpool - Newcastle set to open contract talks to fend off interest

Ian Walker - Un-Attached to Bolton - Contract offer made

Christian Vieri - Inter Milan to Juventus, Tottenham

Email your rumours to rumours@football-latest.com

Sidney Govou - Lyon to Liverpool, Newcastle - Striker could be available for around £8m

Damien Francis - Norwich to Portsmouth - £1.5m

Yossi Benayoun - Racing Santander to Newcasltle, Tottenham, Bolton - £2m

Ian Walker - Un-Attached to Portsmouth - £Bosman

Carlton Cole - Chelsea to Portsmouth - £2m

Luis Boa Morte - Fulham to Newcastle - £3.5m

Olivier Bernard - Un-Attached to Newcastle - Manager Greame Souness could be tempted to bring the defender back to St James Park

Nicky Butt - Newcastle to West Ham - £1.5m

Luis Figo - Real Madrid to West Ham - £Free - The hammers could be set to offer the player a £60k a week deal

Robert Green - Norwich City to Portsmouth - £3m

Ian Harte - Levante to Blackburn - £Free - Move denied contrary to reports in Irish Media

Dirk Kuijt -  Feyenoord to Liverpool - £8m - Talks set to take place

Dean Ashton - Norwich City to Blackburn - £3.5m plus Paul Gallagher & Michael Gray

Mark Viduka - Middlesbrough to Newcastle - Swap involving Craig Bellamy or Kieron Dyer

Shay Given - Newcastle to Arsenal - £6m

Damien Duff - Chelsea to Newcastle - £10m-£15m

Sean Wright-Phillips - Manchester City to Chelsea - £15m-£22m

Kevin Phillips - Southampton to Aston Villa - £1m

Alan Stubbs - Everton to Aston Villa - £Bosman

John Carew - Besiktas to Blackburn - £4.5m

The Roma player has had previous spells in the Premiership with both Everton and Leeds.

Peter Harrison, who is working with Bruno Satin on Dacourt, confirmed he has talked with Allardyce.

"There are a few other clubs in England who are keen, but Bolton are the only club we have talked to at this moment. 

"Sam is keen and Bolton are an attractive option.

"There is also interest from Spain which could be an option for Olivier, but we will just have to see how things develop."

The 30-year-old (31 in July) 2million-rated Greek international scored eight goals in 38 games last season. Signed from Olympiakos on a Bosman in 2003, Giannakopoulos has a year left on his existing contract with Bolton. His real name is Stylianos but he prefers to be called Stelios.

The deal is reported to be around £1.5m

This week, McDonald has joined Crystal Palace to become Iain Dowie's No2, while Brown was unveiled as new Derby manager on Friday.

"I'm keeping all my business private and confidential and not speculating on anybody," said Allardyce.

"We'll go through a strict interview process to make sure we pick the right man for the job.

"A huge amount of people have expressed a wish to come and work with me, which is very nice and the candidates look good for both these jobs, but the interview process will have to be very good because replacing Phil and Neil will be very, very difficult."

He added: "It's just been a surprise that Phil's move came so soon after Macca's, but he always wanted to be a manager - he was disappointed he didn't get the job at Bolton in the first place, when I came here.

"He goes with my blessing. This is a great opportunity for him. It's going to be a difficult job under the financial circumstances but he's joining a club with ready made facilities and with its own ground and academy.

"I got quite a shock when I hear Neil wanted to go but he got on well with Iain Dowie when they did their coaching courses together and I knew Iain wanted to take him to Crystal Palace when he first got the job there but Neil thought it was a bit too early for him."