There were emotional scenes at Planet Football HQ last week when Kevin Kilbane's move to Sunderland was confirmed because, by our reckoning, it was the first transfer rumour we have used in the 20 weeks of the season so far that actually came to pass. Remember, you heard it here second.

So now, flushed with success, we can sensationally reveal that Robbie Keane is on his way to Inter Milan as a replacement for the injured Ronaldo. So said yesterday's Sunday Mirror, and we have no reason not to believe them. Inter president Massimo Morratti has, apparently, seen Keane on television and liked him so much that he's prepared to pay £10 million for him. Cheap at the price, if you ask us. (Needless to say Coventry manager Gordon Strachan has yet to be informed of this development).

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror confirmed earlier in the week that Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign Leicester striker Emile Heskey next summer. "Oh no they haven't," countered the paper's close relation, the Sunday Mirror, who claimed that he is in fact joining Spurs at the end of the season.

Elsewhere . . . Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis, we're told, has decided to sack John Gregory because he's tired of all the controversy he creates and the team's dodgy results. His replacement? Glenn Hoddle. Frying pan? Fire? Oh yes.