Diouf: Senegal international El-Hadji Diouf signed a new 18-month deal with Doncaster despite the club staring at relegation into the third tier of English football. The 30-year-old Diouf, who was released by Blackburn last season, originally joined Rovers on a three-month deal at the end of October.

Maccarone: Sampdoria veteran Massimo Maccarone is set to leave Sampdoria in January after losing his place in the first team of the Serie B club. Maccarone, formerly of Middlesbrough, Parma and Siena has already been linked with a move to Division Two leaders Torino. Maccarone, 32, was capped twice by Italy.

Vucinic: Mirko Vucinic has been named as Montenegro’s Player of the Year. The Juventus striker picked up the award for the fifth time in six years, beating Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic to the top prize. Manchester City stopper Stevan Savic came third behind the two Serie A-based players.

Donnelly: Swansea’s chances of landing Northern Ireland youngster Rory Donnelly appear to be fading after manager Brendan Rodgers revealed that Cliftonville have backtracked on the agreement the clubs had reached over a fee. Donnelly, 19, held talks with Rodgers over a move to south Wales last week, after Cliftonville initially accepted an offer of around £100,000. Liverpool and Everton are also reportedly interested in a move for Donnelly.

O’Neill: Northern Ireland are set to name their new manager this week, with Michael O’Neill the heavy favourite to succeed Nigel Worthington. O’Neill, who ended a successful stint as Shamrock Rovers boss last week, is understood to be the first choice of the Irish FA, who had narrowed the field to a shortlist of three. Iain Dowie and Jim Magilton were the other men to be interviewed for the post.