The latest player to be linked with a move abroad is Tottenham’s Gareth Bale, who is believed to be attracting interest from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and AC Milan, after his comments regarding Spurs’ Champions league hopes.

The Welshman may well turn out to be hit if he swaps the British Isles for the Continent, yet he may want to look at a few examples of home-grown players who have failed to adapt to a new footballing culture.

This list runs through 15 British players who have failed to adapt to the footballing culture of other nations:

Click on Woodgate below to unveil the failed brits abroad

Any I missed? Let me know on Twitter @Alex_Hams

The South American box-to-box player had an excellent debut season in Europe last term, and is part of Edy Reja’s third-placed team in Serie A.

The north London rivals and Liverpool are believed to have sent scouts to watch the Brazil international, who has won eight caps for his nation.

With Hernanes not replicating the same form this season as last, and Stefano Mauri becoming an integral player for the Rome-based giants, Lazio are ready to cash in on their £20 million rated midfielder.

Hernanes is believed to be slightly frustrated with being substituted regularly this term, and has had a couple of niggling injuries that have prevented him from stringing a run of games together.

Meanwhile, Lazio are also reportedly interested in Spurs midfielder Sandro, with a potential swap deal in the offing should Harry Redknapp be willing.

By Gareth McKnight

Is Lukas Podolski set to join Arsenal?

German international Lukas Podolski has emerged as a transfer target for Italian giants Lazio, joining Arsenal in the running for the 26 year old Cologne striker. (Metro)

Lazio signed Miroslav Klose in the summer and the striker has hit 8 goals in his first 12 games, now the Rome based club are looking to reunite Klose with his former Bayern Munich teammate Podolski.

Yet, while Lazio are currently being touted as the most likely destination for Podolski, Arsene Wenger is keeping a close eye on developments and is considering making a move in January.

Arsenal have regularly employed Theo Walcott on the right hand side, however the team has struggled for balance without a stand out left sided player. With Podolski often employed on the left throughout his career he may be the answer to Wenger’s problems.

Podolski is undoubtedly one of Cologne’s key players however, and the club are unlikely to allow Podolski to leave without a fight.

The player’s contract runs until June 2013, and Podolski has thus far remained coy on his future, stating ‘I have always kept my future undecided and said that I would need to see how the club develops in the meantime.’

10) Ajax v Feyenoord

The most heated fixture in Dutch football is one spurred on between class differences of two cities a mere 30 miles apart.

Amsterdam’s cosmopolitan image is reflected in Ajax’s fluent brand of football whilst near neighbours Feyenoord carry the look of its port district labour image.

Ajax and Feyenoord have dominated Dutch football alongside PSV Eindhoven, yet ‘Der Klassieker’ is by far the most fiercely contested match in the Eredivisie.

The contrast in image is illustrated by the contrasting homes of each team, with Ajax’s uber-modern Amsterdam Arena in stark contrast to the traditional and hostile atmosphere of Feyenoord’s De Kuip stadium, yet both clubs grounds have been littered with scenes of crowd trouble for years.

In 1997 an Ajax fan was killed after pre-arranged ‘battle of Beverwijk’ – an Amsterdam suburb -  which led to a banning order of away fans from the fixture.

Once the ban was lifted, incidents continued to occur and in 2004 Feyenoord’s Jorge Acuna was hospitalised after being attacked by an intruding Ajax fan.

Last season the Dutch authorities agrees to once again impose an ban on visiting support but those measures are unlikely to dilute the hatred of these two sworn foe’s.

9) Roma v Lazio

The Italian capital’s two clubs not only share a city but a stadium meaning meetings between the pair become tribal, with each claiming spiritual ownership of the site.

Again, the tensions were pre-cursed by supposed divides along political and social lines with Lazio apparently the club of the social elite, whilst Roma were the team of the Romany’s.

The Derby della Capitale is notorious for being Italy’s fieriest clash with Lazio’s notorious fascist ultras regularly bearing arms to Roma’s far-right facets.

Like so many city derbies, the proximity of one another’s support lends to widespread conflict outside of the ground and the spacious nature of the Stadio Olimpico does nothing to temper tensions inside.

The first ever recorded fatality in Italian football came about thirty years ago during the Rome derby and scores of incidents since have marked this out to be one of Europe’s most fractious encounters.

During a game in 2005, Roma’s ultras forced a game to be abandoned midway through after rumour spread that police had killed a supporter and the two sets of ultras became involved in a barbarous brawl which resulted in almost 200 police officers being injured.

The Derby della Capitale remains arguably Europe’s most vicious mainstream derby.

8. Manchester United v Liverpool

These two are England’s most successful clubs and the fate of the cities football teams significantly plays its part in an inter-city rivalry which has been brooding since the Victorian industrial age. Manc’s don’t like Scousers. Scouser’s don’t like Manc’s. End of.

Both clubs claim to be the greatest English club and both have had ample opportunity to taunt the other during periods of success and failure.

Liverpool outshone United for large parts of the 70’s and 80’s much to the envy of United and United’s subsequent success during the 90’s and beyond has caused similar resentment on Merseyside.

The clashes between the pair are by far and away the most feverish of the English top flight calendar and even thought the safety and segregation of grounds limits terrace trouble, the hostilities frequently are taken out on the turf.

Italian giants Juventus are looking at bringing Manchester City defender Aleksander Kolarov back to Serie A in January. The Turin club are hoping to secure a loan deal for the remainder of the season with an option for a permanent deal in the summer. Despite several promising performances and glimpses of his undoubted ability, Kolarov failed to make the left-back spot his own last season, often finding himself behind Argentine Pablo Zabaleta

Read the full article and comments at The Transfer Tavern

However, he displaced Juan Pablo Carrizo in goal during the 2008/09 season, going on to become an integral part of the side.

Managing to transfer his form to the international stage, Muslera has won plaudits worldwide following his performances in this month’s Copa America.

The goalkeeper has penned a long-term deal with the Turkish club, where he will pocket two million euros a year and compete with Aykut Ercetin for the role of Galatasaray’s first-choice shot-stopper. The transfer fee will reportedly be split between Lazio and Nacional.

Albania midfielder Cana, 27, moves in the opposite direction.

Staying in the Serie A, Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal is reportedly set to move to Juventus, while Palermo are said to be all but resigned to lose Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore.

Inter president Massimo Moratti is hoping that Wesley Sneijder stays with the club and does not join Manchester United, but has revealed the future of his creative midfielder is still unclear.

The Netherlands international has been linked with a move to the English Premier League champions since the arrival of new coach Gian Piero Gasperini.

“What will (be) the future of Sneijder? I do not even know. I hope he remains at Inter,” 67-year-old Moratti told reporters on his arrival at the Giuseppe Meazza outfit’s summer camp in Pinzolo.

In the Premier League, Fulham have signed Czech midfielder Marcel Gecov from Czech side Liberec for 500,000 pounds.

Gecov’s agent Jiri Mueller said on Wednesday the 23-year-old defensive midfielder signed a two-year contract after undergoing a medical, and Fulham have an option to extend the initial deal for one more year.

Milan Jovanovic’s nightmare spell at Liverpool appears close to an end after Belgian giants Anderlecht confirmed that they are in talks over his transfer.

The Serbian moved to Anfield on a free transfer before the 2010/11 season but failed to make his mark on the first-team and is eager to find regular football elsewhere.

“We’re currently negotiating with Jovanovic but we couldn’t achieve an agreement (yet),” a spokesman for the Belgian side told BBC Sport.

In the Championship, former Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Hull midfielder George Boateng has signed a one-year deal with Nottingham Forest, linking up former manager Steve McClaren.

Boateng, 35, spent last season with Greek club Skoda Xanthi.

Europa League champions FC Porto have continued to strengthen for the new season with the 13 million-euro acquisition of versatile Brazilian Under-20 international Danilo Luiz da Silva.

The 20-year-old, who can play at right-back or in midfield, arrives from Santos on an undisclosed fee fresh from helping his club win the Copa Libertadores.

Danilo is Porto’s sixth signing of the European summer, with wingers Juan Iturbe, Kelvin de Oliveira and Djalma Campos, goalkeeper Rafael Bracalli and striker Kleber Pinheir having previously joined the club now coached by Vitor Pereira.

Santos director of football Pedro Luiz Conceicao has stated that young stars Neymar and Ganso will stay at the club until at least the end of 2011, in order to compete in the Club World Cup.

The Brazil internationals have been the subject of intense interest from Europe in the last 12 months, but Conceicao made it clear in a press conference on Wednesday that there would be no further departures from Santos until the new year.

“We feel 100 percent secure and have total faith that the squad we currently have will stay, at least until the end of the year,” the director told reporters at the Sao Paulo club’s HQ.

Six players have left the club since lifting the Libertadores title back in June – the most notable of which include Danilo, Jonathan (to Inter), Maikon Leite (Palmeiras) and Ze Eduardo (Genoa).

Brazilian Serie A rivals Internacional have strengthened their attacking stocks with the capture of forward Jo from Manchester City.

The 24-year-old joined the English Premier League club for 18 million pounds in 2008, but struggled in Manchester and was shipped out on loan to Everton (twice) and Galatasaray before his move back to Brazil.

In Spain’s La Liga, former Portugal midfielder Tiago has signed for Atletico Madrid. The 30-year-old had spent last season on loan at Atleti, and had been available on a free transfer after the mutual termination of his contract with Juventus.

However, he displaced Juan Pablo Carrizo in goal during the 2008/09 season, going on to become an integral part of the side.

Managing to transfer his form to the international stage, Muslera has won plaudits worldwide following his performances in this month’s Copa America.

The goalkeeper has penned a long-term deal with the Turkish club, where he will pocket two million euros a year, and compete with Aykut Ercetin for the role of Galatasaray’s first-choice shot-stopper.

In other transfer news, Fulham have signed Czech midfielder Marcel Gecov from Czech side Liberec.

Gecov’s agent Jiri Mueller said on Wednesday the 23-year-old defensive midfielder signed a two-year contract after undergoing a medical, and Fulham have an option to extend the initial deal for one more year.

Liberec spokesman Lukas Vana said the formalities over the 500,000 pound transfer were expected to be concluded shortly.

Europa League champions FC Porto have continued to strengthen for the new season with the 13 million euro acquisition of versatile Brazilian Under-20 international Danilo Luiz da Silva.

The 20-year-old, who can play at right-back or in midfield, arrives from Santos FC on an undisclosed fee fresh from helping his club win the Copa Libertadores.

Danilo will arrive in Portugal after the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, where the America FC youth product will represent Brazil, having been part of the side that retained the South American title in January.

Danilo is Porto’s sixth signing of the summer – wingers Juan Iturbe, Kelvin de Oliveira and Djalma Campos, goalkeeper Rafael Bracalli and striker Kleber Pinheir having previously joined the club now coached by Vitor Pereira.

Porto take on Barcelona in the UEFA Super Cup on August 26 in Monaco and will begin their UEFA Champions League campaign in the group stage.

In the Championship, former Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Hull midfielder George Boateng has signed a one-year deal with Nottingham Forest, rejoining former manager Steve McClaren.

Boateng, 35, spent last season with Greek club Skoda Xanthi.

The winger recently held talks with Anderlecht in the Middle East, and said his family is keen on a move to Belgium.

“My wife adores Brussels and is pushing me to return to Belgium where I only have one offer,” Jovanovic told Foot Magazine.

“I am still buzzing after my meeting with Anderlecht in Qatar.”

“I was moved by the importance given to me by the Belgian sporting press over the past week. And that makes me think because Belgium is my second country.”

French Ligue 1 Champions Lille are also rumoured to be keen on Jovanovic, who said he would explore all available options.

“Lille, like Anderlecht, are a nice option for me,” he said.

“This is a good club, which plays at the top of the French game, a high-level competition and who will play the group stage of Champions League. That’s interesting. For now, I listen to everyone.”

Meanwhile, Queens Park Rangers have shown an interest in Pasquale Foggia, the Lazio player’s agent has confirmed.

“We’re looking for a team,” Marco Sommella told La Lazio Siamo Noi.

“We’ll have to see what the market can offer us.”

“We are talking about an important player who deserves to play at an important level.”

“There was the Cesena option given that their coach wanted him and now there is this QPR opportunity.”

“The foreign path is therefore one that should not be excluded, especially as the Italian market is a bit blocked right now.”

“Let’s see what happens.”

New Cesena boss Marco Giampaolo worked with Foggia at Ascoli and Cagliari.

The France forward, who has enjoyed stints with Sunderland, Marseille, Liverpool and Auxerre in the past, will join his new team-mates in pre-season training this week.

“Lazio have great quality now and we hope to show this on the pitch,” club president Claudio Lotito said. “All the players have quality and Cisse is eager to show all of his will to do well on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Hamburg have joined the race for Nicklas Bendtner by admitting they are keen on the wantaway Arsenal striker, so long as the Gunners lower their asking price.

“Nicklas Bendtner is a very interesting player. His signing would be a real dream,” Hamburg Sporting Director Frank Arnesen told Hamburger Abendblatt.

“He can also be an attacking midfielder, playing behind the forwards.”

“(But) his signing would almost amount to a small miracle. There are two clubs that have made offers for Nicklas, and unfortunately, we are not among them.”

The 23-year-old was believed to have also attracted interest from Borussia Dortmund, however the Bundesliga champions distanced themselves from those reports on Tuesday.

Stoke City hit the headlines again with confirmation that their bid for Carlton Cole has been accepted by West Ham United, freeing them to talk personal terms with the England international.

“We have agreed a deal with West Ham, that’s done, it’s now about agreeing with Carlton and his agent,” Potters chairman Peter Coates told Sky Sports.

“He has got an injury problem and he’s always had that. That’s another risk you take, you have to factor that in, but he’s a good player and Tony (Pulis) has always liked him.”

Stoke signed ex-Tottenham defender Jonathan Woodgate on a free transfer on Monday.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp meanwhile trashed an improved 27-million-pound bid from Chelsea for Luka Modric.

“Obviously I still think 27 million is a poor offer for a player of that ability. In my opinion it would not be anywhere near what I would think he was valued at, if he was for sale – but he’s not for sale,” Redknapp told Sky Sports News.

“What I honestly value him at would be way more in excess of that, if you asked me honestly what I thought he was worth.”

“Even if they offered that, the chairman said he is not for sale. It’s a difficult situation and he’s such a great boy, he’s not a troublemaker and he’s come in and trained great today and that’s how he is.”

Coentrao moved to Benfica from Rio Ave in 2007.

He earned a regular starting berth at Estadio da Luz in 2009 and won the Liga Sagres with the club in 2010, before impressing for Portugal during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

In other transfer news, Milan Jovanovic is one step closer to leaving Liverpool after the club told the Serbian he was free to search for a new home.

The 30-year-old winger failed to make an impact on Merseyside after joining on a free transfer in July 2010, making just 10 appearances since his arrival from Standard Liege.

A move to Greek giants Olympiakos now appears likely for Jovanovic, although German clubs Schalke and Stuttgart and Belgians Anderlecht and Club Brugge are also said to be interested.

“I got the paper from Liverpool that I am free to search for a new club,” Jovanovic said.

“Up to now, I still haven’t received an official offer from Olympiakos, but I am looking forward to hearing their plans.”

Meanwhile, Ajax have signed Iceland striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson from Eredivisie rivals AZ Alkmaar on a four-year deal.

The 21-year-old, who has been capped four times by Iceland, scored 15 goals in the top flight last season after coming up through the youth ranks at Alkmaar.

Elsewhere, Lazio have signed Italy international goalkeeper Frederico Marchetti from fellow Serie A side Cagliari for a reported fee of five million euros.

Bosnia midfielder Hasan Salihamidzic has returned to the Bundesliga, joining Wolfsburg after four years in Serie A with Juventus.

Barcelona forward Pedro has agreed a one-year contract extension at the Camp Nou, tying him to the La Liga champions until 2016.

And France striker Sidney Govou has signed a two-year deal with newly promoted Ligue 1 outfit Evian.