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Michael Owen is a red. No, not the scouser red, but the devilish red. Yup, you read that right, the guy who's agents needed a brochure to attract the attention of Hull City and Stoke has joined the Premier League champions. The net's full with opinions over whether this is going to be another Fergie masterstroke, but considering it comes free of cost and his 2 year deal is highly performance oriented (Daily Mail ponder if it could be as less as £20,000 a week, with bonuses that could make it rise to the £110,000 he earned at Newcastle), it's probably worth the risk. That probably rules out the Luis Fabiano and Sergio Aguero talk from earlier.

United also snapped up Wigan's Luis Antonio Valencia earlier in the week, but that just had to happen. But a cuckoo did fly out of United's nest, or at least they wanted it to land in their's but it chose the warmer (and richer) one that Real Madrid offered. If you still haven't understood what I meant, I'll resort to plain language. Lyon's Karim Benzema, who United have courted for years and was thought to be a done deal when one of his teammates told a newspaper that the French striker would join United for 38 million, has become the 3rd new Galactico (Raul Albiol will never be a Galactico, I'm sorry if that offends anyone).

So, Real have spent over 200 million euros now, and their bank accounts are empty, right? Franck Ribery definitely hopes not. He's said that he wants "Real or nothing", and with Bayern's high valuation the deal could cost anywhere in between Kaka's and Ronaldo's. That would definitely hurt Roman Abramovich, who was ready to offer the Frenchman £200,000 a week. Real are still hot for Xabi Alonso, too, but are planning for alternatives, like Roma's Daniele de Rossi, just in case they can't get their man. There was some speculation that Real Sociedad (Alonso's previous club) had a clause in Alonso's transfer agreement to Liverpool that they would get 20% of the fee if the Reds sold him forward, but only if he's sold by 18th July, 2009. Thus, Liverpool are delaying the deal to at least past the 18th so that both Madrid and they get the most out of the transfer.

Chelsea have begun their bit of business. Ross Turnbull arrived from Middlesbrough for a free transfer to be Petr Cech's understudy, and Russia's Yuri Zhirkov could soon join them for £18 million, too, but CSKA Moscow have informed them that AC Milan are also in the running. Milan had earlier made it clear to Chelsea that Brazilian Pato is not for sale "at any price", but Chelsea are persisting with a £60 million offer. Carlos Ancelloti is also spending quite some time making it clear that Didier "Disgrace" Drogba is going nowhere. Jose Bosingwa is wanted by Bayern Munich, but after losing out on Glen Johnson to Liverpool, Chelsea wouldn't want to sell. Unless Inter change their stance on Maicon and let him move to Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool meanwhile are facing some frustrating times. It's the same old talk there, with both Mascherano and Alonso still wanted by Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. Real Madrid are willing to offer striker Alvaro Negredo, who they just bought back from Almeria after using a 4.3 million pound buy-out clause, in a cash-plus-player deal. Liverpool were reportedly interested in getting him in such a deal earlier on. Of course they were, he's Spanish after all. There's also a 16 years old winger Luis Alberto from Seville. Again, Spanish, so it's pretty obvious that Liverpool are tracking him.

But if you thought they had problems, just have a look at Arsenal. Talisman Cesc Fabregas was highly critical of his teammates in an interview recently, speaking of how he felt impotent and felt jealous to see Ronaldo leave for Madrid because he had won everything possible in England. Fabregas has for long been linked with Barca, but said he saw no reason why his family, who are staunch Barcelona supporters, would feel betrayed if he joined Real Madrid. That was enough to bring up the questions of his future, and he had to come out with a statement to say he will be at the Emirates this year. Barcelona meanwhile took at as a hint and have begun a chase to bring him back to the Nou Camp, with president Joan Laporta saying that 'Barca is in Cesc's DNA'. They also seem to be scouting for Adebayor's replacement, despite repeated claims by Arsene Wenger that the Togo international is going nowhere. Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has been scouted by Le Professor, but only in case of a departure. What will cheer up the Gunners is that three of their youngsters, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Kieron Gibbs signed long term contracts, and Robin van Persie is expected to do the same quite soon.

Fiorentina have disclosed on their website that Arsenal have bid for Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo, but didn't meet the player's release clause of 25 million Euros. They have proposed a that they would be ready to lower the fee, if the Gunners include Emmanuel Eboue in a cash-plus-player deal. Remembering Eboue's performances lately, including the match against Wigan where he was substituted off 15 minutes after he came on in the second half, I guess Arsenal would be more than happy with their demands.

BREAKING NEWS: Juventus have reportedly beaten Arsenal to the punch and are on the verge of signing Felipe Melo in a cash plus swap deal involving winger Marco Marchionni heading in the opposite direction. 

It's been quite a busy week with a lot of transfers being completed, and so far, Rafa Benitez has kept his promise of out-spending Sir Alex Ferguson (he leads by £1.5 million). To get a list of all completed Premier League transfers, click here.

 

Photograph Copyright: Michael Kjaer