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The 2009 European summer transfer window is now officially closed. Here is a day-by-day track of all the rumours and the deals that went down over the course of the summer. For a special look at how the Barcalys Premier League fared do check out our Transfer Updates page.We've covered every transfer, every loan and every club - more than £600 million changed hands and 300 players moved. Read on to find out more.

 

Tuesday, 1st September

The original Tinkerman is back! Claudio Ranieri has signed a two-year contract to take over as Manager of AS Roma.

Four more deals confirmed after the closure - Richard Dunne's move from Man C to Villa is a done deal, Portsmouth's David Nugent has joined Burnley on loan, another David: David Elm from Swedish club Kalmar FF has joined Fulham on a one-year contract and Sunderland midfielder Teemu Tainio has joined Birmingham City on loan for a year.

Some late breaking news from Sky Sports, Matthew Upson is reportedly at White Hart Lane! Surely not!

5:00pm (BST): The Premier League Transfer window is now officially closed, we are still waiting for confirmation on Richard Dunne...please remember that the final transfers will continue to get updated right through the night. There could be deals which took place before the window closed and are yet to be announced by the clubs. A couple of major talking points - the total confirmed spends are £444 million, throw in the undisclosed sums and we could easily be hovering around 500. Of this, Manchester City alone have spent £120 million and I know it is early days yet, but City are yet to concede a goal in the Premiership, has the revolution well and truly begun?

Sky Sports are reporting that the two big deals are done - Kranjcar to Tottenham and Heitinga to Everton. One little deal too - Mike Williamson from Watford to Portsmouth.

David Silva and his agent has just reached Old Trafford according to breaking news from someone texting in from OT on BBC, sounds like a late attempt to keep interest in a sad final transfer day alive. Rumours are also running wild that Pavlyuchenko to Spartak might just be completed before the window closes.

A few confirmed deals - Bolton have signed Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic (who recently underwent a kidney transplant), Burnley have singed 16-year old Scottish striker Joe McKee, Sunderland have sold Grant Leadbitter & Carlos Edwards to Ipswich Town, Jerome Rothen has signed for Rangers from PSG, Aston Villa have completed the signing of defender James Collins from West Ham on a four-year contract, Hull have signed Bacary Sagna's cousin Ibrahima Sonko from Stoke City on a year-long loan.

BBC Sports claims that Man City have called off the David Bentley - Martin Petrov swap.Apparently there is a bottom to that money pit.

A lot of club security guards have suddenly come into the limelight as the core source of rumours - Blaise Matuidi apparently just reached Arsenal for his medical, Nico Kranjcar has passed his at Tottenham and Ever Banega is not going to join Everton, Valencia want to sell him not loan him out.

Unlikely Robinho's move on the last day of the summer transfer window in 2008, it really seems like today is going to be a bit of a damp squib.

The big news of the day - Claudio Ranieri is in talks with Roma to take over as manager.

Arsenal's Mexican striker Carlos Vela could be heading over to Fulham on a season-long loan. Will be surprised if Wenger does this, he doesn't really have that much fire power on the bench, and might need Vela in a 50-60 game season.

Birmingham are in the shop window for full-backs and are looking at the London duo of Gareth Bale and Armand Traore. They are also keeping tabs on Real Betis winger Achille Emana according to the Birmingham Mail.

The Johnny Heitinga move could be back on with Atletico Madrid President Enrique Cerezo claiming that Everton have come back with a better offer.

Liverpool have reportedly lined up a shock loan move for out-of-favour Man City striker Benjani. Notts County though have reportedly offered him a better contract. Sorry, can't stop laughing about Notts outbidding Liverpool.

Portsmouth have rejected a swap offer from Tottenham for David James. Tottenham were reportedly willing to part with Carlo Cudicini.

The summer of the swap continues as David Bentley looks to be headed to Eastlands in exchange for Martin Petrov. Bentley had his best season while playing for Mark Hughes at Blackburn Rovers a couple of seasons ago and would be relishing this opportunity. Petrov would provide much needed cover to Tottenham while playmaker Luka Modric recovers from his broken fibula.

Tony Pulis has told Sky Sports that he hopes to sign 4 more players before the close of the transfer window.

French winger Jerome Rothen is being linked with a late move to Glasgow Rangers.

Torres has joined Getafe! I'm referring to Real Madrid's Miguel Torres who has moved to Spanish club Getafe and penned a five-year contract. The 23-year-old defender will fetch the Los Bloncos €2 million with his sale. Am a little surprised with this decision. Torres was an ideal player to keep at Madrid because of his ability to fit anywhere in the backline, and would have been a useful squad member while not a first team regular.

AS Monaco have swooped for Barcelona and ex-Chelsea forward Eidur Gudjohnsen on free transfer. The Icelandic international has signed a 2-year deal that will keep him at the Stade Louis II till 2011.

A Marlon King (Wigan) - Scott McDonald (Celtic) loan swap is possibly on the cards  according to the Daily Mirror.

Dutch international John Heitinga will be staying with Atletico Madrid after being unable to agree personal terms with English club Everton. The versatile 25-year-old defender can operate in several positions and can be deployed anywhere across the backline.

Diego Arismendi, a 21-year old Uruguayan midfielder, has signed for Stoke City from Nacional de Montevideo for £2.9 million. He is Stoke's sixth signing of the summer.

Fabio Zamblera has moved to Italian giants AS Roma on loan from Newcastle. The young Italian striker looks to provide manager Luciano Spalletti with some attacking options following their disastrous start in the Seria A that finds them at the bottom of the table.

 

Monday, 31st August

Some done deals - Juventus have managed to pull off the £3 million capture of the most hated man in Australia, Lyon left-back Fabio Grosso. Sunderland have signed Michael Turner from Hull City on a 4-year contract for somewhere between £9 and 12 million, why Hull why??? (money vs. premiership survival). Wolves have signed Stefan Maierhofer from the Rapid Vienna team that beat Aston Villa and Segundo Castillo from Red Star Belgrade, Portsmouth have taken Benfica midfielder Hassan Yebda on loan and Fiorentina & West Ham have swapped Manuel Da Costa and Savio. Some other minor loan moves - Manuele Blasi from Napoli to Palermo and Freddy Adu from Benfica to Belenenses (poor kid).

And now some that didn't quite make it - Benjani is not going to Hull City, seems like he would rather play out 5 months with the reserves rather than taking a pay cut, Portsmouth were unable to sign former Wigan striker Amr Zaki, apparently he is happy where he is (why wait till the last day to announce that), Rafael VDV is staying with Real Madrid - seems without Robben and Sneijder, the competition for places on the bench just got that much easier and Marseille midfielder Mathieu Valbuena claims to have rejected the overtures of both Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea have been linked with a late bid for Benfica defender David Luiz...why not just wait till January, it's not like he's going anywhere!

Sky Sports claims that Niko Kranjcar's move to Tottenham is almost a done deal. He'll come into the squad straight away as a replacement for the injured Luka Modric. One of those amazing rumours that makes complete sense.

Real Madrid may make a last gasp £54 million bid for Franck Ribery, but the move hardly seems likely this late. Bayern wouldn't even have any time to do anything with that money (although if they do invest it well they could increase their future funds a lot, but I don't think they would be considering that option especially after their poor start.)

L'Equipe reports on its website that Tottenham have offered Inter Milan Jermaine Jenas + £5 million for Suley Muntari.

The Daily Mail claim Benjani's move to Hull has fallen through after the striker failed to meet personal terms with the club.

Liverpool's reserve goalkeeper Charles Itandje has been loaned to Greek club Kavala FC.

Martin Petrov has not met up with his Bulgarian teammates as he looks to finalise a move away from Manchester City. Tottenham Hotspur seems to be the likely destination.

Last few hours left, and the certain deals may just go through. Such as Roman Pavlyuchenko's reported move back to Spartak Moscow. The Daily Mail believe the Russian club is desperate to resign their former star striker, but may be unwilling to meet the £10.5 million price-tag.

Fabio Grosso's agent has virtually put an end to speculation in the Italian press. Grosso had supposedly attracted the attention of Juventus, but his agent has dismissed the chances of any deals before the transfer window closes at midnight. Football Italia though claims that the Old Lady had agreed a £3 million deal with Lyon.

Chelsea's former Icelandic striker Eidur Gudjohnsen may just be able to move away from Barcelona before the transfer window closes. French club AS Monaco are tipped as favourites, while he has also been heavily linked with West Ham.

Fraizer Campbell may just end up at Hull. Sunderland allegedly are willing to offer Campbell, who snubbed Hull when he left Manchester United earlier this summer, plus £9 million for defender Michael Turner according to the Daily Mirror.

Bolton and Sunderland are competing for the signature of Croatian international Ivan Klasnic.

Tottenham are likely to make a late bid for Portsmouth's David James and Nico Kranjcar; the moves are unlikely to go through as both players seem integral to Pompey's survival and they now once again appear to be a 'buying' club. Tottenham are also interested in Man City's Martin Petrov, but could face competition from Stoke City according to the Daily Star. The Sun thinks that Portsmouth could be buying Aston Villa's 'now extra' left back Nicky Shorey.

Aston Villa seem determined to raid Upton Park, with a move for either center-back Matthew Upson or James Collins still likely. If I were a betting man, I would put my money on Collins, Zola would be daft to let Upson go. According to Sky Sports, Upson is also on the wishlist of Italian side Fiorentina.

Hull are likely to sign the Premiership's only Zimbabwe internatioanl Benjani from Manchester City before the transfer deadline.

Marca are reporting that Manchester City has rejected a €40 million offer from Barcelona for former Real Madrid frontman Robinho! Barca coach Pep Guardiola has since come out and said that Robinho is unllikely to move at present because of the revolution hitting Manchester at the moment.

Another swap deal may be on the cards involving West Ham and Fiorentina seeing German forward Savio head to Italy for defender Manuel Da Costa.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' gaffer Mick McCarthy would still like to bring in a couple of bodies before the transfer window closes tomorrrow night. He was quoted as saying, "We’re trying all the time and I’ve had great support from Steve Morgan and Jez Moxey and when we’ve had a chance to do something we’ve done it."

Hull City are hoping the lure of first team football will convince Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari to move to KC Stadium. Sky Sports is reporting that a fee has been agreed between the two clubs. The Tigers are keen to add the Zimbabwean hitman to their burgeoning ranks. Despite adding the likes of Ghilas and Altidore, Phil Brown would like to further his attacking line with the 31-year-old. This transfer looks likely to go through given the fact that Benjani is yet to make an appearance for Manchester this season.

 

Sunday, 30th August

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is ready to dip into the transfer market after finding out that Croatian playmaker Luka Modric is out upto 6 weeks with a fractured fibula. Tottenham are readying a bid for Real midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. The former Ajax man was previously linked to Liverpool and Arsenal.

The veteran exodus is set to continue at Portsmouth with goalkeeper David James as the next player seeking an exit. The England international has see over 10 players already walk away from Pompey this summer. A trio of clubs are being linked to him namely Sunderland, Tottenham and Stoke City.

West Ham's Welsh international James Collins signature is being sought by Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill. The Villans are keen to bolster their defensive options and have identified the 6'4" defender as an ideal candidate.  Villa are also said to be tracking Man City's Richard Dunne.

Hull City have completed the signing of Sunderland central defender Paul McShane on a 4-year contract. The Irish international was on loan at Hull last season and City's boss Phil Brown decided to make his move permanent.

Despite signing a contract extension to stay at Barcelona, Ivorian international Yaya Toure is being linked with a move to Manchester "money-bags" City. Speculation has been rife since his brother moved from Arsenal earlier this month. Toure made these comments to the Sunday Times, "All I would say about it is that I have always said I like English football. You never know what might happen in a few years' time, but for now I'm part of a great team."

Reports out of Britain are claiming that Manchester United tried to lure former Republic of Ireland international, Stephen Ireland from Manchester City. The Eastlands outfit have firmly told the Red Devils that their last season's Player of the Year is not available at any price. Ireland scored a sensational 13 goals in 44 appearances.

Despite Inter Milan's 4-0 win over arch-rivals Milan, gaffer Jose Mourinho would still be interested in strengthening his squad. 24oredisport.com reports that Mourinho is a fan of Lazio hitman Goran Pandev and may look into adding the Macedonian to his squad.

Former Chelsea forward Eidur Gudjohnsen looks set to complete a move to Monaco tomorrow morning after rejecting a deal to English club Manchester City. I guess the Iceland international is sick of warming the bench?

Sven Goran Eriksson is kicking up another storm at Notts County, reportedly his shopping list includes Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg, Christian Vieri and Kanu.

A rumour from nowhere - Matthew Upson to Fiorentina. Sorry, guys think this one is complete smoke! Come on Arsenal, put in a bid for him!!!

As predicted yesterday, Andriy Shevchenko has moved back to boyhood club Dynamo Kiev on free transfer. The Ukranian hitman held showdown talks with Chelsea earlier the day and the Blues terminated his contract by mutual consent. The 32-year-old was a monster flop at Stamford Bridge after £30m was paid to Milan for his services in 2006.

Everton are finally adding new players to their ranks. Marca is reporting that the Toffees has agreed to bring over defenderJohn Heitinga from Spainish club Atletico Madrid. The Dutch international will move to Goodison park once he agrees to personal terms with Madrid pocketing about €7.5 million in the process.

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich are set to beat Juventus to the signature of Brazilian defender Rafinha. Earlier in the week it appeared that the Schalke full-back was all set for a move to the Old Lady but German papers are reporting that Munich have tabled a €11m bid which has been accepted. The transfer has however not been confirmed by either party.

The Latics are on the trail of Celtic forward Scott McDonald. Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is said to be an admirer of the Australian international and might try to bring him to DW Stadium on a year-long loan.

Another saga has finally ended... Wesley Sneijder is now officially an Inter Milan player. Real Madrid website had the following statement, "Real Madrid C.F. and F.C. Inter Milan have reached an agreement for the transfer of the player Wesley Sneijder to the Italian club." The Dutch midfielder was disappointed but made these comments to Marca, "I'm going with my head high. I'm going to a great team, there's no doubt about that. I've been very happy here but now I have to look ahead and focus on my new team."

Barcelona are said to be in the hunt for reinforcement down the left flank. To that end, Pep Guardiola is interested in bringing in Manchester City striker Robinho. It seems unlikely that the Brazilian could be convinced to move but Barca's overtures might just do the trick.

 

 

Saturday, 29th August

A surprising announcement from Fulham manager Roy Hodgson. He can't believe no one has coming shopping for his star center-back Brede Hangeland. That's an invitation for sale if I ever heard one!

Chelsea's striker Andriy Shevchenko is heading back to the club where it all began. The 32-year-old has been signed by Ukranian club Dynamo Kyiv. on a free transfer The Ukranian hitman started his career with Kyiv, his boyhood club and spent 5 years with the senior team scoring 60 goals over that span. Shevchenko moved to Chelsea for a whopping £30 million, but made only 76 appearances for the club, including many as a substitute.

Sunderland have reportedly accepted a bid from Stoke City for defender Danny Collins.

It's been the season of the "cash plus player" swap deals. Another major one of those might be in the works if Real Madrid have their say. The Spanish giants would like to send Rafael van der Vaart plus cash to German giants Bayern Munich in exchange for star playmaker, Franck Ribery. The Ribery saga has been going on all summer and looks to continue until the transfer window closes.

Corriere dello Sport reports that Italian club Parma have swooped for 27-year-old right back Cristian Zaccardo of VfL Wolfsburg. The Italian international had previous spells with Bologna and Palmero.

The latest rumour surrounding Roma's Julio Baptista is linking him with a move back to the Premier league with English giants, Liverpool. The Reds are hoping to strengthen their attacking options and add some muscle to the midfield. A fee in the region of €7 million is being offered to Roma who have already done business with Benitez earlier this summer (when Liverpool signed Aquilani).

 

Friday, 28th August

The papers are refusing to give up on a Franck Ribery move in the summer. The English press believe that the French playmaker will move to Chelsea to sit at the top of the diamond, while the Spanish press insist he's coming to Real Madrid and will operate on the right side of midfield. Our take, they're all blowing in the wind...don't think Franck is going anywhere this summer unless someone puts £60-70 million.

Yesterday we reported Sunderland plotting a capture of Lyon's John Mensah. Today the Black Cats have confirmed that they have signed the centre-back on a year-long loan. The versatile Ghanaian can also play midfield.

A good move for all three parties involved. Tottenham have tied down Jamie O'Hara on a long term deal and then sent him out on loan to Portsmouth. The talented youngster will pocket more money, get some solid first team action and come back to Tottenham next year a better player. Portsmouth get a quality player in the middle of the park.

Stoke seem to be the club most busy in the transfer market these days. The Sun has reported that Tony pulis has had a £10 million bid rejected for Sunderland's in form striker Kenwyne Jones

News just in... Pompey have signed 22-year-old midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng from Tottenham on a 3-year-deal. Amazingly that transfer actually takes big spending Tottenham back in the black. They've spent about £25 million and made about half a million more from getting rid of some of the bulk.

It's 'Double Dutch' on the continent with Wesley Sneijder passing his medical and completing his move to Inter Milan, and compatriot Arjen Robben wrapping up his move to Bayern Munich. Unlikely the Sneijder saga, must say the Germans did a fantastic job of keeping quiet about the move for Robben. Well done to all involved.

Portsmouth are being linked with bids for former Wigan striker Amr Zaki and Tottenham extra Kevin Prince-Boateng. They have already swooped for former Wigan midfielder Micheal Brown. Pompey website is also reporting the loan signing of Lens striker Aruna Dindane. The 28-year-old Ivorian will give manager Paul Hart's side an offensive boost.

Sanli Tuncay becomes the second player to leave Boro in a couple of days as he joins former teammate Robert Huth at Stoke City. The transfers together cost Stoke 10 million quid, and I must say they seem to be a pretty nifty piece of business.

Sylvain Distin has passed his medical too and has completed his move to Everton. Honestly though he was looking past his prime at Portsmouth so far this year, and will need to work hard to be worth that 3-year contract.

The Sun claims Harry Redknapp is mulling a move for Sulley Muntari, a player who served with him at former club Portsmouth. Jermaine Jenas is again being rumoured to be part of a swap deal with Jose Mourinho reportedly a long time admirer of the England international.

Everton have been linked with moves for Dutch international Johnny Heitinga and Scotland's Scott Brown in the Times.

Aston Villa have reportedly agreed a £6 million fee for Manchester City captain Richard Dunne. While Mark Hughes is quite happy selling the central defender now that he has his preferred center-backs at the club, the big decision point is who should he appoint as the new club skipper.

The Daily Mail has a huge host of rumours that they have collected for today's edition - Pompey are targetting 5 basement buys before the window closes (Al Fahim is not going to splash the cash yet), Birmingham are lining up a bid for Jamie O'Hara, Steve Bruce wants his former left-back at Wigan Maynor Figueroa to join him at Sunderland while Stoke reportedly have £22 million to spend before the transfer window closes.

The Arjen Robben to Bayern Munich deal is now official with the Dutch midfielder putting pen to paper in a 4-year deal. FCB.tv reported Robben making the following comments, "It all happened very fast. There were a couple of things I wanted to think over, but in the end I decided I really wanted to move to a huge club like Bayern."

It's been an excessively busy late night / early morning in football-ville. With a host of transfers completed. German defender Robert Huth has completed the move from relegated Boro to stuttering Stoke, French right-back Pascal Chimbonda has completed his 3rd transfer in 13th months, moving from Tottenham to Blackburn where he will probably slot in at left-back (Salgado signed earlier), Sylvain Distin has signed on a three-year deal for Everton - he still needs to undergo a medical, but considering he played against Arsenal last weekend that is surely just a formality and Stephen Warnock completed his move from Blackburn to Aston Villa reportedly to play European football, too bad Villa got knocked out before he could feature for them this season. Check out how this has affected each club in our transfers bazaar.

 

Thursday, 27th August

Andriy Shevchenko seems set to finally leave Chelsea, at least according to The Times, who report that the third highest goal scorer in Champions League history may not even be named by the Blues in their squad for this year's competition.

Arsenal are tracking the next-next-Maradonna, or rather the next-Messi as the Daily Mail call Veljko Batrovic. He has reportedly had training spells with the Gunners and also Atletico Madrid, and looks set to be yet another starlet joining the Arsenal ranks.

Wesley Sneijder is quite angry with Real Madrid as he leaves for Inter Milan, saying the club treated him "very badly" and that Manuel Pelligrini wanted to keep him at the Bernabeu, but the decision was not left to him by his superiors. He is however happy to be trading "one great club for another."

Funniest quote of the day: Mark Hughes calling Joleon Lescott the best centre-back in England. Yeah right.

Everton boss David Moyes is close to completing the first of a number of signings he needs before September 1. Portsmouth have accepted a bid for Sylvain Distin, who would sign a 3-year contract with the Toffees. Moyes has quite a bit of cash on hand, after the sale of Joleon Lescott.

Stoke were reported to have completed a double-swoop of Robert Huth and Tuncay from Middlesbrough. No confirmation on their official site yet, though.

Barcelona have completed their €25 million acquisition of 22-year old center-back Dmytro Chygrynskiy from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Sportmediaset reports that Juventus have signed Schalke 04 right-back Rafinha. The Brazilian was out-of-favour with the German side following his departure to play at the Olympics without permission. The Old Lady are said to have paid a fee in the region of €8 million to secure his services. Juventus' transfer chief meanwhile has completely rubbished the news, claiming that not only has he not joined, they aren't even remotely interested in him! What is this rumour world coming too.

Double medicals pending - Aston Villa are a medical away from signing Blackburn left-back Stephen Warnock, while Blackburn themselves are a medical shy of signing Spurs' Pascal Chimbonda.

Harry Redknapp has ruled out the sale of Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko, atleast not for the paltry sum of £10 million.

Bolton are considering re-signing former skipper Kevin Nolan from relegated Newcastle United.

Fulham have confirmed the signing of South African international Kagisho Dikgacoi. Dikgacoi has spent almost the entire summer on trial at the London club.

Sunderland expect to complete the long protracted transfer of defender John Mensah by the weekend. The Ghana international is expected to cost about £7 million.

Bayern Munich have reportedly made a bid of €25 million for Real Madrid's Dutch winger Arjen Robben. The move is widely tipped to go through, with rumour mongers believing that this will also increase the possibility of Franck Ribery heading in the opposite direction next year.

Portsmouth have signed Watford forward Tommy Smith for £1.8 million on a four-year contract.

Emmanuel Eboue is believed to have told the Daily Mail that he is in love with life at Arsenal, and would like nothing better than to sign a new deal to keep him at the club longer. Eboue has started this season in excellent form, and one wonders if Wenger too will have second thoughts about getting rid of the Ivory Coast international.

The Daily Mail claims that Manchester United are keeping a track on the progress of 18-year old Belgian international Eden Hazard, currently plying his trade on the wings at French Lique 1 side Lille.

Sanli Tuncay is being tracked by both Birmingham & Stoke City. Middlesbrough are keen to sell the Turkish forward and remove his wages off their books. Gareth Southgate has slapped a £5 million price tag on Sanli and Alex McLeish looks set to match that fee. The 27-year-old scored scored 8 goals last season in all competitions. Another Boro boy Robert Huth has also been linked with a move to Stoke City.

Blackburn and Tottenham have reportedly agreed a £2 million fee for French right-back Pascal Chimbonda.

Everton's David Moyes told reports that he would like atleast four new signings before the transfer window closes next week. Toffee's website reported Moyes as making the following comments, "I would be disappointed if we didn't get at least four, maybe more. We've made quite a bit of progress I feel and maybe I'll be able to announce something shortly, but not yet."

 

Wednesday, 26th August

Arabian tycoon Sulaiman Al Fahim claims that he has completed the purchase of Portsmouth. Hope Pompey get an instant injection of cash and sign some players quick or they could be in for a long hard season.

Sky Sport 24 report that Inter Milan have signed Real Madrid's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder for €15 million. Neither club has made an official announcement as yet.

Lazio forward Goran Pandev has dismissed linking him to West Ham United. He also hinted rather strongly that such a move would not even interest him.

Barcelona look set to complete their acquisition of defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy. Sport reports that Shakhtar Donetsk have accepted a €25 million offer from the European champions, and the 22-year old center-back will shockingly take a wage-cut for an opportunity to plan with the Catalan giants. Dmytro will move on a five-year deal.

Czech superstar Pavel Nedved has crushed rumours of a move to Emirates champions Ali Ahli, reconfirming his decision to retire from the world's greatest game.

Luca Toni will not be moving to Roma according to the player's agent. Roma just can't afford his wage demands. Wonder if anyone in the Premiership might want to make a late bid for the Italian strongman.

Aston Villa have confirmed that they are in talks with Blackburn to sign left-back Stephen Warnock. A bit of a surprise considering they have a very able player in Nicky Shorey already in that position with Wilfred Bouma still to return from injury as cover. Shouldn't Villa really be shopping for center-halves? Blackburn meanwhile are mulling making a move for part-time Tottenham right-back Pascal Chimbonda.

A couple of non-rumours, and pretty obvious ones at that - Manchester United's young Brazilian midfielder Anderson has stated that despite being disappointed at not being picked for the Community Shield match against Chelsea, he is prepared to battle it out for a place at Old Trafford. While over at White Hart Lane, Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko looks resigned to warming the bench at Tottenham till the winter, as he is yet to receive a concrete offer from any club.

Joleon Lescott is offically a Manchester City player. The England international completed his medical and has agreed to a 5-year-deal that will keep him at the Eastlands till 2014. City manager Mark Hughes was over the moon when he made the following statement, "I am absolutely delighted to welcome Joleon to Manchester City. He is an England international who has proved his Premier League ability during his time at Everton."

With the Lescott deal done and dusted, current centre-back Richard Dunne may find himself down the pecking order. Reports indicate that Aston Villa have bid £6m for his services. With the transfer window barely a few days away from closure, this deal could happen very quickly.

The beast heading to Inter? With the move for Sneijder at a standstill, Jose Mourinho may turn to Roma's midfielder turned striker Julio Baptista. It remains to be seen though if the Italian giants would do business with one another. Despite reports yesterday of Sneijder reaching Milan in the morning and proceeding with negotiations, Marca in Spain claimed that the Dutch International never got on the plane. Did he or didn't he?!

 

Tuesday, 25th August

And it's official, 34-year old Sol Campbell has put pen to paper on a five-year deal with League 2 side Notts County. The 'Sven' factor seems to still be able to work its magic as the club have managed to attract a former England international and Premier League and FA Cup double winner of the quality of Campbell. Though the club have ambitious plans, the idea of a 39-year old Campbell heading back to Tottenham to be called 'Judas' by the Spurs fans in Notts County colours does present a funny picture.

A couple of end of day Pompey rumours, the good news is that Watford's striker Tommy Smith's move to Reading has been put on hold because of a late offer from Portsmouth believed to be in the region of £1.5 million, the bad news is Aston Villa are lining up a move for their best central defender Sylvain Distin.

A chapter closes on the Tottenham rumour mill. Redknapp has gone public with some reality checks which should slow newspaper sales in the UK - No Carrick in, no Modric sale, no Cole bid, no James bid, yes Chaves is on trial at White Hart Lane Tottenham, no decision yet. Are they looking for someone - no, but wait he has the thrown the media a lifeline - he is still open to strengthening his squad.

A couple of pieces of business today, all involving Merseyside - Liverpool have sent out a couple of youngsters on loan - Nemeth to AEK Athens and Andreas Simon to Cordoba, while Everton have signed some offensive reinforcements in the person of Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov for reportedly £10 million. Something tells me that the Lescott money has come into the bank!

The Daily Mail believes that Arsenal's one more 'defensive signing' is likely to be Saint-Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi.

Sportsweek reports that Ajax are about to dip into rivals PSV's bench to sign striker Danny Koevermans, though PSV may not wish to sell Koevermans to Ajax, they are interested in making space for Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

Staying in the Netherlands, Feyenoord could be tempted to sell Jonathan de Guzman should Valencia come up with a good offer for the 21-year old midfielder according to reports in De Telegraaf. Wonder where Valencia is suddenly finding cash???

Funniest transfer news of the day: Michael Carrick to Liverpool, £10 million, so say the Guardian's Rumour Mill. Seriously, have they forgotten Fergie's stance when Liverpool wanted Gabriel Heinze? And don't even get me started on the price-tag.

Manchester United are suddenly expected to be busy in the transfer window. Luka Modric has been linked with a move to Old Trafford, that would see Michael Carrick head back to White Hart Lane, gift wrapped along with some bundles of cash for Harry Redknapp. Can't see that happening this window, though, with Tottenham having started well and Modric insisting he wants to stay. Arjen Robben was linked yesterday, and today it's the turn of yet another Dutch Real Madrid reject, Wesley Sneijder, to be linked with the English champions.

Rumours of a couple of shock moves are hitting the air waves today, former England international Sol Campbell is reportedly about to sign for League 2 side Notts County, and former Juventus superstar Pavel Nedved is reportedly expected to instantly come out of retirement to play for UAE champions Al Ahli.

In the wake of speculation that Tottenham are keen to sign oft-injured England international Joe Cole, People Sport report Chelsea have decided to offer the midfielder a new contract worth £90,000 / week!

According to the Daily Mirror, Sir Alex has told Anderson that he can leave United after the Brazilian midfielder did not react well to being omitted from the Community Shield starting line up

Staying with United, Nemanja Vidic has said in an interview to Sky Sports News that he has no intention of leaving Old Trafford, now or in the future! Finally some good news for Red Devils fans.

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola is tracking AC Milan right back Massimo Oddo and might just delve into whatever little bit of money he can spend, to sign the 33 year old should a swap deal with Julien Faubert not work out.

Moyes is trying to see if he can pry Sylvain Distin from Portsmouth. Pompey's manager Paul Hart has previously stated that he has no intention of selling the French defender.

Barcelona have been linked to Shakhtar Donetsk's Dmytro Chygrynskiy for some time now. Reports from Spain are claiming that a deal is in the works and will hopefully be completed by the end of the transfer window.

T he Lescott saga is finally drawing to a close - pretty sure David Moyes wants to be over with it now! Sky Sports has reported that the England international has passed his medical. Once the I's are dotted and T's crossed, the defender will be taking home close to £80,000 a week. Not a bad pay raise?

Real Madrid's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder has stated that he's not interested in leaving the club and would like to fight for a first team spot. The former Ajax hitman has been a transfer target of Inter all summer. Sneijder told the media, "I continue thinking that this is the best club in the world, even though they want to transfer me. My intention is to continue until I am told to leave."

I feel like a broken record... contrary to what Chelsea have claimed time and time again, People Sport is claiming that the English giants are back in for Sergio Aguero. A fee of £42m is being mooted for his services.

Fulham gaffer Roy Hodgson is looking to add depth to his central defence pairing with the signing of Gregory Cerdan from Le Mans. The Mirror is claiming that Hodgson is preparing a fee in the region of £2 million to prise away the lanky 27-year-old defender.

Dutch Giants Ajax are tracking Blackburn Rovers striker Benni McCarthy. Its hard to imagine Rovers manager Sam Allardyce letting the South African international go though as he's already lost the services of Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City. The Rovers have also recently sold forward Paul Gallagher and have lost both their games scoring only a solitary goal in the process.

 

Monday, 24th August

It's official Sylvinho is now a Citizen! Must say this is one that we never really expected. Mark Hughes has signed the 35-year old left-back on a one-year contract as cover for Wayne Bridge. Sylvinho was available on a free transfer after Barcelona didn't offer him a new deal at the start of this season. The Brazilian's move to England comes almost 10 years after he made his debut for Arsenal in 1999.

Sky Sports reports that Joleon Lescott has arrived in Manchester to undergo a medical. He is widely expected to complete the transfer, now reported to be for £24 million (just 1 less than Adebayor and double Barry) tomorrow. I can just imagine Martin O'Neill calling Arsene Wenger to check if they should have held out longer for more dough.

Sky Sports seems to have all the good news today - Lens striker Aruna Dindane has passed his medical at Portsmouth, and the Ivory Coast international (Drogba's strike partner in fact) will complete his move within the next 24 hours.

Another big story doing the rounds in England is a major midfield reshuffle with Manchester United reportedly offering Michael Carrick + cash to his former club Tottenham in exchange for the creative services of Luca Modric, this story was published by Goal.com this evening, but has since been deleted. It is still visible in Google News Archives!

That story has finally been traced to this article in the Metro, which also has some other funky-chunky rumours. Tottenham could have a completely new-look middle third by the end of the day if one believes all the stories floating around, with Jermaine Jenas heading to Aston Villa and Scott Parker coming in from West Ham as a possible replacement according to The People.

Eidur Gudjohnsen could be heading to West Ham after all if the Sun is to be believed. After being unable to come up with the cash for the transfer, West Ham hope to be able to pursuade the former Chelsea striker to join on a season long loan.

Sky Sports also believes that Spurs are looking at further defensive reinforcements with Platense's Osman Chavez top of their shopping list after being recommended by Honduran teammate Wilson Palacios.

According to a report on Sportmediaset.it, Milan are so keen to get rid of Massimo Oddo that they are offering West Ham a swap for Julien Faubert. Faubert raised eyebrows when Real Madrid took him on loan in the winter transfer window last season, but played him for a grand total of 56 minutes in about 5 months. With due respect to the player, he put in a tremendous shift at right-back (not his natural position) over the weekend against Tottenham.

With money aplenty expected from the Joleon Lescott transfer, the Everton rumour mill has kicked into overdrive.The Daily Mail reckons that £10m worth of Lokomotiv Moscow skipper Diniyar Bilyaletdinov could be heading to the Toffees.

The Daily Mail also seems to have had a glance at the rest of City's shopping list, indicating that former Arsenal and Barcelona left-back Sylvinho could also be heading to Manchester. Now that is surely one that nobody expected.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed that defender Stephen Warnock has been subject of bids and may be leaving before the transfer window closes on August 31. Warnock was not in the squad when the Rovers played Sunderland on Saturday. Allardyce told Blackburn's official website the following, "Stephen's head wasn't right so we left him at home. Thats the bottom line. We know the Aston Villa scenario and it would have not have been right playing him because his mind is not on performing at his best so we left him back at Ewood."

Le Havre midfielder Kévin Anin is apparently being tracked by English clubs Stoke City and Tottenham. The 23-year-old Frenchman is currently on trail with the Spurs increasing the likelyhood that he will join with them. Anin has been with Le Havre since 2006 making 36 appearances in that span.

Wigan are keen on Bristol City's Marvin Conrad Elliott. News of the World reports that the Latics are willing to part with £3.5m to sign the former Bristol City's 'Young Player of The Year' for 2007. The 24-year-old midfielder would compete with new signing Mohamed Diame for first team action.

Liverpool are ready to do business again with Greek club AEK Athens. This time around though the Reds might send striker Krisztian Nemeth to them on loan. The 20-year-old is unlikely to get a chance to impress with several players ahead of him in the pecking order. The fact that he's signed till 2012 is also an indication that Benitez sees him as 'one for the future'.

Redknapp's Spurs are currently on top of the table with impressive wins over Liverpool, Hull City and West Ham. The gaffer is keen to keep up the momentum by signing Celtic duo Aiden McGeady and Scott Brown. Tottenham are said to be preparing a £16m bid for their services. At 23, McGeady has already won both the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year in the same year in 2008. The winger played 40 games last season scoring 7 goals. Brown was SPFA Players' Player of the Year for last season and is an influential and integral part of Celtics midfield. The 24-year-old was the subject of a £9 million bid from Portsmouth last season which was rejected. The Scottish international compiled 7 goals and 9 assists in 47 games last year as the Rangers topped the league.

 

Sunday, 23rd August

Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has revealed that he would never join cross-town rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. The former talismanic captain of the Gunners told Sunday People, "I like Harry Redknapp a lot but I did not want to spoil nine years at Arsenal for the sake of two or three at Spurs.” He also mentioned that he spoke to Gunner's manager Wenger, "I talk from time to time with Arsene but there was never anything concrete in me going back there."

I guess Manchester City took a page out of the storybook 'incy-wincy spider'. Their persistence in pursuing Everton's Joleon Lescott looks to be paying off. After unsettling the England international, Moyes for forced to banish Lescott from the squad. Sky Sports News is claiming that the two clubs have agreed a fee of £24 million pending a medical. The Toffees were earlier linked to Steven Taylor of Newcastle. Surely, Moyes will move for the 23-year-old to strengthen his defensive prospects. Everton are bottom of the table with no points in 2 games and a -6 goal differential.

Wow - rumours never seem to die despite what managers and teams say. Manchester United are said to be tracking Real's Arjen Robben. I guess no one wants to listen to what Sir Alex has to say? Marca claims that United are looking for more attacking flair following their loss to Burnley. It has been well documented that Real Madrid are looking to offload some players including Robben. A fee around £20m would easily convince the Spanish giants to let him go. Robben would also relish the opportunity to come back to England should Ferguson offer him first team action.

Apart from mentioning a brawl on the Chelsea training ground, the News of the World does throw in a transfer update today. They claim that Brede Hangeland is not going to be Arsene Wenger's 'one more defensive signing' with the Norwegian center-back saying he is going nowhere.

Tottenham have once again been linked with a move for Chelsea's Joe Cole. Despite Cole and Chelsea both coming out in the press and insisting that he is not interested in a move away from Stamford Bridge, that does not seem to deter the Sunday Mirror from saying that Harry Redknapp is tabling a £10 million bid for the midfielder.

Everton were reported to have obtained a work permit for Argentine Ever Banega. His club, Valencia claims that this is news to them. Los Che's Damia Vidagany said the following, "No negotiations with Everton exist or any other club for the loan of Ever Banega. This news is not true." Banega has echoed the words of his club stating, ""I cannot say anything about Everton. For me the only news is that I will leave Valencia this season." If Moyes is to strengthen his side he must do it soon as the transfer window closes in about a week.

Burnley have been linked with a move for former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt. Newcastle could be willing to sell the former England international as his departure would reduce the wage bill significantly.

Despite having given up in the battle to keep Joleon Lescott, Everton still want to keep their war with Manchester City alive as the Sunday Mirror reports that Everton are lodging an official complaint as to the manner of the approach and are requesting that a points penalty be imposed.

The Daily Mail asserts that Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has said in no uncertain terms that the London club are through with their business transactions for the summer, indicating that the bank is now well and truly closed.

Sad news coming in from Upton Park seems to indicate that Dean Ashton is likely to announce his retirement at the age of just 26 after failing to recover from a degenerative ankle condition.

 

Saturday, 22nd August

It's been a lazy day for rumours, with very little 'fresh' stuff hitting the back pages of the leading papers.

The Marouane Chamakh saga has ended for now with the player claiming that he will be remaining with Bordeaux for another season. Arsenal was his destination of choice but the England giants were unable to agree a fee for the Moroccan hitman. It is believed that Sunderland also had a bid rejected. West Ham's Zola was keen to add a striker of his quality to their ranks but Chamakh stated, "I’d prefer to stay with Bordeaux than go to West Ham." For now his dream move to the Premiership is on hold but we haven't heard the last from this talented striker.

Roma have completed the signing of Internazionale defender Nicolas Burdisso on a year-long loan. The Argentine international began his professional career with Boca Juniors in 1999 before moving to Inter in 2004 for €3.5 million. The 28-year-old made 93 appearances for them before his move. Last year he won the Serie A title taking his personal title tally to 19 and making him the 2nd most titled Argentine behind Alfredo di Stéfano.

Arsenal's Russian rocket, Andrey Arshavin has come out and stated that Wenger needs to bring in more quality recruits despite the Gunners winning all their games this season. Arshavin was quoted as saying, "We should buy first-class players, regardless of their age. We should buy the ones who should improve our game. The top teams have much bigger squads than ours and that is why we have to buy." Wenger had earlier suggested the need to add one more player (defensive midfielder) ahead of the transfer window closure on August 31, 2009. Wenger said, "I've spoken to 10 managers and all 10 are looking for centre-backs or defensive midfielders. It looks like the offensive players are the most-paid but at the end of the day, in the modern day, all the managers I speak to ask me the same thing. ‘Do you know a player somewhere?'"

Real Madrid's Wesley Sneijder has been constantly linked to Italian giants Inter Milan. A fee between the two clubs in the region of €15 million has also been agreed. However, it appears the the Dutch international is not keen on a move to the Nerazzurri. AS reported, "Sneijder is a player of Real Madrid and he wants to stay here." This could be a problem for Real as they were looking to offload the midfielder to raise funds to offset their spending on top stars Kaka and Ronaldo.

Finally a fresh name to speculate on! Just when we thought that Manchester "Money bags" City might be done with their summer spending they are being linked to former Barcelona and Villarreal star Juan Roman Riquelme. The Argentine is plying his trade with Boca Juniors and Mark Hughes is reportly preparing a €17m bid for the gifted playmaker. City's Carlos Tevez might be salivating at the chance to hook up with the former Argentine captain. The 31-year-old midfield maestro is a former nominee for the FIFA World Player of the Year and also captained the side that won the Olympic Gold medal in the 2008 in Beijing.

Ever Banega is all set to complete his move to Everton with the Toffees having received a work permit for the young Argentine defensive midfielder. There are already rumours that Moyes will also be looking at strengthening his offensive third of the pitch with a bid for Spartak Moscow winger Vladimir Bystrov.

Former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira has quashed all rumours of a return to the Premiership by reportedly telling L'Equipethat he will spend the season at Inter Milan and fight for a place in the side.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti says that former Ukranian goal machine Andriy Shevchenko has a future at the club. Wonder how many Chelsea fans groaned when they heard that!

Jonas Gutierrez's dream move to Barcelona could still be on as the Catalan club continues to be involved in protracted negotiations with Newcastle.

The Daily Mail believes that the Lescott saga is finally over with Everton having accepted a £22 million offer from Manchester City for the England defender.

 

Friday, 21st August:

Sotirios Kyrgiakos has completed his transfer from AEK Athens to Liverpool today. The 30-year old Greek defender has signed a 2-year contract.

Three minor transfers today with former Arsenal youth product Anthony Stokes heading back to the Scottish Premier League to Hibs (from Sunderland), Mohamed Diame finally completing his transfer from Rayo Vallecano to Wigan and Sam Allardyce continuing his Blackburn clearout by selling striker Paul Gallagher to Leicester City.

Everton's David Moyes is resigned to losing defender Joleon Lescott to Manchester City. He is however tracking his replacement - Steven Taylor of Newcastle. The England U-21 international has been with United since 2003 making 152 appearances in that span.

If you thought Owen to Manchester United was ridiculously, how about Sol Campbell to Notts County!!! Apparently the former England international is in talks with Sven Goran Eriksson.

The Metro reports that English clubs Liverpool and Arsenal are set to battle for midfielder Rafael van der Vaart's signature. Not sure if there is any truth to this as Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger has stated that he thinks the Gunner's are good enough. His counter-part at Liverpool, Rafa Benitez is unable to make a run at a player of Van der Vaart's calibre given the lack of funds available to him. Van der Vaart has been deemed surplus to requirements at Real Madrid following the arrivals of Kaka and Ronaldo this summer.

Yesterday we reported that West Ham's James Collins might be on his way to Stoke City however Aston Villa are said to be closely monitoring the situation. The Birmingham Mail claims that Martin O'Neill might be able to swoop for the defender after Collins was unable to reach personal terms with Stoke. It is believed that West Ham gaffer, Zola needs those funds to put in an improved bid for Moroccan hitman Marouane Chamakh. Villa though were yesterday also linked to West Ham skipper Matthew Upson, throwing further suspicion as to whether there is any truth in these rumours.

Winger Pedro Rodriguez has signed professional terms with Barcelona just days after scoring against Atheltic Bilbao in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup. Goal.com report that Pedro has a €75 million release clause in his five-year deal.

AS reports that Atletico Madrid will line-up a bid for Valencia's talented midfielder David Silva if they are able to qualify for the Champions League next week. The 'other' Madrid club are keen on strengthening their squad for the 2009 season in the wake of how far ahead Real and Barcelona appear to have pulled ahead, and will see an influx of cash coming into the club coffers if Champions League qualification becomes a reality.

Sportal says 33-year old Australian striker Mark Viduka has decided to retire from football, after turning down offers from a few second-rung Premier League clubs. The player himself is yet to confirm these rumours.

Arsenal have been linked to Newcastle defender Steven Taylor. The news is unlikely as manager Arsene Wenger has never had any nice things to say about the hard tackling and now big talking center-back, who has aimed his fair share of reckless tackles against Wenger's young guns in the past.

Jonathan Greening is set to provide competition to Damien Duff on the Fulham left wing as the Cottagers have signed Greening on loan with the possibility of making the switch permanent at the end of the season. Greening, a former Manchester United Champions League medal winner has had stints at Middlesbrough and captained West Bromwich Albion, for whom he played 191 games over 5 seasons.

With back-to-back losses and no goals scored this season, Portsmouth are looking for more attacking options. They hope to sign Watford's Tommy Smith. The striker turned right winger had his best season last year scoring 17 goal and assisting on 9 others in 43 league appearances. He was named the Championship's top midfielder and won player of the season for the second year running. Smith already has a goal along with 4 assists in 3 games already this season.

 

Thursday, 20th August:

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has rubbished rumours that he had another fall-out with the board and threatened to resign. He is reported to have told the media that he is "100% committed". The club's managing director Christian Purslow felt the need to also have his say on the matter, multiplying Benitez's confidence by 10, "It's 1000% rubbish," he said to the Sun.

West Ham defender James Collins seems to be on his way to Stoke City, with the London club reportedly having accepted a £5 million for the 25-year old Welshman.

West Ham could be set to lose a second central defender with Sky Sports claiming that Aston Villa are readying a £12 million bid for Matthew Upson. Wonder if Gianfranco Zola is thinking why Alan Curbishley left the club in the first place!

Fred's decision to say with Fluminense prompted Sevilla to enter the race to sign Alvaro Negredo yesterday. Today the player put pen to paper in signing a 4-year-deal with the Spanish outfit. As we predicted, the chance to play Champions league football was too great to miss out on. Real have however added a buy-back clause which can be activat ed after two years.

The Joleon Lescott newspaper selling transfer saga seems to be reaching its climax with Everton reportedly willing to sell the England defender for £30 million. Poor Arsene Wenger must be thinking he got robbed by selling Adebayor and Kolo Toure for less!

'Swaps' appear to be the flavour of the season in Italy, with Roma's Julio Baptista and Inter's David Suazo reportedly the two currencies on offer.

Argentine international Sergio Aguero has come out and reaffirmed his commitment to Atletico Madrid telling the press, "I have always said that I wanted to stay here and it has happened."

Bolton are keen on reducing their wage bill, with Danny Shittu and Gavin McCann reportedly on the chopping block. Wonder if Big Sam will come and pick up some of his old friends.

Rafa Benitez has imitated remarks by Greek international Sotirios Kyrgiakos that the AEK Athens player is close to being a Red. Liverpool are short on defensive cover following injuries to some key players forcing Benitez's hand. The 30-year-old defender's switch is still pending a medical which is likely to take place before the weekend, to enable him to play in Liverpool's next game against Aston Villa.

The Wesley Sneijder saga is finally drawing to a close. Sky Sports is claiming that Inter and Real Madrid have reached a deal that will see the Dutch international move to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Inter are shelling out €15 million for the playmaker.

 

Wednesday, 19th August:

Despite speculation linking Chelsea to Sergio Aguero, Atletico Madrid's Abel Resino has claimed that 'Kun' is not for sale. Resino told AS, "Aguero travelled with us [to Athens] to play and there is no chance of a sale. This rubbishes all the rumours that have been in the newspapers."

Everton have reportedly asked for a work permit for Argentine defensive midfielder Ever Banega. Banega is currently on the books of Valencia, but spent most of last season on loan at Atletico Madrid. Wonder if this means that Phil Neville go back into the right-back slot with Tony Hibbert moving into center-half to cover for Joleon Lescott (who is no longer training with his Everton team-mates).

Greek international Sotiris Kyrgiakos says that he is heading to Liverpool this week. The 6 foot 4 inch defender has been capped 49 times by his national side, with some over indulgent football fan already changing his club to Liverpool on Wikipedia. However there is still some mystery surrounding the move with his club AEK Athens first denying and then concuring with the rumours, while a lot of Liverpool supporters see the signing of the 30-year old as a very short term measure, and not something they approve.

Blackburn today announced the capture of former Real Madrid defender Michel Salgado.

Hull City and Real Zaragoza's battle for Alvaro Negredo just took a huge turn for the worse, with Sevilla reportedly joining the race to sign the Real Madrid striker. Sevilla will be playing in the Champions League, and it seems highly unlikely that Negredo will reject the opportunity to impress on Europe's biggest stage.

On the subject of Real Madrid, striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has ben linked with a shock move to the Vietnamese football league. No offence intended to our friends over in Vietnam, but does no one in Europe want the former Manchester United hitman?

A couple of big swap deals are reportedly brewing in Italy with Corriere dello Sport saying Inter want to swap Nicolas Burdisso for Roma's Marco Andreolli and Milan want to exchange Massimo Oddo with Lazio's Lorenzo de Silvestri.

Bordeaux's Moroccan international Marouane Chamakh is set to remain with the French champions. The striker was hoping to move to a bigger club with Arsenal as his preferred destination but the two clubs were unable to agree on a valuation for the player.

Manchester City defender Javier Garrido is ready to leave the Easlands with first-team opportunities hard to come by. The mega-rich Manchester outfit have been attracting and targeting big signings and the Spanish player does not fit the Sky Blues plans for this season.

Wigan's Roberto Martinez is hoping to link-up with former player Ferrie Bodde of Swansea. The Dutch midfielder had an excellent season in the Championship last season scoring 7 goals in 17 league games before being sidelined with a knee injury.

Reports have indicated that Arsenal have been tracking Fulham's Brede Hangeland all summer but Cottagers manager Roy Hodgson claims that they have yet to receive a bid from any club. Strangely, Hangeland's wikipedia page shows that he has transferred to Arsenal for a club record fee of £15M and he will wear number 24 - true??

 

Tuesday, 18th August:

Eurosport believe that Pizarro's transfer from Chelsea to Bremen is complete, with the Blues also having purchased 20-year old Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic from MFK Kolsice for £1.5 million.

Damien Duff has completed a move from Newcastle to Fulham for a sum rumoured be about £4 million. It was Duff's unfortunate own-goal in the last game of the season that saw Newcastle get relegated.

Atletico Madrid have reportedly told Chelsea to up their offer for Sergio Aguero to £50 million else they will play the little Argentine in their Champions League qualifier against Panathanaikos. The clock is ticking for the Russian billionaire...we should know where this rumour is heading within the next 24 hours.

Hull have reportedly invited Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo to watch them play in midweek against Tottenham Hotspur. Negredo was all set to complete a move to Hull last week, before the striker started developing cold feet about a move to England. Wonder if asking him to come for such a match however is that good an idea, Hull might just end up getting hammered by an in-form Spurs!

Former Lyon striker Fred has changed his mind about a move back to Europe, and plans to spend another season back home with Fluminense.

Birmingham are believed to be hot on the trail of Sporting Gijon defender Michel, while Sunderland are also suspected to bolster their defensive ranks after expressing an interest in Bakary Kone.

Nemanja Vidic's agent is trying to stir up a hornet's nest by linking the Manchester United defender to Barcelona. If I know Sir Alex, there is no chance he is going to sell anymore of his star players this season, irrespective of the money on offer. Knowing agents (as well as I do Sir Alex), this is probably just another attempt at getting Vidic an improved contract.

Wigan boss Roberto Martinez says he wishes to strengthen the squad further by bringing in 2-3 more players. First up on that list is likely to be Rayo Vallecano's Mohamed Diame. Diame's transfer has been held up for over a week due to some medical concerns.

AC Milan's top bosses have indicated that their transfer business for the summer is over. Sorry David, doesn't look like they are going to come and get you this year.

The Daily Mail is convinced Aston Villa are lining up a 'double swoop' for the talented midfield due of David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas. Should this be true however, I wouldn't be surprised if a number of Europe's top clubs wouldn't enquire about JJ's asking price.

Werder Bremen sporting director Klaus Allofs has reaffirmed his desire to bring Chelsea striker Claudio Pizarro back to the club. Pizzaro had a fantastic season at Bremen finding the back of the net on no less than 28 occasions.

 

Monday, 17th August:

Franck Ribery has confirmed that he will be staying on at Bayern Munich this season. But the French winger did admit that Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United and Chelsea were all interested in signing him this summer, not ruling out a future move.

Rafa Benitez is considering making a move for Athletic Bilbao's Fernando Amorebieta to provide cover in the central defensive position. Dynamo Kiev's Pape Diakhate's name has also reportedly surfaced in discussions.

Burnley's first game against Stoke City saw them dominate possession but allowed 2 goals from just 4 shots on target. Following that loss, Owen Coyle admitted that he needs to bring in defensive reinforcements if they were to avoid the drop this season. Sky Sports reports that Reading's Andre Bikey is likely to come in to solve that problem later this week.

Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko came on as a substitute against Liverpool in the 90th minute and barely played got any playing time under his belt. Despite that the Russian international is keen to say in London and fight for first team football. The arrival of Peter Crouch earlier this summer has pushed the 27-year-old striker further down the pecking order and he has been linked to Italian giants Roma in recent days.

Barcelona are reportedly looking for some cover for Thierry Henry on the left wing, and have been linked in the press with Liverpool midfielder Albert Riera.

Everton's David Moyes is looking to snare Steven Taylor from Newcastle. Moyes took full responsibility for the loss against Arsenal on Saturday and hopes to rectify the situation by bringing in reinforcements to strengthen his squad. Taylor had a breakthrough season in 2006-07 when he played 44 games in all competitions. He is still just 23 years old and is a former England under-21 team captain.

Hull City are hoping to wrap up a deal for Real Madrid's Alvaro Negredo who was on loan to Spanish club Almería last season. The Tigers have been linked to the 23-year-old for some time now and reports reveal that he will discuss personal terms this week. A fee of £12 million is being mooted which would make him Hull's most ex pensive signing to date. The Spanish hitman netted 19 goals in 35 games last season for Almería.

Stoke City defender Ryan Shawcross has refuted claims in the press yesterday linking him with a move back to Old Trafford. The former Man United youth player states that he has heard nothing from his ex-club, and he is more than happy at the Britannia Stadium.

Sunderland expect to sign Lyon defender John Mensah before their next outing in the Premiership against Chelsea.

Sunday, 16th August:

Following the thrashing they received at the hands of Arsenal on Saturday, Everton's David Moyes may have realized that he is short on attacking options. The Toffees have remained inactive this summer but are now tracking Real's José María Gutiérrez aka. Guti who could be available for €10m. The 32-year-old midfielder has spent his entire career with the Blancos amassing 360 games since 1995.

Last season's PFA Player of the Year nominee Nemanja Vidic is being linked with Spanish champions Barcelona. The Daily Mirror reports that Barca are turning to the Manchester United stalwart following failure in negotiations with Shakhtar Donetsk's defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy.

The Daily Mail reports that after their terrible performance in the opening fixture of the Barcalys Premier League, Aston Villa are making a £7 million bid for Blackburn left back Stephen Warnock.

Franck Ribery has finally broken his silence, saying that he never asked for a move away from Bayern Munich, and unless he has an offer on the table, doesn't wish to indulge in any speculation.

Arsenal are the latest club said to be linked to Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart. Inter Milan and Aston Villa had both earlier gone public in their inquest into the future of the Real Madrid outcast.

Pep Guardiola has come out in the press and indicated that Cesc Fabregas will not be moving to Barcelona. Atleast not this summer, he does however indicate that Barcelona are far from done spending, as he attempts to make the European Champions even stronger for the challenge of the new Real Madrid.

Andriy Voronin has been linked with a move back to Germany with Hertha Berlin according to News of the World, despite all the pre-season talk, it seems that Voronin has failed to sufficiently impress Rafa Benitez.

After interest in the run-up to the weekend from Aston Villa, Manchester City are the latest club to be linked to Tottenham midfielder David Bentley according to The Daily Star.

The People report that former Manchester United youth product Ryan Shawcross, currently plying his trade at Stoke City, could be headed back to Old Trafford with Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly interested in re-signing the 21-year old.

 

Saturday, 15th August:

The three apparently ridiculous rumours of the day are Cesc Fabregas being linked with a 'Monday move to Madrid', Sergio Aguero a day later to Chlesea and Adrian Mutu to Zenit in Russia!

After releasing Michel Salgado, another Real Madrid veteran could be on his way out of the Bernabeau with former Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard, now with Galatasaray, reportedly expressing an interest in Guti.

Barcelona themselves meanwhile have been linked to a bunch of players who rather surprisingly are very good in the right-back role. Emmanuel Eboue, Zdenek Grygera and Cicinho all appear to be targets. Wonder whether they plan on playing any of them though, or are they simply looking for cover for Dani Alves. Grygera's agent meanwhile has rubbished the proposed move.

Juventus are apparently looking for a defensive partner for Grygera, and are linked to Australia's least favourite Italian Fabio Grosso. The Lyon left-back could be one of two defenders headed away from the French giants with John Mensah apparently incredibly close to signing with Sunderland.

Staying in France, Monaco are the latest to be linked to Bayern Munich's Italian frontman Luca Toni. The move would come as a huge shock, considering Toni is likely to find many suitors at home in Italy should he wish to leave Germany.

David Beckham is all set to get the LA boo-boys back out in full force, indicating his desire to move back to AC Milan according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Corriere dello Sport has some gossip of their own, indicating that Inter Milan winger Mancini looks set to return to former club AS Roma on a one-year loan.

Everton could be set to end their quiet summer of solitude, being linked to no less than three players in The Daily Mail. Those 3 players are hypothesized to be Spartak Moscow winger Vladimir Bystrov, Argentine midfielder Ever Banega and Hoffenheim defender Isaac Vorsah.

The Times believes that Aston Villa are considering adding more options on their ever burgeoning wings, linking them with a move for Tottenham's out of favour midfielder David Bentley.

Leafing through The Sun could explain Aston Villa's interest, with their versatile midfielder James Milner linked with a big money move to Liverpool.

Arsene Wenger has reportedly 'threatened' to make a bid for Lionel Messi if Barcelona continue getting into the mind of Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu, out of contract at Portsmouth has signed a one-month extension, as he looks to pitch in while the club sort out their financial turmoil.

 

Friday, 14th August:

Newcastle winger Damien Duff could be headed back to the premiership with The Sun linking the former Chelsea and Blackburn star with a move to Fulham, Wolves or Hull City. Fulham appear to be the favourites to sign him at the moment, but the Mail believe that the player himself would rather move to Wolves to link up with former manager Mick McCarthy.

The Daily Mail reports that Everton have lost interest in signing Philippe Senderos, after successfully averting Manchester City's overtures for Joleon Lescott. Sunderland are the new front runners for the Swiss defender's signature. However The Daily Star rubbishes the suggestion, indicating that Everton seem to have simply turned their attention to Newcastle's outspoken defender Steven Taylor.

Staying with the troubled Toon, The Daily Express believes that Joe Kinnear will be back at the helm of affairs next week.

After failing to ignite interest in Jonny Evans, Vincent Kompany and Cesc Fabregas, Barcelona have reportedly turned their attention to Arsenal wing-back Emmanuel Eboue.

Another player plus cash deal seems to be brewing. Real Madrid are preparing a final offer as a last ditch effort to sign French international Franck Ribery. The Spanish giants are apparently willing to part with both Dutch midfielders Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben plus €30 million in cash in hopes of acquiring Ribery. The total deal looks to be worth approximately €60m. It will however still be some ways short of Bayern's €80m valution of the player.

Bolton's Gary Megson has admitted that he is short on striking options ahead of the new season. Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander are the only senior strikers in the squad with Elmander being particularly injury-prone. Megson is hoping to rectify the situation but the transfer window is closing rapidly. He is though willing to let go of former Watford man, Danny Shittu. The defender failed to cement a spot in the Trotters line-up last season playing all but 10 games and has fallen down the pecking order thanks to the arrival of new-boy Zat Knight.

Real Madrid's Dutch midfield Wesley Sneijder has distanced himself from a move to English club Aston Villa. The former Ajax man would like to stay with the Spanish giants and fight for first team football. ATP quoted him as saying, "I want to fight for my place at Real Madrid despite there being a lot of rivalry."

Fulham are inching closer to signing former Leeds and Newcastle striker Mark Viduka. The 33-year-old was close to signing with Portsmouth but was unable to agree on personal terms. Sky Sports claims that the Australian underwent a medical with the Cottagers.

Burnley are closing in on their seventh signing of the summer in the form of defender Andre Bikey from Reading. The Clarets would be looking to avoid the drop this season and are hoping that the Cameroon international will add more depth to the back four.

Portsmouth have lost yet another player - this time to Coventry City. Defender Martin Cranie becomes the 12th casuality this summer as he signs with the Sky Blues. Pompey did manage to sign Belgian international defender Anthony Vanden Borre On loan from Genoa making him their 5th signing this summer. All their signings have either been off free transfer or on loan.

German club Hertha would be interested in taking Liverpool striker Andriy Voronin on loan again this season following his successful spell with them last season. Voronin was their top scorer with 11 goals in just 20 games. The Bundesliga team were hoping to sign the Ukrainian forward but were unable to meet Liverpool's valuation of the player. Hertha is in dire need of frontmen following the departures of Marko Pantelic and Amine Chermiti leaving the Berlin side with just one recognized striker.

 

Thursday, 13th August:

According to the Daily Mirror, Arsene Wenger has ended his pursuit of Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh, leaving West Ham and Fulham to fight it out for the Moroccan's signature.

The Daily Star has reported that Portsmouth are about to complete the signing of former Chelsea and Liverpool winger, Boudewijn Zenden. Considering the financial situation at Pompey, there are no prizes for guessing that the player is availaible on a Bosman.

Liverpool fans were sent into shock yesterday night when Benfica's official website said that they has agreed deals to sign Yossi Benayoun and Steven Gerrard from the Reds. But a few hours later it became known that the Benfica website had been hacked. It's a fair bet that the hacker would be a Manchester United fan! (Click here to read more about this)

Just a day after selling midfielder Lee Cattermole to Sunderland, Wigan have found a replacement in Rayo Vallecano's Mohamed Diame. The Latics have also decided to swoop for Antonio Amaya from the same club. The Wigan Evening Post reports that a fee has been agreed to for both players but personal terms were pending.

Following Ben Foster's poor performance against Chelsea in the Community Shield, Manchester United are thinking of pursuing Schalke Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Red Devils star goalkeeper, Edwin Van der Sar will be out for a couple of months with injury and Sir Alex does not want any hiccups in his pursuit for a 4th consecutive domestic trophy. It is believed that Schalke could be convinced with a bid in the region of €20 million.

Barcelona have been quoted a price of €45M should they be interested in acquiring the services of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas. The Spanish giants have adequate midfield cover and are looking for an additional player to supplement their dynamic duo of Iniesta and Xabi. That being said, manager Josep Guardiola would not want to pay over €30M for Cesc.

After being shunned by the likes of Bobby Zamora and Fraizer Campbell, Hull City are trailing Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo? You read correctly - the Tigers are hot on Negredo's trail following the strikers admission that he likes the team. It is believed that Phil Brown is willing to splash a club record fee of €11 million in a bid to reel him in.

Portsmouth has lost the lions share of its players this summer. However, they will not allow Frenchman Sylvain Distin to be the next casuality. Pompey chief Peter Storrie was quoted by The Portsmouth News, "We have turned down offers and will continue to turn down offers. He's been one of our best players for several seasons now and we want him to stay." The 31-year-old defender started every premier league game and played 48 games in all competitions.

A trio of English clubs are trailing Lens striker Aruna Dindane. The Ivory Coast international recently turned down a move to Monaco as he's hoping to ply his trade in the Barclays Premier League this season. Sky Sports speculates Hull City, Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City are the clubs interested in acquiring him.

Wednesday, 12th August:

It looks like Carlo Ancelotti is destined not to make any major signings in this transfer window. His latest attempt was a £22 million bid for Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi which was turned down.

Jose Reina says Liverpool may struggle without Xabi Alonso, for he was a 'fabulous conductor'. Let's see which paper turns out to tbe the first to take this as a cue that Reina wants to leave Anfield.

Some papers still link Blackburn to former Monaco player Jerome Rothen, despite Big Sam Allardyce indicating he didn't want to reinforce the left side of his midfield. Rothen was part of the Monaco team that lost to Porto in the Champions League final in 2004.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will be a happy man after capturing Lee Cattermole from Wigan Athletic. Bruce had wanted Cattermole ever since he left Wigan for the Sunderland manager post himself, but had to up his £4 million offer to £6 million to sign the England U-21 midfielder.

Alvaro Negredo could be on his way to Hull City. His agent has said that Negredo likes the team, and the deal could be on the cards. Did he only see them uptil October of last season? Or did he see see something we didn't the rest of the time?

The Daily Mail has reported that Arsenal are back in the hunt for 20 year old Serbian defender Neven Subotic. Arsene Wenger is ready to offer £12 million to Borussia Dortmund for his services.

Blackburn are giving a trial to former Real Madrid right back Michel Salgado. Their manager Sam Allardyce has also told Aston Villa to treble their bid to £12 million if they want to sign former Liverpool left back Stephen Warnock.

Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill has barely strengthened his side despite securing UEFA qualification this year. According to The Guardian, the Villans are being linked for a double swoop for Tottenham midfielders David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas. As usual, the transfer fee remains the primary issue. Bentley who had a superb year with Blackburn a couple seasons ago moved for £15 million but has been unable to justify his price tag. Jenas on the other hand, faired much better starting in 35 games for Spurs in all competitions in 2008-09.

Yesterday we reported that Chelsea was in for Franck Ribery. Today however it appears that Bayern Munich are hot on the heels of Chelsea right-back José Bosingwa. Perhaps the two teams could workout a player swap plus cash deal similar to the one between Inter and Barcelona? For now though The Daily Mail reports that the Bundesliga giants are ready to pay €17.5 million for his services.

Aston Villa are keenly watching developments between Inter and Real regarding the future of Dutch international Wesley Sneijder. It appears that the Italian outfit would be the player's first choice but reports have emerged that Inter might not be able to pay Real's asking price. If Aston Villa match the Spanish club's £21 million valuation they would be favourites to sign the former Ajax hitman.

Tuesday, 11th August:

Pavel Nedved could return from retirement to play in the MLS. Well at least he's going there after he's given up hope of ever playing for a top-notch European team or the Czech national side.

Sven Goran Eriksson has been handed the duty of seducing free agent Sol Campbell to Notts County. The former England manager had been named the clubs Footballing Director some time back, and pockets a cool £40,000 a week.

Joleon Lescott put in a formal transfer request, but unfortunately for him all he managed to do was further infuriate David Moyes. Nopes, he's clearly not going, especially not at just £20 million which is said to be the latest offer from Man City. Strange, I thought when they had a £22 million offer turned down (at least reportedly), City'd offer more to get their man, instead of less!

Bordeaux have rubbished rumours that Arsenal have upped their bid for Maroune Chamakh. Some papers also linked West Ham with the French striker, but surely they don't consider themselves a much bigger club than Sunderland?

Spanish newspaper Marca claims Man City still want Lionel Messi. Well who doesn't?

Sky Sports has reported that Patrick Vieira has decided to stay on at Inter Milan for another year before moving back to England with either Arsenal or Tottenham. So Wenger's 2nd attempt to buy a holding midfielder has also failed after being unable to lure Felipe Melo to the Emirates.

Barcelona have apparently been told that they have a week to complete the deal to bring Cesc Fabregas back to the Nou Camp. But Arsenal will not sell for less than €50 million as Arsene Wenger is not interested in players like Eidur Gudjohnsen as part of the deal.\

Liverpool's Rafa Benitez will need to improve on his bid if he's to land Hull City defender Michael Turner. The former Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year made all 38 starts for the Tigers last season. The Reds have lost Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel to injury and are sweating on the fitness of super-stalwart Jamie Carragher.

Hull City are ready to swoop for Algerian international Kamel Fathi Ghilas currently plying his trade at Celta Vigo. The 25-year-old striker who failed a physical at Blackburn last month will hope for better luck with the Tigers. Last season with Celta he netted 13 goals in 33 games.

Roma's sporting director, Daniele Pradé has claimed that they turned down an offer for midfielder Daniele De Rossi from English giants Chelsea. The 26-year-old Italian international played 32 games for the Giallorossi last season and is an integral part of Roma's midfield. Its hard to imagine why the Blues would bid for a central midfielder with their embrassment of riches in that area including the likes of Ballack, Deco, Essien, Obi Mikel and Lampard.

Despite continuously denying that any new players will be moving to Chelsea this summer, the billionaire owned English club is now sensationally being linked with Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery. Reports claim that the Blues are willing to drop a cool €47 million for the French international. That price however falls way short of the Bundesliga giants' evaluation of their prized asset.

Arsenal fans hoping that manager Arsene Wenger would sign more players this summer are in for disappointment following Wenger's claim that he is happy with his squad. The French tactician was quoted as saying, "We work always but it would be pretentious to say that we signed anybody now before the season starts." This marks a U-turn for the Gunners boss as he was looking for defensive cover when the summer started. Why else did Arsenal bid for Felipe Melo?? After losing out in the race for his services to Juventus, the English giants have not made any midfield signings despite losing Rosicky and Nasri to injuries.

Hull City are closing in on their fourth signing of the summer after they reportedly agreed a fee for Reading's Stephen Hunt. The Irish midfielder was a key first team member last season for the Royals starting 41 games while scoring 6 goals and assisting on 17 others. The report also claims that personal terms have been agreed but a medical is pending.

West Ham have been tracking Barcelona's fringe striker Eidur Gudjohnsen all summer long. Their efforts to sign the former Chelsea front-man have left them frustrated however. Gianfranco Zola is keen to resolve this situation as soon as possible but the Icelandic international's future remains unclear as he could be still be part of manager Pep Guardiola’s squad since he was involved in Barca's pre-season preparations.

Monday, 10th August:

Barcelona still want to get their hands on Cesc Fabregas, but will only do so at a "fair price". And although Arsene Wenger is hardly a person who'd get in the way of a sound business deal, he would probably be aware of the repercussions from the fans point of view if he sold yet another key member of the squad. Especially Fab.

Good news for Manchester United fans, although not transfer related. Nani has said he should be fit to play on the opening weekend after suffering an injured shoulder during the Community Shield match against Chelsea.

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has now reportedly added Robert Huth to the list of possible defensive signings. O'Neill admitted that he wants to add some experience to his side, and Huth has spent a number of seasons in the Premier League with Chelsea and Middlesbrough, However, his erratic form last season that saw Boro relegated, coupled with his injury problems, may see O'Neal overlook him for the other options (Huth's defensive partner David Wheater, Portmouth's Sylvain Distin, and free agent Sol Campbell).

Everton's David Moyes seems to have been impressed with Paris Saint Germain playmaker Stephane Sessegnon's performances in the Emirates Cup.

Stoke's 21-year-old defender Ryan Shawcross is the latest defender to be linked with a move to Liverpool, with the Anfield side suffering an injury crisis at the back. Rafa Benitez admitted to having approached Hull City for Michael Turner last week, but it looks highly unlikely he's stump up £12 million for a 4th choice centre-back. Shawcross, a former Manchester United reserve player, is said to be weighing up whether he would like to move to a bigger club, despite the scarce number of games he'd get.

Chelsea's central defender Ricardo Carvalho had been once again linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge however the Portuguese international has now claimed the following, "Of course I'm staying. But first I have to get fit and try to help my team-mates."

Following reports yesterday that Chelsea were preparing a mega-bid for teenage star Alexandre Pato, AC Milan have swiftly moved to issue a "hands-off" statement for the Brazilian star. Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti immitated those sentiments by issuing this statement, "It is not true about Pato. He is a Milan player. Milan believe a lot in Pato, because they have sold Kaka, and so he is now a very important player."

After being linked to Real's Wesley Sneijder yesterday, Inter are now apparently tracking another out-of-favour Real midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart. The news comes following Inter's 2-1 loss to Lazio in the Supercoppa yesterday.

Tottenham continue to be linked to Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni. The Lilywhites seems to be following Manchester City's model of collecting strikers - perhaps someone forgot to inform them that strikers don't make good defenders? The Spurs already boast a front line that includes Peter Crouch, Roman Pavyluchenko, Jermain Defoe and Robbie Keane.

Everton manager David Moyes, remains bullish ahead of the new season that the Toffees will not be losing any players this summer. Defender Joleon Lescott has remained on Manchester City's radar for much of the summer but Moyes has managed to resist their advances for the 26-year-old England international.

Tottenham are readying an improved bid for Aston Villa winger Ashley Young. The Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp has had a £18 million bid rejected already but is hoping that Villa can be convinced to let Young go if they sign Wesley Sneijder from Real Madrid. Villa manager, Martin O’Neill has insisted however that the winger is not for sale at any price.

Sunday, 9th August:

David Moyes has told Man City they must pay at least £30 million for Joleon Lescott, a price tag that could make tie him with Rio Ferdinand as the most expensive defender in the world. Surely that's not going to happen!

Manchester United and AC Milan are in a tussle for 15-year-old Swedish midfielder Linus Sjobeg.

Gareth Bale's agent has said the young Welsh defender would be interested in a move to AC Milan. Hopefully Bale, who's never won a Premier League game (Tottenham just can't seem to win when he plays), has better luck in Serie A.

Newspaper reports in England suggest that Aston Villa are the favourites to sign Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart, who is also wanted by Manchester City, Tottenham and Everton. That deal may depend on whether or not Ashley Young is sold. Young is said to be wanted by a number of clubs, including Manchester United, Chelsea and Barcelona.

Rafa Benitez has hinted that he might just make an offer for Hull City defender Michael Turner as both Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel are injured for the start of the new season.

Despite reports to the contrary, Chelsea have re-ignited their interest in AC Milan striker Alexandre Pato. News of the World is reporting that the Blues are willing to part with €52.5 million for the teenager. Furthermore, Chelsea would loan the Brazilian back to the Rossoneri for the 2009-10 season.

Arsenal's captain Cesc Fabregas continues to be linked with European champions Barcelona. The latest reports claim that Barca would like to strengthen their midfield options. However, the Gunners chairman, Peter Hill-Wood has already issued a hands-off warning to any suitors for the Spanish international.

Real Madrid's out of favour midfielder Wesley Sneijder can move to Inter if the Nerazzurri are willing to shell out €25 million for his services. Inter recently tried to sign Alexander Hleb to boost their attacking options but were unable to convince him to move to Milan. Manager Jose Mourinho should have some cash at his disposal following the sale of Ibrahimovich to Barcelona.

After increasing his attacking options it seems that Sunderland manager, Steve Bruce is now concentrating on shoring up his defense. To that end, Bruce is hoping that a bid for Portsmouth's Sylvain Distin will be accepted. Distin started all 38 premier league games for Pompey last season. The Black Cats allowed 54 goals against last season which was 8th worst in the league.

Saturday, 8th August:

Arsenal will not let French defender Armand Traore join Birmingham on loan in time for the opening weekend. Birmingham are suffering from serious injury problems, which could result in Alex McLeish having to pencil in players from the academy to complete the 18-man squad.

Rafa Benitez is shouting as loud as he can that new signing Alberto Aquilani will excite fans, but as it turns out they'll have to wait 2 months to see him in action due to an ankle problem.

Yet another player has rejected a move to Hull City, with Newcastle's Habib Beye signing on the dotted line with Aston Villa instead. Villa are also linked with Sol Campbell, who is currently a free agent, after refusing to meet Portsmouth's £4.5 million valuation of Sylvain Distin.

Bordeaux manager Laurent Blanc has said Arsenal can have Maroune Chamakh if they really want him. He revealed that he had promised the young French striker last year that if he did well he would be allowed to leave. Blanc however is not willing to let him go to a French rival, nor to a club lacking the greatest of statures. Arsene Wenger has acknowledged he would like to have Chamakh, but has so far complained that the asking price is too high.

According to The Mirror after having numerous bids for Joleon Lescott rejected, Mark Hughes has turned his attention to West Ham's Matthew Upson,.

The Daily Mail has reported today that both Everton and Tottenham are fighting it out for the signature 22 year old Inter Milan striker Victor Obinna. Harry Redknapp is prepared to offer £3 million for the Nigerian who is also on the wanted list of Parma and Schalke.

Reports suggest that Real Madrid President Fiorentino Perez has already sealed a deal with the highly in demand Bayern Munich winger Frank Ribery on a five year contract starting in 2010.

Liverpool have had a £6 million bid for Hull City's Michael Turner rejected. Phil Brown is demanding double that price for the defender.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is closing in on Portsmouth defender Sylvain Distin after being priced out of a move for Manchester City's Richard Dunne.

Friday, 7th August:

Carlo Ancelloti has claimed Chelsea's bit of business this summer is done. Or at least their desperate attempts to do some business.

Anti Niemi has come out of retirement to sign for Portsmouth on a one-season deal. Looks like David James is packing his stuff for Tottenham (now what happens to Carlo Cudicini?). Meanhwile the club's Cheif Executive says there will be no more exits from Fratton Park. We really aren't convinced.

Celtic have been linked with Jay Simpson, a young Arsenal player, for a season-long loan. Simpson was with West Brom last season under current Celtics manager Tony Mowbray. Clearly the fact that the two teams will fight against each other for the right to play in the Champions League the coming season seems to have had little effect on the tabloids.

Wesley Sneijder is still being heavily tipped to join Aston Villa after Martin O'Neal confirmed his desire to sign the Dutch midfielder from Real Madrid. If it happens, it would be a wonderful coup for the club. A midfield consisting of him alongside Ashley Young, Stiliyan Petrov and James Milner looks pretty decent for a non-Big 4 club.

Arsene Wenger confirmed that he is still interested in signing Maroune Chamakh, but the price quoted by Bordeaux "is still to high." Monsieur Wenger at his best.

Tottenham have entered the race to sign Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni after missing out on Klaas Jan Huntelaar. West Ham looked the likely destination for the 32 year old striker, but now we will have to wait and watch where he ends up.

Arsenal have been warned off a move for St.Etienne's Blaise Matuidi. St.Etienne have said that the French under-21 international is not for sale.

Some non-transfer news, but we thought we'd share it here all the same. The draw for the Champions League qualifiers is out and here is how the European non-giants line-up: Lyon v Anderlecht, Celtic v Arsenal, Politehnica Timisoara (Romania) v Stuttgart, Sporting Lisbon v Fiorentina and Panathinaikos v Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona are rumoured to be interested in young Valencia winger Juan Mata, but have been told that only irresistibly huge offers will be considered.

According to the Times Chelsea have rejected a £18 million bid for Brazilian defender Alex from Real Madrid. But it is not sure how much truth there is in this story as just a few days ago Real had said that Alonso's capture was the end of their summer spending.

Liverpool's 22-year-old midfielder Lucas Leiva is seeking assurances of his future ahead of the new season. The Brazilian made just 13 league appearances for the club, 12 as a substitute last s. If the former 'Bola de Ouro' award winner does decide to leave, Corinthians would be the likely destination, and I know a number of Liverpool fans wouldn't mind seeing the back of him.

Former Barcelona product Giovani dos Santos is being tracked by Turkish giants Besiktas. The 20-year-old Mexican had a torrid time cementing his place at Tottenham last season despite the departures of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov. The attacking-midfielder started just five matches in all competitions with another seven appearances off the bench before being loaned to Ipswich Town.

Chelsea are set to follow in Manchester City's footsteps hoping that their persistence to sign Andrea Pirlo will payoff. This has met the dissatisfaction of the Rossoneri as they issued a "hands-off" warning earlier. Goal.com reports that Chelsea have apparently offered midfielder Michael Essien in exchange for AC Milan's midfield maestro, an excessively daring move considering the competence of the Ghanese superstar. Fairly mysteriously, this news has evaporated from the site just a few hours after it was published.

The next player to leave Portsmouth is apparently forward David Nugent. The former Preston North End striker signed for Pompey in July 2007 and scored just one goal in 19 appearances for the club. Portsmouth are hoping to swoop for Newcastle's Mark Viduka as a replacement. Goalkeeper David James has also been tipped for a move to Tottenham where he would be reunited with manager Harry Redknapp.

Juventus have completed the loan signing of Barcelona defender Martin Caceres. Should the Uruguayan cement a place with the Old Lady, they can make the deal permanent for €11 million.

After being shunned by a host of players, Hull City finally sealed a couple yesterday. Reports though indicate that they have also agreed a fee with Newcastle for defender Habib Beye. The 31-year-old Senegalese right-back will go some way in securing the Tigers defense.

Blackburn Rovers manager Sam Allardyce has already had a very busy summer. Now, he seems to be trailing PSG winger, Jerome Rothen who is surplus to requirements despite being a key member of PSG's squad for a number of seasons.

Thursday, 6th August:

Despite being linked to the likes of David Villa and David Silva, Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson claims that he is not looking to strengthen his side ahead of the new season. The Manchester Evening News quoted him as saying, "I know there will be some fans who are disappointed that we didn't spend the princely £80m on another superstar. The asking price for players we were looking at just wasn't realistic and we held off."

One more transfer saga appears to have been put to rest with Dutch striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar signing on with AC Milan. The deal is suspected to be about €15 million. Real signed the 25-year old just 7 months ago from Ajax for a fee believed to be about €20 million.

Neighbours Inter have signed FC Twente's 20-year old Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic on a year long loan, with the option to buy the youngster when the loan expires.

Manchester City have reportedly coming knocking on Everton's door with a £22 million bid for defender Joleon Lescott. This time it seems that the Toffees will not turn the offer down, with Lescott himself threatening to put in a transfer request. Everton have reportedly lined up Arsenal's Swiss defender Phillipe Senderos as a replacement.

L'Equipe refuse to let the Arsenal - Marouane Chamakh transfer die a peaceful death. They suggest Arsene Wenger has returned to the negotiating table with an improved bid of €9 million. Bordeaux are reportedly still holding out though, asking for €12 million for the want away striker.

American international Jozy Altidore has hinted on his twitter page that he could be a Hull City player before the week is out. Hull, in desperate need for some firepower upfront, had reportedly bid over £6 million for the Villarreal teenager, however recent reports indicate that with Altidore's good showing in the Confederations Cup, the Yellow Submarine are keen on hanging on to him, instead offering him on loan to a beleagured Phil Brown.

Burnley have signed 19-year old Independiente del Valle winger Fernando Guerrero on a year long loan. The former Real Madrid junior impressed while he was on trial with the Clarets, and Burnley have the option of making the move permanent if they like what they see over the course of the year.

Coming back to AC Milan, midfield general Andrea Pirlo has landed a major blow to Chelsea's desire to build the world's greatest midfield by reportedly turning down a move to Stamford Bridge. Pirlo met with the Milan management late last night and spoke to the media thereafter, "I am very happy to be able to finish my career here. When they told me the news I was very happy, finally the saga of this summer is over and we can continue the adventure in rossonero."

Tottenham are targetting Sheffield Wednesday teenager Mark Beevers as a solution for their early season injury woes. The Owls want £3 million for the youngster.

The Daily Mail reports that former Leeds and Aston Villa manager David O'Leary has turned down Newcastle United, not wishing to join a club whose ownership position is uncertain.

Fiorentina is the latest club to be linked with Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen. Juventus has been unable to offload him all summer with Liverpool just being linked to him yesterday. The Viola have earmarked Poulsen as a replacement for departed Felipe Melo. Its obvious that he's not their first choice though as a swap plus cash deal could have been worked out with Juventus (since Melo left Fiorentina for Juve earlier this summer)

Former Wigan striker Amr Zaki is still being tracked by Portsmouth. The Egyptian international is likely to return to the premier league on a loan deal from current club Zamalek.

Fulham are set to sign South African international Kagiso Dikgacoi after his successful trial with the club. The Golden Arrows midfielder still needs a work permit to complete his move to Craven Cottage.

 

Wednesday, 5th August:

Liverpool have moved fast to sign Alberto Aquilani from Roma following the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. The Reds have agreed a fee, reported in the region of £17-20 million. (read more)

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has signed a new three year deal with the Blues, that will keep him at Stamford Bridge till 2012.

Bordeaux's club president has said Maroune Chamakh could leave the club in the next few days. There's no lack of suitors for the youngster, with Premier League side Sunderland supposedly once again leading the chase.

AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi has said Andrea Pirlo is no longer on the market. So he officialy was on it before?

Harry Redknapp has an eye on Blackburn's Christopher Samba, although his prefered signing still remains Newcastle's Sebastian Bassong. Bassong is said to have snubbed a move to Man City for White Harte Lane.

Portsmouth look set to lose yet another player, as striker David Nugent is expected to move to Stoke City after a bust-up with a teammate during his club's tour of Portugal. At the rate they are losing players, oen can't help but wonder how Portsmouth would manage to name 18 players for every match during the next season.

Xabi Alonso has passed his medical at Real Madrid and is likely to be revealed to the media on Thursday, finally bringing to an end one of the longest running transfer sagas of the summer.

Steve Bruce finally got his man after Darren Bent signed from Tottenham for a club record fee of £10 million. The transfer payout could increase significantly based on appearances and performance.

The Daily Mail reports Chelsea are lining up a £38 million plus Deco bid for Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero. Chelsea seem to think that this player plus cash deal will match the £51 million release clause in Aguero's contract. Although, it would be really interesting to find out how Chelsea came up with a £13 million price tag for Deco who has been a bit of a flop since arriving in England last summer. It also remains to be seen whether Deco would move to Atletico considering the fact that he has already played for big clubs like Barcelona and Chelsea.

Former Hammers captain Lucas Neill is in talks with Sunderland after having been released from West Ham at the end of last season. Neill would help Steve Bruce strengthen his defence having already signed Darren Bent to bolster his attacking options.

Even as Barcelona try to secure Argentine wonderkid Lionel Messi's future, with a €10 million per year contract, La Vanguardia reports that Manchester City continue to send out feelers with an annual contract suspected to be €12 million plus bonuses.

Standard Liege's Belgian star Steven Defour has reported that he's willing to quit Liege should Real come for him. The 21-year-old was quoted as saying, "If Real come and reach an agreement with Standard, I will not take one second to sign my contract. I will do it with my eyes closed. Playing at Real is a dream I have had since I was a child."

Michel Salgado has been released by Spanish giants Real Madrid following ten years with them. In the last two seasons he was rarely played, compiling just 17 games over that span. The 33-year-old right-back joined Real in 1999 from Celta Vigo for €11 million.

Real's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder seems unlikely to leave the Bernabeu this summer as coach Manuel Pellegrini considers him a key player. However, with an abundance of players already in that position including Kaka, Ronaldo and Robben, Sneijder has fallen down the pecking order making regular football hard to come by.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is hoping to sign Egyptian winger Ahmed Al-Muhammadi after his successful trial with the Black Cats earlier this summer.

Belgium's highly rated defender/midfielder, Anthony Vanden Borre is close to swapping teams from current side Genoa to newly-promoted Real Zaragoza. The 21-year-old is looking for regular football after having made the majority of his appearance as a substitute last season.

With Xabi Alonso all but set to leave Liverpool, Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen is being linked to the Reds. His current club Juventus are keen to offload the 29-year-old with Fulham and Everton also tracking him. However, if Benitez is indeed interested then it would move Liverpool to the front of the queue for his signature.

 

Tuesday, 4th August:

The Xabi Alonso transfer soap opera is finally set to come to an end with the teams having agreed on the fee, and Alonso on his way to Madrid for a medical. Click here to read more about Alonso's career.

Harry Redknapp is planning to bring in yet another player he managed at Portsmouth, with David James heavily linked with a move to Tottenham because of worries relating to Portsmouth's financial condition and the exodus of players from Fratton Park.

Tottenham are also linked with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but would need to sell either Roman Pavlyunchenko or Robbie Keane first. And if they stretch out the sale of either of the two like the Darren Bent-to-Sunderland saga, they may as well as forget about it happening.

Aston Villa have confirmed the signing of 19-year old midfielder Fabian Delph from Leeds United. The deal was completed late on Tuesday evening, and is rumoured to be worth about £6 million upfront, and more on offer based on appearances.

Darren Bent has passed his medical and will sign for Sunderland on Wednesday. Thank God we don't have to report about this deal much longer.

Manchester United have reportedly enquired about Valencia's David Silva, but are yet to make a bid. The news was mentioned in Spanish daily AS.

After signing Gerard Pique from Manchester United, Barcelona want to sign his former youth colleague Jonny Evans. They were hot for Nemanja Vidic earlier, but the Serbian wanted to stay on, and it looks highly unlikely Evans would want a move as well. He's highly regarded by Sir Alex Ferguson, played a number of games last season due to Rio Ferdinand's injury woes, and is genuinely considered a future first-choice centre-back at United.

AC Milan have reportedly accepted that Andrea Pirlo will exit, and are considering options for a central midfield spot. Cesc Fabregas is the top choice for £32 million, but Fabregas looks set to stay at least uptil the World Cup, and would also prefer a move to Barcelona so that he can finally start receiving the winners medals that he hasn't seen at Arsenal.

Chelsea have reacted angrily to rumours that Joe Cole would be leaving the club for regular first team action at Tottenham, releasing the following statement: Contrary to media reports Chelsea is not, and will not be, considering any offers for Joe Cole." Looks like the talented midfielder might just be in Ancelotti's 'diamond' plans after-all.

Blackburn Rovers are set to complete the signing of Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic on a four-year deal later today.

Further to our comments earlier, Aston Villa are preparing a €19m Offer for the Dutch international Wesley Sneijder. This may trump any loan deal that Madrid had with Inter.

The Swiss Football Federation's official website claims that Everton are in talks with Arsenal for their want-away defender, Philippe Senderos. Everton have confirmed the news.

Despite continuing to lose defenders, Arsenal continue to be linked to offensive players. The latest is Chelsea's Ivory Coast international, Salomon Kalou. If reports are to be believed, Wenger has had a £6m bid rejected but has come back with a renewed £8 million bid. Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh has also reportdely landed in London in an attempt to hasten his transfer. However, the longer this discussion stretches out, the more likely it seems that Arsenal will go nowhere near Bordeaux's asking price of £15 million. Wenger has even said that the Chamakh deal is "dead".

Manchester City are said to be trailing Portsmouth central defender Sylvain Distin should they fail to bring Lescott to the Eastlands. Their other targets include Newcastle's Sebastien Bassong and Chelsea's Alex.

 

Monday, 3rd August:

Finally! Darren Bent's transfer to Sunderland looks like it will go through, after reports emerged that Tottenham have agreed a £15 million bid.

Joleon Lescott will miss Everton's friendly against Blackpool. David Moyes denies it has anything to do with Manchester City's chase for the defender, who according to The Daily Mail will be putting in a transfer request soon.

Barcelona are believed to be offering Lionel Messi a bumper-deal that would also see his current £127 million buyout clause doubled to £254 million, which should even scare Manchester City off. Messi himself would pocket £8 million-a-year.

Press reports from Spain suggest a £27.2 million deal between Real Madrid and Liverpool has been agreed for Xabi Alonso. Italian tabloids add that Liverpool would immediately part with £15.3 million to sign Roma's Alberto Aquilani.

Hull have failed to sign yet another player. Newcastle are demanding £4 million for Habib Beye, forcing the Tigers to look elsewhere, Pascal Chimbonda being considered.

The Wesley Sneijder-to-Inter Milan loan deal may not go through, with Aston Villa reportedly keen to sign the Dutch midfielder. Real would definitely prefer to sell the player so as to recoup some of the cash they spent.

Mark Hughes just figured that since Carlos Tevez and Robinho like to fall deep, he may as well as use them as fullbacks, which would allow him to sign yet another striker: Sergio Aguero. Apparently the whole deal depends on whether Manchester United try to sign the Argentine. If they do, City would offer more and shout out to the world that they just beat Manchester United in a transfer, and hence have accomplished enough for the season.

The Daily Mail have sensationally announced that Roman Abramovich is planning a £100 million spending spree to bring Andrea Pirlo, Sergio Aguero and Franck Ribery to Stamford Bridge. However on reading further it becomes pretty clear that other than the pitch for Pirlo, the other two names are just being thrown in the air to attract more interest in a long running storyline, Chelsea fans don't bet your house on the title just yet.

Marouane Chamakh has hit out at Bordeaux for asking for too much money as transfer fees from Arsenal. The 25-year old striker who has been linked with a move to the Premiership for almost a month now, has reportedly told L'Equipe, "Ever since I've played football, I've given my all for this club and for the fans. I believe I deserve more consideration." In all fairness, Chamakh has spent seven good years with the French giants, and has just a year remaining on his contract. Come on Blanc, let the boy move!

AC Milan are reportedly making a last ditch effort to sign Sevilla and Brazil striker Luis Fabiano. Milan and Sevilla were miles away in terms of their respective valuations for the player, and talks broke down in July.

As we had previously reported, Liverpool have agreed terms with Roma midfielder, Alberto Aquilani. Now it appears that the Reds are willing to offer Roma a sum of €21 million for their Italian midfielder. But the catch is that Rafa Benitez would only swoop for ‘Il Principino’ should Spanish international Xabi Alonso depart for Real Madrid.

Tottenham have been linked in the English press today with a 'soon to be made' bid for Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole. The exceptionally talented, but injury plagued midfielder could find a starting berth under Carlo Ancelotti hard to come by in either the left-midfield or second striker role, and Harry Redknapp is reportedly offering Cole a regular starting berth as an added incentive in a crucial pre-World Cup season.

Tuttosport reports that Arsenal have withdrawn from their negotiations with Fiorentina after the Italian club had given Arsene Wenger an ultimatum, with a transfer deadline and the amount they were willing to spend. After being led down the garden trail in the Felipe Melo transfer saga, Wenger reportedly had enough, and well you can imagine what he might have asked them to do with their money.

Xabi Alonso has not returned with the Liverpool team to England after the side's humbling 3-0 defeat at the hands of Espanyol. Alonso's decision to stay back in his native Spain has the rumour mongers running rampant that his switch to Real Madrid is likely to be completed this week. Incidentally Liverpool were near full strength and were beaten twice by young Chelsea reject Ben Sahar!

Inter have agreed to take Dutch international Wesley Sneijder of Real Madrid on loan for a year. As part of the deal, Madrid will receive €4m this year and Inter will have the option to sign him permanently for €18m next year. However Madrid appear to be back tracking, hoping to lure Inter defender Maicon as part of a cash + swap deal.

After having little luck in the transfer market so far, Hull City have identified another potential target in Newcastle defender Habib Beye. The move seems to be on hold though since the ownership situation has not cleared up.

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has not ruled out signing former midfield legend, Patrick Vieira. He told the clubs official website, "Patrick is a great player and I have not considered it yet to bring him back. It is a possibility that I have to think about. It is not sure he will decide to join us if I decide to try and make him come."

Portuguese outfit, Sporting Lisbon are getting tired of Aston Villa's pursuit of midfielder Miguel Veloso and have allotted them 72 hours to complete a deal. The Villians need reinforcements ahead of a long season in both England and Europe.

Now the Manchester City have spent mega bucks on proven players they seem to be targeting young up-and-coming stars. To that end, they are being linked to Swedish starlet Rasmus Elm. As always they have jumped to the front of the queue with their amazing spending power.

 

Sunday, 2nd August:

Arsene Wenger is raving about Jack Wilshere so much that it confirms Arsenal would only be in the market for a defensive player. And more money may be coming in to the Gunners coffers very soon. Emmanuel Eboue is still being linked with Fiorentina, who have reportedly set a Wednesday deadline for the deal with their European ambitions in mind.

Newcastle have rejected a £10 million bid for Sebastian Bassong from Tottenham, but Harry Redknapp has denied interest in the defender. Well, doubt anyone would be interested in him if he's valued for over £10 million.

The Daily Mail seems so bored this Sunday that they have linked Manchester United, who have virtually ruled out making any big signing because of inflated rates, first to David Silva and David Villa, and now to Sergio Aguero. Of these, only the David Silva story seems to make the slightest sense.

Inter Milan have reportedly clinched a loan deal for Real's midfielder Wesley Sneijder for €4 million, with the option of making the deal permanent for €18 million. And so begins the Dutch exodus from the Santiago Bernebau. Rafael van der Vaart also confirmed that he will be leaving the club. "The coach told me I won't get much chance to play, so it's not an option to stay here," Van der Vaart told a tabloid.

AC Milan are the latest team to be linked with Dutch star Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Real Madrid apparently have a €15m offer from Turkish giants Fenerbahce but are waiting for Milan to make a bid as they have been given first choice.

Chelsea are set to continue their attempts at signing Andrea Pirlo and are preparing an improved bid of either €18m or €12m plus Claudio Pizzaro. Milan are however said to be holding out for a figure in the region of €25m.

Arsenal continue to be linked with Bordeaux's striker, Marouane Chamakh. The stumbling point as always appears to be the valuation between the two teams. The arrival of more attacking reinforcements seem unlikely as Arsene Wenger was delighted with his team's 2-1 victory against Athletico Madrid. He told the clubs official website, "To play with Arshavin, Fabregas and Walcott and find the balance is very difficult. Our target is to now find a good balance with the offensive players we have, and that is why we could afford to let a striker go."

Skysports reports that Blackburn have reportedly agreed a fee for Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic. Portsmouth were also in the running to sign the 21-year old, but were non-committal, at the final stages of negotiation, allowing Blackburn to swoop in and close the deal. Whether the youngster will be able to fill-in the huge void left by Roque Santa Cruz remains to be seen.

The News of the World reports that Manchester United are considering making a move for Valencia winger David Silva. Valencia are scheduled to visit Old Trafford this coming week, and there could be some heavy negotiations taking place on the sidelines. The news is unlikely to go down well with Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, who has also expressed interest in the 23-year old Spanish international.

The People is reporting that Fulham have asked that Arsenal loan them young Mexican striker Carlos Vela for a year as part of a deal that could see Brede Hangeland move to the Emirates. Whether Arsenal would still be interested in the Norwegain center-back now that he is cup tied in Europe is an interesting side note that appears to have skipped gossip-mongers attention.

Alan Shearer has confirmed that he would not be returning to the post of Newcastle manager this season after hearing "nothing" from the club in the off-season. Instead of sitting around and waiting, Shearer will return to the commentators booth at the BBC.

Rumours are rife that Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez would take almost all the proceeds from selling Xabi Alonso to prise away Spanish striker David Villa from Valencia. Personally that seems pretty unlikely, Villa is likely to be considerably more expensive than Alonso.

 

Saturday, 1st August:

Rafael van der Vaart is expected to join Inter Milan on loan, as Real continue to cut down the names on their roster.

AC Milan president and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has denied reports that Andrea Pirlo is on the verge of joining Chelsea, saying ''They are all stories, there's no truth at all.'' Well, at least he seems to be choosing his words better than his I-am-no-saint rant after his latest scandal.

Manchester United have completed the singing of 16-year-old French starlet Paul Pogba from Le Havre. The kid is a defensive midfielder, and is a regular for his country's international youth team. Arsenal were also said to be interested, but Pogba chose United.

West Ham United have signed Swiss Under-19 international Fabio Daprella. The move was actually completed late last night, with the young left-back flying in to London straight from the European Youth Championships to put pen on paper on an impressive five-year deal. Though he is unlikely to see much first team action this season, manager Gianfranco Zola seems to be building a squad with the long-term in mind, a move which will please all Hammers' fans.

Milan-based paper Il Giornale claim that Italian midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo has agreed terms with Chelsea, and will head over to the London capital to sign for the club early next week.

Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins has signed a four-year deal with German champions Wolfsburg taking a huge £60,000 per week load off Newcastle's books. It will however remain to be seen where the goals will come from for Newcastle if they aspire to make an instant return to the Premiership.

After signing Mame Biram Diouf, Manchester United are being linked with another young striker, Bursaspor's Sercan Yildirim. The Daily Star claims the 19-year old Turk is available for €4 million.

The Star continues to be in on the scoops, indicating that Pep Guardiola has all but ruled out the possibility of signing Javier Mascherano, labelling the current transfer window 'too expensive'. The Barcelona coach should be in the know, considering he has just choked up €45 million plus his top scorer Eto'o for an extremely expensive Zlatan Ibrahimovic!

In what will certainly be a first, Manchester City appear to be interested in a player who is yet to make his mark on the international stage, leading the race to sign Leeds United youngster Fabian Delph. City could take Delph off the market for the rest of his suitors by tabling a bid of £10 million, two million more than others were bidding. And here we thought City were another Chelsea, without any youth policy whatsoever!

Real Madrid have finally started offloading some of their 'non-Galacticos', selling former Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze to Olympique Marseille for an undisclosed fee. 31-year old Heinze has signed a three year deal with l'OM, thereby in all probability seeing out his playing career in the French first division.

The Daily Star is suggesting that Everton are likely to accept Manchester City's next bid for defender Joleon Lescott, not wanting to have a player on their books who wants away so bad. However, what is even more surprising is that the Star reports that Arsenal defender Phillipe Senderos is being lined up as a short term replacement for Lescott

Friday, 31st July:

Portsmouth seem to have accepted that they will be relegated, and are hence signing one player who seems to have plenty of experience going down. Aussie striker Mark Viduka, who was with Leeds United and Newcastle United during the seasons they were relegated from the Premier League, is said to be close to signing with Pompey.

Rafa Benitez is reportedly holding out for £30 million from Real Madrid for the services of Xabi Alonso, but Florentino Perez seems to have started counting his quarters and isn't willing to pay a penny above £28 million. Chelsea and Manchester City are ready to swoop in if the deal crashes at any point, although it looks impossible Liverpool would sell to any domestic rival.

After being linked with Michael Turner from Hull, Everton are now said to be considering the prospect of signing Gary Cahill from Bolton. Joleon Lescott could still be on his way out, even after a £19 million bid was turned down. Manchester City are reportedly willing to put in a final £22 million offer, after which they would rather hunt for alternatives like Chelsea's Alex.

Manchester United are expected to place a £35 million bid for Franck Ribery by the newspaper-that-really-is-not-a-newspaper that goes by the name The Sun. The bid will only be placed after 2 weeks because of some kind of loyalty bonus Ribery is entitled to on the 14th, although one guesses that The Sun mentioned the bid would be placed later so that the Premier League begins and everyone forgets about their ridiculous claims.

If reports are to be believed, AC Milan midfield maestro, Andrea Pirloseems to be exiting the club for English Giants, Chelsea. This will come as a major blow to the Milan outfit as they've already lost services of Kaka earlier in the summer. Some major reinforcments will be needed to retain their top 4 status in the Seria A based on their disappointing preseason results.

Italian newspaper, Il Messaggero is reporting that Liverpool have agreed personal terms with Italian international Alberto Aquilani of AS Roma. The two clubs have yet to agree on a fee for ‘Il Principino’.

Following Hleb's signing with Stuttgart, Inter Milan have turned their attention to out-of-favour Real Madrid midfielder, Rafael van der Vaart. The Dutch international has been deemed surplus to requirements following the captures of Ronaldo and Kaka.

Despite Arsene Wenger's comments regarding his squad being "good enough", reports have emerged that Arsenal may to putting in a bid for Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi. These reports seem hard to believe as they suggest that the Gunners would shell out €35 million for his services.

Former Liverpool right-back Steve Finnanhas joined Portsmouth on a one-year deal after terminating his contract at Espanyol.

Arsenal are being linked to St Etienne's £5m-rated 22-year old defensive midfielder Blaise Matuidi, just the type of player Arsene Wenger would sign.

Fulham have made a major move in putting off suitors for highly rated Norwegian center-back Brede Hangelandafter playing him in their Europa League match last night. Hangeland is now cup-tied till January, and as a result Fulham have in all likelihood postponed an assault by the vultures roaming above Craven Cottage.

French paper, L'Equipe is reporting that Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich rejected a €80m mega offer for star Frank Ribery from Real Madrid three weeks ago.

Out-of-favour Barcelona striker, Eidur Gudjohnsenhas been linked to West Ham United again. Manager Gianfranco Zola was quoted as saying, "Obviously Gudjohnsen is one of those players that not only West Ham would like to see playing for them. So we will see what happens."

Manchester City manager, Mark Hughes has confirmed that he intends to still bolster his roster ahead of the new season. He said, "We have a list of 'category A' players who we think have the talent to help us be successful in the future. We're progressing nicely, the business we've already done is exceptional. We're pleased with the quality we've been able to bring to this point." It is believed that Hughes would like to add additional defensive reinforcements.

 

Thursday, 30th July:

Alexander Hleb has joined Stuttgart on loan, even though he was said to be a part of the Eto'o - Ibrahimovic swap between Inter Milan and Barcelona. Hleb was however uncomfortable with the prospect of playing for Inter. The Daily Mail claims Inter may now renew their interest in Chelsea's Deco.

Xabi Alonso has reportedly handed a transfer request to Real Madrid, with Liverpool now considering Lee Cattermole and Michael Turner using that money. Get this deal over with fast please, we know what's going to happen.

Manchester City have offloaded Elano to Turkish club Galatasaray in a £6.5 million deal. Their £19 million bid for Everton's Joleon Lescott has however been turned down.

Arsenal fans you have more reasons to worry. Arsene Wenger has said he may not spend even a penny of the £40 million pocketed from the sales of Adebayor and Toure, because he thinks his squad is good enough. I'm sorry, but I can't help but think he feels it's just good enough to scrape a 4th place position at the end of the season.

In a move perhaps intended to appease the Arsenal fans, manager Arsene Wenger is reported to be considering bringing back legend Patrick Vieira with Inter keen on letting the French star go, and him unable to find any relevant suitors. The Sun (rarely the source of reliable gossip) claims that Arsenal is offering the former great (now well past his prime) a similar contract to what Tottenham were prepared to give him.

With Hleb refusing the chance to play at Inter, Jose Mourinho appears to be lining up a move for one of his favourite sons, portuguese playmaker Deco.

Liverpool are considering making a move for young Wigan midfielfer Lee Cattermole as a possible long term replacement for Xabi Alonso, who looks closer and closer to a move to Madrid having put in a formal transfer request today in an effort to expediate the move.

Aston Villa, one of the contenders for Champions League football next season, are considering lining up a move for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane. Should the move go through, it'll be the third time Keane switches clubs in under a year!

 

Wednesday, 29th July:

Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer has set a price tag of €94 million on the head of Franck Ribery, since he believes the French winger's worth is as much as Ronaldo's.

Dean Ashton looks set to join Stoke City with West Ham United realising that he's still on their payroll despite taking way too many medical leaves.

Daniele De Rossi's Wikipedia page reportedly had made him an Arsenal player. Glitch? Or is something brewing up there?

For all of you who thought medicals were just formalities, Algerian international Kamel Ghilas's move to Blackburn has crashed right at the death after he failed to pass the medical tests. So there actually are real doctors in there.

Big Sam Allardyce is on the hunt for MFK Kosice starlet Dionatan Nascimento.

Laurent Blanc is not going to let Maroune Chamakh sign for a "small club" like Sunderland. The Bordeaux striker had also been linked with Arsenal, although that deal seems unlikely with the Gunners leading the chase for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Alvaro Arbeloa has completed his £3.5 million move to Real Madrid.

Claudio Pizarro wants to fight for his place in the Chelsea line-up. Guess he's expecting difficulty to get into the Chelsea Reserves side. Anyway, if he opts out, Werder Bremen's interested, and he's also been mooted in a cash-plus-player swap for AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo.

Portsmouth are trying to get Anti Niemi out of retirement so that they could sell David James and use that money, plus the Peter Crouch money to actually sign someone. They have sold players for a total of £77 million in the past year, with an expenditure of less than £5 million.

With Kolo Toure having completed his move to Man City (read more), Arsenal are reportedly roping in Brede Hangeland from Fulham to shore up their defence.

Aston Villa are keen to sign Tottenham's Robbie Keane who's reportedly feeling uneasy following the arrival of Peter Crouch and Harry Redknapp's chase for Klaas Jan Huntelaar. If he does move to the midlands, that would be the third transfer in a year for the Irish striker.

Alexander Hleb has put a spanner in the works of his loan move to Inter indicating that he would rather move back to former club Stuttgart.

In the World run by Bizzaro, Luis Figo is latest former-superstar to be linked to Tottenham. After failing to entice David Beckham and Patrick Vieira, Harry Redknapp is apparently still looking for a player who will sell a lot of shirts, and has his eyes on the former Barcelona and Real Madrid winger.

South African midfielder Steven Pienaar has dismissed rumours that he is unhappy at Everton, indicating that rejecting a contract doesn't mean he wishes to leave the club.

Sekou Baradjiis hoping to sign a contract following his trial with the Blackburn Rovers. The former Reading midfielder is currently plying his trade in Portugal with Naval and is hoping that his small transfer fee (€500,000) will sway Allardyce to swoop for him.

British paper, The Guardian reports that Liverpool are in talks with Roma about acquiring midfielder Alberto Aquilani. Reds manager, Rafa Benitez had identified him as a potential replacement should Xabi Alonso move to greener pastures. The fact that negotiations between the two clubs (Liverpool and Roma) have taken place are intensifying rumours of Xabi's move to Real.

Former Wigan hitman, Amr Zaki is said to be making his way back to the Premier League with Portsmouth in a loan move. The Egyptian international was in sensational form for the Latics last season aside from his questionable attitude.

Following the release of 10 players, it appears that things are finally coming together for Portsmouth. Their takeover was completed last week followed by the hiring of new manager Paul Hart. Now, reports claim that they have reached an agreement for a one year deal with ex-Red Steve Finnan.

Portsmouth manager, Paul Hart has apparently put in a bid for Cardiff City striker, Ross McCormack. The highly rated Scottish international had an exceptional season last year scoring 21 goals.

Tuesday, 28th July:

Lucas Neill may just end up staying at West Ham United as he seems to have few suitors, barring Turkish clubs who seem to be interested in each and every unwanted former Premier League player.

Blackburn defender Stephen Warnock is said to be on top of Aston Villa's shopping list, following the exits of Martin Laursen (retirement) and Zat Knight.

Chelsea have reportedly placed a bid for the classy Italian midfielder Andrea Pirlo. The move will be palyer-plus-cash, with £8.6 million being poured into AC Milan's coffers, and Claudio Pizzaro and England U-21 defender Michael Mancienne (Mancienne on a season-long loan) to their team roster.

Manchester City may just sign a player who hasn't played in the Premier Leauge. Roma's Philippe Mexes is reportedly being considered by Mark Hughes to plug the leaks in his team's defence that stretches the entire width of the City of Manchester Stadium.

Alvaro Arbeloa has declared he is just days away from joining Real Madrid. He better be payed well because he has the worst job in professional football - defending the right flank as Ronaldo loses the ball and cries like a baby who's pacifier has just been stolen.

The Profitable Group's bid to takeover Newcastle United, headed by ESPN's football pundit Steve McMahon, is now off the table as the Group haven't received any response from Mike Ashley. Seriously, I wouldn't mind betting on the Geordies going down to League One next season. They were supposed to be cutting down on their wage bills, but hade done little and the Championship is less than two weeks from it's start. That could seriously reduce chances of a last moment firesale, since they barely have any time to bring players in who would actually want to wear that garrish cream-and-yellow away jersey.

With Crouch coming in, Darren Bent is on the way out in a £14 million move to Sunderland, which sould be completed soon as the striker decided to quit Tottenham's tour to China.

Tottenham have completed the signing of Peter Crouchfrom Portsmouth in a deal that would cost the Lillywhites £9 million. The move sees Crouch return to the club that he started out with as a trainee, but had been considered no good enough at a young age and sold for £60,000. He will be joining manager Harry Redknapp for the third time in his career, after spells at Southampton and Portsmouth.

The Daily Mail claims Manchester City have struck a £15 million deal with Arsenal for Kolo Toure. His new contract is rumoured to be about £120,000 per week - twice what he has making at the Emirates. The Mail has gone into hyper drive today, claiming that Xabi Alonso has landed at Madrid airport, and Chelsea have tabled a bid for Milan midfielder Andrea Pirlo.

Sky Sports 24 is reporting that Liverpool have agreed a fee with Seria A outfit Napoli for defender Andrea Dossena. The left-back has failed to make that position his own despite having scored some scorchers last season. Napoli are reported to be offering €4.5 million which represents almost half of what it cost the Reds for his services, so expect Liverpool to haggle in order to get more money.

Aston VIlla are tracking Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso as a replacement for departed Gareth Barry. The Portuguese international was a former target of Arsenal and Manchester United.

 

Monday, 27th July:

Liverpool's owners have been able to agree with RBS over a refinancing deal, but would have to pay £60 million of their debt this year, with £40 million of that up front and the rest later on. Would that have ramifications on their transfer budget?

Espanyol have reportedly released Steve Finnan from the year left on his contract. Hull are reportedly interested, but is he interested in them? Well, they do have a greater chance getting him than a striker. Portsmouth are also tracking the situation, and they definitely need players, considering how many look set to leave.

Blackburn are quite seriously keeping tabs on Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak(if you find out how to pronounce that name please do inform us). Sam Allardyce was in Moscow to watch the Zenit St. Petersburg player in a pre-season friendly, despite his team facing Leeds around the same time.

AC Milan reportedly announced the signing of Guiseppe Rossi on their website, and later removed the story.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has signed a 5-year deal with Barcelona, and wasted no time in bashing Inter and Italian football in general, saying he was fed up with it. Samuel Eto'o meanwhile has passed his medical and agreed a 5-year deal with Inter, (read more)

Chelsea skipper, John Terry has ended all speculation linking him with a mega-move to Manchester City by stating that he's staying with the Blues, what might have helped the decision is club owner Roman Abramovich flying over to meet him with a nice paycheck of £150,000 per week.

The Italian trio of AC Milan, Juventus and Inter have joined Ajax in the pursuit of young Spurs left-back Gareth Bale. With such illustrious clubs following Bale, one can't help but question Redknapp's wisdom in wanting to let him go!

Former Arsenal youth product Jerome Thomas on trial with Hull City has not been offered a contract by manager Phil Brown. He was quoted as saying, "Jerome trained with us and we thanked him for his efforts. But we didn't feel that Jerome was going to improve what we've already got."

AC Milan are said to be lining up for Brazilian star Elano Blumer who is deemed surplus to requirements at the Eastlands and subsequently been transfer listed.

Add Mirko Vucinicto the list of striker's being looked at by Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger. The Daily Star is reporting that Wenger has put in a £17 million offer for the Roma striker, and also rumours of Niklas Bendtner being used as a makeweight. Yesterday, it was reported that a similar figure had been offered to Real Madrid for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

The signings of three world-class strikers this summer at Manchester City has seen Bulgarian striker, Valeri Bojinovfall down the pecking order. Not willing to play second fiddle, he is eyeing a move to Seria A outfit, Lazio.

Contrary to earlier reports, Portsmouth and Tottenham have not agreed a fee for England international, Peter Crouch. Spurs manager, Harry Redknapp was quoted as saying the following, "Portsmouth have obviously got a price they want and Daniel and myself have spoken and we've got a price that we feel is fair. So that's where we're at the moment. Hopefully, a compromise will happen and we can get something done."

Serbian midfielder, Milan Jovanovicis being tracked by English clubs Everton, Sunderland & Aston Villa. The 28-year-old Standard Liege player is not interested in extending his contract with the Belgium outfit and favours a move to England.

Everton's winger, Steven Pienaar has put his future in doubt by rejecting a new contract offered by the Toffees. The highly rated South African international seems to be on the radar of both Fiorentina and Atletico Madrid.

Clubs looking for a cut-price on Martins beware - Newcastle have put a £10m price tag on the Nigerian striker. Not sure what United are trying to accomplish as they'd like to get his wages off their payroll.

Following the departure of Kaka, AC Milan have decided to test Arsenal's resolve by making a bid for young Dane, Nicklas Bendtner. Bendtner has instantly quelled the rumours, saying he's excited about a long and illustrious career at Arsenal.

 

Sunday, 26th July:

The Times reports that Man City have agreed personal terms with Arsenal defender Kolo Tourein their standard double-your-pay deals. Times also says City are looking to sign Joleon Lescott and John Terry as part of a defensive triple swoop that could cost as much as £100 million. Toure is said to account for £15 million of that, but there's no mention of any agreement with Arsenal. If that's true, isn't this yet another case of tapping up?

The Sunday Expresssuggests that Arsenal have made a bid of €17.3m to Real Madrid for Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Tottenham are also reportedly keen on the 25-year old, but after their pursuit of Peter Crouch are unlikely to have the cash available for another striker.

Man City look set to shed some weight as well, with Zimbabwe international Benjani looking set to return to Portsmouth.

According to The Mirror, Tottenham have won the race for Pompey striker Peter Crouch. They claim that Spurs have had a £10 million bid accepted, and Crouch will sign a five-year deal worth £70,000 per week.

Meanwhile back at Manchester City, efforts to build a new defense have kicked into high gear with West Ham United's Matthew Upson, the latest name to be linked to Eastlands. With West Ham hard pressed for cash, chances are any decent bid for Upson would be accepted despite Gianfranco Zola's desire to keep his star defender.

Fernando Morientes has said a move to Marseille would interest him. He's a free agent.

Fiorentina coach Cesar Prandelli said he would love to have Arsenal right back Emmanuel Eboue. I bet Arsene Wenger would love it if Prandelli takes him too, especially if the reported €10 million offer turns out to be true.

Spanish daily Marca believe Manchester United will bid for Valencia's David Silva. They clearly are not reading the English newspapers, or just not paying heed to Sir Alex Ferguson's claims that United will not sign any more players this summer.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be unveiled as early as tomorrow by Barcelona, barring any last moment hiccups.

Sir Alex Ferguson has disclosed that Adebayor contacted Manchester United and Chelsea even as his move to Man City was being finalised. He also called City a "small club with small mentality" for their Carlos Tevez Welcome-to-Manchester poster, stating "all City can do is talk about United." He also said City won't break into the top 4 since they feel "taking Carlos Tevez away from United is a triumph."

The Daily Mail believes John Terry is close to agreeing the mega-deal that would see him join Manchester City since he yet again failed to clarify his position with the media after Chelsea's 2-1 win over AC Milan.

 

Saturday, 25th July:

Rafa Benitez has urged Xabi Alonso to stay at Anfield. Wonder if he would have been in the same position had he not urged Alonso to leave last year?!

Roma are battling Hull City for a blonde ponytailed Liverpool player. If you can't figure out who, it's Andriy Voronin.

Martin O'Neill has said even £50 million wouldn't be enough to prise away Ashely Young from Aston Villa.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has said Former Gunner Patrick Vieira wants to join Spurs. I'm holding my co-contributor of this article to that Shorts-eating YouTube video if it happens. That video may probably be the only highlight regarding this move.

Villarreal are close to signing Brazilian international Nilmar on a five-year contract. The Internacional striker is expected to replace Nihat as the lynch pin of the Yellow Submarine front line.

Aston Villa have reportedly lost a key defender in their quest to break into the top 4 in the premiership with the departure of Zat Knight to Bolton Wanderers in a £4 million deal.

Arsenal defender Kolo Toure is being linked with a move to Manchester City. The Ivory Coast international was being feverishly chased by City last year, but rejected their overtures. However with City now appearing to be the next big thing in English football, it remains to be seen if the Arsenal future hall-of-famer will be able to keep the thought of a significantly higher salary at bay.

After failing to land Chelsea skipper John Terry, City are also now being linked to cross-town rivals defender Rio Ferdinand!

Sunderland have signed Marseille skipper Lorik Cana on a four-year contract in a deal reported to be about £5 million.

 

Friday, 24th July:

Manchester United Chief Executive David Gill has staved off any chance of spending a huge amount of money for players aged 27+, ruling out any possible move for David Villa.

Steve Bruce is trying to convince Marseille skipper Lorik Cana that Sunderland is the next best destination for him. Hmm... Let's see. Shifting from the South of France for a mid-table Premier League club up in the North East, who's greatest moment in the recent past is seeing Newcastle get relegated. Brucey should try convincing him some other way, I don't see Caca buying "the next best destination" story.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has reportedly reached agreement with Barca over his "oh you gotta be kidding" deal, but wait, someone's trying to play spoil sport. Samuel Eto'o? No, no. It's that guy who was pretty decent at Arsenal but decided he wants a vacation in Spain. Aliaksandr Hleb isn't too happy over the fact that he'd be spending a season at Milan. He'll have to go back to work to earn his pay now on!

Turkish club Fenerbahce want to sign Andriy Shevchenko. That guy's still around?

Fulham have yet again failed to snare away Jonathan Greening from West Brom.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has set the record straight about his linkages to former Premiership legends David Beckham and Patrick Vieira, sharing that he has no plans to sign either. (please note my shorts are as a result also safe, read page 3 for more on the shorts) Redknapp also said that an inquiry for Real Madrid holding midfielder Lassana Diarra was rebuffed.

In what would truly be one of the shocks of the summer, Liverpool are reportedly lining up a bid for former striker Peter Crouch, who Rafa Benitez sold to Portsmouth just a year ago. After buying and selling Robbie Keane last year, surely selling and buying Peter Crouch would not come as that much a surprise. However the more one reads about it, the more one wonders if the Liverpool manager has lost the plot completely!

German champions Wolfsburg have shown interest in Newcastle United striker Obafemi Martins. The Nigerian is on the chopping block as Newcastle attempt to cut costs after relegation, and has been linked for a while with Arsenal as well (but then again which striker hasn't).

Former Tottenham manager Martin Jol is looking to swoop down on his ex-club and sign youngster Gareth Bale, who appears out of favour in the Harry Redknapp regime.

Chelsea playmaker Deco has quashed rumours of a move away from Stamford Bridge, instead reaffirming his commitment to the club, and a vow to regain his early season form.

Liverpool might be losing another player as full-back Andrea Dossenais being linked to Seria A side Napoli. With Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa, Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso all potentially moving this summer, manager Rafa Benitez will have this work cut out seeing as the new season is fast approaching.

After being shunned by Peter Crouch earlier this week, Sunderland have now set their sights on Bordeaux hitman Marouane Chamakh. The Moroccan international had made his desire to leave clear but was hoping for a move to the Gunners. He has also been linked to Lyon among other clubs.

Former Liverpool defender Steve Finnanhas been linked with a move back to the Premier League following his disastrous campaign with Espanyol. Finnan made just four appearances with the club last year. Sunderland, Stoke City And Wolverhampton have all being linked for a swoop for the ex-Red.

Fiorentina are being linked to Arsenal utility-man Emmanuel Eboue. The Ivory Coast international can operate as a right-back as well as a midfielder, doing so for the Gunners over the last couple of seasons. It is believed the Viola are preparing a bid in the region of €10 million to prise him away.

Reports surfacing out of London claim that Arsenal are back in the hunt for Real Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaarfollowing the collapse of his move to German club Stuttgart. These reports seem hard to believe as Arsenal are linked to several strikers each day despite manager Arsene Wenger's claims that he had sufficient attacking options despite the sale of Adebayor.

Juventus are hoping to offload Danish midfielder Christian Poulsenwho is being tracked by Premiership clubs Fulham, Portsmouth and Tottenham.

 

Thursday, 23rd July:

Real Madrid are ready to up their bid for Xabi Alonso to £30 million. Chelsea and Man City have also been linked, but the Spaniard is said to want to become a Galactico.

Manchester City are reportedly willing to pay John Terry £1 million a month, but most tabloids still believe that Mr. Chelsea would still wearer a darker blue jersey.

Turkish giants Galatasaray are keen on adding Portuguese playmaker Deco to their burgeoning ranks. The Chelsea star seems likely to go ahead with the transfer now that he is no longer first choice at Stamford Bridge.

Lazio striker Goran Pandev has finally found a bidder and a rather surprising one at that. No, its not Arsenal or Juventus, who have had their eyes on the Macedonian for ages, but French side Olympic Lyon, who have cash to burn and a void to fill following the sale of Karim Benzema.

Aston Villa are reportedly ready to up their offer for one of Portsmouth's few survivors - Sylvain Distin. Villa need to desperately add some experience to their back line which will now be without the retired Martin Laursen.

Sunderland are closing in on a deal to sign Tottenham's Darren Bent, as the club with too many 'average' strikers wish to make space for Peter Crouch. Surely Redknapp doesn't think Crouch is a better player than Roman Pavlyuchenko?

Australian skipper Lucas Neill seems likely to move to Turkey after contract negotiations with West Ham have failed again. The player, currently out of contract, has refused to take a pay cut and will instead look to greener pastures.

In a surprising turnaround, Arsenal striker Eduardo claims that he is not injured and not really sure where reports of him undergoing surgery again originated. Seems like someone in the press has been cooking up stories (not for the first time)!

Real Madrid have been chasing Liverpool's Xabi Alonso all summer. It was only a matter of time though before Manchester "money bags" City would jump at the chance to hijack the deal. It is believed that the Skyblues are willing to not only meet Benitez's £35 million valuation but exceed it as well.

Representatives for Liverpool star midfielder Javier Mascherano have issued a "come get me plea" to Spanish Giants Barcelona. It is believed that the Argentinian is unsettled in England and would favour a move to Spain.

Shieffield United are hoping to sign full-back Kyle Walkeron a loan deal back from Tottenham. The Spurs had just purchased Walker from United earlier in the day.

Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has been linked with a move back to the Premier League after he was deemed surplus to requirements at Barca. It is believed that West Ham, Aston Villa and Sunderland might hold interest in the Icelandic international.

 

Wednesday, 22nd July:

In what is surely the worst possible news for Arsenal fans, Eduardo da Silvahas just undergone 'revision' surgery on that ex-broken leg, and will spend atleast 2 months with Samir Nasri on the injured list.

AC Milan administrator Adriano Galliani has ruled out signing David Beckham permanently. Well duh! He is a Milan player more often than not anyway.

Samuel Eto'o'sagent has revealed the Cameroonian is close to agreeing personal terms with Inter Milan in a deal which will surely make Zlatan Ibrahimovic the Most Overrated player in the world. Zlatan=Eto'o + 1 season loan of Alexandr Hleb + €35m? Surely not!

Klaas-Jan Huntelaarhas reportedly stalled his move to Stuttgart after being told that Tottenham and Arsenal have placed formal bids for him.

The Daily Mirror reports Roy Keane will try to sign yet another Manchester United fringe player. Danny Simpsoncould be following Lee Marting to Ipswich, with his chances at right back even further reduced with four players - Rafael, Gary Neville, Wes Brown and John O'Shea - ahead of him in the pecking order.

Maradonna is expected to sign for Portsmouth - as their 'Global Ambassador' that is. The Argentinian legend is reportedly considering quiting his post as the national team's coach to take up the offer after Suleiman Al Fahim's takeover. Just one problem: how many people around the World actually care about Portsmouth?

Liverpool are tracking Roma's Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani as a replacement for Xabi Alonso, who's move away from Anfield looks almost certain after he withdrew from Liverpool's first match on their Asian tour with a 'minor injury'.

Man City and Chelsea are ready to throw a hammer in three weeks of Real Madrid hard work by making an audacious bid for Xabi Alonso! City meanwhile are also considering getting rid of some of the excess baggage with possible moves for Martin Petrov to Tottenham and Ched Evans to Sheffield United.

Everton appear to be considering making a move for Hull City defender Michael Turner as a possible replacement for Joleon Lescott. Hull meanwhile are being linked to West Ham United striker Marlon Harewood, who is desperate for some regular first team action this season.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that no offers have been made for former Milan hitman, Andriy Shevchenko. It appears as though he does not have a future with the Blues.

Ex-Arsenal and Portsmouth man, Sol Campbell is ready to move abroad with unnamed Greek and Swiss clubs as likely destinations. The ex-England international is available on free transfer after his contract at Pompey expired July 1.

After turning down a move to Sunderland, Pompey striker, Peter Crouch looks set to move to the Lily Whites. Harry Redknapp has convinced the England international to join him once more making it the fourth time that the two have worked together.

Following the mass exodus this summer from Portsmouth, new manager Paul Hart has a tough job ahead of himself in an effort to sign new players. To that end, he has extended trials to four players - Eugene Bopp, Johan Audel, Modeste M'Bami, and Fabrice Pancrate.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp has offered Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko to Arsenal hoping that the out-of-favour striker could be a replacement for departed Emmanuel Adebayor.

 

Tuesday, 21st July:

Tottenham Hotspur are aiming for the moon this season as they continue to be linked to some outrageous players. The latest superstar on that list is Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni. With the addition of Mario Gomez to the Bayern squad, Toni may no longer be an automatic starter.

Lyon are planning to kidnap Marouane Chamakh whenever he decides to move to England, and make him wear their jersey instead. Chamakh is on Arsenal's and Sunderland's wishlist, and wants a move to the Premier League, but Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says his club would welcome him with open arms if he chooses to move from Bordeaux.

Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilanihas been told by his club to get set to head to Liverpool, surely this means that Xabi Alonso is finally on his way to Madrid!

Wigan have rejected a £6m offer for combative midfielder Lee Cattermole from Sunderland. Cattermole put in some impressive performances in this year's European U-21 Championships.

Arsenal winger Samir Nasri has fractured his right fibula in training during their preseason tour of Austria - it is projected that he will be out for 3 months. Could this force Arsene Wenger to sign reinforcements before the transfer window closes? (read more)

Chelsea youth star Frank Nouble has reportedly rejected professional terms at Stamford Bridge and looks set to head to West Ham United where he would probably get a taste of first team football this season. Arsenal too seem to be interested in the youngster, but seem unlikely to be able to offer him as much playing time for a couple of years atleast.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaaris making Stuttgart and Tottenham wait as his agent is in talks with Chelsea to see if the Blues wish to join in the race for the Dutch hitman.

Marouane Chamakh is disappointed that Arsene Wenger's interest in him has cooled, but a possible move to London still seems on, with Tottenham and Fulham showing interest in the Bordeaux striker. Wenger meanwhile appears exited about renewing his interest in Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins, with the Nigerian international reportedly available as a bargain buy as relegated Newcastle attempt to reduce their wage bill.

And Tottenham continues to be in the news with their eyes still firmly set of former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira, despite the French international saying that he will speak to Jose Mourinho about the possibility of spending another season at Inter Milan.

Aston Villa have reportedy joined Inter Milan in the race to sign Tottenham midfielder Jermaine Jenas. The hard-working midfielder appears to be available for a fee in the range of £10 million.

Brazilian midfielder Elano could be headed away from Man City, with the Skyblues boss looking to offload Elano to FC Koln.

Joleon Lescotthas finally spoken out about being courted by Man City. He wishes to hold talks with the team, despite manager David Moyes' statement that he has no intention of selling the 26-year old defender .

Portuguese international Maniche has signed for German club Cologne on a free transfer. Maniche caught the international eye in 2004, helping FC Porto to the Champions League crown.

Hull to discuss terms with Fulham striker Bobby Zamora today. Fulham meanwhile had another bid for West Brom midfielder Johnathon Greening rejected.

 

Monday, 20th July:

Manchester City are ready to step up their chase for Chelsea and England captain John Terry by offering a whopping £40 million for the defender. They are also believed to be ready to offer half that amount to Everton for Joleon Lescott.

Bolton look set to add South Korean winger Lee Chung-yong to their line up, having agreed on a £2.1million deal with FC Seoul. Personal terms are still to be worked out. Apart from adding a natural right winger to their squad, Lee will also help boost the club's image in Asia.

Reports have surfaced that Tottenham have stolen the two Kyle's - Naughton and Walker from right under the nose of a miffed David Moyes. On adding two more full-backs to his burgeoning backline, Redknapp has also decided to let one go, as talented youngster Chris Gunter looks set to complete his move to Nottingham Forest.

Fiorentina have been linked with former Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes. The 33-year old's contract with Valencia expired this month. Fiorentina have also been linked with Brazilian midfielder Edinho as a possible direct replacement for Felipe Melo.

Former Wigan striker Amr Zaki is unlikely to find any suitors in England after his rampant absenteeism at the end of last season, and looks all set to spend a season back home in Egypt,

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar appears to have become the favourite transfer subject of the season, with any club worth their salt being linked with the young Dutchman. The latest being AS Roma and Tottenham Hotspur.

After failing to take Gareth Barry away from the clutches of Martin O'Neill, Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez seems intent to start another sign me saga with Aston Villa's winger Ashley Young.

Sunday, 19th July:

After having a successful trial with the Blackburn Rovers, ex-Inter talisman Christian Vieri is set to turn down a contract offer. If reports are to be believed, the ex-Italian international has decided that this move was not 'in the cards' as he changes his profession from soccer to poker!

Aston Villa are looking towards the future while lining up a bid for 20-year-old Welsh midfielder, Andy King currently plying his trade with League One outfit Leicester City.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have joined Fulham, Wigan, Blackburn and Sunderland in the race to sign Red Bull Salzburg hitman, Marc Janko. The 26-year-old Austrian international scored an impressive 39 goals and assisted on 9 others in 34 games last season as RB Salzburg won the Austrian league.

Bayern Munich have threatened to report Real Madrid to FIFA over their public chase of Franck Ribery, but one doubts what will be achieved by doing so. Manchester United did the same last season to no effect, and Bayern shouldn't be surprised if Sepp Blatter has a Galacticos jersey tucked away somewhere in his closet.

Manchester 'we will not sign more players' United are reportedly monitoring the David Villa situation very closely, and might be tempted into making a bid for the Valencia hitman.

Bolton and Portsmouth are both reportedly interested in Wales international full-back Sam Ricketts. However, it seems highly unlikely that Phil Brown will want to part with the talented defender who is capable of filling in at both left and right back. Ricketts is a first team regular at Hull, and despite having cover in Andy Dawson and Bernard Mendy, Hull are likely to not let Ricketts go easily.

Stoke City have been linked with former Newcastle reject Tresor Lomano Lua Lua, who currently plies his trade in Qatar. Tony Pulis believes Lua Lua would be the ideal partner for target man James Beattie.

"I dream of David" is the new theme song of Carlo Ancelloti, with the former Milan manager hoping to bring his former on-loan midfielder over to Chelsea. Beckham has received the hint, and responded in true 'come and get me fashion' by proclaiming that Ancelloti's the man to end Chelsea's title drought.

With the front line s all but secure following the captures of Santa Cruz, Tevez and Adebayor, Manchester "money bags" City have turned to defensive reinforcements. The latest player being linked to City is none other than Manchester United centre-back Nemanja Vidic. The Eastlands outfit are said to be preparing an offer of £30 million for the Serbian defender.

Hull City are set to offer Manchester City striker Benjani Mwaruwari an escape route from the Eastlands following their mass signings of strikers. Manager Phil Brown would like to take the Zimbabwe hitman on loan and offer him regular football at the Humberside club.

Saturday, 18th July:

Following the departure of Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, manager Arsene Wenger was quoted as saying, "We're not on the verge of signing anybody but I'm able to spend the money if we find the right players". Arsenal had been linked to Bordeaux’s Marouane Chamakh as a replacement for Adebayor.

Chelsea have remained relatively quiet on the transfer front so far but they are now being linked to Roma striker Mirko Vucinic. Rumblings from around Trigoria suggest that either Vucinic or Aquilani could be sold to balance the books. This has alerted Premier giants Chelsea who have prepared a €25 million bid for Vucinic.

The Eto'o - Ibrahimovich swap deal is done. Now, it is up to the players to agree on personal terms. On that note, Eto'o is demanding €10m-per-season in wages from Inter.

Real Madrid are trying their best to ensure Xabi Alonso doesn't join Liverpool for their pre-season tour of Asia. Real need to cough up at least £30 million, which probably means they would have to sell first. Wesley Sneijder's name in a player-plus-cash deal has popped up, but one presumes Rafa Benitez would want at least enough money to sign David Silva from Valencia.

Wigan are planning a swoop for England Under-19 international, Victor Mosesof Crystal Palace. The 18-year-old can play either as a striker, or as a winger. With teams like Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham also lining up for his services it'll be interesting to see if Wigan manager Roberto Martinez can convince him to move to the Latics.

After being rejected by several players, Hull have turned their attention to Newcastle's Joey Barton. The 26-year-old midfielder has made headlines for all the wrong reasons over the last couple seasons but there is no doubt he will be an upgrade for the Tigers midfield.

Aston Villa have made one final bid for Leeds starlet Fabian Delph. Apparently Villa have had several offers refused and manager Martin O'Neill has decided that the player is not worth more than £4 million plus add-ons.

After already signing Santa Cruz and Tevez earlier in the transfer window, City are now being linked to Atletico Madrid striker, Diego Forlan. The Eastlands outfit are willing to exercise his €36 million release clause in case Adebayor's transfer falls through. Perhaps someone failed to mention to Mark Hughes that he shouldn't field 11 strikers on the team!

Liverpool have found a replacement should Xabi Alonso decide to leave for Spanish giants Real Madrid. Italian side Roma are willing to sell Alberto Aquilani to Liverpool for around €30 million.

Earning the risk of being labelled one of the greediest footballers in recent times, Emmanuel Adebayor has got engrossed in the middle of a money battle. With Man City reportedly finally relenting to his £170,000 / week salary demands, the Togolese striker's agent reportedly called Chelsea and Manchester United and offered them an opportunity to highjack the transfer. On those overtures getting rejected Adebayor and his agent are now hounding Arsenal for a £2 million loyalty bonus for not requesting the transfer themselves! (some loyalty indeed)

Everton have turned down a £15 million offer for England international Joleon Lescottfrom Manchester City. City were apparently told not to make any offers as Everton's players were not for sale, but went ahead and made it anyway, probably to ensure that Lescott is aware that they are serious about signing him.

Chelsea meanwhile have also made their intention to not sell John Terry abundantly clear to Man City.

Over in Barcelona, President Joan Laporta claims that the Eto'o - Ibrahimovicswap is as good as sealed. The incredibly expensive Sweidsh striker will cost Barca their top goal scorer, 40 million Euros and the services of rarely-used midfielder Alexander Hleb.

Friday, 17th July:

Blackburn Rovers are hoping to sign former Inter hitman Christian Vieri after his successful trial at Ewood Park earlier this week. Vieri is hoping to break into Marcelo Lippi's 2010 World Cup squad.

Arsenal are once again being linked to Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland. It is believed that manager Arsene Wenger will try to tempt the Cottagers with £10 million bid plus Swiss international Senderos.

Add Demba Bato the growing list of possible replacements for Arsenal striker Adebayor which already includes Huntelaar, Pandev and Chamakh. The 24-year-old Senegalese striker scored 14 goals in his maiden season in the Bundesliga for newbies Hoffenheim.

Manchester United have signed Senegalese striker Diouf(don't worry, not the ex-Liverpool one named Elhadji). Mame Biram Diouf plays for Norwegian side Molde FK. Ferguson said he wasn't expecting to do any business after signing Obertan, and was looking to buy Diouf later on, but his impressive tally of 17 goals in 21 games attracted attention from other clubs and United had to sign him now. Meanwhile, Angolese striker Manucho has been sold to Real Valladolid for an undisclosed amount.

Reports in the press indicate that the Eto'o + cash for Ibrahimovich deal is all but done, and Barcelona have thrown in a year of Hleb on loan to Inter to sweeten the deal.

Arsenal have reportedly renewed interest in Arsene Wenger's favourite summer transfer subject Lazio's Goran Pandev. Pandev has been linked with the Gunners since 2006, and chances of a move to the Emirates have increased significantly with Pandev supposedly having handed in a transfer request.

Leeds 17-year old midfielder Fabian Delphis the hottest young property in England at the moment with almost all of the 'second-rung' clubs being linked with the England Under-21 star. Tottenham, Aston Villa, Everton and Fulham are all in the hunt for his signature.

Chelsea meanwhile are in the hunt for Roma striker Mirko Vucinic. Vucinic has however come out in the press and indicated that he is not interested in leaving Roma, and has publicly laughed off speculation that linked him to Tottenham, saying that the club was beneath his level.

21-year old Senegalese striker Mame Biram Diouf is heading to Manchester for a medical, but will spend the first half of his season at Molde (his current club) before joining Manchester United in the January transfer window.

Inter Milan's Brazilian left-back is in Barcelona today for his medical examination. He is expected to complete the move to the Camp Nou this weekend.

Ashley Young has rejected the overtures of Chelsea, and has instead sent out feelers to Manchester United that he would be interested in signing for the Premier League champions. Speculation is rife about Young's future ever since Villa were linked with another left-winger Stewart Downing, who just yesterday completed his move to Villa Park. Villa boss Martin O'Neill continues to deny the rumours, insisting that Young will be a Villa player for a while.

Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh says he would love to work with Arsene Wenger after being linked as a replacement for the soon to be departing Emmanuel Adebayor (who wouldn't!)

 

Thursday, 16th July:

West Ham United are trying to convince Inter winger Mancini to join them on loan. United striker Dean Ashton seems to be exiting the club as he didn't accompany the Hammers on their preseason tour. Manager Gianfranco Zola is keen to strengthen his striking options as besides Ashton, Carlton Cole seems to be the only other recognized striker in their ranks. West Ham have also been linked to Icelandic international Eidur Gudjohnsen who is deemed surplus to requirements at Barcelona.

David Moyes' earlier declaration that Joleon Lescott was not available at any price seems not to have deterred Manchester "money bags" City's philosophy of "every player has a price". The Eastland outfit have tabled a £15 million bid for the defender having already prepared a £20 million bid in case the previous offer is rejected.

After Barcelona's failure to capture David Villa from Valencia it appears that Joan Laporta has stepped up his interest in Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovich. Inter president, Massimo Moratti has admitted that a swap deal is in the works that would see Samuel Eto'o, Aliaksandr Hleb and cash heading to them in exchange for the Swedish striker.

Valencia have rejected another bid from Barcelona for their star striker David Villa. It is believed that Barcelona president, Joan Laporta offered €42m with the player himself offering a further €7m to meet Valencia valuation.

The Daily Mail believes Tottenham are closing in on signing Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo. The deal, reported to be in the region of £13 million, is expected to be completed by this weekend and would be great business for the big spending Spanish giants. Negredo was sold to two summers back, but Real bought him back this summer using a £4.3 million buy-back clause.

Liverpool are reportedly interested in Ritchie Kitoko, a Congolese defensive midfielder who plies his trade with Spanish Segunda Division side Albacete. He also holds a Belgian passport, which would make him eligible to play for Rafa Benitez's side minus any work permit issues.

Peter Crouch may have someone to look up to next season, and we mean it literally. Blackburn are chasing Valencia's Serbian forward Nikola Zigic who stands at 6' 8".

The claims made by newspapers that Manchester United could still sign more players apparently stems from Chief Executive David Gill saying something about player activity. But does't player activity also mean departures, loans, contracts, etc? Pretty flimsy statement to make such a story out of.

Aston Villa have completed the transfer of Stewart Downing from Boro. And rumour has it that Ashley Young will be allowed to leave if a substantial bid comes in - but only in January because Downing will be out till October due to injury.

Inter Milan have signed Brazil captain Lucio on a 3-year contract from Bayern Munich. Lucio is Inter's third signing of the summer following Argentine striker Diego Milito and another Brazilian Thiago Motta. The signing of a world-class central defender significantly lessens the chance of Inter now signing Chelsea's Portuguese star Ricardo Carvalho.

Emmanuel Adebayor's move to Manchester City is apparently stalled over his £170,000 per week salary demand. City are playing hardball on realising that they are the only bidders, and the striker's agent offered their cross-town rivals Manchester United the chance to sign him instead. Does he realy expect United to pay someone who considers himself to be the next Thierry Henry just because he had one good season, that ludicrous a sum?

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has dismissed claims that Hull has reached an agreement with his club for the transfer of striker Bobby Zamora.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is trying his best to sign England U-21 midfielder Lee Cattermole.

Manchester United Chief Executive David Gill has confirmed the almost-obvious: United could still sign more players this summer despite manager Sir Alex Ferguson having said that he's made all the signings he wanted to.

 

Wednesday, July 15:

Jason Scotland is one step closer to becoming Wigan's third signing after Swansea City agreed on a fee for the Trinidad & Tobago international striker.

Rangers have accepted Birmingham City's big for Barry Ferguson. The Scottish international would have to take a pay-cut to move to England.

As Adebayor's transfer inches closer to completion, the Togolese striker is apparently having second thoughts regarding his move. He has asked Manchester City for a few days while he consults his family and friends.

Everton have joined the race to sign defender Marc Torrejon of Espanyol who has also attracted the attention of Spanish clubs Real Mallorca and Zaragoza. It remains to be seen whether Torrejon would leave Spain for England. The Toffees are also being linked to Kyle Naughton of Sheffield United.

The player exodus continues in Portsmouth as they have accepted a £12 million bid for Peter Crouch from Sunderland. If this deal goes through, he will be the 10th player to leave Pompey this summer.

The Daily Mail have an Arsenal-centric Insider column guessing who would replace Adebayor. Names mentioned: Maroune Chamakh from Bordeaux, Newcastle's Obafemi Martins, Bundesliga's top scorer last season Edin Dzeko, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Demba Ba from Hoffenheim. The Chamakh deal could be scuppered because Bordeaux want Mikael Silvestre as part of the deal, a request turned down by Arsene Wenger.

Tottenham Hotspur are still chasing Real Madrid's Dutch winger Arjen Robben, despite his insistence that he wants to stay at the Bernabeu.

Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon insists captain John Terry is not for sale. As if Mark Hughes cares if he's for sale.

It seems that Emmanuel Adebayor is on the brink of joining Manchester City as he has received a new work permit, completed a medical and personal terms have been agreed to as well. Manager Mark Hughes confirmed they are in discussions with Arsenal but did not elaborate. He also said that he expects John Terry to get a new lease of life if he were to move to City.

The Telegraph mentions that Rafa Benitez has put a £30 million price-tag on Xabi Alonso, and has told Javier Mascherano that he has no chance of leaving for Barcelona. They also believe David Silva will be signed using all that moolah.

Craig Bellamy is reportedly ready to pack his bags again, and could be heading to Sunderland as Manchester City have finally realised that they can do without a striker or two from their line-up. By the way, the club he moves to will be the ninth he's played for in his career (barring a return to the previous seven).

Valencia have set a price tag of €50 million on star-striker David VIlla, so unless they decide to place him along with their jerseys and other merchandise during some seasonal sale, it's safe to say he'll be staying put.

Fulham have confirmed on their website that they have agreed to a fee of £5 million for the sale of Bobby Zamora to Hull City. (Former Fulham star Jimmy Bullard has been raving about the striker for a while to Hull boss Phil Brown)

Aston Villa and Middlesbrough have reportedly agreed on a £12 million transfer price for talented left-winger Stewart Downing. They are also tracking Sanli Tuncay, for who Boro are demanding £8 million.

Porto have completed the signing of 23-year old River Plate striker Radamel Falcao in one of those bizzare part-ownership deals.

Burnley have signed Manchester United reserves defender Richard Eckersley. The fee will be settled later by a tribunal as the player was out of contract, but is just 20-years old and a product of the Manchester United youth system (read more).

Fulham and Portsmouth have both been linked to South African Kagiso Dikgacoi, with Craven Cottage seemingly leading the race for the 24-year old midfielder.

Peter Crouch looks likely to complete a transfer to Sunderland this week. Sunderland have reportedly tabled a bid of £12 million for the striker.

Beware the man with many suitors - Sheffield United's 20-year old right back Kyle Naughton reportedly has Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa amongst his many admirers.

Tuesday, July 14:

Wigan Athletic are being linked to Algerian international centre-back Madjid Bougherra, who is currently plying his trade with Rangers.

Everton are looking to add Benfica's influential midfielder Hassan Yebda in an effort to strengthen their midfield options.

Manchester City's money bags seem limitless - Chelsea & England captain, John Terry is the next on their shopping list. Manager Mark Hughes was quoted as saying, "We've made an offer t o Chelsea and I've made my feelings known in terms of my respect for John Terry".

Birmingham City's boss Alex McLeish is close to signing Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson whom he also coached when in charge of the Scottish national team. Ferguson would add some steel to City's midfield.

Arsenal fans look away. Felipe Melo was in Turin on Monday, and is expected to complete his transfer to Juventus today.

David Beckham has said he is open to a move to England if that boosted his chance to play in the 2010 World Cup.

Aston Villa are hoping to complete a double swoop of Darren Bent and Stewart Downing this week for £24 million. Would that money come from the sale of Ashley Young?

Rafa Benitez has reportedly told Xabi Alonso to hand in a transfer request if he wants to leave Liverpool. Real Madrid have been pursuing the midfielder for quite some time, and even Manchester City seem to be interested. However I wonder how Alonso would feel playing alongside Gareth Barry who was supposed to be replacing him at Anfield last season.

The Daily Mail reports Manchester City have reached an agreement with Arsenal to sign Adebayor for £25 million. If the deal goes through prior to any sales from City, they would have seven recognised strikers on their payroll. Has Mr. Tevez's pay been increased 75% to just change the seats he sits on the bench?

Carlos Tevez has officially joined Manchester City, and will wear the No. 32 jersey, the same number he wore at United. The Argentinian wasted no time in slamming his former boss Sir Alex Ferguson that he never called or texted him. I wonder why Fergie would want to if he's going to meet him day-in day-out at training anyway?

Hull City have reportedly agreed a fee with Sunderland for Republic of Ireland striker Daryl Murphy, and are also hot on the trails of Cardiff City duo Joe Ledley and Ross McCormack. (I wonder if Phil Brown thinks these players will keep his side in the Premiership for another season?)

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is trying to sign former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira. The free-agent has reportedly turned down a move to Birmingham and PSG in the hope of returning to London instead. (One of the authors of this segment, an Arsenal fan for life, promises to eat his shorts and put up the video on Youtube if this deal comes through).

 

File Photograph Copyright: Mauro