Liverpool net a Finance Package

Liverpool's financial troubles appear to be over - first Gillett sold up his NFL team, and then the new Chief-Exec managed to renegotiate their £400m debt with RBS to ensure the club can continue to spend lavishly! £17.5m has just been added to the pile of IOUs, with Portsmouth full-back Glen Johnson joining the club.

Man City's Carlos Tevez deal may hit a snag or two along the way before its completion, with the Premier League scrutinising the deal at each and every step to ensure Carlos becomes a player of the club, and is no longer owned by a less-than-transparent third-party. The new strike force of Craig Bellamy, Robinho, Santa Cruz and Tevez isn't exactly terrifying, but it should do well enough to scare the Big Four into making more acquisitions.

An as-yet-unnamed team has supposedly been taken over by some more Arabs from the UAE, in a deal unconnected to the people in charge of City, with a 'Premiership club' already having signed the paperwork to transfer ownership. Portsmouth are rumoured to be the club, but have denied the claims.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has urged his Dutch team-mates at Real to find a way out, and a new club, ahead of the World Cup 2010. He wants everyone to be fighting fit. With the arrivals of big-money signings Ronaldo and Kaka, the Dutch contingent are available at bargain prices.

The TV rights for the Premier League games lost by Setanta have already been snapped up at a knock down price, with US TV giants ESPN landing the rights to the Monday and Saturday night games packages for some £40m less than Setanta paid for them. The SPL has now followed suit by re-claiming the rights back off Setanta, who will struggle without the football to bring in viewers.

City start Spending

Manchester City have got their summer spending into full swing, with the club looking to finalise the £15m transfer of Roque Santa Cruz in the next day or so (he is in for a medical right now) as well as dot the i's and cross the t's on the new £25.5m contract with Carlos Tevez.

Chelsea seem to be missing out on big player after big player, with a late bid for Kaka turned dwon, and Tevez now opting to stay in Manchester. Ricardo Carvalho and deco have already said that they wantto join Mourinho at Inter Milan, and another of Chelsea's key men from last season, Didier Drogba, has reportedly been on the phone to Jose too. Things aren't looking so rosy at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal completed the £10m signing of intelligent Ajax captain Thomas Vermaelen. The talented centre-back should shore up the centre of the pitch for Arsenal, behind Cesc Fabregas, and is another canny purchase by Arsene Wenger.

Manchester United, having lost both Tevez and Ronaldo, are set to splurgetheircash on Karim Benzema and Luis Valencia, with Brazilian wonderkid Douglas Costa thrown in for good measure. Zoran Tosic, the Serbian brought in to play on the wing in January, has revealed that they all knew Ronaldo would be leaving this summer - even before the Champions League Final loss to Barcelona. Tosic hopes to stake his claim for the vacancy in the pre-season.

Liverpool's woes off-the-field, with the Americans Gillett and Hicks, seem to have taken a turn for the better, with Gllett selling his stake in his NHL team.

England steal the back-pages

Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land! The papers have gone mad on the national side's 6-0 demolition of Andorra!

England are now on course to WIN the World Cup (according to the red-tops anyway!) - somehow the boys managed to prove they could go all the way last night, in spite of the fact that the team they faced is semi-professional, based in the mountains (not many pitches!) and is formed of post-men, shop workers and a factory engineer or two. I wonder what the papers will say if England actually beat someone worth beating?!

Arsene Wenger probably won't have been too happy that youngster Theo Walcott played the entire match - not least with him now jetting off to the U-21 Championships. Wenger had tried to persuade Theo to drop out of the youth tournament, but having spent 4months on the sidelines earlier this season the young winger didn't see the point in missing out. He has just two weeks off between the tournament ending and Arsenal's pre-season training starting, so maybe Arsene has a point?!

Roberto Martinez is set to finally be unveiled at Wigan later today, whilst West Brom fans have begun an online petition in the hope it will convince their boss Tony Mowbray (who has got the club relegated twice!) not to jump ship for Celtic. Not sure it'll help...

The exodus of talent from Newcastle and Middlesbrough has yet to happen, which has prompted Tuncay Sanli to make sure everyone knows that he wants to play at the highest level. His intricate passing game perhaps isn't suited to the blood and guts of the Championship, but Boro fans won't appreciate his sentiments.

The confusion remains at Newcastle, who have yet to sort out their owner, manager or any of their players! The foreign legion of Xisco, Gutierrez, Coloccini, Bassong and so many others are all lining themselves up for a move away from the club, but have been forced to wait whilst Mike Ashley gets his finances in order.

No Real Football News!

It’s a bit of a rest day in the press following the big money deal of Kaka, who was signed and sealed yesterday. Whilst Madrid's Florentino has gone on record as saying that they will do anything and everything they can to get Cristiano Ronaldo's signature, there won't be any movement on that transfer until later in the summer.

Barcelona are staying 'calm' amidst Real Madrid's spending - but that’s probably only because they are signing Serie A's best player Zlatan Ibrahimovich in return for Samuel Eto'o and £10m. A good deal for all concerned, but it won't be confirmed until June 30th according to Italy's Gazzetta newspaper.

With the big deals on hold for the time being, its time for the smaller moves to take some of the limelight - apart from there aren't many of them either!? Welsh international Carl Fletcher is set to sign for Plymouth, and the wonderfully named Prince Tagoe (Ghanaian international) will sign for Hoffenheim, but they're not really the stories the press likes to cover!

The managerial merry-go-round continue, with Felipe Scolari now a manager in Uzbekistan, Tony Mowbray set for talks with Celtic, and Martinez confirmed at Wigan.

Setanta Sports' impending collapse will leave many Scottish Premier League and English Championship clubs struggling for cash, which makes signing players on free transfers and loans all the more important.

Kaka finally signs and other news

Kaka has signed for Real Madrid. He passed his medical yesterday, with Real Madrid staff flown over to a Brazilian clinic to complete the procedure ahead of him being announced as the world's most expensive footballer. Having cost £56m, he smashes the last record (set by Zidane at £47m), and must be expected to bring real success to the Madrilenos. His transfer has a knock-on effect, with AC Milan now cash-rich to start buying players again (such as Edin Dzeko, who has taken Germany by storm this season) as well as pushing their rivals to get their signings done.

One side of Manchester will be happy come Thursday, with Carlos Tevez set to make a straight choice between the established power of United and the billion-dollar funded ambition on show at City. United have agreed terms with his agent, Kia Jaroobchian, but Tevez is unhappy that its taken so long for the Reds to clinch the deal, and doesn't feel wanted. In contrast, City are willing to smash their wage-structure (is there one?) to get the Argentine, as well as making him their star player. The deal will be done as soon as his international duties have finished.

Michael Owen is the talk of the tabloids once more n the run-up to an England game, but sadly it’s only for transfer reasons this time. The out-of-contract once-great striker has been linked with both Everton and Aston Villa (Martin O'Neill this morning distanced himself from the rumours), although there is still a chance that Owen will end up in Italy at Roma.

Arsenal are close to agreeing a deal for Ajax's 23 year old captain Thomas Vermaelen, who may or may not be joined in the centre of defence by Brede Hangeland - any deal would have to smash Fulham's £12.8m transfer record.

Mike Ashley isn't having much luck in his quest to sell Newcastle United. Having slashed the price of the club to just £100m to aid his deteriorating retail empire, he has started accepting offers via email. Needless to say, he has been offered £10, a curly wurly, and even a pair of Oasis tickets for the club!

England edge closer to South Africa 2010

England look to be all set for the World Cup already, with their win on Saturday leaving them just 4 points off qualification for next years South Africa Finals. Wayne Rooney was amongst the scorers in a 4-0 win over Kazakhstan, although not all players were receiving plaudits for the performance - Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson were both fairly laissez-faire in the defending and positioning, which earned them a telling off from manager Fabio Capello.

Portugal left it very late to secure their much-needed win over Albania - Cristiano Ronaldo captained the side, and it looked like it was heading for a draw (which would have killed Carlos Queiroz's qualification hopes) until Bruno Alves popped up in the 93rd minute to smash home. Lucky boys.

Ji Sung Park's South Korea became one of the first teams in the hat for the Finals next year with another convincing win.

On the transfer front, the big guns all appear to be for sale. Save for Lionel Messi, Rooney and Steven Gerrard, all the top players - Ibrahimovich, Eto'o, Ronaldo, Kaka, Tevez etc - are up for grabs. There is talk of Ibra and Eto'o swapping clubs, though that was before Manchester City have finalised what promises to be a massive contract offer for the Cameroonian.

Tevez's agent Kia Jaroobchian has previously mentioned a June 10th deadline for his client, who will have finished football for the summer by that point, and will be looking to have his club tied up so he can properly relax without worrying about passing the medical!

The managerial merry-go-round is still underway, with Martinez expected to be confirmed at Wigan later today, Mowbray moving to Celtic, Darren Ferguson heading to West Brom, etc, etc. Look out for Gordon Strachan, who has been tipped to take on the Portsmouth role.

Ronaldo nets pay-out

Cristiano Ronaldo looks set to have a lucrative summer ahead of him amid news that he actually does have a secret contract! Speaking on Spanish radio, one of the Real Madrid directors admitted that the contract does exist, and will see Cristiano take home a massive pay-out whether he moves to Real or not.

One of the contract’s penalty clauses states that Manchester United's Ronaldo will receive around 30 millions euros if Real Madrid do not come in for him in the summer – making him a whole lot richer! On the other hand, if the transfer goes through and he ends up in Madrid, he will pocket a healthy signing-on fee as well as seeing his wages DOUBLED (and he gets to play for his ‘dream club’.)

One club that might be short of cash this transfer window is Liverpool – after they announced a massive £42m operating loss – much of it caused by the £21m in interest payments that the American owners forced onto the club. Rumours that Rafa Benitez would be adding to the Spanish contingent may well prove wide of the mark, with winger David Silva currently in talks with both Barca and Real, and striker David Villa expected to cost a lot of money!

Manchester City are still dreaming of a strike-partnership of Samuel Eto’o and Carlos Tevez, whilst their central midfield may be boosted by Xabi Alonso.

Chelsea have yet to start their spending spree, and are intent instead on securing the futures of their best players. Ashley Cole will be the first to sign on the dotted line, with Frank Lampard and John Terry set to follow suit to ensure that the Stamford Bridge side retain an element of Englishness.

With Bruce installed at Sunderland, and given a £60m kitty to spend, he’ll return to his former club to take Lee Cattermole to the Stadium of Light, before heading to the Spurs bargain bin and picking up Darren Bent. Tom Huddlestone and David Bentley will be out of the door to Aston Villa, whilst Harry Redknapp will also sanction the sale of Didier Zokora to Villareal.

Chelsea give up on Kaka

Another day, another truckload of transfer rumours, which is no surprise really given that there is no actual football to fill the back-pages of the papers with.

The Kaka saga looks like being concluded after AC Milan supremo Galliani admitted that they could not afford to pass up the offer of £70m for one player – and has already talked up a fresh start built around youngster Pato. Ancelotti has supposedly given up on signing the Brazilian for Chelsea, so will use his money on Franck Ribery and Valencia’s David Villa.

With Manchester City making a move for Samuel Eto’o, Ibrahimovich could be brought in by Barcelona to paper over the cracks. Eto’o is needed because Chelsea’s first signing this season is set to be out-of-contract City striker Daniel Sturridge, who is set to take home upto £50,000 a week in spite of having made only a handful of appearances in the Premier League.

Chelsea also want to sign old-boy Glen Johnson, possibly for as much as £17m, topping the £11m they paid West Ham for him when he was just a promising youngster. It seems that they have given up on Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor though, with the Togo international moving through the revolving door at AC’s Milanello.

Relegated Middlesbrough could be playing next season without Tuncay Sanli, with Rafa Benitez interested in ‘the next Yossi Benayoun’. The Reds have also been linked with Kevin Nolan, whose Scouse roots and hard-working approach could make him a useful understudy to Javier Mascherano.

Manchester United have decided that Fraizer Campbell and Danny Simpson are surplus to requirements, with both transfer listed.

Team-mate Michael Carrick appears to have jeopardised his international future by not telling the England set-up that he was unlikely to be able to play in the upcoming international rounds – there is no doubt he is injured, but he should have told Fabio Capello well before the Friday call-up deadline. Carrick looks to be recovering sooner than Owen Hargreaves, who is still unlikely to be ready for the new season in spite of spending the whole of the last campaign in plaster on the sidelines. Hargo has vowed to play again, but his career could yet be cut short.

Kaka, Barry + other news

Kaka looks like he is on his way to Real Madrid! In perhaps one of the greatest returns ever seen in football, Florentino Perez, taking over as President once more, has managed to add Kaka to his list of captured Galacticos - this is the man who also broke the transfer records (and probably rules!) to sign Figo, Zidane, Beckham and Ronaldo! A reported fee of £65m will make the Brazilian trequartista the most valuable player in history, and may well call a halt to any chasing of Cristiano Ronaldo.

There is a chance that both Manchester City and Chelsea could steal in with a last-gasp bid, but neither club has the romance or history that the Madrid club offers. The move should trigger big moves in Serie A, with AC Milan looking to spend the money wisely to create a more youthful team. Robinho (unhappy at City), Nani and Anderson have all been linked to the Milan side.

Manchester United can be safe in the knowledge that Ji Sung Park and Nemanja Vidic are staying - both have come out in the Press to let the fans know - though it looks like Fraizer Campbell may be off to Hull City after a less-than-successful stint at Spurs. Having been knocked down the pecking order by the arrival of Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda, Campbell may be returning to the Tigers, where he enjoyed a great season two seasons ago, leading them to promotion.

Barcelona look set to add to their world conquering team with Cesc Fabregas soon set to trade passes with Iniesta and Xavi in the centre-circle, and Zlatan Ibrahimovich adding some guile and zest to the front-line, in place of Thierry Henry.

Daniel Sturridge is now out of contract at Manchester City, which has prompted them to try and secure the signature of Carlos Tevez before the week is out. Gareth Barry has already joined the club, in search of Champions League football, and a few more useful additions by Hughes should make next season very, very interesting.

Chelsea set for Busy Summer

He's only been in his job for one day, but if you listen to the newspapers, Carlo Ancelotti has managed to judge each and every Chelsea player's form and potential, decided who should go, and then decided who can stay and what is needed. Whilst he probably has some idea what is needed from watching the Blues on TV this season, the long list of ins and outs suggest he is an expert on all matters at Stamford Bridge within just 24 hours - even on Championship Manager it takes longer than that!

Out go Carvalho, Alex, Ferreira, Deco and Kalou, and in comes Pato, Glen Johnson (who used to be at the club), Kaka, Benzema, Pirlo and Xabi Alonso. Looks like the football agents will be having a credit crunch-busting summer.

One person who won't be leaving his football club this season is Manchester United's Barry Moorhouse. He hasn't played any minutes for the Reds (not even in the reserves) but has been deemed irreplaceable. Barry is the man who goes out and fixes any problems that the players may have, in his role as 'Player Liaison Manager'. His role includes changing light-bulbs, fixing rogue Jacuzzis, and so much more. Patrice Evra has no qualms with calling him at any time of day, and Barry is always available for whatever domestic emergency has occurred.

The Carlos Tevez saga continues to develop, with agent Kia Jaroobchian spotted in Milan to discuss terms with Inter's Moratti. United have been linked to a permanent move, and these talks may be to simply force United's hand. Reports suggest that David Gill (United's financial supremo) has been putting together a bid for the Argentinean, which will be submitted to Kia on Wednesday.

Newcastle United is set to be taken over by a group of Omani investors, which should give them the spending power to get out of the Championship at their first attempt. Michael Owen and Alan Shearer have decided that battling in the lower leagues is not for them, however, and will move on - Owen is tipped to lead Everton alongside fellow-crock Louis Saha next season, whilst Shearer may well be back on the MOTD sofa.

Ancelotti gives Chelsea edge on Kaka

Carlo Ancelotti has been confirmed as the manager of Chelsea! It's massive news, and not only will Chelsea get a four-times winner of the Champions League (twice as a player, twice as AC Milan's manager), they will also get a fantastic advantage in the Kaka auction, which is due to take place later this summer.

With Real Madrid's Florentino Perez already having name-checked Kaka as one of his future signings, Kaka looks like he will be on the move this summer. Change is afoot at AC, with manager and team-mates moving on, and Kaka will be sold to fund the freshening up of the squad. The question is whether Kaka will choose Real's unstable millions, or take a punt on a Chelsea side managed by the man who signed him from Brazil, gave him his first chance in European football, and has turned him into one of the best footballers in the world? Chelsea with Kaka and a few other attackers would be formidable.

Ancelotti's compatriot Roberto Mancini may well have touted himself for the Sunderland spot, but it looks like Wigan's Steve Bruce will be taking that hotseat. With £20m to spend, Bruce has a chance to build a team that can challenge for the top half of the table - with Lee Cattermole, Dean Ashton and Darren Bent linked to the Rokerites.

It may well be that Roberto Martinez, who used to play at the JJB stadium, will take over as Latics' next manager, but there are also noises linking the Spaniard to Celtic - arguably a much more attractive role, even if they are currently struggling to compete with Walter Smith's Rangers.

With the managerial merry-go-round just getting started, you would imagine that Sven Goran Eriksson will find a club in the Premier League, with Portsmouth looking the most likely option. That said, he has also been linked with the Real Madrid post, now that Perez is back in charge of the club, and could be the man to lead a new age of Galacticos, which may or may not include Cristiano Ronaldo, Antonio Valencia, and maybe even a certain world-beating Brazilian.