Video: The Goal That Ended United's Treble Bid

Manchester United fell at the one hurdle that they would have nightmares about falling at. They fell as their rivals, Manchester City rose to the occasion. United were missing their controversial talisman Wayne Rooney, and it showed. City were missing their injured striker Carlos Tevez, and very unusually, they seemed unaffected by his absence as they deployed their trouble making and arrogant. But it was Yaya Toure who got the all important goal to turn the tie in City's favour and drop United out of the FA Cup to end any hopes of a treble winning season.

Video: Dzeko Mocks Balotelli Bib Incident

Edin Dzeko did his best impression of fellow Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli in a warm up.

Balotelli had earlier made himself look a complete fool when he tried, and failed to put a training bib on, not once but twice. Both times, the Italian striker who had been followed by Manchester United before his move to City, needed help from one of the City staff.

Roberto Mancini has admitted that the striker was "stupid" after getting himself sent off for an astonishingly mindless chest high challenge in City's Europa League tie with Dynamo Kiev, leaving City with ten men and in an unfortunate position.

Jose Mourinho, who was manager of Inter Milan when Balotelli played there also isn't a big fan of Balotelli's temper. He said:

“The guy has incredible qualities, but sometimes does not know how to use his brain."

At the moment, Balotelli is a joke. He is an easy target for rival fans because of the cockiness he showed earlier in his City career, his apparent disloyalty to City, his often static performances and petulant behaviour on the pitch. It's fair to say, he is no role model.

But then, what he needs is a role model - someone to look up to and look after him - because there is no doubt that the guy has talent. It seems that the 20 year old is finally coming to recognise that too, because after his omission from the Italian squad picked by Cesare Prandelli for the upcoming internationals, he spoke to the Italy coach. Prandelli said:

"I have heard from Balotelli. He understands that he made a fool of himself.

"He said to me: 'I need help. I always ruin everything but I care a lot about the national team.'

The sooner Balotelli grows up and takes some responsibility, the better. He could become a great striker - a great player, but when you are as confident and cocky as he is, you need to have the goals and the quality to back it up. Much like Cristiano Ronaldo did in his time at Manchester United. He matured into one of the best players in the world, and it is this kind of player that Balotelli wants to be like.

Time to pull his socks up. Time to grow up.

Man United v Man City: Preview

Manchester United's unbeaten record may lay in tatters after the shock loss to Wolves last week, but they still have their unbeaten home record to cling hold of, not to mention being in pole position to win the Premier League title for a 19th time. They will host their fierce rivals Manchester City - a rivalry that has been burning ever more ferociously since the mass money injection that City have enjoyed, and their climb up the league table. United now recognise City as a threat. They don't like it.

A win for United will see them jump seven points clear at the top - a feat they could have achieved last week if it wasn't for Wolves, and if a win is achieved, it will strike another dent on City's hopes of winning their first League title in 43 years.

It has to be said, the omens look good for the men in red. City have won just one of their last 26 league visits to Old Trafford and have failed to score in four of their last five league encounters with their rivals. Consider then that United have the best home record by quite a distance this season, and the mountain that City have to climb is a daunting one.

City do have some of the statistics on their side however. As they travel to Old Trafford, they can remember that their away record is the second best in the League, having taken 22 points on the road behind Arsenals 25.

It must be emphasised though, that form counts for nothing in derby's. And in any case, whatever the form guide tells us about United this season, it can't hide the fact that the performances haven't been the strongest in some very lucky results.

Dimitar Berbatov, the Premier League top scorer is up against Carlos Tevez - a former United team mate, and current second in the top scorer list with 18 behind the Bulgarians 19. Both players will have their chances to build on those impressive tallies, and whats more, both could make themselves local heroes in what could be the game of the week-end.

Sir Alex Ferguson could be without Javier Hernandez due to fatigue after the Mexican had to travel across the world and back for his countries friendly against Bosnia in the week. The United manager will be without Ferdinand and Evans who have a calf and ankle problem respectively, so the youn Chris Smalling will partner Nemanja Vidic in the centre of defence.

City will definatley be without England starlets Adam Johnson and Micah Richards, while Mario Balotelli is doubtful with a problematic knee injury and Nigel De Jong is struggling with ankle trouble.


Football fans will be hoping that the drab 0 - 0 draw which was witnessed between these two sides earlier in the season will not be repeated, but perhaps the Man City manager Roberto Mancini might accept that result now.
There will be top quality on show on Saturday, and anything could happen. Both sides should be eager to win, and as long as they are not too cautious as was previously witnessed, it could be an entertaining and enjoyable match of football. Much depends on whether the impressively good United or the poor United show up.

Balotelli on the Insult Offensive again

Mario is at it again. Not a month has passed since the Manchester City striker claimed to be better than Cesc Fabregas and Wayne Rooney, that he didn't know who Jack Wilshere was and that Lionel Messi was only a "little" better than him, but now the 20 year-old has had more to say! Joy! This time his comments regard club rivals Manchester United and their striker Wayne Rooney, Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid, the lack of manners and respect that Jose Mourinho has (the irony!), and the way in which Rafael Benitez got rid of Balotelli from Inter.

Lets start with Rooney. He isn't having the best of seasons, I'm sure even he would admit that. He hasn't scored the goals he would have like, he hasn't had the perfect touch that he had previous to the World Cup, and he hasn't been passing it well enough (50% pass rate against Tottenham). Balotelli on the other hand, when he has played this season has looked impressive, scoring 5 goals in 9 appearances for City, and there is somone who has noticed this.

"He [Rooney] is a very good player but not the best [striker] in Manchester"

From that quote, and from the fact that Balotelli is completely infatuated with himself, the only conclusion I can take is that he is saying that he is better than Rooney - he surely couldn't be praising another player, could he, like Carlos Tevez or even Dimitar Berbatov - joint top scorers this season. At the moment, you would have to agree, Rooney isn't the best striker in Manchester, he is far from it, but it is quite surprising that a player could be so confident (or perhaps cocky) to say such a thing.

Currently sidelined with a knee injury, Balotelli turned his head towards his, and two of his other team mates' brilliance. Claiming that him, Tevez and Dzeko are better than both Barcelona and Real Madrid's attack:

"Our attack of Balotelli-Tevez-Dzeko is the best in the world. We are the strongest. Better even than Barcelona and Real Madrid."

Next, the former Inter striker had a bit of advice for Jose Mourinho. Although calling him the "best manager in the world", Balotelli commented on a couple of things the current Real Madrid manager needs improving on. Two things that, personally, I don't think Balotelli is an expert on himself: manners and respect;

"[Mourinho] is the best coach in the world, but as a man he still has to learn manners and respect. [Mancini] is the most important coach I've ever had. He'll soon become the No1 in the world. But already now, in terms of human qualities, he is two kilometres ahead of Mourinho, wait, make that 10 kilometres."

He is obviously a big fan of Mancini - of course not as big a fan than he is of himself, but a fan nonetheless, and it is nice to see that Mancini is held in high regard by Balotelli, he does after all have to manage the player every day on the training field.
One manager he doesn't have this kind of respect for is Rafael Benitez. He was manager for Inter for a short period when Balotelli was in Milan:

 "He just told me: 'You come after Milito, Eto'o and Pandev, fourth-choice striker.' I said: 'That's it, ciao.'"

It can be nice to see strong headed, confident players expressing their views and then backing them up on the football pitch with outstanding shows of brilliance. However, it is not great when a player like Balotelli, seemingly arrogant, smug, egotistical, over confident, cocky, insulting and self adoring insults fellow professionals time after time. He is only 20 years-old, and immature, but there is no doubting his obvious talents. I just don't see why he has to continuously tell the world about it as well as being disrespectful when he can just show his qualities on the field.

"Balotelli will know who Jack Wilshere is After Tonight"

Arsenal play Manchester City tonight, as both teams chase Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table, and there will be one intriguing battle in particular on the field at The Emirates - between Jack Wilshere and Mario Balotelli.

Balotelli claimed to not know who Jack Wilshere was when receiving a prize for the best young player in Europe - with Wilshere in second place. On a social networking site, Wilshere commented:

"Balotelli will know who Jack Wilshere is After Tonight"

The post ended in "lol", so there is nothing bitter between them, and at the time of Balotelli's comment, Wilshere took no offence.
Both players are very talented, hence the reason they came first and second for the young European player, but I would much have the talented, hard working, technically gifted, young, clever Arsenal midfielder in my team over the egotistical, big-headed arrogance of Mario Balotelli - although he is a big talent.

It promises to be a good game tonight, and one that will play a big part in this tight title race.

IN REFLECTION:

Well, Balotelli didn't play, dispelling the whole purpose of this article. Why didn't he play? Because he is a striker, and Manchester City, against an attacking side like Arsenal simply defend. One up top in Tevez, and even he was taken off for a defender late on - disappointing performance from City.
Wilshere couldn't really make much of an impact, much like the majority of the Arsenal midfield, but he was cool on the ball, and passed the ball well.
Good night for Manchester United, as a 0 - 0 draw is all Arsenal and City could muster.

Who Is Mario Balotelli?

Well he's the name on everyones lips at the moment, he's a classic example of a "Marmite Player" you either love him or hate him, well at the moment for Balotelli there's a lot more hate than love at the moment. What has happened to the player who shone at the San Siro? I mean this kid was capable of some serious moments of genius, he looked like the future of Italian football...



In total he made 59 league appearances for Inter, scoring 20 goals and providing 10 for his team mates, for someone who made his debut at 18 this is a very impressive record. He reminds me of Andrei Shevchenko in his younger days at Dynamo Kyiv and more famously at AC Milan. Just like "Sheva" Balotelli has become a figure of ire due to his strange behaviour on and off the pitch, and even stranger dress sense...

Yes, before you ask that is a hat...

What Balotelli hasn't had is the chance to prove himself in the Premier League. So far he has had an inconsistent run in the first team due to injuries and suspension after his red card against West Brom. With any other foreign import in the Premier League they are given time to settle but Balotelli due to the medias dislike of him doesn't have this.

At the moment he hasn't shown his best side yet but neither have many Italian players from Serie A who've moved to England. These include Rolando Bianci, Alberto Aquilani, Massimo Taibi and Andrea Dossena but I think Balloteli is far more talented than these names. The thing with him is that he has the pace and power which is common in many African strikers e.g. Obafemi Martins, Aruna Dindane and Asamoah Gyan. What Balotelli also has is the technique, technique that he has learnt in the Italian youth system. Left foot, right foot, 6 yard box and outside the area it all seems the same for "Super Mario".



Yes he's moody and unpredictable and I don't want to sound psychologically analytical here but wouldn't you be? He has been racially abused since he started playing for the Inter first team and probably before. He clearly declares himself as Italian and has turned down the opportunity to play for Ghana the country of his biological parents birth and accepted an Italian name. But still a large group of Italian fans refuse to accept him, he has been through a match against Juventus, at the age of 18, with the crowd chanting about him dying and made his full debut for Italy with Italian fans abusing him. How many 19 year olds do you know would be able to cope with that?

He doesn't help himself with the comments he's made about fellow professional Jack Wilshire, he was quoted as saying “What's his name? Wil...? No, I just don't know him, but the next time I play against Arsenal I'll try to be careful. Maybe I could show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won.” I think if anything this arrogant streak could lead to his demise.

Mario Balotelli, The Good, The Bad And The Ugly...



After winning the Golden Boy Award he also went to comment on previous winners of the trophy saying, "There's only one that is a little stronger than me: Messi. All the others are behind me," The past winners of the award include Cesc Fabregas and Wayne Rooney. But how true is this? Lets have a look at Balotelli compared to the best players in the world...

Didier Drogba at 20
Le Mans - 32 games, 7 goals
Didier Drogba first season in the prem
41 games, 16 goals

Carlos Tevez at 20
Corinthians - 38 games, 25 goals
Carlos Tevez first season in the prem
29 games, 7 goals

Edin Dzeko at 20
Teplice - 30 games, 13 goals
Edin Dzeko first season in the Germany
33 games, 9 goals

Wayne Rooney at 20
United - 48 games, 19 goals

Lionel Messi at 20
Barca - 40 games, 16 goals

David Villa at 20
Sporting Gijon B - 35 games, 13 goals

Samuel Eto'o at 20
Mallorca - 40 games, 10 goals

Raul at 20
Real Madrid - 49 games, 15 goals

Mario Ballotelli so far at 20
City - 9 games, 5 goals

The stats do show that Balotelli does match up to some of the big names in football when he was their ages and to be honest I don't think Wilshire is even near his level in football if its based on talent and achievement. Remember Balotelli was part of a team which won the Champions League, Serie A and the Coppa Italia scoring some important goals on the way. Now after all the talking, the statistics and the criticism, lets see if you can get your mind right Mario and be super again...

Balotelli: I'm better than Fabregas & Rooney, and who is Wilshere?

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli claimed after winning an award naming him as the best European player under the age of 21, that he is better than Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas, Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, and has never even heard of the player voted in second place in the award, Jack Wilshere. He went on to say that Lionel Messi is the only previous winner of the award who is better than him - but only a "little" better.

In reference to 18 year-old Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, Balotelli said:

'What's his name? Wil...? No, I just don’t know him, but the next time I play against Arsenal I'll try to be careful. Maybe I could show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won."

He may be excused for this, as Wilshere has only recently broken through into the Arsenal first team - making a total of 16 league appearances for the Gunners. But he has been very impressive - justifying being voted second out of every European player under 21. However, for Balotelli to claim he is better than Fabregas and Rooney? Not so excusable.

Talking about the previous winners of the award - including Rooney and Fabregas, the Italian said:

'There's only one that is a little stronger than me: Messi. All the others behind me.

'I am delighted to receive the award, but who else would have won if not me? Two years ago I finished sixth and then fourth in 2009. Now it's my turn, no?

I think it would be very safe to say that Balotelli's ego is quite large, and he is certainly not short on self-confidence. He is full of the talk. But where is his proof to support his statements? He would have to go a long way in the next few years to prove that he is even in the same league as the players he has mentioned.

Rooney has won 3 Premier League titles, 2 League Cups and one Champions League trophy, as well as being awarded countless individual awards. While Fabregas was named club captain at 21, he went on to win both the UEFA European Championship in 2008, and the biggest prize in world football, the FIFA World Cup in 2010, both with his country, Spain. Both are considered very special players with superb ability and desire to help their team win trophies. The big headed Balotelli on the other hand seems to me as someone far more interested in making himself look good for his own personal gain.

Yes, he is a good player, and yes he probably did deserve the recognition and award, but he is such an arrogant, self-centred, egotistical person, its hard to have much respect for him, especially when he is putting fellow professionals down.

My Top 5 "Mental" Football Personalities...

People always say you have to have a screw loose somewhere if you want to be a goalkeeper. Well I'm going to have a look at some of the players who are slightly outside of the box called sanity. Every club has one, but I'm talking about those who've gained international recognition for their antics.

5. Ian Holloway



Well if you've seen that interview above you've had a brief insight of what type of character Ian Holloway is. I personally think he'll end up being the first man to write a book on analogies. Holloway has always been known for his quirky interviews, one of my favourites ones was when he explained how he was the man to be the Blackpool manager. He was quoted as saying "I love Blackpool. We're very similar. We both look better in the dark." I don't think there has been a better manager to watch in an interview since Brian Clough.

There are other times where in post match interviews he would explain his thoughts on the game in strange analogies, I'm not sure whether he practiced them the night before or if he made them up on the spot, either way they can only make you smile. After being questioned on Blackpools attacking brand of football in their first season in the Premier League he explained it by saying "If you're a burglar, it's no good poncing about outside somebody's house, looking good with your swag bag ready. Just get in there, burgle them and come out. I don't advocate that obviously, it's just an analogy."

I really hope that Blackpool stay up this season because this man is a major reason for you to stay up for Match Of The Day...

4. Raymond Domenech



Well what can we say about Raymond Domenech? He presided over the the embarrassing World Cup antics of the French National Team who were knocked out in the group stages. He also had a personal bust up with Nicolas Anelka during the tournament, but these aren't even the strangest events in his tenure as France Manager.

At the beginning of his reign he removed Robert Pires from the team. Pires was one of Frances finest players at the time and there were questions over the decision and what it was based on. He responded to the questions by saying "All parameters have to be considered [when selecting players] and I have added one by saying there is astrology involved". Basically it was revealed that the former Arsenal winger was dropped because he was a Scorpio... I let you figure that one out...

Even more ridiculous was his reaction after France were knocked out of Euro 2008. Instead of focusing on the game and his future when he was questioned on it in a post-match interview, he responded with "I have nothing to say about my job, but I will say that I want to marry Estelle." Now you tell me has there ever been anyone who's done anything like that? And you probably won't be surprised she said no...

On the footballing side of things before their World Cup play off against the Republic of Ireland. When he was talking about his opponents he described them as "a sort of England B side." I'm sure the Irish weren't to chuffed with that comparison. Anyway I think you get the point and I thinks that's enough of this strange gentleman.

3. Mario Balotelli

He's only new on the madness scene at the tender age of 20 but the Italian is as sublime as he his mental.



He started early with his antics, his parents were Ghanaian immigrants to Italy, and as a child Balotelli suffered from illness and the cramped lifestyle he was living didn't help him. His parents were advised by the Italian authorities to allow him to be fostered. Following this advise they did so and left him in the care of Francesco and Silvia Balotelli to ensure he is in a financially sound family who can ensure he gets the treatment he needed. His biological parents have tried to contact him and he branded them as "glory hunters" publicly and refuses to talk to them.

During his time with Inter he had many temper tantrums one of the most public ones was in a game against Palermo. Balotelli after a piece of sublime skill and power won a penalty, but after winning it he wanted to take it. Even when designated penalty taker positioned himself he refused to leave the penalty area until captain Javier Zanetti had to pull him away.



There was also the time when he was caught on camera wearing a AC Milan, I'm not to sure if Inter fans were too chuffed with that effort, to be honest I don't understand what possessed him to do something like that. The English equivalent would be Steven Gerrard being photographed in an Everton shirt...

Balotelli also had one of his tantrums after Inters famous Champions League victory over Barcelona at the San Siro, but this time their were consequences... Balotelli was going through what Carlo Ancelloti would call a "bad moment" with the Inter fans who decided to boo him through the match. In response to this Balotelli threw his shirt to the ground after the final whistle and gave a one finger salute to the Inter fans and walked off.

This wasn't the end of this, his colleague Marco Materazzi took exception to Balotellis behaviour and attacked him in the tunnel. A one Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave his eye witness account of the incident

"I saw that Materazzi was attacking him in the players’ tunnel and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ibrahimovic said. “If I were him, I’d have left Mario alone, but Materazzi was attacking him and I was stunned. If Materazzi had attacked me like that, I would’ve decked him in a second!" “Materazzi was causing all sorts of trouble and in the Barcelona locker room we were amazed, all talking about it. A player should be proud after a win, not chase down a 20-year-old to berate him.” Now I'm not advocating violence or saying that Materazzi is a shrinking violet but this was the kind of reaction Baloteli drew from his colleagues.

Materazzi opinion (not actions) were further repeated through other players and their manager at the time Jose Mourinho. Most notably was Dejan Stankovic turning down an opportunity to adopt Balotelli “He’s like a child. I’m a father of three kids and we can’t take him by the collar, too." Well that was it for "Super Mario" at Inter and he in the end left for Manchester City. Fresh start I hear you say? Well not with this man...

At Manchester City Ballotelli has made 8 appearances scored 5 goals and collected 3 yellow cards and one red. These stats just show the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Super Mario...

2. Paul Gascoigne



How can we not mention Gazza in this? He was is as loopy as they come. I mean he had is alcohol problems which I would like to make clear weren't laughing matters but there's a lot more to him than that. Well because there were so many, I'm not going to be able to go through all his moments of madness but I've just picked out a few of my favourites.

Let's start with his "hit single" Fog On The Tyne. I don't think we need to go into too much detail on that one, take a look yourself.



I hope that your mentally fit to carry on reading after that bit of artistic genius. Gascoigne was also the player who injured himself seriously tackling an opponent. It was the 1991 FA Cup Final and Gascoigne was in the Spurs line up against Nottingham Forest. Gascoigne was visibly pumped up for the game and in the first half he lunged into a tackle on Forest defender Gary Charles. He ended up rupturing his cruciate ligaments and was out for a year. He also went on to extend his return from injury by hurting his knee further in an incident at a Newcastle nightclub.

There was also an incident where Gazza as he is affectionately know was sited in a pub an hour after an England game, still wearing his full England kit, boots included... There was also the moment when he burped into the microphone of an Italian TV station, he was fined £39,000 for his antics on this occasion.

If I'm honest with you I could write a book in his antics never mind an blog, on second thoughts, Thats already been done with his autobiography...

His most recent stunt was to turn up at the scene of an armed stand off between armed police and Britains most wanted man at the time Raoul Moat. He claimed that he and Moat had been good friends and that he could assist in the situation, he also brought a can of lager and some chicken for the fugitive. Police quickly found out that there was not connection between the men and escorted him away from the scene.


1. Rene "El Loco" Higuita

Come on, he's got to be number one, his middle name is "the crazy one", if your labeled crazy in Colombia it's got to count for something doesn't it? Now this guy would make the head of the goalkeepers union cringe with some of the stunts he pulled off in important games.

An example of Higuitas on pitch craziness was in Italia 90. Colombia were 1-0 down in extra time and trying to get back into the game. Then Higuita came out to pick up the ball. He received a pass from his defender and instead of clearing it he tried to take Cameroonian striker Roger Milla on and you guessed it Milla stole the ball of him and scored.



Another famous moment of craziness from our man Rene was his famous scorpion kick in a friendly against England. A normal goalkeeper when facing a deep raking ball into his six yard box would catch or maybe punch it, but not Higuita he decided to do it a bit differently...



Outside football Higuita acted as a go-between for Colombian drug lords... Yes you heard that right, he acted as the middleman during negotiations between the famous Pablo Escobar and Carlos Molina, who's daughter Escobar had kidnapped. For his services Higuita recieved $64,000. What Higuita didn't realise was that profiting from kidnap is a criminal offence, he ended up in prison for 7 months and missed the 1994 World Cup.

More recently in 2004 he was banned after failing a drug test when he was tested positive for cocaine. I mean who didn't see that coming? I mean look at the company he kept... I leave you with a few clips of Higuita just showing how mad he actually was...

Manchester City Striker wants to leave in January

Frustrated Figure: Santa Cruz

Competition for first team places are tough to come by nowadays at Manchester City, as Roberto Mancini, backed by the billionaire owners, has always got his sights on new, top quality players to add to the already talented team.

This competition however, is proving too tough for Roque Santa Cruz, as he told a radio station that his intention is to leave Manchester City in January because of the lack of first team opportunities.
The South American striker said:

"Unfortunately I'm not playing as I'd like. The club has invested heavily, competition for places is great and I'm working every day to try and convince the coach ... but I'm still not getting picked. The situation is very complicated, I wanted to think well of it, but I'm not getting the playing time to convince anybody and my priority is to leave in the January transfer market.

"The coach has opted for certain players and on top of that his system plays with just the one striker, so I have even fewer options.

"I'm 29 years old and still hope to fulfill my dream of playing in Spain. It is the dream of most South American players, so let's see, hopefully it will happen. I wanted to play again because I'm not getting playing time here. My intention is to leave City in the January transfer window and I hope that it could be for the Spanish League."

Since joining the club in 2009 for a fee of around £17.5 million from Blackburn, the former Bayern Munich star hasn't really been able to hold on to a first team place, and his form has suffered, thanks in no small part to injuries.

At 29 years of age he won't fetch much money in the transfer window. His lack of form has reduced the asking price considerably, and it doesn't seem likely that City will make a profit from him.
With billions of pounds to spend on a new replacement, and with strikers like Tevez, Adebayor, Balotelli and Jo still at the club, it also doesn't seem likely that the Eastlands club will miss him.

Finally some Actual Transfer News

One of these days I won't have to mention Manchester City in a transfer window update. Yes, it might be a while, but it will happen... I hope.
Yes, Manchester City have apparently moved a step closer to signing Mario Balotelli. It's been a hell of a big staircase, but now the Inter President has told everyone that if Balotelli were to leave then he is by no means "indespensable". The tabloids say that this is a "hint" that a deal could be closer to being finalised. I just wish that they hurry up and finish it. The Inter players don't like him, Manchester City do, Mario likes City back, and City have loads of money. Whats the problem?

Next, and Sol Campbell has moved to Newcastle United. A strong, gigantic, experienced defender to lead out the newly promoted Magpies in their quest to stay in the Premier League, it seems like a good deal for Chris Hughton. With Dan Gosling also joining on a free, and Hatem Ben-Arfa of Marseille also rumoured to be on Newcastles wanted list, it seems like Newcastle could be building up to the team they used to be, and a forced to be reckoned with. Not yet of course, there is still a long way to go, but slowly and steadily they are getting there.

Roy Hodgson has been keeping himself busy too. Luke Young, the Aston Villa defender who can play left or right, he's probably not bothered as long as he plays, has signed for the Mersyside club. Meanwhile, Maxi Rodriguez will be seen as another pointless and useless signing by Rafael Benitez as he heads to Espanyol after joining for £1.5 million last year.

Tottenham have reportedly had a bid for Scott Parker rejected by West Ham, as the Hammers try their hardest to keep hold of the man that almost single handedly kept West Ham in the Premier League last season. Talking of rejection, Real Madrid legend, Raul rejected a chance to move to England with his preference to be German club Shalke.

Goalkeeper David James plunged his club into even more trouble than they were in already, if it were possible, by leaving Portsmouth, and now he is holding talks with Celtic over a possible move to the Scottish version of the Premier League.

Whilst Portsmouth get rid of their defensive players, Arsenal want to add to theirs, and that will be through either a German or an Englishman. The London club will first make a move for Per Mertesacker for £10 million, and then if that fails, they will try once again to bring Evertons Phil Jagielka to their club. A bid of £14 million has already been rejected by Everton for the defender, but Wenger justifiably thinks he needs more defenders and Jagielka is who he wants.

Finally, for a wild rumour. A rumour which is not likely to ever be seen in reality. Manchester United want Ashley Young of Aston Villa. It's unbelievable right? Manchester United actually buying a player with proven quality? Pfft! Not this season anyway. But seriously, Ashley Young is needed by Villa, even more so if Milner leaves for, yes you know, Manchester City.