The more positive stories at Everton this close season have been the near-silent acquisitions of four players by manager David Moyes. Three pretty much unknown quantities for the English game and another potential surprise from a big club. We’ll start from the front and work backwards, as we first take a look at the most [...]

The Real Talking Points

Newcastle became the latest mugs to hand Sol Campbell an eye-watering, money-loaded contract. Judging by his last career move out of London, I give this one three weeks before he runs away from St James Park citing ‘a difference of opinion with Joey Barton’.

Spurs’ bid of £7 million for Scott Parker was rejected by West Ham, who have since offered the player £20m or so to stay for five years. Whatever happened to Sullivan and Gold – the new bearers of the “Spending Sensibly” West Ham? More on that later. Spurs will probably have more joy with the £4m bid for Craig Bellamy. Manchester City seem desperate to get shot of the Welsh git, much like they were with…

If David Gill is telling the truth and the money is there for Sir Alex Ferguson to strengthen his squad, why isn’t he doing so? It is as likely of course, that two men employed by the Glazer family are putting a brave face on a club finance system that is as tight as a broken catflap. However let us pretend, for just a minute, that Ferguson does indeed have a few pennies to spend.

Roberto Manchini has told Joe Hart there is a big chance that he will be playing second fiddle to Shay Given all season.

As we all know, Hart was exceptional for Birmingham last season, as we are repeatedly reminded, and he is likely to be England’s number 1 for the next decade or so. The thing that gets to me is that the future of English football, not just Hart but players like Mancienne, Wilshire, Cleverly, Wellbeck, Rose and so on, are all having to go out loan (If their clubs actually let them) to get first team football at smaller clubs, instead of mixing them with the first team at their parent clubs for them to gel into a squad.

The Roman revolution was nothing. A storm of cash from the east has come to strip the top talent from world football and place it in the quivering hands of the latest manager briefed with Mission Improbable. Nothing is permanent, money is no object as Sheikh Mansour and his trusty chequebook launch an assault on the real gold: no, not oil, but silverware, the only precious metal that the Saudis have not yet been able to afford.

Yossi Benayoun has swapped Anfield for Stamford Bridge in one of the more interesting transfers of the summer. £6m – or thereabouts – for a much-travelled 30-year-old, is a strange one. More so the fact that they let a very similar player in Joe Cole effectively move in the opposite direction for no transfer fee. [...]

A typically emotional and protracted ceremony at Santiago Bernabeu finally saw the back of Real Madrid’s heartbeat for the past 15 years. The departure of Raul Gonzalez Blanco, patron saint of Real Madrid, has paved the way for a new generation of talent to end what has been, by Real’s gargantuan standards, a barren spell encroaching on disaster.

If you haven’t seen this amazing penalty by now then you’ve probably been on the moon.

Real Betis forward Calvente, invents a new technique never seen before (ok, ok, Pele did it way back before TV was invented).

Wanderers manager Owen Coyle will begin his first full season in charge with two familiar players brought in. Veteran striker Robbie Blake has joined from his old side Burnley and winger Martin Petrov also chose to stay in Lancashire after a free transfer move from Manchester City after his contract at Eastlands expired. Blake scored [...]

RUMOURFLASH: Manchester City: “Money Management Is For Losers”

The season may not have started but the transfer gossip has. What do you think about the latest transfer news? Is Joe Cole really going to Liverpool because it’s the ‘best football club in the country’? Will Manchester City get hold of James Milner? And which football club will end up paying thousands of pounds for the pleasure of watching Sol Campbell get skinned by the likes of Brett Ormerod every week? Your comments please…