If rumours are to be believed Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur have entered advanced talks about the transfer of Honduran international Wilson Palacios from White Hart Lane. The combative midfielder signed for Spurs from Wigan in 2009 for £12 million and it is thought that Tony Pulis will pay Harry Redknapp around £6 million to secure his services.
Samir Nasri has left Arsenal for the cash laden pastures of Manchester City as expected....In one of the longest running transfer deals of the summer the French international - out of contract next summer - signed on the dotted line for Roberto Mancini around the very same time his old team were playing Udinese in the Champions League Qualifier with manager Arsene Wenger's future firmly in the balance.
QPR seem to have pulled off something of a major coup after Joey Barton confirmed that he is to have a medical in Shepards Bush on Wednesday night after Newcastle and Rangers came to an agreement over the midfielder.
The 2011-'12 Premier League season is already promising to be one of the most exciting of all time. For the first time ever there are six teams who can actually win the title and there are at least ten teams who could end up getting sucked into the relegation zone thus making the league one of the most competitive in recent years.
Here we take a look at the title race with Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea and the race for fourth with Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur as well as the relegation battle which could in all reality almost involve the rest of the league!
The Cesc Fabregas Arsenal/Barcelona love triangle/transfer saga which has run for nigh on three years now finally looks to have come to an end. The Spanish midfielder put the last nail in his career as an Arsenal player when he chose to forego a £5 million bonus from the North London side. From there, negotiations were easy.
Here is a transcript of the final transfer negotiation between Arsene Wenger, Pep Guardiola and Cesc Fabregas to the tune of "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd.
Under normal circumstances the old Gunners' cry of "this will be our year" would be on the tips of many Arsenal fans' tongues. However, the likelihood of Arsene Wenger leading his troops to the title looks to be about as far away as it ever has, if not further.
Since 2005, Arsenal has slowly slipped backwards every season. Their decline from greatness has even become something of a perverse form of Chinese water torture for many of the Gunners fans, as they are now significantly lagging behind not only Manchester United and Chelsea but Manchester City too.
Liverpool'smanaging directorIan Ayrehas joined up withArsenalmanager Arsene Wengerand Liverpool's ownerJohn W. Henryin criticisingManchesterCity'srecent £400 million sponsorship deal with Etihad Airlines.
All three have now called for the sponsorship deal to be investigated byUEFAas it now looks as if the stadium sponsorship monies will allow ManchesterCity to balance their books, thus falling in line with UEFA's newFinancial Fair Playrules which will come in from next season.
Everyone already knows that Manchester City has more money than every other team on the planet put together and just to prove it; they've hired Liam Gallagher and Beady Eye to sing "Blue Moon" in an MTV style video to promote their new jersey for the coming season...
Unsurprisingly, the ex-Oasis front-man gives a moody vesion of the Rodgers and Hart 1934 classic before launching into Beady Eye's 'The Beat Goes On.'
Some fans even went as far as to say that the music video was Kubrickesque, although how they jumped to that conclusion is anyone's guess. Maybe they had their 'Eyes Wide Shut' when they should have been concentrating on City's 'Paths to Glory'...
Anyway, for those who are interested. The jersey is still the exact same as last season and is still sponsored by United. (Etihad's meaning.)
Premier League clubs have voted to change the rules regarding "weakened teams" in competitive EPL matches. After the June EPL AGM, clubs have now decided that any manager can field any combination of players once they are named from their initial 25-man squad.
This move follows Wolves and Blackpool being fined and for fielding so called weakened sides during games in 2009 and 2010.
While the world and its sister watches Cesc Fabregas and his on/off Arsenal/Barcelona transfer with the kind of scrutiny one could associate with a microscope, Tranmere youngster Dale Jennings has stolen a jump on the Spanish star and now sits on the verge of completing the summers most amazing transfer deal.
With the two sides having agreed on a transfer fee of something in the region of £1.8 million, the youth will now travel to Munchen to undergo his medical at and within the next 24 hours the ex-Liverpool winger should become the latest player to join German giants Bayern Munich.
