The sale of Robinho has marked the end of an era for Manchester City. The Brazilian arrived with high expectations of taking City to the next level and in a strange way he has sort lived up to the expectations.

City fans will look back fondly to the day of Robinho’s arrival. He signing was the marquee singing on that eventful day and somebody that would make the world take notice of City’s new millions.

While his on the field impact was limited scoring just 16 times during his time at Eastlands ( a cost of over £2 million a goal) the Brazilian served his purpose and was able to help City gradually bring in the better standard of players they desired.

It was at this point that Robinho began to fall out of favour with City’s management. He was no longer required to have an impact on the field mainly because his attitude didn’t fit in with either Mark Hughes or Roberto Mancini’s method.

City no longer needed Robinho and the loan move to Santos only held up the forwards investable departure from Manchester, but as I suggested before I don’t think City will look back on Robinho’s signing as a failure.

He may have come with a huge price and an astronomical wages but he has helped to put City on the map. Without the signing of Robinho on that day back in 2008 you feel that City might have found it hard to attract the likes of Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor the following summer. From then on though Robinho had served his purpose and the fact that City managed to sell him for a reported £22milion is only a mere bonus.

But he has now set a worrying trend for the likes of Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz who look set to move on sooner rather than later. With City’s millions they will always be looking to better the squad. The worry for those players will be that if a top player becomes available, will Mancini or whoever is in charge at the time will opt to move players out once again.

As they approach, once again, the 100 million pound mark in the transfer market, Manchester City and head coach Roberto Mancini still find facets of their team to dislike. Yet, for a team still searching for a striker to add to an already formidable attack, much respect is already deserved to what appears to be the most dangerous attacking third in the Premier League.

For title-winning clubs in the Premier League, the magic number of points is about 90. For the Citizens, not only is 90 a desire in the category points, but a high aim to shoot for in the category of goals scored. While Chelsea managed to hit the back of the net 103 times in 2009, City mustered up a total of 73, six behind fourth place finisher Tottenham. The unwritten answer may appear as a necessity of a more formidable defense, but for Sheikh Al-Mansour, the answer to defensive mishaps is millions of pounds worth of pure shot-firing, free-kick taking, goal scoring material.

With the likes of World Cup winner David Silva added and Robinho back in the squad that so eagerly marooned him last January, a strong attack once helmed by Mark Hughes’ brainchild Craig Bellamy and Sven Goran-Erikkson’s favorite overpriced Brazilian Jo now places the two strikers likely on their way out riding the bench, and possibly not making Mancini’s 25-man registered team.

Depth is something never lacking in a strong team, and the new look City team speaks nothing but the same. Starting with Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez up front, who combined last year to score 43 goals for the Blues, more than half of their total goals in Premier League competitions. If three or even four men are preferred for Mancini’s tactical mind, or maybe just the scarf has been cutting of the circulation, the likes of Roque Santa Cruz, Robinho, and even Silva who has never hesitated to play up front all wait for their cracks at goal. Silva, who played few minutes for Spain in the World Cup campaign, came over to Eastlands for 30 million pounds, but this time plans on not letting himself be outshined by the likes of David Villa, who outscored him at Valencia in 2009, as well as in South Africa. With a determined Silva,  a punishing Bellamy, and rejuvenation seasons from Santa Cruz and Robinho, the attack will be more dominant than ever.

At City, versatility is a key in the strength to attack. As is becoming the trend in most of European football, Mancini prefers to play a game with wingers on their opposite sides and the usual one or two strikers. Most often, an attacking midfielder will end up in the middle, in front of powerhouse defensive midfielder (and dropkick extraordinaire) Nigel de Jong and now the Premier League’s newest brother combination, the Toures.   For the most part, that position is filled by the likes of Gareth Barry, but it seems there is hope for the likes of Stephen Ireland after strong preseason performances, and the acquisition of Villa’s James Milner still could be lying in the waits, as Martin O’Neil’s midfield slowly migrates its entirety to the blue side of Manchester.  From the inside spreads wide where the depth and strength of the title hopefuls exemplifies itself even further. Adam Johnson, Shaun Wright-Phillips, and Vladimir Weiss fill the wings in, while preseason looks and prior remembrance shows Mancini’s willingness to play Robinho, Bellamy, Ireland, and Silva (his natural position, nonetheless) out wide feeding the ball back inside to duly nicknamed Carlos “Energizer bunny” Tevez and Emmanuel “Fear my goal celebrations” Adebayor. The fun isn’t done there for City, though.

In recent weeks and months, many a name has been thrown around the transfer mill at Eastlands, the most promising of those including Inter Milan wonderkid Mario Balotelli, Don Garber’s favorite lover Landon Donovan, Fernando Torres, and the one last name I can’t pronounce in Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko. The possibility of adding the talents of one of the above to an already formidable attack could put City over the top. With those additions plus the likes of an improving come January, the power of an attacking Manchester City could provide a shock in this year’s Premier League.

Say what you will about the obscene amount of money being spent by Manchester City this summer, but you have to admit that there’s a certain perverse pleasure in watching someone build a real-life club lineup in much the same way that most regular joes would create their starting XI in a video game.

Okay, let’s take West Brom out and put Sealand FC into the Premier League. I’ll build a giant floating stadium in the North Sea for them. Awesome. Let’s drop Kaká in the middle here, and David Villa up front with Jozy Altidore… ooh, gotta bump his numbers up a bit… Cool. Hey, let’s make a Kevin Garnett character and put him in goal. He seems like he could have been good at that…

Man City manager Mark Hughes hasn’t gone quite that crazy, of course, but at first glance, he appears to be making the same mistake most novice video gamers might make when building a team: loading up on strikers. At some point, a gamer realizes that Fernando Torres, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Kun Aguero and an injury-free Michael Owen — who seems to exist only in computers and preseasons — can’t all play together at once. Someone has to win the ball and control it in the midfield.

Of course, Hughes hasn’t forgotten this. That’s why he spent £17M on Nigel de Jong in January and another £12M on Gareth Barry this summer. Still, Manchester City has thrown a whopping £129M at forwards since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan last August, and the projected front line of Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez alone cost more than £82M.

Throw Stephen Ireland in with Barry, de Jong and that forward trio, however, and Hughes’ plan begins to come into focus. Man City is attempting to emulate FC Barcelona.

And why not? Barcelona used their 4-1-2-3 formation to shatter opponents and win a convincing triple last year, so it’s practically destined to become imitated widely. It’s entirely possible that Sheikh Mansour, like the rest of us, watched Barca break down Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League Final and asked Hughes to build a side exactly like that. He’s also put Hughes in the unique position to do that with just about any players he wants.

The parallels are obvious. Adebayor is the big striker in the middle, a la Samuel Eto’o, while Robinho and Tevez are set wide like Thierry Henry and Lionel Messi. Barry and Ireland are there to control the midfield like Xavi and Iniesta and feed the forwards, while de Jong sits back and provides cover like Yaya Toure. Sort out the central defense, and Sparky could find himself managing a contender.

Plenty of questions remain, though. For starters, can Hughes rotate his strikers enough to keep everyone happy? Craig Bellamy, Roque Santa Cruz, Benjani, Valeri Bojinov, Felipe Caicedo and Ched Evans are all fighting for spots, too, and some of them won’t be satisfied playing just cup ties. Does Elano see any playing time in this midfield, which would suit his skills well, or is safe to assume he’ll be gone come August? And what happens to pure wingers like Shaun Wright-Phillips and Martin Petrov? Do they become square pegs in this triangular front six?

Ah, but that’s the fun thing about building a video game roster. When you’ve got the right players, you can experiment with just about any formation you want. Perhaps Hughes can revert back to the familiar 4-4-2 when the situation calls for it. It would be far more interesting, though, to see if that Barca-style 4-1-2-3 could succeed at Eastlands over a full season. In fact, I might just recreate that lineup myself in Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 this weekend and see how well it works.

Well, two days are left until the transfer window opens again and Manchester City look like they’ve signed two strikers to help Mark Hughes drag them up the table. I suppose they need some good news down at Eastlands after the ground flooded on Saturday due to flash floods.  With both signings, City could have an incredible 12 strikers on their books at the last count, but that number will fall by one on July 1st as young prospect Daniel Sturridge has agreed to join Chelsea.

With the roster of talent up front that Hughes has now, it’s safe to say that City will be looking to probably offload at least another 4 strikers apart from Sturridge. Vassell and Benjani, Ched Evans and the unloved Jo would be favourites to be heading for the door and all 4 will easily find new clubs before the season starts.  Bojinov may get another chance to show his potential, after a couple of injury ravaged seasons at Eastlands, Craig Bellamy and Roque Santa Cruz will still be settling in.

Of the others, Robinho will surely stay regardless of the rumours of Barcelona weighing up a bid for him and Caicedo may be off after comments in the press last week stating he’d had contact from 4 or 5 clubs looking to take him next season. Even footballers can work out that 12 strikers into 3 positions does not work out too well if you aren’t called Robinho, Santa Cruz, Eto’o, Tevez or Bellamy.

The signing of Carlos Tevez is no surprise as it’s been mooted since he announced that he was leaving Manchester United last week and throwing his dummy out of the pram as he went. The potential signing of Samuel Eto’o is a different level for me, easily one of the most consistent strikers in world football today, two footed, great in the air, pacey and a thunderous shot on him. He is one of the best strikers in the world to put it simply. I’m surprised but not shocked by Barcelona accepting a bid for him; he’s 28 and only has one year left on his contract at the Camp Nou. £28 million pounds is a lot for a guy with only 12 months left on his contract, but City need to show real ambition and the Eto’o signing is key to that ambition becoming reality.

Eto’o's signing could be the beginning for Hughes’ side and satisfying the long term aims of the Abu Dhabi Group. By now signing a genuine world class player for Manchester City, it’s a major development. Before anyone goes on about Robinho and Carlos Tevez being world class, no they’re not. They’re both damn good players, but the best players in their positions? Not a chance. Eto’o is certainly a name that would easily be mentioned when discussing the best striker in the world and if he decides to come then City have a top quality player.

The other aspect to this signing is the fact that other players will sit up and take notice that Eto’o has agreed to join Manchester City. It’s a major signing by any stretch of the imagination and will send a message out to other players out there. Now all Mark Hughes has to do is get this squad of players working as a team.

Buoyed by Mark Hughes’ overachievement and shrewd signings, Blackburn had been living in a fantasyland of consistent contention for Europe.  Paul Ince transported them rudely back to small city reality.  Blackburn took an admirable risk, hiring the Premier League’s first black manager, but, in this instance, it clearly backfired.  You know things are dreary when Sam Allardyce becomes Midas.

Form: Sam Allardyce has revolutionized Blackburn.  Since he took over Dec. 17, the club has won or drawn ten of their thirteen matches, a noticeable improvement from Ince’s brief reign.  Of the three losses, two came in no shame affairs away to a resurgent Arsenal and Manchester United.  Aston Villa gave them their only home defeat.  Characteristic of an Allardyce team, they will battle in every match.

Schedule: Blackburn have a reasonable run of games to get points.  Their home ties against Tottenham, Wigan, Portsmouth and West Brom are all winnable.  Their away fixtures are a bit tougher, traveling to Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Stoke City.  Though, given the Allardyce style, it’s not inconceivable they trip up a similarly physical Liverpool or Chelsea side.

Injuries: Injuries could play a role for Blackburn, where they need help, scoring goals.  Benny McCarthy is probably questionable with his hamstring injury.  Roque Santa Cruz seems keen to return against Tottenham, with just four goals in 17 appearances leaves much to be desired when he is fit.  Diouf could help out, so could Morten Gamst-Pedersen, if he rouses from his season-long doze.

Prognosis: Blackburn will not go down.  They are a comfortably mid-table team placed in a whole because of Ince.  Cynical Sam’s style evokes neither beauty nor romanticism, but it’s effective.  For Blackburn this season, it will also be lucrative, keeping them in the league.  Newcastle may climb out, but not at Blackburn’s expense.

When the financial and managerial reins to Manchester City Football Club changed hands early on this season for the second time in fairly quick succession on both fronts, this time with the Blues having instantly catapulted to the top of the world football rich list, everyone’s attention immediately turned to the January transfer window. What already looked a fairly competent side on paper, it was thought, was mere months away from becoming a sure-fire threat to retain its UEFA Cup spot – and not via the Fair Play rule this time.

Fast-forward to the past 30-odd days, and the verdict? Yeah, not so much.

While City did make a handful of sensible moves – Nigel de Jong in from Hamburg and only putting Jo out on loan to Everton being probably the best among them – it appeared at times that the Blues, a club with suddenly more money than they’d know what do with…well, didn’t.

Several bids for Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz, one of first-year City manager Mark Hughes’ former charges, were turned down by the Ewood Park club, and who could forget the audacious (and ultimately fruitless) bid in excess of £100 million for AC Milan midfielder Kaká, which Hughes seemed particularly gung-ho about until the very end and which club executive chairman Garry Cook had the gall to accuse the Italian giants of “bottling it” on a deal that would have paid Kaká the obscene sum of £500,000 a week at Eastlands and in turn set a potentially dangerous precedence where footballers’ pay, especially in a global recession, is concerned.

The Kaká narrative is what the January window should (and will) be most remembered by in the blue half of Manchester, especially as, much like with City’s successful bid for Newcastle and Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given, it was one that would have sent the wrong message to those players in the Blues’ current lineup. Throwing the two transfer targets together for the sake of argument, bringing in both Kaká and Given would have been seen as replacements for Stephen Ireland and Joe Hart, arguably City’s two best players so far this season.

The transfer window has left Hart especially unlucky. The 21-year-old keeper has been a rock for City since coming back from loan spells in 2007 at Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool, rarely if ever putting a foot wrong since taking over the starting job at Eastlands. What’s more, Hart is arguably the reason City are still alive in Europe, having made two saves in a penalty shoot-out at the end of the club’s UEFA Cup qualifier at FC Midtjylland back in August, a shoot-out that City really only made it into by accident after a late own-goal from the Danish side gifted City what at the time was a largely undeserved shot at reaching the competition’s first round proper.

Bearing that in mind, while City are bringing in another reliable goalkeeper for what is believed to be in the vicinity of £8 million, something will invariably have to give there. Hart will likely not remain a candidate for a regular spot in the full England squad any time soon if he’s playing the understudy at his club team, and it therefore seems inevitable that either he or third-stringer Kasper Schmeichel – who at one stage looked a solid prospect for an international call-up for Denmark or possibly even England as the Danes haven’t yet capped him – will be on their way out in the summer.

With what we know about what has transpired over the last month and change, then, it’s hard to look at City’s dealings in the transfer window as anything much better than one step forward and one step back. The Blues did manage to shore up a couple of their shortcomings so far this season, but at what cost? City stand to lose one if not two solid goalkeepers come the end of the season on account of lack of first-team playing time, and they’ve loaned out for more or less the same reason a player they had spent a reportedly estimated £19 million on to another Premiership side that’s still in with a shout to be back in the fold for European football again next season.

Then again, if the new signings fail to help steady the ship, how other clubs in the Premier League’s top half are getting on will be the least of City’s worries.

Well we know the Andrei Arshavin deal according to the Premier League is complete, but how much trouble was there in completing this deal?

It seems that lawyers had to be called in to make sure everything was in order as this deal was finally competed almost twenty-four hours after the deadline. What’s making this deal even more questionable is that reports are coming out that paperwork submitted to the FA post the five pm deadline had ‘small issues‘.

Now I’m pretty sure the FA and Premier League are going to continue to say this deal is valid, but I have just a few questions that I think need answering by the FA.

1) Since Arshavin was already in London on Monday, why was this deal green lighted for a post five pm completion other than the fact the fee wasn’t agreed upon?

2) So the FA are saying it’s okay to ratify a deal when forms aren’t completely filled  out?

3) If this deal was for a club like Hull City, West Bromwich Albion, ect, would the FA had been so kind to green light the move?

While I will be so happy once this is all said and done, some serious questions need answering. Sadly, I don’t think we will get any of those answers. Again, we aren’t talking about this had the deadline simply been midnight.

So Sky Sports have won four of the six TV Rights packages for the 2010-2013 seasons. What is good news for the Premier League is their fears of having to take a pay cut on the rights in the UK are for naught. The deal Sky made for the four packages they have won will guarantee that with the other two packages, the sum of the packages will at least match what the current deal is. The only question about the last two packages is…will Setanta and ESPN partner on getting those last two packages?

Other Stories.
Frank Lampard’s red was rescinded. There’s a shock…not.

Here’s another one of Rafa’s crazy rants. This time about Robbie Keane. Hey Rafa, have you for one second stopped to ask yourself this question…did you properly know how to use Keane? It seems to me you were trying to jam the square peg into the round hole…it never works.

But Rory Smith of the Telegraph comes out in response of Rafa’s comments with a statement about the lack of options up front for Rafa should there be a single injury.

Could this be why Fulham got rid of Jimmy Bullard? Bullard’s only played one game for Hull City, and has already needed a knee scan.

So Sam Allardyce has made a promise to Roque Santa Cruz…keep Blackburn in the Premier League and you can go. I wonder if that’ll be motivation enough to start scoring the goals again.

Looks like Criag Gordon will have to be content until the summer with being Sunderland’s number two.

Nicky Butt will be staying at Newcastle United until the end of next season. I wonder if he’ll call it a day after that?

The sooner Rafa Benitez keeps his mouth shut about how teams are playing against Liverpool, even in off handed ways, and focuses on getting your team back on the winning path; the better off you will be. The comments made after Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at the JJB against Wigan in my mind read like a manager who has lost grip with what is important…winning.

The comments, where he calls the game crazy, says his players were okay, and takes a back handed swipe at how his team played with this comment “We’ve been giving away too many points. This has happened in the last three games and it’s something I don’t like. “I know why but I cannot say anything…” tells me that Rafa doesn’t get it.

I notice a pattern here. Ever since Rafa’s swipe at Sir Alex Ferguson, nothing has been Rafa’s fault. Maybe it’s time for Rafa to look at himself in the mirror and realize maybe it’s what he’s doing with the squad that has Liverpool playing in this manner. With Chelsea coming up on Sunday, Rafa doesn’t have long to turn things around. It’s going to be very interesting to see how he deals with Scolari’s men, considering the chances they have created lately.

Other Stories
Gotta love the red tops. I don’t think Roque Santa Cruz is gonna want to leave one team struggling for relegation to head off to another (that would be to Tottenham).

These type of gentleman’s agreements better be dealt with quickly by FIFA. No wonder why Zenit St. Petersburg has been so smug about this whole Andrei Arshavin situation. It looks like if Arsenal want him, it’ll be fifteen million to secure him.

In a subject I talked about yesterday, West Brom are going to appeal Paul Robinson’s red card picked up against Manchester United. I hope the suspension is overturned.

The BBC wins the UK Premier League highlight rights.  The only added bonus is MOTD will be available for UK Users on iPlayer on delay.

I don’t think anyone associated with Manchester City will be getting a Christmas card from Steve Bruce.  Saying that Palacios was used as a pawn in the Craig Bellamy deal is a strong accusation.

Could Marco Storari be the next backup to Petr Cech at Chelsea?

As mentioned earlier on the site today, Michael Owen looks to be out for six weeks while Joey Barton looks to be out six weeks thanks to ankle injuries sustained against Manchester City. This on the say night where Joe Kinnear confirmed that Shay Given will more than likely leave the club in January.

Friday will be the day when FIFA will decide Nemanja Vidic’s fate from the red card he picked up at the World Club Cup.

Tony Adams wants three more players before the transfer window closes. It’ll be interesting to see if he can secure them. Meanwhile Sol Campbell is coming out and lamenting that talks haven’t started on a new contract for him.

Manchester City is pledging their full support behind Robinho.

Emile Heskey feels Aston Villa are top four worthy. We’ll find out soon enough.

Here is an interview I did for Football Corner.

And finally Vinnie Jones will be our next guest for the EPL Talk Podcast. Now I shouldn’t have to be doing this but I will. Please keep your questions reasonable or else don’t expect them to be asked on air.

Manchester City’s new ownership sent chairman Garry Cook, brimming with billions, to build a super-club capable of Champions League qualification.  The club’s £91m bid for Kaka was a noted fiasco, but, as details have emerged, that’s hardly been their only activity.

City reportedly made an equally irresponsible bid for Spain and Valencia star David Villa, in the range of £100m.  The club then cancelled the deal “on principle,” after Valencia countered with £135m.

Gigi Buffon was probably the target of another record bid, although Manchester City again withdrew when Juventus started asking for nearly £100m for Buffon.  They will hold firm for £6m for Shay Given, yet be willing to part with ten times that for Buffon?

Man City also tried to raid Barcelona’s bench, offering a combined £49m for Thierry Henry , who may be a possibility next summer, and midfielder Yaya Toure.   They had a £10m offer to Arsenal for Yaya’s brother Kolo as well.

The club also have offered £18m for Roque Santa Cruz.  They are so eager they’re willing to throw Tal Ben Haim into the deal, which surely has nothing to do with him being Israeli.

This excludes the £40m already spent on players in January, bringing in a competent left-back (Wayne Bridge), a diminutive striker who doesn’t score much (Craig Bellamy) and a midfielder good enough to be rumored but never to be bought by a big club (Nigel de Jong).

Tallying things up, City have put forth a ludicrous amount of money, with ludicrous ambition.  So, it seems only fitting they get ludicrous responses.

City have been content scouring the continent for spectacular Brazilians, but, if they want their spending to be effective, sound they consider throwing their money around closer to home?

Manchester City’s transfer budget dwarfs that of England’s big four combined.  There are reasons for that.

Manchester United sit on a mountain of debt.  They bought their two Serbians and they’re out.  Roman Abramovich, after losing a few billion wants Chelsea to run a tight ship, allowing only £12m in January.  Liverpool face an uncertain financial future, should the Americans not be able to find a buyer.  Even profitable Arsenal must repay their debt.  And these are the well off clubs…

If Garry Cook is willing to offer nearly £100m to continental giants, why not test the resolve of the domestic ones?

Would the Liverpool board allow Rafa Benitez to turn his nose at such a mega-offer for Mascherano or Fernando Torres?

If City offered £50m for Adebayor or Van Persie could Arsenal afford not to listen?

With players at Chelsea paying for their own lunches, could they entice one of Chelsea’s stars up north?

Even moving down the table, Villa may be able to reject a great transfer bid.  But, could cash-short Everton reject a gobsmacking offer for Arteta?

Perhaps, these transfers may be inconceivable for January.  But, if the economy begins to effect the boffo Premier League revenues – and that probably should be a when not an if– these speculations may be a crude reality.

After accepting a sordid envelope with £20m for “Lass” Diarra, Portsmouth rejected shrewd dealer Harry Redknapp’s £30m overture for Jermain Defoe, Glen Johnson and Peter Crouch.  Pompey then lessened Defoe’s value markedly, by announcing they would sell him for a fair price.

“It looks like Jermain wants to go,” Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie said.  “If Jermain goes it will be at our price and if there is an offer which appeals.”

Spurs remain favorites to sign the striker.

West Ham, contrary to previous statements, confirmed the club’s inevitable fire sale this winter.  Icelandic chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson was severely crunched by the collapse of an Icelandic bank.  Manager Gianfranco Zola will “not be compelled” to sell anyone, but the club will listen to any offer for any player, probably ones he’d want to keep such as Craig Bellamy and Matthew Upson.

Arsenal may flout tradition by making a £12m bid for ready-made Everton man Mikel Arteta.  The Spanish midfielder would be Arsenal’s ideal signing.  He’s an experienced 26, plying his trade in the Premier League the past few seasons.  Arteta can provide a credible Fabregas facsimile in the middle for the next few months.  He can also fill in on the wings when Fabregas returns.

Arteta would be a perfect fit for Arsenal, so expect Arsene to balk at an extra £2m for him and sign a 19-year-old raw French African.

The Gunners may also sell defender Kolo Toure in January, after he handed in a subsequently rejected transfer request.  The defender, not surprisingly, has struggled to regain fitness after a bout of malaria in the summer.  He and William Gallas also hate each other, though why you would choose Toure over Gallas is unclear.  Out of the squad for much of the season, Toure’s potential £10m fee from Manchester City could give Arsenal funds to strengthen the midfield.

Manchester City have a £60m transfer budget for six players to help them avoid relegation.  Hughes has made a £10m offer to Chelsea for left-back Wayne Bridge.  They may bid over £20m for Craig Bellamy and Scott Parker from West Ham and throw in £17m to Blackburn for Roque Santa Cruz, just for shits and giggles.

Finally, Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant may join Hull City after rejecting an overture from Real Madrid, in what would undoubtedly the first time that statement could be made.  The Tigers would like Pennant “at the right price,” but will face off with Wigan, who view Pennant as a replacement for Luis Antonio Valencia, possibly on his way to Real Madrid.