Sergio Aguero is one of the many high-profile transfer prospects on the market this summer

The World Cup will dominate the world’s football focus this summer but that doesn’t mean the usual wheeling and dealing of the transfer market won’t be in full force. Last summer saw the high profile departure of Christiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and Emmanuel Adebayor trading in the red of Arsenal for the blue of Manchester City. At this point in the season transfer rumors come thick and fast with many “stories” turning out to be little more than speculation. Here’s a roundup of some of the rumors for some of the biggest stars in the world and where they may end up within the Premier League.

A quick disclaimer, some of these rumors are a little old or slightly ludicrous but the main point of this post is to generate discussion.

Franck Ribéry: The Bayern Munich midfielder has been linked with a move away from the Bundesliga for years now so these rumors are nothing new. This time Chelsea, Barcelona and Real Madrid are interested in the Frenchman. Ribéry, who is currently dealing with a public relations crisis due to being asked to testify in relation to a Paris prostitution ring, has promised to make a decision on his future by April 24. Chelsea seems to be the least likely of the three clubs for Ribéry to end up in and can the Blues really handle another player enveloped in a sex scandal?

Gianluigi Buffon: The Juventus keeper’s possible departure has been in the news for a few weeks now but his likely destination appears to be Manchester. There was a post yesterday discussing where the best fit for Buffon would be so I won’t rehash old material but Buffon in the EPL is an interesting proposition indeed.

Cesc Fabregas: The Arsenal captain is sidelined for the rest of the season following his Champion’s League clash with Barcelona at the Emirates back in March. Rumors have been swirling ever since that game about Fabregas’ possible return to Barcelona, his boyhood club. Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood told ESPN Soccernet last week that Barcelona made assurances they would not try to sign the Spanish striker during the summer but Barcelona claims they made no such assurances. Over the past few days Real Madrid, who are always looking to compete with Barcelona over big-name talent, have rumored to be interested in Fabregas as well.

Sergio Aguero: The Athletico Madrid striker has expressed interest in a move to Chelsea during the off-season. No reports have confirmed that Chelsea has recipricated interest in Aguero but the Argentine has been a hotly sought after commodity for the past few seasons so one must think there is some interest at Stamford Bridge.

Joe Cole: The Chelsea/England midfielder has been linked with a move to Manchester City for  a four-year, £40 million contract, making him the highest payed player in the Premiership.  Manchester United has also shown interest but if City’s offer is as high as reported United will stand no shot in a bidding war.

Landon Donovan: The American forward has impressed the English public with an impressive loan stint at Everton over the winter. The Toffees attempted to extend his loan deal to the end of the season by Donovan was recalled by the L.A. Galaxy. Rumors swirled back in March about the possibility of Chelsea making a £10 million offer but that relies heavily on the future of Joe Cole.

Craig Bellamy: Never one to mince words, whether it be about John Terry or his views on his colleagues, the Manchester City forward may not be with the club next season due to reported clashes with Roberto Mancini. No word yet on his possible destination but The Independent is reporting City is having difficulty convincing Bellamy to stay.

Kevin Doyle: This is slightly less glamorous than some of the other rumors but Everton is reportedly interested in the young striker from Wolves. It will probably take a bid of £10 million or more by the Toffees to lure to Irish International.

There will always be the rush for some the higher-payed players for the relegated sides. Players such as Jimmy Bullard, Jozy Altidore, Steven Fletcher and David James may become available during the off-season. There are also clubs in desperate need of improvement, like a goalkeeper for Arsenal, a second striker for Manchester United and every position for Liverpool. There will be plenty of twists and turns once the EPL season wraps up next month. So have fun in the comments section discussing where you think these players should go, rumors I have may have missed or who your favorite club should be pursuing.

Juventus keeper, and Italian World Cup hero, Gianluigi Buffon is reportedly looking for a way out of Serie A and Manchester looks to be his destination. The only question is whether he’ll end up in blue or red. Juventus is reportedly asking for around £30 million and both clubs seemed poised to make serious offers. City has shown over the past few off-seasons their willingness to throw around cash to bring in big-name talent while United desperately need someone to replace the rapidly aging Edwin van der Sar.

But the question is should City really be shelling out the cash for Buffon? He is one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world, that can’t be argued but current City goalkeeper Shay Given has shown to be more than capable between the pipes. City have the highest payroll of any club in the Premier League but as we have all seen with Real Madrid wealth does not always equal results. This constant switching of players does not build the sense of community so vital for a side that wins year in and year out.

Some will say the constant rotation of players in and out of a squad is “just football” but if you look at clubs like Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona and Inter Milan, they grow their players and make them part of a psuedo family. A player needs to feel like they belong and won’t be replaced the second a bigger name comes available. All-star teams have been tried for decades in almost every sport and never live up their promise. That’s because a great team is greater than the sum of it’s parts. That extra little bit generated by the chemistry and trust between players is the difference between scoring or conceding that late winner.

But the simplest reason to save money on Buffon is that City need help in several positions, and goalkeeper isn’t one of them. Midfielder Martin Petrov will likely find another club next season, Carlos Tevez is the only consistent scoring threat and Mancini has yet to show he has command over his players. These variables add up to a side that show flashes of brilliance, such as their thrashing of Chelsea or the 6-1 defeat of Brunley, but can also lay an egg like they did Saturday against United. This disparity is not even Mancini’s fault. When a club puts out money for players like City is right now it creates the idea that the player is more important than the coach. Do you think anyone at Old Trafford feels that way?

Speaking of Old Trafford, that is exactly where Buffon should end up. Sir Alex Ferguson likes players that are not only talented, but hardworking and keep out of the tabeloids. Buffon brings leadership and stability once provided by Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville. Despite being 32 the Italian Captain has at least four of five years ahead of him and can United really expect another keeper to come available in time to replace van der Sar?

Regardless of which Manchester club wins the bidding war I’m excited to see Buffon in the Premier League next season. Not only is he a fantastic shot stopper but one of the most charismatic and  entertaining personalities in the European game.

With Joe Cole out of contract at Chelsea in the summer, there’s no surprise in there being a few Premiership Clubs ‘poking their noses’ into the status of the current situation regarding the player at the moment.

Negotiations are currently under way between Joe Cole and Chelsea, with Cole wanting around £50,000 extra on top of the £80,000 a week he is currently on. However, Chelsea are rumoured to be only willing to add a £20,000 increase.

Therefore, it is no wonder Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham are eyeing up the winger, who was out of football for 9 months earlier this season with a knee injury. With negotiations currently stalled, and neither side willing to back down, it looks as if things are about to get interesting.

City, United and Spurs are long-term admirers. But the Eastlands club, who failed in an audacious bid to land Chelsea and England captain John Terry last summer, are more confident that they can fulfil Cole’s current wage demands. With Cole being out of contract in the summer, City wouldn’t have to pay any compensation to Chelsea, meaning Cole wouldbe the big earner. And in the current economic climate it seems both United and Tottenham will find it ­impossible to match a City offer that would include a £5m signing on fee and wages of about £150,000 a week.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson made two approaches to West Ham in a bid to prise the player from their academy before Cole made his senior debut. Fergie openly rated Cole the most naturally gifted English player of his generation.

Harry Redknapp, the Hammers boss approached by Fergie back in the late 90s, turned down the Old Trafford overtures. Since then Redknapp has never disguised his admiration for Cole who he once claimed was the most skilful player he had ever come across.

He would relish having Cole in his squad again. Sources close to Cole claim he’s unlikely to back down in talks with Chelsea and is well aware he retains a position of strength in negotiations. He could potentially sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club if Chelsea laboured in negotiations and allowed him to reach the final months of his current deal.

They are unlikely to be impressed by City’s interest following the war of words that erupted after they tried to lure away Terry from the club by going public about their ­interest in the England captain.

Since Real Madrid’s £80m swoop on Cristiano Ronaldo, I’ve read plenty of responses by United supporters insisting this was a positive move for the team. Man U is not one player. We’ve got 80m to spend.  We’re fine. No, really.

While the Ronaldo move was inevitable and £80m is a handsome bundle of cash to take in, I cannot accept the idea that United are better off without him. Don’t get me wrong: he was going to leave no matter what and with the chance to secure such a huge amount of money for his release, nobody can fault Sir Alex or United for the move.

But while United is not just one player (an obvious notion in a team sport), we can all agree, this particular player was a pivotal cog in the trophy-winning machine.

Look at it this way: Giggs is fading. Scholes is fading. Ronaldo is gone.

Three players who have shaped Manchester United’s form and directly fed their winning fires will no longer be able to exert their influence to the full extent the Red Devils have enjoyed for so long.

Manchester are still bursting with top talent, but none of their players, save perhaps Rooney, can change a match the way Ronaldo, Giggs and Scholes have done so consistently for United.

Replacing Ronaldo (or Giggs, or Scholes) is a Himalayan task no matter how many millions of pounds one has in the kitty. How often did his dead ball kicks seem a foregone conclusion? How often did he create that critical spark in motion to carve out a chance from the deepest of dead ends? From his ability to twist a ball around the wall from daunting distances and angles, sending that heat-seeking missile to its preordained home to his ability to dance through defenses and set up the perfect service or goal in nearly any circumstance makes him one of an elite few.

The act of finding someone that good who is established and prying him away from their club exists in a sliver of likelihood. And finding an unknown who happens to blossom into the next C. Ronaldo will be an expensive spin of the roulette wheel. Fergie could feasibly strike oil again as he did with Ronaldo, unproven when he joined United, but even if he is so fortunate, any new promising signing will take time to blossom into greatness, if at all.

Right now the £80m is merely potential energy. Ronaldo was proven beyond all doubt.

Fergie will spend the fresh cash. And he’ll get quality for it. But I doubt he’ll find anything on the level of Ronaldo.  If he is so fortunate, though, we cannot say Manchester United are better off until the deal is actually made. For now: they are not.

Yes, Ronaldo was just one part of the team. But just as Liverpool don’t want to play without Torres or Gerrard, Chelsea don’t want to play without Lampard, and Arsenal have not looked as imposing since Henry’s departure, sometimes that one part of the team is the consummate talisman, a lighting rod who channels an essential spark for those around him.

United need lighting to strike again. Until then they are worse off from this unavoidable transfer than they’d like us to believe.

As Aston Villa’s European dreams come to a halt, manager Martin O’Neill says he would allow Gareth Barry to move on if the midfielder so desires. Once again, Barry is expected to request a move to Liverpool. We all remember the tiresome saga of his transfer attempt last summer when Liverpool tried to unload Xabi Alonso to fund Villa’s hefty asking price, a reported 18m. Now that a year has been knocked off Barry’s contract, the price could drop as low as 10m.

But Liverpool should not go after Barry again.

In the year since Rafa Benitez tried to get a hold of Villa’s talented England midfieler, Xabi Alonso has had one of his finest seasons yet. Arguably, Liverpool’s best player this season, Alonso’s poise, playmaking and drive has been instrumental in keeping Liverpool title hopes alive so deep into the season. If Alonso is injured or suspended Lucas Leiva is decent cover or Steven Gerrard can pull back from his more attacking role.

Liverpool could use a backup for Javier Mascherano. Mascherano’s contribution to Liverpool’s game is immense, in attack and defense. His absence during the first leg of the Champions League quarter finals led to Chelsea causing Liverpool endless problems as Lucas simply isn’t strong enough to fill Mascherano’s boots. The Blues scored three away goals and carried a two goal league back to Stamford Bridge, which ultimately saw Liverpool out of the competition. Evidence that Liverpool could use another defensive mid.

Barry, with his strength and defensive instincts (he started his career as a defender) could fill this role,  but would he be content as a 10m bench-warmer? He certainly shouldn’t be first choice over Alonso or Mascherano if their form continues.

Certainly, Liverpool need more depth to challenge for the title repeatedly for the years to come. Manchester and Chelsea have been the contenders because they each have almost two full starting line-ups worth of top-class players. But Barry is a true starter, not a squad player. If Liverpool go after another midfielder they need to find somebody strong but young. Someone willing to sit on the bench and grow into the team.

Yet, any serious money Liverpool spend will be expected to go toward a wider player.

Arjen Robben, Glen Johnson and Aaron Lennon names arise in the transfer rumors for Liverpool. David Silva as well who could fill the Kuyt/Benayoun role of playing in more than one position.

As for Barry, despite his dreams of top four glory, he should stay at Villa. If he moves to Liverpool he could follow in the footsteps of Robbie Keane: struggling to fit in a system that has no room for him. At Manchester or Chelsea he could be overshadowed.  He might do well at Arsenal who could use his strength and experience to balance out their youthful side.

But at Villa, Barry could continue as a true leader and remain a part of a club that continues to rise. Villa’s early brilliant form this season is a sign of a bright future for the Birmingham club. They’ve hit a wall in the late season as their lack of depth shows. But if Barry stays and O’Neill buys, Villa could make a more serious bid for Europe next year, and Barry could yet see his ambitions realized with the club he’s been with since 1997.

Arsenal fans love to speak of Arsene Wenger’s shrewd and miserly eye for talent.  Up until a few years ago, Wenger’s net spending in the transfer market was something around ten million pounds, extraordinary when you consider the amount of trophies Arsenal have won since his arrival.  Of course, much of Wenger’s bottom-line performance can be attributed solely to selling Nicolas Anelka, who’s sale managed to pay for everyone else on the France squad, including Thierry Henry, Sylvain Wiltord and Robert Pires.

All of this is great for Gooners, just another aspect of Wenger’s purist notions of the sport.  With clubs’ spending ballooning every year, this is just another badge to point to when arguing in Arsenal’s defense, kind of like driving a Prius in middle Texas.  A lot has been made of Wenger’s philosophy, not coincidentally, since the last time a team of his came close to sniffing  silver was three years ago while mired in a battle for fourth place.

Arsenal’s wage bill is one of the league’s largest, but the stubborness in which Wenger deals with the transfer market certainly differs from most of his peers.  Definitely shrewd, his reasoning is that in order to maintain the financial stability of the club, he must be prudent and not give in to the temptation of spending big in the windows.

A good portion  of Gooners realize that this would not even be a discussion if it were not for the Frenchman.  Arsenal fans would not have such high standards without Wenger, who has not only spoiled fans in north London, but fans of the game overall.  But to consider that one or two good players could be what keeps their team competitive down to the end, many are frustrated at times with the lack of signings.

On their day, Arsenal can beat any team.  If they’re really on their game, they can even make it look easy.  But it can’t always be their day, which is why big squads are so important.  For Wenger, it’s a competition like the Champions League that may redeem him rather than the long marathon of the domestic campaign.

Wenger’s bargain boys will find it hard to slay the big spenders [Daily Mail]

 Masal!  Willifred the Destroyer is open!

Manchester (AP) Manchester City, after failing to acquire AC Milan and Brazil midfielder Kaka for the proposed sum of a Gajillion pounds [Bajillion American dollars], are considering making a bid for former Arsenal target Masal Bugduv.  Mark Hughes acknowledged the extraordinarily high fee for the non-existent Moldovan forward, but remarked that, “It’s an inflated market.  We’ve already forked out 25 million quid on Tweedle Dum [defender Wayne Bridge] and Tweedle Dee [forward Craig Bellamy].  Once we found out Masal didn’t exist, we knew we’d get maybe 5 million pounds off what Arsenal might have paid for him.  City fans should see this as a great deal for the club.”

While Hughes was reticent about where exactly a non-entity would fit in his starting eleven, he acknowledged that Bugduv might be the tip of the iceberg.  “City have never had a non-existent player, although Steve Daley came close.  We might get more in if it works out.  Perhaps that bloke from Goal!, although I’m not sure Real Madrid are ready to talk transfers at the moment.”

Fans were excited at the news, particularly in the wake of Kaka’s rejection of the Gajillion pound fee.  “This is the future,” said one man outside City of Manchester Stadium, arm dangled in the air around an imaginary friend he identified as ‘Willifred the Destroyer.’  “No actual megastars seem to want to sign here, so made-up players are the next best thing.  Willifred’s agent is actually in talks with the club.  We’re gobsmacked.”

FIFA President Sepp Blatter denounced the move, remarking that immaterial footballers “…should be drawn from the league’s national ranks. What about Roy Race?  He’s off languishing in the lower leagues while Moldova is deprived of their favourite fake son.”  And while there’s been no official word from Bugduv’s agent, several comments resembling AP wire stories popped up on various fansites confirming his interest.  If acquired, Bugduv would almost certainly replace City forward Darius Vassell.

I know I had said that I would do this roundup before Saturday’s matches but I didn’t say which Saturday ! Seriously though I do apologize for not posting this sooner but things got busy in arranging and finalizing my own “transfer”. As I mentioned in my last transfer update, my wife and I just bought our first home and were quite busy last week with the move. However, things are starting to calm down and though I do not have my office setup yet, I am back to posting more regularly.

Anyhow, enough about that. The January transfer window ended with its usual frenzy of activity and while only one Premier League club (West Ham) chose not to make any signings in January, a few other clubs only made minor moves (Arsenal, Manchester United) while the rest of the league went wild with more than £100m being spent – setting a new winter transfer window record in the process.

This post will run through each team’s activity during the January transfer window and assess whether they came out as winners or losers.

Arsenal: Winners Signed 15-year-old prospect Luke Freeman, a striker who had been playing with Gillingham and sold off Lassana Diarra to Portsmouth for £5m. Diarra has the tools to succeed and has often been compared to Claude Makelele in both stature and style but he I think he was too quick to want a move away from Emirates. His time would have come but he was continually in the press about playing time and it was good for Arsenal to move him on and keep team harmony. Arsenal have been ticking along nicely and there was no need to change the team just for the sake of change as seems so often to be the case at other clubs.

Aston Villa: Losers This was a tough call but selling a young defensive prospect like Gary Cahill when you only have 5 other experience defenders could come back to haunt them. While he does not have a wealth of first team experience, Cahill has at least played Villa did manage to bring in Wayne Routledge from Crystal Palace but are still lacking in depth. Whether Routledge can add something to the squad remains to be seen.

Birmingham City: Winners The Blues were able to add some help up front with the signing of James McFadden from Everton. They also added some depth to the backline by acquiring David Murphy from Scottish club Hibernian. Fellow relegation scrappers Wigan and Bolton were also in the hunt for Murphy but Alex McLeish’s determination paid off. He had clear transfer targets and stuck with it to bring them into the club.

Blackburn Rovers: Winners Their major move was selling off Robbie Savage to Derby for £1.5m. That seems like a good deal for Blackburn.

Bolton Wanderers: Winners I can already hear you saying “But they sold Anelka…he was their top scorer!”. They did indeed sell Anelka for £15m, which represents quite a tidy profit on their £8m investment. They also managed to sign the versatile, and in my books undervalued, Matthew Taylor from Portsmouth and young defensive prospect Gary Cahill from Aston Villa. A good bit of building by Gary Megson.

Chelsea: Losers I feel they’ve paid over the odds for both Anelka and defender Branislav Ivanovic. There’s no doubting that Anelka has helped ease the loss of Drogba but was he really the only option? Surely the extra millions Chelsea are paying in transfer fees could be plunged into a scouting network on par with Arsenal or Manchester United. As for Ivanovic, he has been a solid defender for both Moscow Lokomotiv and Serbia but £9m ? Seems steep even for a billionaire.

Derby County: Losers Talk about sending mixed messages. Manager Paul Jewell admitted that the team were as good as relegated but then brought in older veteran players like Robbie Savage, Alan Stubbs and Laurent Robert. Signing Argentinian striker Emanuel Villa was good business but not enough to compensate for the dollars wasted on older players. Jewell should have been looking to next season and tried to sign some young talent to deepen the squad.

Everton: Winners They offloaded two players who were not being used (McFadden and Stubbs) and picked up young prospect Dan Gosling from Plymouth. To cover Stubbs’ loss, they signed Anthony Gardner on loan from Tottenham. They also signed Manuel Fernandes on loan from Valencia. Fernandes had a successful loan spell with the Toffees last season and so far looks like he repeat that success. Very careful moves by Moyes who did not disrupt the core of his team.

Fulham: Losers Another boatload of new faces at Craven Cottage but will the results really get better? New faces include permanent signings of Norwegian defender Brede Hangeland, American striker Eddie Johnson, Danish midfielder Leon Andreasen and Finnish defender Toni Kallio. Short-term or loan deals for Jari Litmanen and Canadian international right-back Paul Stalteri were also done. Fulham did win their last game out but it was more due to the return of old faces (Jimmy Bullard, Brian McBride) than the contribution of the new boys.

Liverpool: Winners They offloaded Momo Sissoko, who had been underachieving, for £8m, which was more than enough to cover the £7m fee for Slovak international defender Martin Skrtel. Skrtel has been named Slovakia Player of the Year for 2007 and made his full league debut on Saturday as Liverpool ran out 3-0 winners over Sunderland. Jamie Carragher has been shifted to right-back to make room for Skrtel but in the long-term it is Sami Hyypia who might be benched in favour of the Slovak. They did splash out an apparent £18m to make the Javier Maschareno loan deal permanent but he is already part of the squad and won’t upset the balance.

Manchester City: Winners This was another tough call as I don’t know if City did quite enough during the transfer window to keep them in the hunt for a UEFA Cup spot. However, many people will say that a top 10 finish would be enough to qualify as a success, it would be somewhat of a disappointment for their fine start to be wasted. City did move on some players who were not performing well for the club (Samaras, Bianchi, Dabo) and brought in one of this seasons top goal scorers (Benjani) as well as prospect Nery Castillo. They are still a little thin up front as Castillo has already been injured and loan signing Filippo Mancini is unproven.

Manchester United: Winners Like Arsenal, Manchester United are in good shape and have a relatively deep squad already so they chose to stand pat in January. Many fringe squad players were loaned out or sold. I was disappointed to see Phil Bardsley moved on but it was always unlikely that Gary Neville or Wes Brown were going to be moved aside for him. An offer from Newcastle for Brown was apparently rejected which was essentially the final signal for Bardsley to move on. A signing for the future was completed when United scooped up Angolan international Alberto Manucho. Largely unknown before his signing with the club, he had a strong showing at the African Cup of Nations scoring 4 goals in 3 games.

Middlesbrough: Losers They did bring in one of their long term targets in striker Alfonso Alves from Heerenveen but with his goal scoring record, one has to wonder why a “bigger” club had not snapped him up. In 2006-07, he was the Dutch top flight’s Player of the Year and top scorer with 34 goals in 31 league games. This season he had added another 11 goals in just seven appearances, though seven of those goals came in a 9-0 win over Heracles in October. Was his price to high for other clubs? While the fee was not disclosed it is widely believed that Boro have spent at least £12m for Alves. If he produces goals at the same rate that he has the last couple of seasons it’ll still be a bargain but anything less than a prolific rate will seem like a disappointment. Leaving Teeside was defender Jonathan Woodgate, who cited the lack of progress made during his time at the club as the reason behind his desire to move on. It’s not the first time we’ve heard this from a player departing Boro, so one has to wonder if there is some actual truth to the “lack of ambition” angle or if its just a way for the players to excuse their pursuit of a more “glamorous” team. Either way, his departure leaves Boro’s backline a bit thin for the stretch run.

Newcastle United: Losers One could argue that the squad got a bit weaker rather than stronger. Newcastle shipped defender David Rozenhal off to Lazio and did not bring in a replacement. Rozehnal had been playing in midfield since Kevin Keegan returned as manager and the 27-year-old wanted to revert to a central defensive position. Many said he was “error-prone” but during his brief stint at Newcastle I don’t think he got a fair shake at things. He was asked to play centre-back, right-back, then left-back, then in right midfield, then as a central defensive midfielder. It’s a bit much all at once for a player who had been accustomed to being a centre-back for the bulk of his career. Beyond that, Newcastle did not make any moves at a time when they could have used one or two faces to spark the imagination of the fans. The “King Kev” bit is going to wear thin if the results don’t start improving soon.

Portsmouth: Losers Would you trade Benjani for Defoe? I wouldn’t but that’s what Pompey has essentially done. Benjani was sold to Manchester City for a fee that could rise to as much as £7.75m should the 29-year-old striker make sufficient appearances for his new club. Coming in for an approximate £7m fee is strike Jermain Defoe from Tottenham. Defoe is capable but for me does not offer the same work ethic and link-up play that Benjani does. Both have similar goal rates over their careers so it’s these other aspects of their play that differentiate them.

Pompey also brought in Lyon’s Milan Baros on loan but have first option on signing him on a permanent basis after his loan deal. Baros has not been able to find a partner that he has been able to work with a partner as well as he does at international level when he is most often paired with Jan Koller. He has not been able to recreate his impressive Euro 2004 run of goals and has bounced around a bit in recent seasons. Baros had played significantly less under new manager Alain Perrin in the 2007/8 season and needed to move in order to keep alive his chances of playing in Euro 2008. It’s possible that he and Defoe will form a partnership but if they do not, Pompey’s chances of European football will quickly evaporate.

Another big signing for Pompey was Lassana Diarra who was unhappy with his role at Arsenal. The 22-year-old French international has joined Pompey on a three-and-a-half year contract for a rumoured £5m fee. Harry Redknapp was excited to sign him saying “In my opinion, he’s already one of the best midfield players in the Premier League and has the ability to be one of the best there is.” However, Diarra has already stated that he is looking at Portsmouth as a stepping stone to move back to another “big” club.

Leaving Portsmouth was the versatile Matthew Taylor and the unhappy Djimi Traore who was not prepared to sit on the bench. Taylor has gone to Bolton while Traore has moved to French club Rennes. I felt Portsmouth were moving in the right direction and needed a period of stability in the first-team in order to really make a push in the second half of the season. Whether they can do that now is questionable.

Reading: Winners They were able to hang onto Nicky Shorey and Stephen Hunt, two players who were mentioned in many rumours. The Royals only added one player Marek Matejovsky from Czech side Mlada Boleslav. He has made a couple of substitute appearances thus far and will be eased into the lineup. The message here is that Reading were not pressured into panic buys even though they are in the heart of the relegation battle. They have enough quality in their side to get themselves out of trouble and now it is up to the core group of players to make it happen. It’s all too easy to think “If only they bring in that one or two players to turn it around” but more often than not it fails to work.

Sunderland: Winners This was a tough call as Sunderland brought in five new players in January and the squad has repeatedly changed since Keane’s reign began in August 2006. Here again, some stability may have been a good thing but there was cover needed at a few positions. The Black Cats are in the thick of the relegation battle and need to find a stable core of players to send out each week. They did need to find a replacement for Ross Wallace, out for the season with a knee injury, and Andy Reid should be able to fill that void. However, Keane brought in three more defenders and what the back four will be is anyone’s guess though Phil Bardsley has looked decent since switching from Manchester United. They also picked up yet another forward in Rade Prica from Aalborg. I don’t know a lot about him other than his stint at Hansa Rostock of the Bundesliga but he did score on his debut for Sunderland.

Tottenham Hotspur: Winners Renovations at White Hart Lane did not come cheaply as the spent around £20m but were able to recoup half of that with players that were moved on. The biggest improvement was in defence where they picked up three defenders Woodgate, Alan Hutton from Rangers and Brazilian left-back Gilberto from Hertha Berlin for £1.8m. To keep the numbers down Spurs sold winger Wayne Routledge to Aston Villa, allowed Anthony Gardner to go to Everton on loan while Paul Stalteri joined Fulham. They also managed to sell off spare part Jermain Defoe for at least £7m (though some sources say it is as much as £9m). Defoe was not going to start ahead of either Berbatov or Keane in the near future so it was good business for Spurs. They also signed young defensive prospect Chris Gunter from Cardiff City.

West Ham United: Winners They’re in a good spot in the table and really didn’t need to make any moves. Curbishley will have “additions” to his squad as he continues to welcome a number of first team players back from injury.

Wigan Athletic: Winners They bought exactly what they needed — a striker and another defender. Wigan scooped up Marlon King for £5m when his deal with Fulham fell through and they also signed fromer Spurs left-back Erik Edman from Rennes for a paltry £500,000. The Latics also used the transfer window to make their loan deal for Antonio Valencia permanent and to bring in utility player Eric Hagen on loan from Zenit St Petersburg. Wigan sold defender Fitz Hall to QPR and midfielder Denny Landzaat to Dutch club Feyenoord in a deal worth £1million. It was a suprising move but Landzaat likely wanted a move back to Holland for family or other personal reasons. Taking Landzaat’s roster spot is Honduran international Wilson Palacios who is known as el Mago, meaning “the Magician”, and manager Steve Bruce has referred to him as a “young Paul Ince”. High praise to be sure.

Chelsea have finally completed the signing of Bolton’s Nicolas Anelka after the two clubs agreed a £15m fee. The French striker, who has signed a 4½-year deal, could be in the side to face Tottenham as early as tomorrow.

A statement on the Chlesea website confirms the deal: “Chelsea Football Club and Bolton Wanderers can confirm that terms have been agreed between the clubs for the transfer of Nicolas Anelka.” Bolton’s website has a similarly worded message.

Chelsea’s opening offer of £11m was rejected by Bolton earlier this week. They held out for their full asking price for their leading goal scorer.

Chelsea are also hoping to finalise the transfer Lokomotiv Moscow’s Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic for £10m and they hope that a work visa will be granted next week.