Hernandez Goal Against Man United

Hernandez continues to justify why Sir Alex made a move for him with a wonderful strike during Manchester Uniteds game against Chivas in which Hernandez played for Chivas in the first half and United in the second as part of the deal that brought him to United.

If he can continue this form in the Premier League (but FOR United) and play well alongside Rooney, the strike force of United could be a force to be reckoned with even without any new signings.

Mesut Ozil Could Be the Bargain of the Summer

The rumours persist that Manchester United are interested in signing one more player this summer, one more world class player for the future, even though Sir Alex said that no more additions were needed. Could it be, once again Ferguson is playing mind games - suggesting he isn't going to sign anyone and then pouncing at the last minute. I really hope this is the case.

Mesut Ozil could be that world class star that United need. An outstanding performer for Germany in the World Cup, and an uprising star, at the age of only 21, he would fit perfectly into the United mould. He is also what the Glazers want - a young talent with a re-sale value, but will they provide the money for Ferguson to grab him?

The transfer money that Werder Breman are reportedley looking for is of £12 million. This is amount is tiny when you consider his potential. Imagine if an Englishman of 21 had played as well as Ozil did in the World Cup! He would be going for millions more - James Milner didn't do great at all in the World Cup, and Villa are looking for £30 million for him! It's a great oppurtunity for United to bolster their attacking options and for a small price tag. Imagine next season, if Rooney and Hernandez are on top form, with Nani playing like he did at the end of last season alongside Mesut Ozil; the power there would be terrifying for the opposition.

The problem which gets many United fans so annoyed is how they wait so long to put a strong bid in for a player that they are obviously interested in. In the end, players often get taken from underneath Sir Alex's bright red nose and they end up making United look silly for not getting them when they could. Sneijder for example. When Madrid were offloading him for about £12-15 million, United stalled even though they were interested, and ended up having Inter taking him away. Look at him now! A succesful World Cup means that Inter are asking for £35 million.

Manchester United need to move quickly to get the talent who could turn out to be the bargain of the summer and help Manchester Uniteds cause of trying to snatch the Premier League title back off of Chelsea.

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.

£70 Million for Torres? Take it Hodgson.

Manchester City seem to be the only team making any transfer headlines this summer and it will probably be like that for the next few summers until the Arabs get bored and go and find something else to spend their money on. But for now, we will have to put up with endless rumours involving City and their millions, spending completely stupid amounts of money on average players, and even more stupid money on the better players.

There is no doubt that Fernando Torres is one of the best strikers in the world. He proved that time and time again at Liverpool by scoring goal after goal. But Liverpool bought him for about £20 million pounds. Apparently, City are prepared to smash the English transfer record by making Liverpool a £50 million profit for the striker. Thats £70 million. If that actually is the offer, Roy Hodgson should take it and run. Knowing City, he may even be able to squeeze another £10 million out of the Arabs, they'll just get it back in pocket money next week any way.

Torres has been picking up a lot of injuries, mainly because he is so difficult to tackle, and so defenders have no other alternative but to hack his legs off. But as a result of this dangerous tackle theme with Torres, he gets a few recurring injuries. Last season, when Torres was out, all Liverpool had was David N'gog. Thats the equivalent of Man United having Rooney injured and only having Danny Welbeck to replace him. Not good. But with £70 million, Hodgson could work wonders. It would change everything. He could bring in another 3 quality strikers. He did a great job at Fulham with only about £7 million - better, in fact than Liverpool in the Europa League.

So if I was Hodgson, I would take the amazing offer and give away a world class player and bring in two or three fresh faces which would in the long term strengthen the squad whilst stabalising the team. In addition, with Mascherano looking like he wants to go for £30 million, either buy a cheaper replacement or pay off some of that massive debt!

West Ham want Beckham & Owen

They have already audaciously attempted to sign Thierry Henry from Barcelona and re-sign Joe Cole from Chelsea, but now, maybe even more cheekily, are trying to persuade the England golden-oldies David Beckham and Michael Owen to East London.

The clubs interest in Owen is not yet confirmed, however, co-owner David Gold said that Beckham could play a big part in delivering West Ham the olympic stadium after the 2012 olympic games are over.

"For him to join a club like us and help us bring another dream to fruition would be perfect for everyone. "

Confirming that talks are or have been held, Gold said

"We've had conversations with his people and made it clear we want him aboard"

Michael Owen, under contract with Manchester United for one more year is recovering from a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the end of last season. Nevertheless, Owen's deadly finish is still in tact as he proved at United last season and would be a welcome addition to last seasons relegation survivors.

To re-unite the pair at West Ham would be a big success and a sign of intent. Both are still big names in the English game and I'm sure fans of West Ham would be excited to see them both playing at Upton Park. Their signings could also be a big commercial boost, with Beckham such a big world wide brand, shirt sales would boost dramtically and tickets would go even quicker as fans flock to see their heroes in person.

City's Brats Will be Hard to Control

Last season, an overwhelming amount of lies swept through the blue side of Manchester as City's new signings tried to fool us that they had joined Manchester City for it's bright and successful future and that alone. They tried very hard to persuade us that money had very little to do with their decision to join a club that had recently been taken over by Arab billionaires. These lies are set to continue, as Yaya Toure racked his brains for excuses and reasons why he should choose Manchester City over Barcelona and Manchester United.

I think we can all answer that question for you Yaya. £200k a week sounds pretty good. The simple fact is, Yaya Toure chose the desire for more money over the desire for guaranteed success with either Barcelona or Manchester United. He turned down Champions League football for money (and the Europa League of course!). He explained that:

"Manchester United is a big club, one of the biggest in the world, but I chose Manchester City because they had not won anything."

Read that again.

But to be fair, he goes on to say that it is a good feeling to go to a club that hasn't won anything and then see everything change for the better around you. I imagine it would probably feel even better if you were getting paid almost a quarter of a million pounds every week!

With all this money being paid to players at City, Roberto Mancini will have a tough job keeping all of their ego's in check. If things start going badly for the team and if a few players don't support the manager I can see a repeat of the the French horror at the World Cup. Players going on strike against the manager and refusing to follow the managers tactics. There was even a small hint of it last season when Carlos Tevez publicly stated that he didn't like the way Mancini had the team train. Don't be suprised if the City brats do something similar this season.

The New Premier League Kits 2010/11 Season

Manchester City Want Landon Donovan

Manchester City seem to be buying everyone. They have been linked to almost every player in the world and are once again spending money like they are scared of the stuff. Yaya Toure, David Silva and Jerome Boateng are the three that have been confirmed signings, and now Mancini wants to add Landon Donovan to that list.

Donovan impressed with his small loan period with Everton, and also shone as the USA's best player in the World Cup, but Manchester City seems like a big step up from LA Galaxy, whom currently own the player. Donovan played for Bayer Leverkusen but also had a spell on loan with Bayern Munich in his time at the Galaxy as well as Everton, but now it seems he may have to find another home in England because he is heading to Manchester.

Manchester City sure won't be short of attacking options next season, because if the rumours are true, they also want to snap up the Italian bad-boy Mario Balotelli form Inter, who played under Mancini when he was in Italy, which means that City will have around... too many strikers. Tevez, Adebayor, Santa Cruz, Jo, Felipe Caceido, Silva, Bellamy, Donovan, and Balotelli.
If there is a sudden mass injury problem, they'll be alright, but other than that, the City ground is going to need a bigger bench, and boy, will it be warm.

Great Buy For Liverpool

Joe Cole has joined Liverpool on a free transfer today, and what a good deal Roy Hodgson has done by taking him to Anfield.

It is an exciting prospect for Liverpool fans next year to see Torres, Gerrard and Cole playing together - providing they have stayed at Liverpool by the end of the summer. Joe Cole could be the spark and energy that they were missing last season and propel Liverpool back up the table and challenging for the title again.

So far it's been a profitable summer in terms of transfers for Liverpool. They have sold Benayoun to Chelsea for £5 million, around the same as Liverpool payed three years ago, and have brought in a younger and better replacement for free.

Hodgson has begun to remove the unwanted, unfaithful players like Reira and is now bringing in new, versatile, experienced and very good players like Joe Cole. Hodgson did a great job at Fulham with very little money and now he is doing the same but on a bigger scale. Liverpool needed freshening up, and Hodgson so far has done a good job. The new season awaits.

Is Sir Alex Turning into Wenger?

As a Manchester United fan, I am beginning to worry about Manchester United's lack of activity in the transfer market. We are gradually being linked with more players, but none seem to be concrete interest from our club.

Sir Alex Ferguson has said continuously that he trusts the players that are already at the club and that there are very good young players coming through. So does this mean no transfers for the red side of Manchester?

Trusting the youngsters is a risky and Arsene Wenger - like thing to do. Wenger is famous for preffering to trust his young, in-experienced players instead of buying players for big money, and in the past two transfer markets, United haven't done much in terms of big name players. The club insists that Ferguson still has the £80 million from the sale of Ronaldo to spend, but I find that hard to believe considering the masses of debt the club is in.

Hernandez and Smalling have been the two signings so far. At first I was worried that Hernandez could be another David Bellion, Kleberson or Djemba Djemba, but he proved me wrong in the World Cup. He looked very lively, and against good opposition too. He scored very good goals against France and Argentina, so he has the ability and is a goalscorer, but I just think we need more.

Wesley Sneijder and Balotelli are just two players that have been linked with United. I would settle with just one. Sneijder was excellent in the World Cup with brilliant through balls and 5 goals which show that he clearly has a footballing mind, much like Paul Scholes. Balotelli looks very strong and an interesting player. He apparently has a bad attitude, but I'm sure Sir Alex could sort that out.

Time will go fast in this transfer market with clubs like Manchester City with bag fulls of money ready to get anyone they hear of in a flash, so lets get going.

World Cup 2010 Summary

The final was a dull affair, with very few moments to get excited about for the neutral which, overall didn't really reflect on the World Cup as a whole. Both teams clearly wanted to win, and it's fair to say, they went about it in completlely different ways; Spain - pass, pass, pass, and Holland - hack, hack, hack. Poor Howard Webb, he had a tough night.

Before the game, I wanted Holland to win. Mainly because I wanted Paul the Octopus to get his prediction wrong, but also because I am not a big fan of Spain. I like the way they pass - it's great, but sometimes I just want them to have a shot, or get the ball in the box with a beautiful cross. However, I can't complain, the way they play has won them a well deserved World Cup, and those players have earned themselves a place in their countries sporting history.

Time to reflect on a few highlights (Please comment with some of your own):

Best Goal : Giovanni Van Bronkhurst (Holland VS Uruguay)

Followed closely by Frank Lampards Goal (England VS Germany) Did you see it?...

Worst Tackle: Nigel De Jong Fly-Kick Xabi Alonso (Holland VS Spain) Ouch!

Best Player: There were a few, but the stats don't lie - Thomas Muller

Best Player Who DIDN'T Score: Lionel Messi - How didn't he score?

Biggest Flop - Italy

Biggest Dissapointment - England

What We Learned - Technology is needed in football for the justice

Comment below with your own highlights or best moments.