Fergies envious truth behind Manchester City's spending

So in the words of Sir Alex Ferguson the spending of Roberton Mancini's Manchester is 'kamikaze' and the wrong way to about achieving success.

This is coming from the man who has broken the British transfer record on several occasions and demanded that Real Msdrid must pay £80 million pounds for Christinao Ronaldo.

This is also the man who this week admitted he spent £7 million on an unknown Portuguese striker named 'Bebe' without seeing the player live or even watching footage of him. Now this could turn out to be a stroke of genius one day, should the player develop but there is a good chance this player could never represent Manchester United with Sir Alex in charge. If this isn't a 'kamikaze' move then what is?

Spending around £130 million on six players compared to Manchester United's modest £24 million on three is a huge difference. The reason of Sir Alex's modest transfer spending is 'there is no value in the transfer market anymore'. What Sir Alex Ferguson is doing is protecting Manchester United Football Club, something Roberto Mancini never has to worry about.

Lets look at Sir Alex's transfer record, in 2002 Rio Ferdinand cost Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United £30 million, at the time being a British transfer record and the most expensive price ever paid for a defender. Since 2002 Manchester United have won four Premiership Titles, one Champions League, one FA Cup and three League Cups. Ferdinand has played 221 times and has become captain of club and country, you could say that justifies 'value for money'.

Manchester United also paid out £25.6 million for Wayne Rooney in 2004 just two years after he made his Premiership debut for Everton at the age of 17 in 2002. Since 2002, Rooney has won the Premier League title three times, the 2007-08 and two league cups. He has also been awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009/10. With this deal United paid for potential, idenfiting Rooney as a future sstar knowing £25.6 million would be value for money.

Other notable successes in the transfer market include Patrice Evra and Nemanja Vidic who were signed for fee's under £10 million and become players up there with the best in their position. But Sir Alex Ferguson has not always got it spot on with transfers - just like Roberto Mancini wont and like Mark Hughes didn't. Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djema are the two obvious transfer flops who come to mind but what about Juan Sebastian Veron (£28.1 million), Owen Hargreaves (£17 million), Fabien Barthez (£7.8 million) and most recently Dimitar Berbatov (intial fee of £23.4 million) who is yet to prove himself to be worth his inital fee.

If anyone can explain what value Manchester United got from buying Juan Sebastian Veron for £28 million only to sell him on for £13 million less to Chelsea two years later I'd be welcome to hear it. You could even argue buying Owen Hargreaves for a fee of £17 million in 2007 from Bayern Munich for Owen to play 26 games before becoming a regular customer for every knee specialisit across the world. That works out at £653,446 per game. Where is ther value in money in that I may ask.

There is no hidng that Manchester City has spent a huge amount of money in the transfer market this summer but what Fergie describes as 'kamikaze' buy may be switched on it's head and called a huge investment for the club in years to come. With Yaya Toure as an exception all Manchester City's signings this year are 24 years old or below. David Silva, 24 (£25 million app), James Milner, 24 (£24 million p/x Steven Ireland), Jermone Boateng, 21 (£12 million), Mario Balotelli, 20 £24 million) and Aleksandar Kolarov, 24 (£16 million) all have their best years ahead of them and will all feature in the Manchester City first team this season and the years to come.

Sir Alex Ferguson was blessed with the greatest generation of youngsters a team in England has ever seen and maybe only have been bettered in recent years by Barcelona. Ferguson had the right of youth and experience and assembled a team that every billionaire tychool could ever dreamt of. Just how much would Roy Keane and Peter Schmichel been worth in current climate of players? It is still impossible to put a price on players like Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes who still feature for Manchester 12 years on from the famous treble winners at the peak of their powers. But what is forgotten is Sir Alex added and bought quality to that team, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheingham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were all bought to in join Andy Cole who once upon a time was a British record transfer of £7 million from Newcastle United.

Sir Alex has bought many youngsters under the age of 24 in attempts to build his squad. Christinao Ronaldo (£12 million - sold for £80 million), Nani (£17 million), Anderson (£20 million), Antonio Valenica (£16 million), Rafael and Fabio Silva (unkown price), Nemanja Vidic (£7 million), Wayne Rooney (£25.6 million), Rio Ferdinand (£30 million), Ben Foster (£1 million - sold to Birmingham for £6 million) and Patrice Evra (£7 million). This summer Sir Alex invested in Chris Smalling (£8 million) from Fulham who two seasons ago was playing non-league football and Javier Hernandez for £12 million. So with all of these players with their futures ahead of them at Manchester United what are Manchester City doing that Manchester United have not done in the past?

What Manchester City is trying to build is a legacy, a legacy that is bigger than the one created by Sir Alex Ferguson and the red side of Manchester. What we could be talking about in years to come is the technical qualities of David Silva, the determation of Nigel de Jong or the penalty save from England and Manchester number 1 Joe Hart or the skills of England's brighest prospect Adam Johnson. If City does win the title in the coming years as it seems they eventually will given the financial backing they have Sir Alex Ferguson could be foreced to eat his own words and watch 'kamikaze' transfer prices decide the Premiership title race.

Fantasy Football: The Golden Rules, the must haves & possible bargains

The Barclays Priemership kicks off this weekend and it's that time of year where all football mad fans pick their ultimate fantasy XI or a squad of XV. Whether you are using 'The Sun', 'Sky Sports' or 'Fantasy Premier League' decisions are now tougher than ever with prices of the stars rising meaning no more fantasy front three of Rooney, Drogba and Tevez which was easily possible last season.

Everybody has their own personal opinions on how to pick their fantasy teams, some go for players from their own team, some go for a balanced team that will play every week and some choose to pick the star players and rely on these players to score the majority of their teams points.

Personally there are golden rules you must follow:
1) Have either Didier Drogba or Wayne Rooney in your team at all times.
2) Pick Frank Lampard - he will be the midfield top scorer no matter what league you play.
3) Favour attack over defence even in defensive positions.
4) If there are teams playing a double week chose players from those teams and more often than not make one of these players your captain.

So now you have the golden rules and the must picks in Fantasy Football here are a few possible bargains that could become popular choices over the season.

Gareth Bale: (Tottenham Hotspur)
After a real impressive end to the season Gareth Bale became a must have in your Fantasy Football back-line even though he is playing in midfield. This year Gareth is listed as a midfielder which could be off-putting for a few Fantasy managers but Harry Redknapp is a big believer of Gareth Bale and I expect him to play a big role for Tottenham this year. Bale assisted 5 goals and scored 3 last season, with all of these coming at the end of the season as Tottenham beat Manchester City to a top four spot. Listed at £6.5 million on 'Fantasy Premier League' he is fairly priced this season and could be a high point scorer in support to your big name of either Lampard, Fabregas or Gerrard.

Jonny Evans: (Manchester United)
Not a big point scorer last season but this year Jonny Evans could well become a regular in the Manchester United first team. With Rio Ferdinand out for the start of the season and becoming more injury prone Jonny Evans could have the chance to make a big impact on Sir Alex and many Fantasy Football managers. Beginning against newly promoted Newcastle United at home gives Manchester United a real chance of completing their first clean sheet of the season. Priced at £5.5 million on 'Fantasy Premier League' he is again like Bale fairly priced this season and is unlikely to be picked by the majority of managers in the first couple of games.

Adam Johnson: (Manchester City)
After arriving at Manchester City in January of last season Adam Johnson's career has gone from playing Championship football to becoming an England International and a big part of Roberto Mancini's plans for World Domination. Eight assists last season saw Johnson offer a real attacking threat and although Manchester City have signed David Silva Johnson will surely still be ahead of Shaun Wright Phillips for a starting place on the right hand side of midfield. With players like Ashley Young and James Milner highly priced this season Adam Johnson at £6.5 million could be a bargain for Fantasy Managers.

Matthew Etherington: (Stoke City)
Stoke City's player of the year last year and the highest point scorer of any of his team-mates, when it comes to Stoke City creating anything, (other than a Rory Delap throw-in) it comes from Matthew Etherington. Five goals and nine assists last year saw him score 146 points and this season is valued at a modest £6 million on Fantasy Premier League making him £0.5 million cheaper than Adam Johnson and Gareth Bale. His place unlike Bale and Johnson is guranteed so every week you are guranteed 90 minutes from Etherington as well as bonus points and assist points.

My Premiership Predictions:

Champions: Manchester United

Champions League Spots: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal & Liverpool

Europa League: Manchester City & Tottenham

 

Relegation: Blackpool, Newcastle & Wigan

Over Achievers: Bolton

Under-Achievers: Sunderland

 

Top Scorer: Fernando Torres

Top English Goal-scorer: Jermaine Defoe

Player of the Year: Steven Gerrard

Young Player of the Year: Javier Hernandez

One to Watch: Robin van Persie

Premiership Mini-League: Top 4 has now become the Top 6

With the gap between the top six teams bigger than ever the Premiership Mini-Leagues are now getting bigger and more important than ever. A couple of seasons ago people used to talk about the 'top 4' and the rest with the three promoted teams being the favourites to go straight back down. This year I believe their are more mini-leagues than ever. I will come onto that point later in another post but first lets start at the top.

All the talk for the title used to revolve around four teams and that still maybe the case but this year I believe the top four has now become the top six. The top four of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool have now been joined by Manchester City and Tottenham. Last year Tottenham beat Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool to finish in the top four with Manchester City and Aston Villa finishing above Liverpool leaving them finishing in a very disappointing seventh. Unfortately with the news of Martin O'Neill leaving Aston Villa and James Milner rumoured to leaving too I find it hard to believe Villa will be challenging up there again this year.

It's very hard to look past these six teams to finish in the top six, although when it comes to the title challengers I can only seeing two teams being real challengers over 38 games. Sir Alex Ferguson has said in pre-season if you finish above Chelsea you'll win the league - meaning Chelsea are the favourites.  Therefore I make the first mini-league just of two teams - Chelsea and Manchester United.

Real Title Challengers:

Chelsea
Manchester United

The next mini-league to me involves four teams - three of these will believe they can post a title challenge. Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City will go into this season believing they have the quality to win the Premiership as long as they stay injury free and they beat the teams around them - where as Tottentham will go into this season aiming for a top four finish after last season's success.

Who knows what the end of the season could of been for Arsenal should Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin had all been fit but the reason I don't have them as 'real title challengers' is because of how convincingly they were beaten by rivals Utd and Chelsea. Manchester City have improved the squad from last year but with such a large squad Roberto Mancini needs to find his first XI and quickly in order for them to challenge. Although Liverpool have many problems behind the scenes with Roy Hodgson in charge and with the signing of Joe Cole they look to have a more balanced approach this season as long as Fernando Torres spends more time on the pitch than the treatment table. Tottenham finished in the top four last year but with European commitments this year they must balance the expectation of now competiting in four trophies. Breaking into the top four is an achievement Harry Redknapp must be proud of but staying in the top four is Tottenhams's biggest challenge yet.

Potential Europa League but not Top 4/6:

Arsenal
Liverpool
Manchester City
Tottenham Hotspur

The Premiership Mini-League

Real Title Challengers:

Chelsea

Manchester United

Top 4/Europa League:

Arsenal

Liverpool

Manchester City

Tottenham

Potential Europa League but not Top 4/6:

Aston Villa

Everton

Comfortable Mid-Table or Relegation Candidates:

Birmingham

Blackburn

Bolton

Fulham

Newcastle

Stoke City

Sunderland

West Brom

West Ham

Wigan

Wolves

Doomed:

Blackpool

(listed in A-Z)

Scott Loach? Frankie Fielding? Robert Green may as well retire now

This England squad becomes more and more laughable every day of the week. First Paul Robinson and Wes Brown retire after being called up for the squad, five first team players don't train on the Monday and then Darren Bent and Ben Foster withdraw from the squad through injury. This leaves Fabio Capello with Joe Hart and no back up. Hart is a goalkeeper with great potential and if we are building towards the future Hart is the way to go, but this season there is a serious possibility that he won't even be first choice for his club Manchester City and could face another loan spell to another Premiership club.

With the retirement of Robinson and the withdrawal of Foster, Fabio Capello has called up Watford's Scott Loach and Blackburn's Frankie Fielding into the squad as cover ahead of the friendly. Fielding who has not yet made a competitve appearence for his club Blackburn started last nights friendly victory and did not have to make a save as England Under 21's strolled to victory past Uzbekistan. Fiedling will now join up with the full England squad to provide cover for Scott Loach. So where does this leave Robert Green?

During the qualification campaign for the World Cup Robert Green was England's number one and in early June Green was competing with David James for Fabio Capello's number one spot for England's World Cup opener against the USA. Now before the season has even began Robert Green's international future is over. After making the biggest mistake of his career helping Clint Dempsey's tame long range effort cross the line Robert Green has not been forgiven by Capello and possibly may never get another chance to prove his worth.

This shows just how many options England have between the sticks. Chris Kirkland's fitness problems means his England career was over years ago and West Brom's Scott Carson has not been mentioned since he made his own clanger against Croatia when England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. David James who has now turned 40 has said he won't retire but it looks like he Capello has already told him he has no International future and it will really take a mircale for Robert Green to be given a second chance.

Lets just hope Joe Hart does not have a great deal to do tonight because should Joe Hart become the next England goalkeeper to make a mistake who knows where Capello goes from here.

A quick recap on everything in Sport

It's been a while since I posted anything so I'm going to do a quick recap of everything that happened over the last few days.

Main Headline:
The main headline of the weekend is league runners up Manchester United defeated double winners Chelsea in the FA's traditional opener to the new season 'The Charity Shield'. It was quite a convincing win for United with Antonio Valenica opening the scoring in the first half with a simple finish.
I didn't watch the first half as I was watching the Cricket & completely forgot it was even happening shows how much The Charity Shield means to a neutral football fan) but from reviews and several friends Facebook status' I did not miss a great deal. The second half I did watch & I was very impressed with Manchester United's new star Javier Hernandez. He looks to have very good movement, I wouldn't say he has blistering pace but he has enough pace to worry defenders & he seems very alert in the box. He took up an excellent position for his goal I want to say he took it well but how he manages to volley the ball onto his own face goes beyond me. Chelsea did manage to pull a goal back after Saloman Kolou put away the rebound from a powerful Daniel Sturridge effort but a third goal by Manchester United ended all hopes of Chelsea mounting a comeback. I have to say Dimitar Berbatov's goal was an absolute delightful finish lobbing Chelsea reserve goalkeeper Hilario from the edge of the box leaving the keeper in no-man's land. Berbatov even celebrated with the Manchester United fans which was something that didn't happen a lot last season. Everybody knows Berbatov has talent so maybe this is the season he steps up and shows he can be a Manchester United player.

On a side-note it was a masterclass from man of the match Paul Scholes who has not lost anything over the pre-season. His passing was outstanding and after a discussion with a close friend I have to say he is the best English player since Paul Gascogine.

Fabregas staying at Arsenal (For now):
There won't be many Arsenal fans who actually cared about the Charity Shield yesterday but the biggest news coming out of Arsenal this weekend is their captain Cesc Fabregas will be staying at Arsenal for at least another year after respecting Arsenal's decision not to listen to offers from Barcelona.
Now that Barcelona have admitted defeat in re-signing for at least another year Cesc Fabregas must focus on getting fit and helping Arsenal try and end the long run without a trophy. News coming out of Arsenal is that Robin van Persie and Fabregas himself will miss the first game of the season against Liverpool. This is a blow for Arsenal but Arsenal proved last year they are capable of winning games without their big names. Responsibility will fall on Samri Nasri and Andrey Arshavin to supply new signing Marouane Chamakh to score the goals that could give Arsenal a big advantage over rivals Liverpool and Manchester City and Tottenham who play each other on the first day of the season.

Capello announces England squad:
Fabio Capello this weekend announced his first England squad since a dismal World Cup campaign. Capello has left out David James, Robert Green, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe. Emile Heskey and Jamie Carragher who retired from International football after the World Cup are also missing.
Fabio Capello has kept his faith in the big names who flopped this summer with Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole and captain Steven Gerrard all being named in the squad alongside Gareth Barry, Glen Johnson and James Milner. Fabio Capello hands Theo Walcott a re-call alongside Darren Bent and Adam Johnson who missed out after being named in England's provisional 30 man squad. Ashley Young and Paul Robinson earn re-calls alongside Phil Jagielka who after an injury hit season looks to be batling it out alongside Bolton's Gary Cahill and Tottenham's Michael Dawson for a place in the back four alongside John Terry.
In the new England era Capello has turned to two Arsenal youngsters - Jack Wilshire and Keiron Gibbs. Jack Wilshire has impressed Capello and after a successful loan spell at Bolton has returned to Arsenal looking to establish himself as a regular in the Arsenal first team. Bobby Zamora and Carlton Cole replace Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch in the squad, this has surprised many but many feel Bobby Zamora deserves his chance after a very successful season at Fulham.

England squad in full to face Hungry on Wednesday:

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Birmingham), Joe Hart (Manchester City),

Paul Robinson (Blackburn)

Defenders:

Wes Brown (Manchester United)

, Gary Cahill (Bolton), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham Hotspur), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), John Terry (Chelsea)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Aston Villa), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Carlton Cole (West Ham United), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Bobby Zamora (Fulham)

England troubles:

Blackburn goalkeeper Paul Robinson and Manchester United defender Wes Brown have retired from International Football days after being called up by Fabio Capello. Five players including Darren Bent who today has withdrawn from the squad missed Monday's training but are expected to train tomorrow ahead of the friendly on Wednesday. John Terry and Frank Lampard took part in the warm up but sat out training and Gareth Barry missed out with an ankle problem. Capello has just 16 available players for training on Monday giving more opportunities to Bobby Zamora, Keiron Gibbs and Jack Wilshire who are all expected to make their debuts on Wednesday.

Andrews View:
First of all, what is the actual point of this friendly? The season hasn't even started yet, so how can Fabio Capello possibly drop and select new players to build a new era. FIFA and the FA argue that with competitive internationals in September this is a chance for International teams to warm up for these qualifiers. How exactly? I'm not exactly sure. If England have the same squad available in a months time I will be amazed.
So the squad? Where do I start? I understand David James being dropped as he is now 40 and has just joined Bristol City. Robert Green must feel very hard done to and must have doubts over his International future. Joe Hart and Ben Foster are the obvious choices for the future but I still don't understand why you need three goalkeepers in each squad when only two of them play. Ashley Cole is the best left back we have giving him the first 45 minutes makes sense with Keiron Gibbs making his debut in the second half. Keiron Gibbs will learn a lot from Ashley Cole but what are Michael Dawson, Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka really going to learn by playing alongside John Terry against Hungry?
If Gareth Barry is injured, even if it's minor and after such a poor World Cup why is Tom Huddlestone not even in the squad? What was the point in even selecting him in the 30 man provisional squad for the World Cup if he's not going to be selected in the next squad.
There is no Joe Cole which again surprises me but Fabio Capello was obviously not impressed and only seemed to play him in the World Cup to answer questions from the media and fans. Theo Walcott should of never been left out the World Cup squad and Capello now knows it by dropping Aaron Lennon and Shaun Wright-Phillips who both had awful World Cups. I would expect Walcott to start on the right side of a three with Ashley Young playing on the left side of Wayne Rooney.
I could go on forever with this squad but my final point is the call of Bobby Zamora who in my opinion is not International class and I would of much prefered to see Gabriel Agbonlahor given his chance as I see him having a better chance of being part of England's Euro 2012 squad.

How can anyone seriously post this?

Reading through 'The Guardian' football transfer rumours is quite comical at times but this post today really made me laugh. I won't bother putting any opinions on this one myself because I'm completely lost for words how The Guardian, maybe the best internet blog site for sport there is (in my opinion) can even post this onto their website.

So read on and try and keep a straight face if you can!

Meanwhile, at White Hart Lane, Harry Redknapp risks coming to blows with his former assistant, Tony Pulis. The pair are both trying to lure Nice striker Loïc Rémy, who has given a strong hint as to which he finds more attractive by admitting: "I visited [Stoke] with my agent but it must be said it's not a club in keeping with what I wanted. They have a beautiful stadium all the same and the training facilities aren't bad. Tottenham? I haven't been there but it's a good club with aspirations of getting even bigger. So they are obviously interesting."

Pulis will console himself over Rémy's rejection by attempting to convince Sevilla's Luís Fabiano, formerly a target of Spurs, to turn down Marseille and come to the beautiful Britannia instead. And if that doesn't work, Pulis will swallow his pride and just ask Redknapp to give him Peter Crouch.

You've heard the one about James Milner going to Manchester, right?

Wrong! Because you thought he was heading to City, but the word on the street now is that it's United who will nab him in the end. And when that sale goes through for a preposterous amount of money, Martin O'Neill will have a few million more ways to persuade Steven Pienaar to swap Everton for Aston Villa. Serie A side Palermo, meanwhile, want to prise Leon Osman away from Goodison Park.

Tottenham seeded for Champions League Playoff

Tottenham have been seeded for the UEFA Champions League playoff drawn which will be drawn tomorrow (Friday 6th August). Spurs join Ajax, Seville, Werden Breman and Zenit St. Pettersburg as the seeded teams for a chance of playing in the group stage of the Champions League. Tottenham could face either Auxerre, Braga, Dynamo Kiev, Sampdoria or Young Boys for a place in the group stage of the Champions League.

Seeded Teams:

Ajax (Hol)

Seville (Spa)

Tottenham Hotspur (Eng)

Werden Breman (Ger)

Zenit St. Pettersburg (Rus)

Unseeded Teams:

Auxerre (Fra)

Braga (Por)

Dynamo Kiev (Ukr)

Sampdoria (Ita)

Young Boys (Swi)

Breaking News: HMRC lose high court against Portsmouth

Portsmouth have won the latest round of their survival battle after the tax authorities failed in an appeal over the club's Company Voluntary Agreement.

Portsmouth warned they could go out of business if Thursday's tax ruling in the High Court goes against them. But now Portsmouth have won the the case fans and players can now look towards their first game in the Championship against Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.

More to follow.......

Breaking News: There is None

Comedian Kevin Bridges said it best this week on the last episode of Channel 4 TV show 'Stand Up for the Week'. Whats happened in the world of sport this week? Nothing! The biggest sport occasion this week was Cricket as England thrashed Pakistan at Trent Bridge in the 1st Test. A test I had the pleasure of seeing every run scored and every wicket taken from behind the bowlers arm working on the bar in the impressive Derek Randell Suite. Fernando Torres has told Liverpool he's staying (big shock, didn't see that one coming). Sky Sports has began it's build up to The Football League (which I'm actually quite excited about for a change), and of course most un-important game in the English Football Calender - The Charity Shield is this Sunday. I'll give you my prediction for that one now - it will be boring, slow paced, the Wembley pitch will again be rubbish and either Manchester United or Chelsea will win a trophy that neither of them care about.

The English transfer market continues to make very slow progress with teams not willing to pay out the fees they have paid out in the past. It really puts in perspective just how poor some of the performances were in the World Cup was when no club have really took an interest in any of the players who did shine. Mesut Oezil of Werder Bremen during the World Cup was outstanding for Germany but none of the bigger clubs across Europe seem remotely interested. Luis Suarez of Ajax also impressed (even if he did cheat, just a little bit) but Ajax have put a price of 30 million euros on their star player knowing no-body is willing to put that kind of money. Interestingly that makes him just 4 million euros off the price Valencia sold David Villa to Barcelona (I know which player I would rather have).

In a rather dull transfer window there has been money spent, Manchester City have spent over £60 million with the signings of Yaya Toure from Barcelona, David Silva from Valenica and Jermone Boateng from Hamburg. Yaya Toure apparently cost them £30 million and around £200,000 a week in wages which I find laughable and Barcelona must be very happy about this deal. Manchester United may not have bought the profile players there fans are used to but they have still spent over £15 on Chris Smalling and Javier Hernandez. Most of which I believe will be in installments and future achievements of the players and the club. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is looking for three more players but so far have only strengthened there squad bought with Brazilian Sandro signing from International for an undiscoled fee. Sandro is a player of some talent, which really makes me wonder why Harry Redknapp was looking to bring in West Ham's Scott Parker when they already have future England international Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacious who I believe to be the best defensive midfielder in the country.

The only transfer activity at the moment is Ramires of Benfica to Chelsea. Well I'm being generous when I say from Benfica, they only own 20% of the player, the other 80% is owned by the same agent of Carlos Tevez (who you have to admit has some good taste in footballing talent). This transfer looks to be a complicated one but with Ramires expected to have a medical at Chelsea on Wednesday (today) we could see Ramires starting for Chelsea in the Premiership opener at home to West Brom.

Two players who I am amazed no-body has took an interest in are Manchester City's Steven Ireland and Joe Hart. It's pretty obvious they are not going to be first choice this season so why are teams in the Premiership not looking at these fantastic young players? Aston Villa would be reculent to sell James Milner to Manchester City for obvious reasons but Steven Ireland would do a club like Aston Villa a great job. If Martin O'Neill is willing to pay £10million plus for Stuart Downing then Steven Ireland at under £10 million seems a bargain. I also think these two young players could do a fantastic job at Arsenal. Arsene Wenger obviously wants another goalkeeper after losing faith in Manuel Almunia numerous times and Arsenal are a club in a pretty good financial position compared to the teams around them and Steven Ireland is a player who could fit in at Arsenal. His link up with forward players is outstanding, he's technically very good (because he's not English) and he also works very hard in the middle of the field, a quality the Arsenal midfield lacks in the big games.

Eventually the transfer window will liven up, in the last week when teams register there 25 players. Clubs will become willing to offload players on loan to the Championship and will lower the evaluation of players. Who knows, Blackpool may actually be able to register 25 players instead of 15. Until then expect the breaking news to be limited and the rumours about players joining your club to be laughable and quite unrealistic. As a Stoke City suppoter I won't be taking anything for granted until I see the players in a Stoke City shirt on the back of local newspaper being quoted of the dream is to play in the Premiership and looking forward to the challenge.

Torres staying at Liverpool

Fernando Torres has insisted he is happy to stay at Liverpool after the Spanish striker's future has been under constant doubt whilst he was away at the World Cup this summer.

Premier League rivals Chelsea and Manchester City have been linked but have never made a formal approach for the player, while Barcelona have also been linked.

Torres has showed his loyalty to Liverpool claiming "This is the best club in the country so the targets and expectations are always high". Torres has also told the club offical website he is looking forward to working alongside new signing Joe Cole. After meeting with new boss Roy Hodgson Torres expressed his appreciation for Roy coming to see him while he was on his holidays.

"He told me about his plans for the club and what he wanted from me and I appreciated that. I hope he will be the right man to reach the targets of Liverpool Football Club and I am really looking forward to working with him."

Andrews View:

Was this really in doubt? Fernando Torres was never going to leave Liverpool this summer no matter who was the manager or the owner. In the recent financial state no club other than Manchester City can afford the demands Liverpool would expect for the sale of their star man. So now that this speculation is over, Sky Sports News can stop trying to make a story, Manchester City can stop pretending they would be able to sign him and Liverpool fans can go back to believing they can win the title if they can keep Torres fit and on his best form.