Arsene Wenger could face competition from Tottenham and Newcastle, but can easily afford the reported fee of £6 million for Ibrahim Afellay. 26-year old Dutch international Afellay is being released by the Catalan club. He is a creative midfield who can also play as a winger. In his first season with Barcelona, he made 29 [.

Can this month get any better for Chelsea fans? As if winning the FA Cup and Champions League was not good enough, the best young talent in Europe, Eden Hazard says that he will be playing for Chelsea next season. Hazard snubbed both Man City and Man United in picking Chelsea.

Hazard has enjoyed a hugely successful season in France, where he was named Ligue 1 player of the year for the second season running, scoring 17 goals in 37 league games.

Champions League final hosts Bayern Munich are favorites to beat Chelsea at their home ground, but if they do win, their prize money will be going into the pockets of Bundesliga rivals Schalke and Hoffenheim.

UEFA will pay Bayern a €9 million prize if they beat Chelsea, which also happens to be the combined total due in "success" clauses written into last summer's deal to bring goalkeeper Manuel Neuer from Schalke and the previous January's acquisition of Luiz Gustavo from Hoffenheim.

In our recent analysis of the PFA awards, my fellow blogger John McGee highlighted the disagreement that can ensue when debating the worth of leading young players. With Jordan Rhodes valued by the press as a knee jerk £6 million, John pointed out that Adam Le Fondre, the man whose two goals fired Reading to victory over Southampton in the Championship's recent summit meeting, cost a mere £350,000.

Derided when signed from Udinese and not expected to play a major role under Antonio Conte, Simone Pepe has overcome obstacles during his stint with Juventus. Pepe's knack for crucial goals, his versatility and his willingness has aided Juve and brought about a comparison with former winger Angelo Di Livio.

Yesterday Portland Timbers unveiled their new training facility in Beaverton. Constructed as part of a 10-year partnership with Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD), the $6 million adidas Timbers Training Center features a top grass field designated for exclusive use by the Timbers, a synthetic FieldTurf field designated for public use and a 6,000-square-foot indoor facility that will serve as the primary training location for the MLS club.

Just before halftime in the New York Red Bulls' 2-2 draw against San Jose on Saturday night, New York's Rafa Marquez made his time in MLS even more disappointing than it already was. While defending a corner kick, Marquez decided to wrap his arms around San Jose's Shea Salinas and run him into the ground shoulder first.

Sometimes, the Kansas City Royals actually spend money. They did so on Friday when they gave Alex Gordon a $37.5 million contract over the next four seasons. Gordan is one of the best players on the Royals and was one of the best hitters in the American League last season.

The contract calls for Gordan to make $6 million this year and then $9 million next year.

TweetChelsea are ready to break the transfer world record with an £83.6 million bid for Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Wow! The report emanates from the front page of the Daily Telegraph's sport section with writer Jason Burt claiming that the Blues are also lining up the likes of Edinson Cavani and Gonzalo Higuain as [.

-
-
Photos from the Bushman Archive
-
-
- Follow QPR REPORT on TWITTER!
- QPR REPORT MESSAGEBOARD - Visit the cutting-edge, football-only, QPR Report messageboard
- Visit the truly-fascinating Bushman QPR Photo Archives
_____________________________________________________________________________________
-
- QPR and Everton Fans: "Livechat on Today's Game"
- On This Day March 3.

Not to be too much of a wet blanket, but rumors that the Seattle Sounders are pursuing Michael Ballack appear to have no basis in reality. At least, that's the plainly obvious way to read comments Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer made to Sounder at Heart.

"Although Michael Ballack is a player that we have admired for many years, he is not a player that we are currently pursuing," Hanauer said in an email.

If you've paid any attention to the Bayern Munich news bits over the past years, you'll know that they've got some characters running the show. Thus their public persona isn't exactly seen as the cuddly teddy bear, smiled-at-least-once-in-their-lives types. So to hear that they gave Borussia Dortmund, a direct competitor, a loan which saved them from bankruptcy in 2003 is just.

Putting footballing rivalries aside for the benefit of the greater good isn't something that happens too often, but if it's happened anywhere, it's not surprising that it would be in the Bundesliga. Praised as "a model of financial virtue and good governance," the league has rejected gluttonous spending in favor of actually turning a profit.

Not entirely sure about the source material, but Chelsea have allegedly re-engaged in talks with Racing Genk over the transfer of the 20-year-old that looks not a day over 12 Kevin De Bruyne.

Young Money

As you may recall, the club inquired about De Bruyne in the summer.

Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic is set to snub the interest of several other English clubs to seal a transfer to Liverpool, a club that the player's father has described as 'great'.

Jelavic has been the subject of interest from the Reds' fellow Premier League side Queens Park Rangers as well as Championship outfit West Ham United.

One of the biggest clubs in England is getting rid of adidas and slipping into something a bit more American.

Liverpool announced on Thursday morning that it has reached a record jersey deal with Michigan-based company Warrior Sports. The deal is worth $38.6 million annually over the course of six years, making it the largest jersey deal in England and second-biggest in the world behind Barcelona's deal with Nike (worth an estimated $40.

So after weeks of uncertainty over Marco Reus's future, Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund were finally able to land the services of the highly rated attacking midfielder.

Dortmund beat out the likes of Arsenal and Bayern Munich who were the two clubs closely associated with the 22 year old.

Like Gerard Pique and Cesc Fabregas before him it seems that Oriol Romeu is already flirting with a return to his boyhood club. Despite only signing for Chelsea in the summer of 2011, just a few months ago, his rise has been well noted. Last season he was in the Barcelona B side and this year he is a first team starter for Andre Villas-Boas' Chelsea side.

Article by Pedro Gomes [Editor's Note: FY = Fiscal Year]
On December 12, Soccer Insider Steven Goff dropped a budgetary bombshell on the soccer world. He revealed an inside look into the United States Soccer Federations's Budget for FY'13. No one knows exactly how this journalistic wizard came to this information and quite honestly I don't think many cared because its juicy details lit the Twitter Sphere ablaze with questions, comments, excitement, and disbelief.

Football Focus pundit Garth Crooks has praised the performances of Liverpool centre-half Daniel Agger this season.
The Danish international has been keeping Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher out of the side, with Kenny Dalglish persisting instead with a centre-back partnership of Martin Skrtel and Agger.

Amidst all the hoopla and hilarity of the season's first managerial sacking in the Premiership - Steve Bruce by Sunderland FC - it's easy to lose sight of the fact that it typically doesn't help to sack the manager. To be sure: there often seems to be a bounce-back in results for teams that appoint a new manager; but statistically speaking, the bounce-back is likely to occur in any case, with or without sacking the gaffer.

Liverpool have entered the race to sign Switzerland youngster Fabian Frei, but face competition from a host of European clubs such as Juventus and Schalke as interest intensifies.
Considered by many pundits as a hot prospect, Frei has established himself as full international since his step up from the Under-21 squad in the summer and remains an integral part of Basel's squad though Swiss media are suggesting that his seven year stay at the Swiss Super League champions could be coming to an end if the interest from Liverpool is genuine which its believed is.

If someone had told me in 1992, when the Premier League began, that the number of people in the United States twenty years later who would watch a single Premier League game would exceed 1.6 million, I would have thought ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

Spanish news outlet Albiazules is reporting that the Philadelphia Union are among a group of MLS teams that have submitted bids to La Liga Adelante (second division) club Real Club Recreativo de Huelva for Kepa Blanco.

Blanco has had an up-and-down career in Spain, having impressed with Sevilla B, before being promoted to Sevilla's La Liga first team and scoring nine goals in 37 games.

Nicolas Anelka has denied all reports of him talking about leaving Chelsea, hitting back at English newspaper The Times for its reports yesterday that quoted him as saying just the opposite.

Anelka was linked to a multitude of teams that wanted his services in January, when Chelsea was reportedly open to allowing the striker to leave the team.

Jose Enrique admitted being bothered by his omission from the most recent Spain friendlies with England and Costa Rica. But the Liverpool fullback vows not to let it deter him from reaching his goal of leading the Reds' to a top-four finish, according to LiverpoolFC.tv.
"I was a little bit disappointed," Enrique said about missing out on Spain's recent friendlies.

To us it is not news that come the end of the season Alberto Aquilani could become a permanent Milan player. All he has to do is make 25 appearances and his buy-out clause of €6 million will be activated. Nonetheless, with an international week that provides little in the way of newsworthy content, this [.

AC Milan midfielder Alberto Aquilani has revealed that the Serie A champions will be obligated to sign him on a permanent basis from Liverpool for £5.2 million if he features in 25 matches this term.
The 27-year-old is currently on a season-long loan deal with the Rossoneri after it became apparent that first team opportunities at Anfield were not forthcoming.

Nice work if you can get it, but then you can't because you're not David Beckham. Given these figures wonder if he ever got close to that $250 million in total income over the five years of his contract with MLS:

LONDON (AP) -- David Beckham's income from personal sponsorship deals rose by 30 percent last year, signaling the enduring strength of the Galaxy player's brand appeal.

FOX Broadcasting Company scored a hit on Sunday for their first-ever broadcast of a Premier League game. The match between Manchester United and Chelsea generated a 1.0 household rating with 1.6 million viewers, while 456,000 watched the live...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.

OK, so he's six foot six tall, has won 75 caps for one of the world's leading sides and is a (relative) bargain at £7.6 million. But is Per Mertesacker really the answer to Arsenal's woes?
Sunday saw their defence totally outclassed by Manchester United and so I'm not sure a slow, lumbering centre half would have been all that much help, to be honest.

Inter Milan defender, Davide Santon, is currently undergoing a medical for Newcastle United on Tyneside today. However, though there have been some reports that a deal for Santon has been agreed in principle pending the medical, with a bid for 4.5 million euros, or 6 million Euros including bonuses being allegedly accepted by Internazionale, Italy's [.

Nacional starlet Sebastian Coates is expected to sign a contract with Liverpool in the next 24 hours, as representatives of the Uruguayan club make the trip across the Atlantic in order to put the finishing touches on a lucrative transfer.
EFE reports that directors Hector Olmos and Alex Saul left for England on Monday to continue negotiations with Kenny Dalglish's team.

Arsene Wenger isn't doing the Arsenal cause much good with his comments that Bolton can keep Gary Cahill. Arsenal were rumoured to have put in a £6 million offer for the defender which Bolton turned down point blank. Bolton manager Owen Coyle felt the offer was insulting and that they expected three times as much [.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is on a collision course with Bolton chairman Phil Gartside over the proposed signing of Gary Cahill.

The Gunners have tabled an offer for theEngland defender which Bolton have described as "derisory". The bid has been reported as £6 million but Wenger insisted that figure was incorrect.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is on a collision course with Bolton chairman Phil Gartside over the proposed signing of Gary Cahill.

The Gunners have tabled an offer for theEngland defender which Bolton have described as "derisory". The bid has been reported as £6 million but Wenger insisted that figure was incorrect.

By Rumour Monger

Despite being continually valued at somewhere between £15-20 million by Bolton themselves, the Daily Mirror are reporting this morning that Arsenal have lodged a frankly derisory bid for centre-half Gary Cahill...of just £6 million roughly one third of the sticker price.

By Rumour Monger

Despite being continually valued at somewhere between £15-20 million by Bolton themselves, the Daily Mirror are reporting this morning that Arsenal have lodged a frankly derisory bid for centre-half Gary Cahill...of just £6 million roughly one third of the sticker price.

As the transfer windows edges closer to the end so does a conclusion to the Gary Cahill transfer saga. Arsenal have been linked with a move for Bolton's strong solid leader Gary Cahill all summer, and with only one season remaining before leaving on a free it looks like wenger is about to pay up and get his man for a reported £16.

By Rumour Monger

Tottenham are hopeful that a deal for Lassana Diarra will be struck over the weekend, and that the French midfielder could even be available to make his debut for Spurs in their opening game of the season a trip to Manchester United on Monday evening.