This weekend's headlines were stolen by Emmauel Adebayor even before a ball was kicked. Saturday morning, Adebayor finally lashed out at his former club Arsenal, moments before the Gunners kicked-off a challenging visit to the Eastlands.

If there is one team that is secretly thriving in a summer of high-profile transfers, it is Birmingham City. As mentioned by my fellow Premiership Talk writer, Brian Lofrumento, the newly promoted outfit is reportedly pursuing former Arsenal captain Patrick Viera, which is in addition to a handful of other acquisitions made recently.

As Newcastle United gear up to face Manchester City tomorrow, Shay Given has been informed that he will not be playing against his future club. Yes, you read it right, Shay Given is on the verge of wrapping up a deal that brings him to the City of Manchester Stadium. Although a signing won't be completed before tomorrow's fixture, both sides have agreed that it's better if Given doesn't make an appearance.

With this article, I realize that I risk angering some staunch Inter Milan supporters. But since I have waited three long years to express my views on this issue, I feel obliged to let them out. The truth is, I simply can't fathom why no one can stop Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A.

Perhaps it is the lackluster attitude of their guilty rivals ever since the notorious match-fixing scandals of 2006.

Friday evening Real Madrid's most controversial figure, Ramon Calderon, resigned from his presidential duties. The 57 year old was caught up in a voting scandal, where Spanish newspapers accused Calderon of "irregularities" in the way that he got the club's accounts approved. Apparently he stacked the general assembly with fake delegates, one of whom is actually a season ticket holder at Atletico Madrid.

As soon as the referee blew his whistle to bring a toughly contested fixture between Manchester United and Everton to its end at Old Trafford, it became clear that the home side has indeed mastered the technique of winning games with a 1-0 margin this season. Some of their rivals feel that Sir Alex Ferguson's men have been lucky to escape with multiple 1-0 wins this season and many have accused United of appearing "lost" on their way to yet another successful season.

Fabio Capello may have led England to one of its best starts in a World Cup qualification campaign. However, as the Three Lions' last outing against European Champions Spain suggests, there is still a lot of learning to do for Mr. Capello before he gets his starting eleven completely right. At least I feel this way.

Football FanCast columnist Mike Harvey feels that technology in football is not the answer.

Officiating in football is headline news these days. The past few weeks left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans. FIFA is at a crossroads and how they choose to handle this problem will affect the game for years.

So it's finally come to an end. The most protracted and annoying transfer saga in Manchester United history has ended with Cristiano Ronaldo finally getting his wish to look absolutely fabulous in all white whilst topping up his tan in the Spanish Sun.

Some will inevitably see the deal, and his request for it, as inconclusive proof of their belief he is an evil, diabolical, ungrateful little grasping greasy foreign **** who should be strung up and paddled for the sheer gall of wanting to play for anyone but Manchester United.

The Real Madrid rumor mill is in full flight once again, although this time it's a Chelsea player that is at the center of the speculation. Eduardo Garcia, who is running for the Real Madrid presidency, has told the media that he has an agreement in place that will bring the Ivorian striker to Spain if he wins the election.

With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

No doubt, it is great to see two massive sides come together at a massive venue in massive form. Furthermore, if the clash between these two teams has been scheduled for months, proceedings become even more pulsating. Fans of both teams feel the chills down their spines while the neutrals across the world just wait restlessly for a cracker of a game.

Jens Lehmann knows about it. What does pressure do?

In what is being called, by many UEFA pundits, arguably the most thrilling Champions League quarterfinal in recent memory, Chelsea knocked Liverpool out 7-5 on aggregate. However, the aggregate score is certainly flattering for the Blues, who defended amateurish throughout the second leg at home tonight.

Every little kid dreams of scoring the winning goal for their favorite football club. On Sunday at Old Trafford, that dream became reality for one kid.

After a Gabriel Agbonlahor goal put Aston Villa up 2-1 in the 58th minute, Sir Alex turned to an unsuspecting bench player. Federico Macheda, a mere 17-year-old Italian boy, was given his first playing time for United in one of Manchester United's biggest matches of the season.

It's always this way, isn't it? You wait forever for one bus and then four or five come along at once. After a fairly drab season by Premier League standards, it's all gone frigging loopy as the fight for European and domestic dominance reaches its final stretch. A month ago we (well mainly I, but I'm sure you, too) were bemoaning the lack of really exciting games from the 08-09 Premier League season.

Last week's biggest headline was the announcement that Chelsea have been handed a transfer ban. The Blues are accused of illegally tapping up former Lens youngster Gael Kakuta, and the ruling has sparked controversy all around the world of football. Manchester United appear to be the next club on the chopping block as French club Le Havre are accusing the Premiership champions of tapping up 16 year old Paul Pogba.

They call him Mr. Chelsea, and Blues skipper John Terry certainly lived up to that billing when he recently decided to take control of the financial aspect of the women's football team at Stamford Bridge. The economy certainly hit the Chelsea ladies very hard as a significant portion of their funding from previous years was slashed this season.

The Tottenham faithful often wonder why their team cannot break into the top four in the Premier League. Before the Martin Jol era, they were told that they needed a great coach. After the arrival of Jol, it was believed that the squad needed bolstering. Once that was done, things got going - until blunders became the norm again at White Hart Lane.

So, after months of speculation, it seems that Emmanuel Adebayor's departure from Arsenal is inevitable. With Manchester City's spending spree the talk of the town at the moment, the asking price of £25 million, which was once astronomical for clubs like AC Milan, seems to be pocket change for the Eastlanders.

Those who saw last night's World Football Challenge clash between Internazionale and Chelsea must have noticed a solid performance from a rapidly emerging star wearing the blue shirt. Branislav Ivanovic, who played fullback for 65 minutes of Chelsea's dominant 2-0 victory over the reigning Italian champions seemed to be the player who was more eager than anyone else to cement his reputation during the high-profile friendly at the Rose Bowl.

This summer may have seemed a bit boring as far as transfers go, but things are finally heating up. Manchester City and Real Madrid were the overwhelming big spenders during the blistering hot summer months, but with only a few days remaining the "smaller" clubs are working hard to fill out their squads for the fall and winter.

Wayne Bridge is on the verge of a move to City.

Following their FA Cup exit at the hands of Nottingham Forest, Manchester City have moved quickly to improve the squad. Mark Hughes is on the verge of wrapping up yet another two January transfer deals, this time bringing Scott Parker and Roque Santa Cruz to the City of Manchester Stadium. The deal between Blackburn and Manchester City would send Roque Santa Cruz to City with Tal Ben-Haim and £18 million heading towards Ewood Park.

While opposing fans used to sing about Arsenal's Highbury being as quiet as a library, it's easy to see where that comparison comes from. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger often plays the role of a librarian - always very astute in his approach to business and never loud. This January is no different, and Wenger is once again insisting that everything is quiet on the transfer front.

Champs League, UEFA Cup, and more!

The PFA Player of the Year nominees are now out, and what a farce they are. It's not that five Manchester United players have been nominated for the main award that I find farcicle. Nor that Steven Gerrard is the only representative from the 19 other clubs. Nor that Aaron 'I can run very fast but I get a little stumped when I have to do something with this ball thingy' Lennon is in with a shot of winning Young Player of the Year.

While some of us Premier League fans must be jubilant with celebrations right now, others are still sure to be hurting, as the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals is already in the books. Rather than reviewing the Champions League results, however, this article focuses on moving on to this weekend's Premier League fixtures for the "Big Four", and how their Champions League outings will end up affecting their Premier League outings this weekend.

Another season of the Premier League is now in the books, and Premiership Talk today celebrates its first birthday! On June 7, 2008, Premiership Talk was founded, and a year later the site stands lightyears ahead of its basic roots...although we're still talking about the same things today that we were a year ago (the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga was the very first post on Premiership Talk).

Daniel Agger is generally known to Barclays Premier League fans as a technically gifted Danish defender whose progress has often been halted by injuries. Similarly, Alberto Aquilani is usually perceived by English fans as an immensely creative Italian midfielder who has often been deceived by his proneness to injuries.