Well this year has come to another end (well football year any way) and yet again Arsenal have to dust down the Emirates trophy cabinet with nothing in it. Finally Arsene Wenger has admitted, after two very embarassing defeats to Chelsea and Man Utd that we need to and will sign some players throughout the summer.

Well this year has come to another end (well football year any way) and yet again Arsenal have to dust down the Emirates trophy cabinet with nothing in it. Finally Arsene Wenger has admitted, after two very embarassing defeats to Chelsea and Man Utd that we need to and will sign some players throughout the summer.

Well today has prevailed a lot of Arsenal transfer rumours and gossip:

The main story of the day has come from The Daily Star and it has said Barry has chosen Arsenal as his number one club he wants to move to this summer, in the quest for champions league football. The Daily Star says that Rafa Benitez will not bid again for him becuase he couldn't move last summer so this leaves the path for Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City (although they are linked with everyone now though aren't they).

Rafael Benitez has publicly claimed that he doesn't want to sell Xabi Alonso this summer, but a closer look at his comments on the issue arguably reveal his true intentions.
Alonso has been linked with Juventus this week and Benitez has been quick to dampen the speculation. Or has he? Consider his comments:

"We don't want to sell Alonso".

Is it me or is the quality of Footballers WAGS improving all the time?

• Link Loving 15th July: Vicious Headbut Tackle; Stunning Spanish WAG; Liverpool Team News; Carlos Tevez is a Liar; Thoughts on Adebayor, Are Chelsea Couple John Terry and Frank Lampard Splitting Up; Anfield Legend Wishes Man United Man Good Luck!

It's a busy time in Manchester, as the red side and the blue side are both busy trying to bolster their squads ahead of next season.

But they're not the only clubs being linked with big-money purchases in this morning's transfer news roundup, though the other club mentioned is having nothing to do with said big-money move.

Liverpool's crushing defeats to Sunderland and Lyon are undoubtedly devastating blows to the club's trophy ambitions. Clearly, the recurring problems that have plagued Liverpool under Rafa Benitez are wreaking havoc once again. As such, if the club is to recover and salvage something from this campaign, it is imperative that important changes are made NOW.

If there is ever a Miss World Pageant style competition to find the most attractive WAG on the planet, and it's only a matter of time surely, then Real Madrid keeper Iker Casillas's ex would surely triumph in such a contest!

More pics after the jump!

• Manchester United Plan Huge £17m Real Madrid Bid!

If you like WAGS then you're in luck because we have found something that will keep you happy for some time!

The criteria to qualify is simple, just date a professional soccer player. While I'd love to restrict the rankings to current WAGs, its too hard to keep up with all the comings and goings with the various relationships across many countries.

Only a fraction of fee payable now.

Contrary to all the rubbish printed by the British press regarding a 20 million
pound deal for Alberto Aquilani, Roma have themselves revealed the true extent of the payment structure for the Italian (both to the stock exchange as well as their own official site).

Almost everything is going wrong for Liverpool. I say 'almost', because last week they beat Manchester United at Anfield, and the gloom was temporarily lifted. "Liverpool have turned a corner... This will kick-start their season... etc" in the end, it hasn't. Liverpool's continued struggles share similarities with those of the aforementioned United in the 2004-05 season, where, after an awful start to the season, a victory against Big Rivals (in that case, Arsenal) threatened to send the Old Trafford club on a march back to glory.

Se refuerza en grande Xoloitzcuintles
Cinco de las ocho nuevas contrataciones militaron en la Primera División el torneo anterior.
CANCÚN, QUINTANA ROO.- Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, mediante el departamento de Dirección Deportiva y presidencia, trabajaron arduamente en el Régimen de Transferencias conocido como "Draft" que se celebró en Cancún, Quintana Roo, y se oficializaron importantes transferencias de cara al próximo torneo Apertura 2009 en la recién nombrada Liga de Ascenso, otrora Primera "A".

The transfer has finally opened and we all wait with baited breath for the arrival of new players to invigorate our squad and bring home trophies. Could Wenger break with tradition and focus his transfer targets on the domestic market?

Wenger has rarely bought English players and those he has have not for one reason or another been successful.

Here I am, 24 days after my last part of last's season review, putting down some thoughts about all the news we read about in the last month. I didn't have much to write about lately so I preferred to stay quiet and let the rest of the team update you guys with news and transfer rumours. But today, I want to share some thoughts with you, plenty of them actually.

According to John Arne Riise, new Liverpool signing Alberto Aquilani carries a greater goal threat than the recently departed Xabi Alonso. Whilst that would clearly be fantastic for the team, is it actually true?
In an interview, Riise stated:
"He's [Aquilani] is really good on the ball, with good passing, good movement, he works hard and is a good professional".

Real Madrid started their preseason tour of North America with a trip to BMO Field to play Toronto FC of Major League Soccer. The match is the first of two against MLS teams with the other on Sunday against DC United. All the stars of Real Madrid were available for Friday's match including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Benzema, and Alonso.

There has been a lot of heated debate about Rafa's signings and overall effectiveness since the ‘leaked' conversation between George Gillett and a member of the ‘Spirit of Shankly' group. How much cash has Rafa really spent since becoming manager and how much has he brought back in through sales?

Anyone watching the Confederations Cup over the last week or so can't fail to have heard the continuing, defeaning drone coming from hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic horns known as Vuvuzelas.These are, apparently, extremely popular among South African football fans. However, such is the incessant din produced by this horns, that players (well Xabi Alonso anyway) have complained it knocks

Not every piece of news comes out of Spain only, SFS surfs the netto read English, Italian media & when possible understand German& French media. Here is an interview from "YouTube" withLIVERPOOL FC Coach RAFAEL BENITEZ with his latest views onXABI ALONSO & JAVIER MASCHERANO both on the agendas ofReal Madrid & FC Barcelona respectively.

The all new rumour reporting article system is in full effect! The Rumour Javi Martinez has issued a "come-and-get-me" plea to Liverpool because he is eager to be part of their illustrious history. The Athletic Bilbao midfielder has been touted as a possible replacement should Xabi Alonso leave Anfield.

As the Austrian training camp draws to a close, Arsene and his staff have a better understanding of where the squad needs to be strengthened in particular now the Adebayor has left and Toure is virtually a Man City player too, whilst Eboue and Senderos are also looking at Arsenal exits.

If Arsene sold the remaining four players he would have £55 million to spend, but before people go mad, he will not spend that sort of money.

So far this summer, much has been made of Alonso's will he/won't he transfer to Real Madrid. It's rather like Dawson's Creek but for people who have already lost their virginity and moved past alcopops. However, I think what is just as important but is being somewhat overlooked is Liverpool's striking options.

#1: Barcelona

Lionel Messi & Company still have to be considered the favorites this season to take home the hardware. The treble winning club was shut out in one of their two group matches so far, but the squad has also allowed zero goals in those matches as well.

Newspaper and website talk is heating up over the news that Arsenal and not Liverpool could be the destination of Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry. Barry was subject of massive speculation last summer, but Liverpool were not prepared to pay £18 million for the England midfielder.

Aston Villa will reluctantly let Barry leave after they reached a gentleman's agreement last summer whereby if Villa failed to qualify for the Champions League, they would listen to offers and reduce their asking price.

It was never a secret that Guardiola preferred Busquets and Keita to Toure when he started his reign at Barca. He entered into compromise with Eto early on the season but convincingly overlooked Toure many times during the start of season. But there are some talents you can't keep on bench, and Toure proved to be one of them.

Spanish daily "Marca" must have the direct channel to REAL MADRIDas they keep on surprising us on the upcoming transfer moves &grooves. This morning they put on their cover that Real Madrid wasgoing after AC ROMA midfielder DANIELE DE ROSSI as an alternativeto their prime objective XABI ALONSO of Liverpool FC who hasdrifted due to the high economic pretensions of Liverpool FC.

Diario Vasco

So apparently, Xabi Alonso got married too over the weekend and the ninas at ONTD Football have all the goods on the Liverpool star's wedding here!

The bride is Nagore Aranburu, a Spanish actress. They've been dating for the last 9235 years and finally decided to tie the knot.

No matter what happens from now until the end of the season, and whether we finish in the top 4 or not, there are a number of recent transfer deals that bother me greatly - signings, sales or missed opportunities that could've improved our squad and afforded us more depth than we currently have.
The deals relevant to last season may even have turned some of those nagging draws in wins, maybe giving us enough points to have snatched the title from Man Ure.

Even footballers have turned on the government. Xabi Alonso believes Gordon Brown's economic policies have weakened English football and that the Premier League's star players could be forced to the Continent to escape the weak pound and the incoming 50% tax rate.
Alonso is refusing to commit himself to Liverpool next season, with Real Madrid eager to to take him to the Bernabeu, and with Alonso estimating he is losing a third of his earnings he is edging closer to a return to Spain.

Fernando Torres has brushed off a fresh round of Liverpool exit rumours with George Gillett's proposed sale of his ice hockey club Montreal Canadiens offering hope that the financial cloud over Anfield could be lifted.
Reports yesterday suggested that just a week after Torres was linked with a shock move to bitter North West rivals Manchester United, Chelsea are now planning to test Liverpool's resolve over their Spanish striker with an audacious £50million bid.

Xabi Alonso seems certain to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid this summer, which comes as no surprise given his demoralizing treatment at the hands of Rafa Benitez over the last 2 years..
The latest in this summer's most predictable (and regrettable) transfer saga is that Alonso has allegedly told Benitez that he wants to leave Anfield.

So much for speculation. The sad news has finally reached its epic conclusion. Xabi Alonso has indeed handed in an official transfer request, and a move to Real Madrid looks imminent. Some say 25 mil, others say 28 mil, but knowing my beloved Liverpool in the transfer market, we'll probably send him to Real for 15 mil and get Guti in exchange.

Why replace a inspirational visionary midfielder with a distinctly average injury prone Italian?

Surely we would not sell our most influential, consistent and best(?) player of last season and replace him with an injury prone Italian that at best is a good player, no, not brilliant, world class or amazing he is a better player of an average Roma team and his injury record is awful, to top it all off he is isn't even into full pre-season training as he has just come back from holiday (sorry didn't mean that) no you guessed it an injury!

Real Madrid started their Champions League campaign with a 5-2 win against a very aggressive FC Zurich team. The Swiss hassled and made Real uncomfortable until Cristiano Ronaldo scored a free-kick that opened up the game. Xabi Alonso was pulling the strings all night long, setting up two goals forRaul and Hiquan.

In terms of the football played on the pitch, the Sevilla Real Madrid clash qualified as the best match of the young La Liga season. Honorable mentions to Athletic Bilbao's 3-2 victory over Villarreal CF in Round 3 and the pulsating 2-2 draw between Valencia and Atlético Madrid last Saturday night, but this fixture contained everything that a writer and a supporter wanted: back stories prior to the game, vigorous and attacking football, tensions boiling over the players at hand, and incredible stops by both goalkeepers.

If you believe what you hear - and what you saw against Fulham - you'll probably believe the wolves are at the door for Señor Benitez. However, I'll try to put things in perspective without using an array of cringe-worthy Halloween puns.
What happened against Fulham was a disaster, and a game we shouldn't have lost going into.

It's still early, but with midfielder enforcer Osvaldo Alonso dominating, the Seattle Sounders look almost unstoppable.

Rafael Benitez has spent £171,425,000 on transfers in his five years at the club, an average of £34,285,000 a season.

"When you talk about United you're talking about a side spending big, big money on every player, every season," said Benitez. "For me that is the main difference between the teams.

Fernando Torres has laughed off rumours of a switch to Chelsea, insisting he wants to win trophies with Liverpool.
The news comes as the proposed sale of George Gillett's ice hockey club Montreal Canadiens offers hope the financial cloud over Anfield can be lifted.
Reports yesterday suggested that just a week after Torres was linked with a shock move to North West rivals Manchester United, Chelsea are now planning to test Liverpool's resolve over their Spanish striker with an audacious £50m bid.

Anyone else getting a little footy-wedding weary? What are we up to now, sixty, seventy-thousand already this summer?

Perhaps we're feeling the strain because one of our favourite guys tied the knot over the weekend. Xabi Alonso married his girlfriend Nagore Aramburu, who just so happens to be the mother of his adorable son, Jon.