Possibly the best attribute a player in your team can have is to be a penalty taker. But until the season is underway, it can also be one of the hardest things to tie down. Preseason games are indicators only, and the presence or absence of something happening in a preseason game does not indicate we should take that as a given either.

Here is the latest on the in comings and outgoings at Old Trafford. Antonio Valencia- Manchester United have bid £17 million for Wigan's Valencia. Man United aren't the only team interested in...
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The transfer rumor mill is in full force once again, and almost all of the rumors revolve around some up and coming Spanish club that goes by the name of Real Madrid (surely a rip-off of the MLS side Real Salt Lake). This time the rumors concern Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has a rumored price tag of just £1.

Este Miércoles se juega la final de la Champions League en Roma, te queremos hacer la cordial invitación a ti que nos visitas y lees para que nos acompañes ese mismo día a partir de las 13 horas, ya que tendremos la cobertura en vivo de tan esperado duelo entre los poderosos Manchester United y el Barcelona.

A selection of talent from Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea, Everton, Stoke City, Burnley, Sunderland and Aston Villa who should get more in the way of plaudits.

Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool)

A player who only seems to get his chance when someone is out injured or badly off form.

Manchester United win 8-2 in China against Hangzhou Greentown.

Goal 1: Owen

Goal 2: Berbatov

Goal 3: Tosic

Goal 4: Owen

Goal 5: Nani

Goal 6: Giggs

Goal 7: Giggs

Goal 8: Giggs

On it's way.

Is it me, or is she getting more attractive by the day? This is a rhetorical question, because we are already well aware of the correct answer!

More pics after the jump (Kriss Kross will make yer....)

Get a free £10 bet on your club by joining William Hill now.

Oh dear. Our friend Dimitar Berbatov is tangled up in a web of jealousy, deceit, and threats of violence with a couple that also meant trouble for former Liverpool backup goalkeeper Nikolay Mihailov, who publicly made fun of former girlfriend and 2006 Playmate of the Year Nikoleta Lozanova and ended up going into hiding after getting his Ferrari doused in acid at orders of her current boyfriend, Bulgarian mob boss Georgi ‘The Head' Stoilov.

We still aren't sure where Carlos Tevez will be playing next season, but one thing that we are sure of this morning is that it won't be at Anfield. Last night Tevez decided that there were two many...
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Michael Owen: Mentally prepared for battle and ready to take on the opposition both on and off the field.

I know there were some United fans who were dubious and skeptical about the benefits of signing Newcastle United burden Michael Owen but I am convinced Sir Alex has in fact made the bargain buy of the season.

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.

If you have a thing against strikers (whether you're a former/current defender or you love 0-0 draws), then you may want to skip today's roundup, since it's an especially striker-centric one.

Manchester United have just signed one striker, but they may well not be done bringing new goal-getters to Old Trafford.

I doubt Michael Owen will join Manchester United, but you just never know. The bookmakers have slashed the odds on the move - and when there is smoke in Vegas, there is sometimes fire.
When there is smoke in Vegas, there is sometimes fire.
What does that even mean? Whatever. Owen to back up Rooney and Berbatov?

Sir Alex Ferguson has looked at where he expects to see the squad to improve next season but also is happy that there won't be miserable players in the squad.

"Nani will improve," said Ferguson. "He has not got the maturity of Ronaldo, but he will improve. I expect Darren Fletcher to establish himself as a big player in our squad.

The Daily Mail has Dimitar Berbatov as the 40th biggest transfer flop in the history of the Premier League, making him a bigger disaster than Reyes' £17 million move to Arsenal in 2004, Wright-Phillips' £21 million move to Chelsea, Pennant to Liverpool, Deco to Chelsea, and even David fucking Bellion!

No, it hasn't been the season he had hoped for, but still overall it has been a good season. Criticised for being lazy, Berbatov is nothing like that, but instead if a workman like player who has the ability to link up play, and also be able to succeed create and score goals.

He may have just nine league goals to his name, but when Berbatov arrived at Old Trafford, scoring goals was not his only asset.

The tattoo reads "Kun Aguero" in Elvish

Man Utd seems to be keen on landing Sergio "Kun" Aguero and will be willing to include Nani and Berbatov in a potential deal if the Spanish media are to be believed. He has a 60 million euros buy out clause. The latest offer for the Argentinian support striker has Nani and 40 million euros in cash for his services.

Este Miércoles se juega la final de la Champions League en Roma, te queremos hacer la cordial invitación a ti que nos visitas y lees para que nos acompañes ese mismo día a partir de las 13 horas, ya que tendremos la cobertura en vivo de tan esperado duelo entre los poderosos Manchester United y el Barcelona.

Former Man United player Carlos Tevez has blamed Dimitar Berbatov for his departure. Tevez has finally said what we all knew anyway. The fans love Tevez and most of us wanted Sir Alex Ferguson to...
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More expensive than starter Michael Carrick (15M). Check.
More expensive than starter Antonio Valencia (16M). Check.
Yup, midfielder Owen Hargreaves cost United 17M pounds, and he hasn't featured in a year.
But according to Sir Alex Ferguson, Hargreaves is nearing a first team return.
This news should be of interest not only to United fans but also to fantasy footie managers intent on splashing the cash on the aforementioned Valencia (8.

I am a massive fan of Carlos Tevez and transfer rumours don't really worry me because quite alot of the time, it is complete rubbish. But saying that, I am starting to think that if Man United don't... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

If United had to lose on penalties, I wish it was Carlos Tevez that missed one. We love him and he would have been forgiven. Most likely he will already be forgiven for going AWOL for the entire game today.

Dimitar Berbatov is a different kettle of fish though. For whatever reason, the fans are already against him.

I've found a decent quality video of the highlights of Man United's 8-2 destruction of Hangzhou Greentown in the Asia cup. As well as United's free flowing attacking, Hangzhou's inept defending, and Ryan Gigg's immense finishing, the performance of Dimitar Berbatov was the most jaw-dropping aspect of the game.

Good afternoon everybody. The match we have all been waiting for is here. Manchester United vs. FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League final (2:30pm, ESPN).

The reigning champions from Manchester are back to defend their title against a Barcelona side considered the most dangerous in the world.

It looks like Manchester United could be in a spot of trouble. CSKA Sofia have filed a lawsuit to FIFA against Man United after the clubs couldn't settle a problem over Dimitar Berbatov involving...
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Toward the end of his book Inverting the Pyramid, Jonathan Wilson writes about the changing nature of modern football. A player he brings up to emphasize this is Michael Owen. To Wilson, Owen is a relic of a previous era.

"He appears a player left behind by the tactical evolution of the game," Wilson writes.

Tevez - listening to offers?

Well another week has meant another win for the top two, another bad week for Arsenal and of course another week of transfer rumours.

For months now specualtion has never really gone away that Manchester United will not stump up the reported £30 Million or so that Media Sports Investments want for him.

With their win over Hangzhou on Sunday, United wrapped their Asian Tour in fairly convincing style. The victory pushed the Red Devils preseason record to 4-0 with 16 goals for and 6 against. So just what should the average fan take away from these matches? That may be a bit difficult to determine, but here are the points that hit home for me.

Back in September 2008, when Dimitar Berbatov and Man United CEO David Gill put the finishing touches on a lucrative 4-year contract tying the enigmatic Bulgarian to Old Trafford for the prime years of his career, you would have been an absolute plonker to ask the question.

Another fairly lazy day today so gonna plump you all up with another fill of Man Utd Ramblings. It could be worse, I don't know how but I'm sure it could be.

The news came out recently that Man Utd will wear a full white kit for the Champions League Final against Barcelona.

Earlier this week the sage of the financial world Alex Ferguson made a pronouncement on the financial situation at Arsenal. His claim was that Arsene had very little money to spend and it will be tough for Arsenal this season.

This comes from the club who are £800million in debt and have annual interest payments of £45million.

The Sunday papers always make for interesting reading when it comes to transfer gossip, so this morning's roundup is no exception.

From the looks of Sunday's gossip, we're in store for quite the busy week as clubs try to make some late reinforcements before their seasons get underway.

Old Trafford will witness the first Big 4 clash of the 2009/2010 Barclays Premier League season. The second plum fixure of this weekend pits Manchester United against Arsenal. Already the press is building up the historical rivalry between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. This is a testament of the great start that Arsenal have made this season.

It seems that Dimitar Berbatov is a much more honest bloke than your average egomaniac footballer We all see the Bulgarian as a man who is carefree, waltzing around the pitch as if on a fairground carousel. But it appears that Mr B has recognised his lack of spark from the 2008/9 season, and now wishes [.

Manchester United looks to recover from last weekend's defeat to Liverpool as they face Blackburn Rovers. Were they able to win or did Blackburn get a result? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Manchester United beats Blackburn 2-0 Video Highlights

The match had a slow start as neither team really had any great chances in the first 20 minutes.

Are our youngsters good enough? Everyone talks about the youngsters at Arsenal and how talented they are, and this is certainly true but what about the youngsters at Man Utd, are they good enough to make the grade or are we going to have to splash out ridiculous sums on more top names?

Four weeks ago, I was playing Football Manager. I was managing Manchester United and was faced with the dilemma of how to replace Tevez and Ronaldo. With 80 million quid in the bank, money wasn't an issue; however the question of bringing in the "right" player involves more than just money.

Browsing through my shortlist, the expected names appeared: Benzema, Ribery and Ibrahimovic.

United continued their winning ways this evening/afternoon/morning, defeating Korean side FC Seoul 3-2. Goals from Wayne Rooney, Kiko Macheda, and Dimitar Berbatov kept United undefeated through three matches of their Asian Tour. Perhaps more notable than the scoreline was the fact that the Korean crowds apparently haven't calmed down a bit since 2002.

Nice game face, Benjamin
Nice game face, Tomasz
With Manchester United # 1 Edwin van der Sar sidelined with a broken finger, the goalkeeping shirt is up for grabs at Old Trafford. And while it looks like Carling Cup hero Ben Foster is first in line to claim the starting spot - fantasy premier league managers should proceed with caution as Tomasz Kusczak waits in the wings.

Man Yoo striker's mobile could threaten his mobility Dimitar Berbatov has got himself on the wrong side of a Bulgarian gangster by sending suggestive text messages to his girlfriend, according to The Sun. The 28-year-old is reported to have received unexpected replies to his flirty messsages to Playboy model Nikoleta Lozanova from mob boss Georgi 'The Head' [.