Spanish tabloid AS produced a life-size poster of Cristiano Ronaldo and I'll give you one guess as to who really really liked it (hint: it's the guy pictured above, wearing a fluorescent pink shirt, giant belt buckle, and giving a poster of himself the thumbs up).

Ronaldo was in the newsroom for an interview before traveling to Sweden for Portugal's next World Cup Qualifier and, of course, the first question asked was what he thought of the poster:

"Absolutely fantastic.

Oh dear, are the club about to be ripped off royally?

Florentino Perez: This is one hell of a sneaky man!

Liverpool have reportedly given Real Madrid a 48-hour deadline to come up with the cash for Xabi Alonso.

Exit strategy: Xabi Alonso lines up against Singapore on Sunday in what could have been his last Liverpool appearance.

Here's the latest transfer news in European soccer with Benzema heading to Real Madrid from Lyon and the latest updates on Ribery, Eto'o and Tevez.

Benzema headed to Real Madrid - Lyon have announced that star strikerKarim Benzema is to become the latest player to join Real Madrid.

Hi everyone hope you've had good weeks up to this point and will be looking forward to the Celtic game tonight to probably see a few young guns in action.

But what has caught my eye today is a few journalists predicting Arsenal to be in action on transfer deadline day and throughout the week prior to it, I'll explain:

The Dail Mirror's Football Spy

From his insider knowledge or it could be what he just made up he is predicting 2 Arsenal moves in the last week of the transfer window:

Blaise Matuidi

This story has ran for ages and you all know who he is by now so I won't bother with huge details but he's a Defenesive Midfielder with a great talent.

This would be one hell of a signing!

Rafael van der Vaart could spark a scrap for his signature after being told he could leave Real Madrid for free.
The Holland international is looking for a new club after the La Liga giants said he would be offloaded for around £10million, but a top football lawyer says he can go for nothing.

Fingers crossed!

VILLA are set for talks with Real Madrid over a sensational move for star midfielder Wesley Sneijder.

The 25-year-old Holland international and former Ajax ace is available after Madrid's summer spree.

Reports in Spain suggested a fee of 16 million euros had been agreed with Liverpool for the attacking midfielder, but Villa have now come in to make their play.

You knew it was only a matter of time before it would happen, even with the world's current economical state. Real Madrid have broken the world transfer record that they already held by landing Kaka from AC Milan for £59m.

That signing looks to be only the start of Real's monster summer spending spree, and if they can land one of their prime targets (you should already know who I'm talking about without me having to mention him by name), we could see the above record broken once again before the end of the summer.

A good news story for Anfield fans on this sad day!

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Negredo says he's prepared to move abroad for regular football.

A target for Tottenham and Liverpool, Negredo said: "Of course I would like to stay, but I have to do what's best for me and if it can not be here, I must find minutes elsewhere.

The European soccer leagues are still a few months from the start of the 2009/10 season but the transfer market continues to be busy with rumors of players for sale. Here's the latest news on some of the biggest starts including Samuel Eto'o and Frank Ribery.

The Latest on Xabi Alonso - Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso insists he would have 'no regrets' about staying at Anfield, but has refused to rule out a big-money move to Real Madrid.

Juande Ramos - I pity the fool... Oops. Perhaps Juande should have taken a leaf from Guus Hiddink's coaching manual. Yep, I just watched Barcelona crush - I mean CRUSH - Real Madrid 6-2 at the Bernabeu, in what must rank...

Cuando algo va mal y en el Bernabeu al Real Madrid le fue muy mal, lo primero que hace el ser humano es buscar culpables y algunos le han cargado la mano a Sergio Ramos con todo y que anoto gol. Por ejemplo este cartón de Cayecaturas.
Tal vez en lo individual su pobre actuación de este polémico jugador se debió a que dos días antes andaba de farra.

Poor David Villa. He's tired of all the transfer speculation but Harry Potter Perez refuses to leave him alone!

"Florentino Pérez contacts me every day - more or less, four to five times," revealed the Spanish striker who has scored 25 goals for Valencia this season.

The young Spaniard Suso will join up with his fellow countrymen at Anfield rather than join the superstars at the Bernabeu. Liverpool have stolen a march on Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona and secured the services of highly-rated Cadiz teenager Jesus Fernandez Saez, nicknamed Suso, according to Setanta Sports.

Mr Levy is at the Madrid Sales!

The Rumour

Tottenham supremo Daniel Levy has begun talks with Real Madrid over a stunning £36million swoop for Arjen Robben, Gabriel Heinze and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

The White Hart Lane chairman went to Spain to seal a deal for the trio who, despite their quality, are surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu following Kaka's arrival and the impending capture of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Here's the latest European Transfer News including Franck Ribery's demand to move to Real Madrid and rumors continue to swirl around Manchester United defense Nemanja Vidic.

Ribery states his wish to move to Real Madrid - Franck Ribery has told Bayern Munich that he wants to leave the club and join the new generation of 'galacticos' at Real Madrid.

Pencil in the weekend of November 28/29. That is when Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and the rest of Real Madrid's high-priced roster takes on Lionel Messi and the defending Champions League Champions Barcelona at the Camp Nou. The return leg is April 10/11 at the Bernabeu.

It is usually the matchups between the big four in the Premier League that we look for first, but Real's spending this summer has been unprecedented and these two La Liga giants might well be the best two teams in Europe at the moment.

A good way to invest the rest of the Alonso cash?

Liverpool and Aston Villa have been told to shelve any plans they have to sign Real Madrid playmaker Wesley Sneijder.

The Holland international was expected to be surplus to requirements at the Bernebeu following the arrivals of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Two giants of the game went head to head in this highly entertaining encounter at the Bernabeu which AC Milan thanks to a late Pato strike.

Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!

1-0 Raul

1-1 Pirlo

1-2 Pato

2-2 Drenthe

2-3 Pato

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

This Ronaldo business is getting more and more ridiculous, apparently Manchester United and Real Madrid signed a contract last summer which could see Ronaldo go to the Bernabeu this summer. A...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

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.

Deal almost done!

When Alonso officially informed Liverpool last week that he wanted to move to the Bernabeu, the Reds were given encouragement by cashstrapped Roma to open talks with Aquilani.

Liverpool are ready to strike a compromise deal with Madrid at about £28m less than their initial £32m valuation, However, it is still £12m above what Liverpool were willing to accept from Juventus for Alonso a year ago.

And Ronaldo apparently loves this full-sized poster of himself. Check out his quote about the poster I saw over at Dirty Tackle:

"Absolutely fantastic. I never imagined it was so big. The photo is from the presentation day at the Bernabeu with the stands full. I have not forgotten what I experienced that night.

The deal for Karim Benzema was painfully close to go through in the summer, until Real Madrid offered more money and the striker made it clear he wanted a move to Spain.

Benzema was paraded around the Bernabeu, kissing his badge as he went, talking about how this was a dream come true.

A belated birthday greeting to David Beckham, who turned 34 on May 2nd. Hope you had a good (and well-behaved) one, luv!
Even Yoann Gourcuff's armpits are sexy. *Sigh*
Barcelona's win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu was seriously impressive. Not impressive: Sergio Ramos's party schedule.

Xabi Alonso's move to Real Madrid is back on the cards, with Liverpool reportedly willing to consider a deal if Wesley Sneijder is included.
Alonso is seemingly intent on a move to the Bernabeu, but thus far the two clubs have failed to reach an agreement over a transfer fee.
According to The Times, however, Liverpool are now willing to accept a cut-price deal, if Wesley Sneijder is included in the package.

Tonight, Barcelona travels to Valencia to play a tough away game against a team who has won their last 5 games including a 3-1 victory against Sevilla. Valencia are currently in 4th place and trail Sevilla by only two points. A win tomorrow could put Valencia into 3rd at least until Sevilla plays Real Madrid on Sunday.

Image via AS.com

Valencia's David Villa and his wife Patricia were spotted in Madrid yesterday. After shopping in the city center, the pair lunched at Asador Frontón, a restaurant located near the Bernabeu.
On the menu? Salad, meat and water. "The two enjoyed iced coffee and a single scoop of ice cream for dessert.

09 June 2009: Kaká has signed a six-year contract and will earn €9,120,000 a year at the Santiago Bernabeu. As expected, he'll wear the famous number "5″ shirt previously worn by legends Fabio Cannavaro and Zinedine Zidane.

"Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, Kaka, is a Real Madrid player after an agreement was reached with AC Milan.

Darius Vassell is more than a player Kaka might have attracted 50,000 to the Bernabeu, but Darius Vassell brought in a respectable 3,000 punters to urge him to sign for Turkish outfit Ankaragucu. The fans came armed with banners, placards and a level of vocal support more befitting the Second Coming than the arrival of a [.

Not for the first time this summer, Real Madrid look set to give up in their chase for a player, namely Xabi Alonso.
According to Sport, Los Merengues are unwilling to pay the €50 million that Liverpool are demanding for the midfielder. Though money is seemingly in plentiful supply at the Bernabeu, Florentino Perez refuses to pay over the odds for any player.

They said it would pack the Bernabeu and they weren't far wrong as over 80,000 fans packed the stadium to see the presentation of Ronaldo to the grateful public.
With supporters queuing outside the Bernabéu for much of the day in order to gain access to the brief ceremony, tonight's attendance at the Bernabéu swamped the estimated 55,000 that watched Kaka's unveiling here last Tuesday, and is thought to be the biggest turn-out for a presentation since a reported 75,000 saw the arrival of Diego Maradona at Napoli from Barcelona in 1984.

Well so much for posting fewer Top 25 lists! Turns out so many things happened this weekend, most of them flying in the face of our predictions, that we felt an update was in order. Here it is:
1. Real Madrid
Last ranking: 1
Record (wins-losses-ties, in all competition; two-leg match-ups count as one): 1-0-0
Results of note: None yet.

On the eighth episode of the Soccerlens Podcast, Stephen Darwin is joined by the Guardian's German expert and native Bavarian Raphael Honigstein to discuss German football and the Bundesliga.

The show will be looking specifically at the worst ever Autumn Champions, German WAGS, Jurgen Klinsmann and sex at the Bernabeu (although unrelated might we hastily add!

Link:

Anish's video of Barca vs Real has been posted below. But we can't get enough of how Barca pulverized Real at the Bernabeu. Is the gap so yawning?

The end result is mind boggling considering Real's emphatic start. Higuain's header should have sowed some seeds of doubt in the Barca camp but it looked like this was part of a grand scheme to systematically deflate their rivals.

Liverpool hope to be able to wrap up a deal that will see them rescue Javier Saviola from Real Madrid, after the two clubs agreed a fee for the Argentinian striker, according to reports.
Rafa Benitez believes that the 27-year-old could resurrect his career at Anfield by pairing up with Fernando Torres and the Merseyside outfit have held negotiations with Los Merengues.

It has been claimed today that Liverpool have told Real Madrid they will have to bid £35 million if they are to have any chance of signing Xabi Alonso. The Spanish midfielder has been heavily linked with a move to the Bernabeu all summer, however as of yet, Real are yet to make a bid.
£35 million is a hell of a lot of money and it has got me thinking, is Alonso really worth that much?

According to reports in the Spanish, Dutch and German press Rafael van der Vaart will be allowed to leave the Bernabeu for a knockdown fee of just £8m.
The player's stock has definitely fallen since his move to La Liga but the Dutchman would surely be the ideal man to replace the likes of Xabi Alonso at Liverpool.

The Blues appear to have turned their attentions to Real Madrid's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder. Chelsea are reportedly set to make a move for unsettled Real Madrid ace Wesley Sneijder, according to a report in the News of the World. The Dutchman's position at the Bernabeu looks very uncertain, particularly following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from [.

Cristiano Ronaldo will sport the number 9 at Real. He mentioned that he wants to emulate Alfredo Di Stefano, the legend who wore the same number. This is a noticeable turnaround from his timorous debut at Man Utd where he initially refused to wear the number 7 jersey as it belonged to George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, and David Beckham because it would invite unwanted comparisons to these greats.

Cristiano Ronaldo has spent more time talking about United, our manager and our fans, than anything else since officially joining Real Madrid this week.

He spoken to the press again today hailing Sir Alex Ferguson as the 'maestro' and that it was a 'pleasure' for him to play at Old Trafford.