Saturday may have been a holiday for me in the U.S., but no matter what day it is, I've got an attentive eye on the latest in transfer news and rumors.

Ahmed already covered the latest news on the Felipe Melo to Arsenal front, and in this morning's roundup, I have several more tidbits from Saturday and early today to tide you over until next time, including another potential swap deal involving Arsenal and a top Serie A club.

Didier Drogba had to be pulled away from the referee last night, shouting at him and pointing in his face. Michael Ballack joined in and captain, John Terry, contributed his fair share, making little effort to hold his players back.

Chelsea have a reputation for their dreadful discipline and last night it was at it's worse.

It's a relatively slow day on the transfer news and rumors front, but since it's a Monday, that may be something to be expected.

Nonetheless, there's still a little something from here and a little something from there to give you your transfer gossip fix today.

England

Terry To Address Rumors?

Chelsea's squad returns to London today after an incredibly successful 10-day tour of the United States. While they were in the States, the club won the World Football Challenge, played in front of an average attendance of 68,687, demonstrated a renewed sense of enthusiasm and playing ability under new manager Carlo Ancelotti, and managed to wade off Manchester City's advances toward captain John Terry.

Below are summer transfer rumors circulating around the world of football.

• Manchester City are also willing to pay Aston Villa £10m for Gareth Barry, despite the England midfielder only having a year left on his current deal. (Daily Mirror)
• Carlos Tevez is set to move to Manchester City, with the £30m fee paid to his owners MSI.

Controversy over the future of Chelsea captain John Terry's time at Stamford Bridge continues as Manchester City manager Mark Hughes this morning expressed his desire to bring JT to the blue half of Manchester. John Terry has not publicly come out to express his commitment to Chelsea yet. And the intensity of the situation will continue to escalate after a French newspaper reported today that John Terry got into a heated argument with Chelsea players in the dressing room after the game yesterday, and stormed out.

Chelsea players raked up a whopping £120,000 bill on booze while out celebrating a surprise birthday party for Salomon Kalou. Captain John Terry who organised the bash, footed half the bill plus £10,000 tip for the bar staff interestingly enough, Terry stayed sober all night and drove home in his Bentley.

"I've had a great week - reaching the milestone of one-o-nine and now one-o-10 tonight"
David Beckham describes the joy of receiving his 110th cap for England in his own inimitable way.

"The quote from Iain Dowie was that Alan Shearer had 'big cojones' to take the job. I'm not sure what cojones are, but I think I had them in my burrito last night.

Mars Attacks Alien
Vincent Kompany
Manchester City defensive midfielder Vincent Kompany is set to miss the start of the upcoming Premier League season due to foot surgery.
Despite losing the 6 foot 5 in Kompany - who made 34 appearances for City last season, scoring one goal - The Citizens' management and ownership team is not too fazed - as they are sticking to their well-publicized plans of pursuing a non-traditional 1-1-8 formation this season.

Here's the latest European Transfer news including Michael Owen going to Manchester United on a free transfer and Manchester City making a big for Chelsea star John Terry.

Michael Owen set to join Manchester United - Michael Owen looks set for a surprise move to Manchester United.

The England international is without a club following the expiry of his contract with Newcastle United and it appeared only Stoke City and Hull City were interested in offering him a contract.

Time for another update from New Zealand where for the second straight season Springfield is well represented. Here's how the Chairman of the Upper Hutt City Soccer program describes it in their recent newsletter:

As many of you will know, we have another American import in our ranks this year, Patrick Carver, who has followed in the footsteps of Andy Cooper and Brian Pasierb last year in being a great ambassador for his country, and a great addition on the field for our men's first team.

The referee was accused of waving away four penalty appeals during the game against Barcelona and was the victim of a barrage of abuse at the final whistle from Chelsea players, including Didier Drogba, Michael Ballack and England captain John Terry.

Chelsea captain John Terry has been named Dad of the Year in a poll of UK adults, who chose him as the best celebrity father.

If you can't see JT in this photo due to the rather subtle marketing and design background provided by Daddies brown sauce, try unfocusing your eyes like you're looking at one of those Magic Eye pictures.

Chelsea hosted Liverpool on Sunday, October 4, 2009 in the biggest match of the weekend in the English Premier League. Were Liverpool able to get points on the road or did Chelsea win to remain top of the table? Here's a recap and video highlights of the match.

Chelsea defeats Liverpool 2-0 Video Highlights

Recap courtesy of (http://www.

Guus Hiddink has insisted Chelsea must not believe their place in the Champions League semi-final is already booked because of Liverpool's rich history of doing "impossible" things in the competition.
The Chelsea manager admitted the 3-1 win, which leaves Rafa Benitez's side needing a miracle at Stamford Bridge next week to progress, was "unexpected" but said he would urge his players not to take anything for granted, especially with captain John Terry suspended.

Champions League semi-final clash between Chelsea and Barcelona was one of the most controversial ones in the history of the competition, namely the second leg at Stamford Bridge. The Blues were very close to eliminating Barcelona, having taken the lead through Michael Essien but the Catalans scored the equalizer deep into the injury time and thus progressed to the final on away goals.

Gary Neville was called back in to the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers, which is rather odd, considering he's behind John O'Shea in pecking order at United and has hardly played this season.

Still, England and Chelsea captain, John Terry, has today claimed he is impressed with Nev's hunger and regards our captain as his role model.

Unlike Chelsea captain John Terry, Rio Ferdinand wouldn't think twice about leaving his club for Manchester City's money.

"JT is his own man, he will make his own decision," Ferdinand said. "For what reason he might go there will be down to him. I'm sure he'll tell everyone when he decides to come out and speak.

Manchester City is like a black hole that has opened up in the fabric of the Premier League. Sucking mass, masses of expensive players and media attention, it leaves many fans unsure about how to approach the club's awakening and limitless powers. Some laugh. Some wince. Most shake their heads, confused and afraid, especially those millions of fans of any of the now comparatively-less-rich Big Four, which constitute most of the Premier League fans here in America and elsewhere outside England.

Courtesy of UEFA:
Lionel Messi, a key figure in FC Barcelona's march to UEFA Champions League glory last season, has more to celebrate after collecting the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year prize at the UEFA Club Football Awards in Monaco. The Argentinian international was also selected as Best Forward while team-mate Xavi Hernández took the Best Midfielder trophy.

07:00:00 - Skysports news' transfer count down clock is flashing red - just 10 HOURS TO GO before the apocalypse! (or the end of trading, we forget which). Let the madness commence!

09:00:00 - Hmmm... so..

11:13:40 - Former England star Trevor Brooking is undergoing a check-up at his local GP's - Could he be set for a return to the WEST HAM midfield?

Morning insiders no footie today as the international break takes hold, still plenty to talk about in the media this morning. We have picked some of the best bits for you to discuss below:

The Daily Mirror Arsene Wenger was RIGHT to defend Eduardo dive, says Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted Arsene Wenger was RIGHT not to publicly criticise Eduardo during the explosive Champions League diving row.

Chelsea captain John Terry provided his point of view after Arsenal's Eduardo was banned for two games following his dive against Celtic, in the Champions League.

The 28-year old said:

I can speak about the England lads and the England team and it (diving) is something we don't do.

I'm the Goonblogger and I will be bringing you a Sunday column every week right here on Gooner Talk. On Friday we saw the most honest player in the world who wears his heart on his sleeve *cough cough*, captain John Terry openly declare that English players never, ever dive. These are his very words: "Diving is [.

Some moments are never meant to be forgotten. The entire world of football witnessed one such shocking moment a little less than two years ago in London. On a rainy evening at Wembley, hosts England were expected to advance to the finals of Euro 2008 with just a draw needed against visiting Croatia.

Chelsea captain John Terry marshals the Blues' defence in Chelsea's 1-0 Champion League win over FC Porto at a rain-sodden Stamford Bridge. Despite being knocked out by Bruno Alves in the eight...

Bolton manager Gary Megson has yet another tough fight on his hands. With Bolton enjoying a shaky start to the season, one of the few shining lights has been the form of defender Gary Cahill. The 23 year old is breaking onto the national scene and it's only a matter of time before he moves on to a bigger club.

A nice story for a Monday afternoon – Chelsea captain John Terry has reached into his sizeable pockets to help maintain the future of his club's women's football team.
According to a story in the Guardian, Chelsea Ladies – who have made good progress in the last few years – have suffered a cut in funding recently which threatened to overshadow their development.

You could have fooled us! England and Chelsea captain John Terry and Fulham's Bobby Zamora are best chums. Despite their clubs' rivalry, the pair are such good pals that they like nothing more than to escape the high life, and enjoy a spot of fishing together. Both players have revealed they use fishing to relax and help [.

The Blues title aspirations got a boost overnight when captain John Terry escaped his marker and leaped highest in the box to nod home the winner and put his team 5 points clear of both Arsenal and United on the table. And boy did his efforts get Stamford Bridge pumping! ...

Chelsea's captain John Terry jumps into the arms of team-mat... AFP/Getty Images - Sunday November 8, 06:32 PMRemember, this is a family-friendly site.

Group C contains England, USA, Algeria and Slovenia. The English are very happy with the draw as they should easily win this group. The other three teams will fight it out for 2nd place, and I expect the U.S. to move onto the knockout stages.

A look at the teams in Group C

ENGLAND

Manager: Fabio Capello
Key player: Wayne Rooney
Best: Winners (1966)
World ranking: 9

Rarely has a qualifying campaign gone so smoothly for England, who have found a new lease of life under the authoritative leadership of Italian coach Fabio Capello.

Claude Makelele's grit in Chelsea's midfield and ability to play a quick pass made him the fitting example of the 'Claude Makelele' role, whatever that means. It's even been said that he's managed to define the holding midfield position as much as Franz Beckenbauer the sweeper role. And he's now cashing in on the footballer bio.

Everton and Louis Saha broke the long-standing ‘Fastest Cup Final Goal' record at Wembley today, but ultimately left the famous stadium with broken hearts and no silverware.

Alas it was FA Cup joy for Chelsea's Guus Hiddink as he signed off from his role as ‘Temporary Manager' (an increasingly popular role in football) by winning the oldest cup competition in football.

by Paul Kennedy of SOCCER AMERICA, Monday, Jun 1, 2009 7:00 AM ET
With Chelsea's 2-1 win over Everton in Saturday's FA Cup final, Dutchman Guus Hiddink's stint as interim manager is over. Italian Carlo Ancelotti is headed over from AC Milan to manage the Blues. The big question will be, what reinforcements will he bring with him?

Chelsea captain John Terry has been named Dad of the Year in a poll of UK adults, who chose him as the best celebrity father.

If you can't see JT in this photo due to the rather subtle marketing and design background provided by Daddies brown sauce, try unfocusing your eyes like you're looking at one of those Magic Eye pictures.

This story just won't go away. Back in January Man City made an enquiry on the availability of Chelsea and England Captain John Terry. Chelsea told City where to go.
In the last few days the City money men knocked at Chelsea's door again and were again rebuffed, leading to reports that City will come knocking again with a staggering £40 million transfer offer and a mindblowing £300k per week for the man himself!

Sky Sports Sources understand Manchester City are in talks with Arsenal over the possible signing of striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Adebayor has been linked with a move away from Arsenal this summer, with a number of European clubs said to be interested in his services.

But the Togo international's future looked to be settled after his agent recently stated he would be staying at Emirates Stadium.

Manchester City keeps on spending.

The best team oil money can buy is set to land yet another key weapon ahead of the upcoming EPL season by acquiring striker Emmanuel Adebayor from Arsenal in a 25 million pound transfer.

The move for Adebayor comes in the same week Manchester City completed the move for Argentine striker Carlos Tevez, who now means City boasts a strike force of Adebayor, Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz.

Chelsea captain John Terry was seriously considering a switch to Manchester City after he was offered £200,000 a week. Citizens were reportedly ready to offer even more money to lure the great defender to Eastlands, but Terry seems to have made up his mind after having conversation with Roman Abramovich and he looks set to stay at Stamford Bridge, whereas his loyalty is likely to be rewarded with a new contract.