By JOHN BOSCHINI

Manchester United just will not go away as they overcame a 3-0 deficit to draw away to Chelsea and keep pressure on Manchester City.

It was shaping up to be a long afternoon at Stamford Bridge as a 1-0 halftime lead for Chelsea from Jonathan Evans' own goal was quickly extended.

Bojan Krkic was all but mauled by a Kickette Soldier girl at his book signing last week.

We're beyond proud.

Saturday

- Chelsea FC owner and Russian bajillionaire, Roman Abromovich, spared no expense for his New Year's Eve party in St Bart's.

By Chris Wright

Apparently it's 'common knowledge' that Lionel Messi and former Barca striker Bojan Krkic (now of Roma) are related somewhere back along the line, but those plucky bods over in the genealogy research department of Catalan newspaper Segre have been busying themselves, tracing the lineage of both players and have now put their finger on just what the relationship is between the pair.

Luís Enrique teve um currículo invejável enquanto atleta, tendo representado os dois colossos do futebol espanhol sempre a alto nível. Penduradas as chuteiras, o antigo jogador de Real Madrid e Barcelona aceitou o desafio de treinar a equipa B do clube catalão e o bom trabalho aí desenvolvido despertou o interesse da AS Roma que fez um esforço enorme para lhe dar um plantel recheado de craques.

Luís Enrique teve um currículo invejável enquanto atleta, tendo representado os dois colossos do futebol espanhol sempre a alto nível. Penduradas as chuteiras, o antigo jogador de Real Madrid e Barcelona aceitou o desafio de treinar a equipa B do clube catalão e o bom trabalho aí desenvolvido despertou o interesse da AS Roma que fez um esforço enorme para lhe dar um plantel recheado de craques.

Bojan at AS Roma playing in second leg of UEFA Europa (Photo: Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

With La Liga finally about to begin after a long summer, I wanted to commence with what I hope will become a once a week article covering some of our wonderful players playing abroad in Europe. I am open to suggestions on players who will feature in these articles but to start with I will follow Nolito (Benfica), Oriol Romeu (Chelsea), and Bojan Krkic (AS Roma).

Image: Getty Images/Daylife

Javier 'Cheech' Hernandez: Tim, you must help me. I know it's an inappropriate moment but ever since I saw you on Kickette, all naked and manly, I've been desperate to speak with you.

Tim Howard: Er... really?

Cheech: Desperate.

Having talented players progress till they're good enough to play regular top level Premiership football is still an art that very few - if any - have perfected. The traditional route of letting them develop in the reserves no longer seems to apply given the dilution of quality in this league whilst the more recent solution of having the players go out on loan is a bit hit and miss.

Bojan Krkic finalised his move away from Barcelona on Friday as Roma snapped up the enigmatic forward for around €12 million. Barcelona seemed surprisingly willing to let the U-21 Spanish international leave the Nou Camp this summer given his obvious talents, but while the move is permanent, the Catalan club revealed in a statement that a clause had been inserted into the talented youngster's contract with the Serie A club allowing them to re-sign him at the end of 2012/13 season.

Sanchez al Barcellona, Bojan alla Roma. Il triangolo di calciomercato si è chiuso definitivamente, con l'arrivo in Catalogna del Nino Maravilla cileno, acquistato dai blaugrana per la cifra di 26 milioni (+11 circa di bonus). L'operazione, conclusa nella serata di ieri, ha dato il via libera alla partenza del giovane e talentuoso Bojan Krkic che, [.

FC Barcelona has made an official announcement regarding the signing of the Chilean striker on the official website. The agreement reached with Udinese will se Barca paying 26 Million Euro upfront and another 11 million later as variables. My assumption is the variables will be linked to not only his performance also to the playing minutes.

Barcelona have agreed to sell 20 year old striker Bojan Krkic to Roma for 12 million euros, with a buy back clause stipulating the Spanish Giants can buy him back at the end of the 2012/13 season for 13 million euros.

Starting off at the top of today's news, Barca officially completed the signing of Alexis Sanchez from Udinese. The fee was about £33 million if you include all the variables, but only about £23 million if you're only counting the up front money. This was quite a bit lower than the figures we were hearing a while back, but it still represents the majority of the £40 million budget that Barca were supposedly constrained to this summer.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Vancouver Whitecaps have finally admitted it. They want to sign Owen Hargreaves.

Prior to a friendly versus Manchester City on Monday night, Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallett confirmed rumors of interest in Hargeaves, saying that the oft-injured midfielder knows of the club's desire to sign him.

While he looks arguably a better prospect than Giovani dos Santos was, is Bojan Krkic going to be another over priced disappointment from the fringes of the Barcelona squad? A £14m price tag would suggest this 20 year old is a bit special but as he's yet to do it on a consistent basis at the highest level, this transfer would be a very risky one.

This week, and with little fanfare, Marco Boriello officially became a Roma player with the capital club paying Milan €10m to make his loan spell permanent. Simultaneously, speculation abounded about Bojan Krkic joining Giallorossi ranks in a convoluted agreement with his current employers, FC Barcelona.

Barcelona have raised some cash as they look to buy Cesc Fabregas and Giuseppe Rossi by selling Bojan Krkic to Roma for £9million.

Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini had earlier told Gazzetta dello Sport:

"The negotiations are going well and we hope to conclude the deal soon.

Bojan Krkic signs two year contract with AS Roma with an option to return to Barcelona (Photo: Getty Images)

Tonight it has been confirmed that Bojan Krkic is on his way to AS Roma. The move will see Bojan at the Italian side playing under ex-Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique for two seasons.

Pele's favourite player and the biggest Brazilian hope in years has spurned interest in joining the big European clubs. All the rumours were that Real had beaten Chelsea to the signing by meeting Santos's mind boggling demand of €45m.

Today after days of the Spanish tabloids touting a done deal the striker said in no uncertain terms that nothing would separate him from his club with his focus squarely on the Copa Libertadores final against Penarol.

Last summer, the Catalan calendar was altered forever - a small entryhas been made to mark the annual pursuit of a Catalan boy trapped in London (Quite funny isn't it?). The festival starts somearound teh first week of June and ends towards the end of August. Surprisingly this festival is coinciding with the European summer tarnsfer markets date.

Javier Faus, Vice President of the Finance Department said that said that the Club has

"45 million euros for new signings, plus money that may be obtained from sales that may occur this season. When we talk about sales we're talking about those that give a net gain to the club".

Liverpool has reportedly been joined by Paris St Germaine in the race to sign Keisuke Honda.
The Japanese international has been linked with a move to the Barclays Premier League for several months now, with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also known to be an admirer of the 24-year-old.
Despite previously admitting a preference to ply his trade in Spain, interest from clubs across Europe continues to circulate around the CSKA Moscow star, with Liverpool and PSG thought to be two of the current frontrunners.

Ok, here is an update on the latest transfer rumours related to Barca. As expected Cesc Fabregas rules the chart with constant report on papers in Spain and England. After that infamous back heel which resulted in Messi scoring a wonder goal at Camp Nou, I have heard many Arsenal fans shouting to sell Fabregas as they questioned commitment.

The season is not yet out and yet the rumour-mill is grinding back into full action. Here is a quick surmise of 4 players recently linked with Valencia. Take each with a pinch of salt. Try (especially Javier) to forget for a moment whether or not the transfer is economically realistic (;)) and rate them or your wanting to see them in our team.

Borussia Dortmund striker Lucas Barrios continues to be linked with a summer move to Liverpool.
The Paraguay hotshot has been in fine form for the Bundesliga leaders this season - scoring 12 times in 29 appearances - and is reportedly the subject of interest from a number of clubs.
Liverpool is alleged to be tracking the 26-year-old, and now CrunchSports claims that the Reds will consider making their move when the transfer window reopens.

The 5-0 victory in the first leg has made tomorrow's second leg of academic interest. But it could be pretty important for the fringe players in the side. Guardiola is expected to rest majority of his stars in the match in Sevilla. Messi who was down with flu has recovered and has made into the squad.