As I sit here, festering and sporting a t-shirt which can only be described as 'a bit gay', I was thinking about what I, as a fan want my team to achieve in the coming season, and I conveniently surmised that "I'm not sure".

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Poor ex-samples
19 Players That Failed Drugs Tests

1. Frank de Boer
Former Dutch international defender. Tested positive for nandrolone while playing for Barcelona in 1994. Joined Rangers in 2004.

2. Lee Bowyer
Formerly of Leeds, Newcastle and West Ham. Tested positive for cannabis in 1995 and banned for several months. Click to continue reading...

Talk about being handed a career lifeline. Instead of getting one last go in the Premier League with Everton, Aston Villa, or Hull City, former Liverpool star Michael Owen is reportedly getting the golden opportunity of golden opportunities to get his last hurrah at the top.

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Glen Johnson has taken Andrea Dossena's squad number according to the official website, fueling speculation the Italian is on his way out of Anfield.

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Today it was reported that at 35 years of age, Roma striker Vincenzo Montella has decided to retire. Montella was one of the best strikers Italy has ever produced and one of Italy's deadliest strikers in the late 90's and early 2000's. Short in stature and nicknamed "L'Aeroplanino" (Little Airplane) for his trademark goal celebration (pictured), Montella had a lethal left foot and seemed to find the net from any angle, scoring some beautiful goals.

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With this article, I realize that I risk angering some staunch Inter Milan� supporters. But since I have waited three long years to express my� views on this issue, I feel obliged to let� them out. The truth is, I simply can't fathom why no one can stop Inter Milan in the Italian Serie A.

Perhaps it is the lackluster attitude of their guilty rivals ever since the notorious match-fixing scandals of 2006.

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Well how's that for starting July with a bang? The start of a new month and the official first day of the summer transfer window brought another big-money signing for Real Madrid.

Real have been the biggest spenders by far this summer, and they'll likely come out on top in that list when all's said and done, but they aren't the only club out there spending big or trying to spend big.

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Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano are constantly being linked with moves away from the club; but if Rafa does let either of these leave we can wave goodbye to a serious title challenge next year.

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On Wednesday night Estudiantes clinched a place in the final of the 2009 Copa Libertadores de América, 38 years after they last lifted the trophy. A 2-1 win after a goalless first half saw Estudiantes, Argentina's only representatives to make it past the second round, through to the final 3-1 on aggregate. Click to continue reading...

There were some Fernando Torres quotes floating around cyberspace this morning from an interview he did recently with El Pais. Whilst the quotes in the paper were open and honest on subjects from Rafa to moving from Madrid, they just don't do the entire article justice. It's beyond refreshing to see a player of Torres' calibre give an interview like this.

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Fiorentina's Pantaleo Corvino is known to be one of the best sporting directors in all of Italian calcio. Over the years Corvino has discovered a wealth of talent, including Fabrizio Miccoli, Valeri Bojinov, Mirko Vucinic, Christian Ledesma, and Stevan Jovetic just to name a few. He is also responsible for bringing players like Sebastien Frey, Luca Toni, Adrian Mutu, and Alberto Gilardino to Florence.

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Gianluca Vialli once wrote that the right back of a football team tends to be the worst player in the side. It wasn't that he had any particular gripe with Gary Neville, or Albert Ferrer, or even his old friend Moreno Mannini, he had a more rational and logical explanation.

To Vialli, an under-rated commentator on the modern game, and co-author (along with the equally impressive Gabriele Marcotti) of one of the most thought-provoking football books of the last decade- The Italian Job- the logic was simple.

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Well that was quite a month, wasn't it? We're already at the end of June, believe it or not, and it was quite the busy month in the transfers world.

Many pounds and euros have exchanged hands around Europe already, and it's no surprise that the month ends with a couple more new signings to add to our summer transfer lists.

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Last week I posted the first edition of Transfer Tuesdays, where every week we round up what every Serie A club is doing on the transfer market. Today is the last day of June, which means tomorrow the transfer window is officially open and you'll see all the transfers made in the past few weeks become "official".

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When I came across this morning's comments provided by the agent of Barcelona ace Samuel Eto'o, the first word that came to my mind was diplomatic. Mr. Mesalles, who has been instrumental in promoting Eto'o to interested parties ever since Barca's treble-winning season came to an end, stated that� the Cameroon international� preferred to see out the one year that is left on his Barcelona contract.

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After Italy's elimination for the U-21 Championship last Friday, Gigi Casiraghi was unsure about his future. He said that he would let the night pass and consider his options. The media were expecting that Casiraghi would decide to leave after 3 years at the helm and go on to newer pastures.

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Reports coming from most of the major papers this morning claim Rafa Benitez and Xabi Alonso will meet this week to discuss the midfielder's future at Anfield. Real Madrid have reportedly offered £20million - a number that is beyond laughable for a player of Alonso's talent.

Alonso is current being valued at £50million by the club in an effort to price him out of the market.

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We've all discussed our transfer targets ad nauseam this summer with the names Villa and Silva coming up on an almost daily basis. So far we've managed to get Glen Johnson signed, sealed, and delivered -- but that's been the extent of our summer transfers so far.

Whilst we're still going into the month of July, there seem to be some big question marks regarding Rafa's next transfer move.

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Monday came and went without all that much big news (certainly not what was expected to filter through the presses during the day), but there is still plenty to report on from the day, including a couple of new signings to add to the confirmed summer transfer lists today (updates will be complete by the afternoon) and a few more that will be added in the next couple of days.

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Argentina has recently had its own elections, but this week sees the culmination of a far more important one. You've got only six days left to vote, if you haven't already, for your winner in the HEGS / Mundo Albiceleste Award for Best Argentine Abroad. Pick Lionel Messi, Christian Giménez, Diego Milito or Pablo Zabaleta, [. Click to continue reading...

The Tottenham faithful often wonder why their team cannot break into the top four in the Premier League. Before the Martin Jol era, they were told that they needed a great coach. After the arrival of Jol, it was believed that the squad needed bolstering. Once that was done, things got going - until blunders became the norm again at White Hart Lane.

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It's been nearly a month since the end of the 2008/2009 Serie A season. I would've put this post up earlier, but the Confederations Cup and the U-21 Championship distracted me from Serie A talk. So I thought we'd discuss who was the best foreign player and who was the best Italian player this season.

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Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva revealed Brazil team-mate Felipo Melo asked him what it would be like to join the Gunners.

Gilberto, now with Panathinaikos, said:

We heard rumours and he asked me. I said it's a fantastic club and if he's interested he should go without thinking.

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Arsenal striker Robin van Persie confirmed he's negotiating his contract renewal with Arsenal. The Dutchman, who believes the squad has the potential to win trophies is quoted as saying by the News of the World:

I'm not in negotiations with any other club - just Arsenal. I want to become the best player in the world.

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Sunday may have been a rest day for many, but in case you didn't know already, there's never a break when it comes to transfer news and rumors, especially in the summer.

While there was plenty of intriguing transfer speculation making the rounds on Sunday (and not just in England), a couple of new signings also went through, and you can find those new moves in our updated summer transfer lists.

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A rare outbreak of sunshine in the Western bits of the country has left NFN's Norwegian offices in a state of confusion and chaos, yet we struggle manfully on and here is an unusually pithy preview of this weekend's action.

Sunday

Tromsø (13th) Aalesund (9th)

Tromsø will be desperate to improve on their rubbish home-record (1-4-2), while Aalesund will be desperate to get attention for something else than what's coming out of their manager's mouth.

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Radamel Falcao García and Juan Marcelo Ojeda both seem to be on their way out of El Monumental at the end of the Torneo Clausura, after the Colombian striker said that he 'understands' that he's on his way, and interest in the young goalkeeper from Mexican club Atlas continues in spite of complications in his [. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal striker Carlos Vela was speaking to reporters after Mexico's 4-0 win over Venezuela in a friendly match in which he was on target.

The youngster said:

We (Vela and Dos Santos) seemed like the bad guys of the movie. I hope that with this everyone will realize that we're not that bad, and now we're not the best.

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The fates of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka may have been decided in the space of a week but with over 2 months still to go to this summer, there's plenty of time for more 'superstar' signings to take place.

Here's a list of the top 5 transfer targets (left standing) this summer - will they move clubs, stay loyal or sold to pay off debts?

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The big news of the weekend thus far is the completion of the formality that was Cristiano Ronaldo's world-record £80m transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid. In case you hadn't heard though, Ronaldo has signed a six-year deal with Real, and he'll officially be unveiled as a Real player on July 6.

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Not too many days are going to go by this summer without at least one Manchester club being mentioned in the transfer news and rumors headlines, and on many days, you can expect to see both United and City in the news.

One of those days is today, as City are being linked with that one, that one, that one, and that other one.

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Done and dusted. Glen Johnson put pen to paper on a four-year contract that officially makes him Rafa's first big signing of the summer. The deal was just announced on Liverpoolfc.tv, so rest assured it's confirmed and finalised.

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Done and dusted. Glen Johnson put pen to paper on a four-year contract that officially makes him Rafa's first big signing of the summer. The deal was just announced on Liverpoolfc.tv, so rest assured it's confirmed and finalised.

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Seriously, what the f*** is going on today? We're getting letters from RBS, news that Villa may or may not be in the cards this summer (depending on who you ask), and now this bit of news that made my skin crawl: Andriy Voronin is on his way back to Anfield, and is looking for some first team football.

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Seriously, what the f*** is going on today? We're getting letters from RBS, news that Villa may or may not be in the cards this summer (depending on who you ask), and now this bit of news that made my skin crawl: Andriy Voronin is on his way back to Anfield, and is looking for some first team football.

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