We begin tonight with Chelsea. Roman Abramovich must have been bored beyond belief last season despite the Londoners winning the Champions League because this summer he has pursued silky playmakers at a rate of one a week.
Fresh from all but tying up a deal for Oscar, Shaktar Donetsk have tonight admitted that the Blues have made an approach for Willian. A bid of €26m was reported to have been rejected and Shaktar have said Chelsea need to at least match what they paid for Eden Hazard to have a chance of landing the midfielder. Clearly Roberto Di Matteo's tactic of prayer and sacrificing animals to lady luck will not be tolerated next season.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich are slightly annoyed with Athletic Bilbao today after it emerged the Basque side had the cheek to demand €30m for a World and European Championship winning midfielder who's also a pretty handy centre-half. Bayern say Javi Martinez would be happy to join them but the fee demanded is a stumbling block. Barca meanwhile have reportedly fluttered their eyebrows in Daniel Agger's direction as a plan B. It's always those pesky small clubs asking for money that slows the summer down.
Arsenal's policy of letting players contracts go into their final year continues unabated. Theo Walcott is the latest Emirates star attracting speculation as the ominous 12 months left marker approaches. Because Walcott will be 24 when his contract expires a tribunal would decide the fee owed to Arsenal. They would take into account the fact that the Gunners paid £11m for him and the amount of time they have spent developing him. When you think that Walcott arrived at Arsenal as a raw teenager with little or no positional sense and he would leave an adult, it will be interesting to see what value would be put on him.
No such worries for this years "want away" star RVP. Arsenal will get their vastly reduced fee and it will be one from Manchester City, Manchester United or Juventus according to Sky Sports. That will be City then. But wait, what's this? Breaking news that may offer Arsenal fans some hope? A retired tennis superstar tweeting some news. This saga has taken a bizarre and welcome twist.
It's not all rumours. West Ham have completed the signing of Modibo Maiga from Sochaux for an undisclosed fee. You might remember the name. Maiga was all set to join Newcastle during last January's transfer window but the deal fell through after he failed a medical. The Geordies signed Papis Cisse instead and the rest as they say was worldy goals every week. Same Bat place, same bat channel tommorow kids.
