Friday's Rumour Mill

Premier League

Spurs's New Midfield Maestro

The standing of Tottenham Hotspur as a football club and Gareth Bale as a player have risen substantially over the last three seasons and both have a lot to thank each other for, Spurs in hiring Harry Redknapp provided Bale with a manager who got the best out of him and Bale’s performances on the pitch have seen Spurs go from mid-table mediocrity to Champions League chasers. This dream partnership has today been given the biggest hint that it will continue on for another year, with impending signing Paulinho claiming he has been assured that the Welshman will not be departing White Hart Lane. As for Paulinho himself, he has demonstrated his abilities for Brazil this summer and should fit in nicely next to Sandro in the Spurs midfield, his imminent arrival does however raise questions about the future of Scott Parker in North London.

Good enough for City?

As I reported on Wednesday Carlos Tevez has departed for Turin, City however have wasted no time in drawing up targets to replace the Argentinian. Top of the list is apparently German international Mario Gomez, having fallen out of favour last season at Munich with Mario Mandzukic preferred by Jupp Heynckes, it remains to be seen whether incoming manager Pep Guardiola will require the services of the big centre forward. Others on City’s radar include West Ham target Alvaro Negredo, Roma’s Pablo Osvaldo and Benfica’s Oscar Cardozo. It may be the case that two of these prospective four arrive at the Etihad with Edin Dzeko rumoured to be attracting interest from Germany. For me City need to go bigger than this list of strikers if they want to compete in Europe, a Lewandowski or Benzema perhaps.

Andrey Arshavin

The rest of the Premier League has well and truly kicked into gear on the transfer front. Yesterday saw Andrey Arshavin return to Zenit on a free transfer, the Russian unplayable in his first two seasons in England soured his reputation somewhat in his last two, failing to adjust his playing style to accommodate his loss of pace. Swansea have added another Spaniard to their ranks, with 21 year old centre back Jordi Amat joining from Espanyol, making the departure of club captain Ashley Williams to Arsenal seem more feasible. Sunderland are interested in Gino Peruzzi of Velez Sarsfield and Arsenal’s Vito Mannone with Paulo Di Canio looking to spend the money from Simon Mignolet's departure. Liverpool are monitoring Mamadou Sakho’s situation at PSG, with the French centre back stalling on a new contract. The new boys in the Premier League are continuing to bolster their squads for the new season, with Crystal Palace having agreed a fee for Peterborough’s Dwight Gayle and Hull completing the permanent signing of Sunderland’s Ahmed Elmohamady.

Football League

Murphy's screamer in the JPT final 

Harry Redknapp made his first signing of what should be a busy summer at Loftus Road and if they continue to be of the calibre of Newcastle’s Danny Simpson then a return to the top flight may beckon. Millwall have today re-signed striker Steve Morison on a season long loan from Leeds, his goal scoring record at the New Den saw him gain a move to Premier League Norwich, but after a tempestuous stint in Norfolk he finds himself returning to East London. Blackpool’s Ludovic Sylvestre has joined Turkish outfit Rizespor having rejected the advances of several English clubs. Blackburn appear to have sealed the signinature of Crewe’s talented midfielder Luke Murphy, another product of their esteemed academy. In League one Colchester have acquired the services of Arsenal youngster Sanchez Watt on a free transfer, Watt has the ability to play at a higher level but needs to produce on a regular basis.

Rest of the World

Isco

Yesterday saw Spanish playmaker Isco complete a £23 million move to Real Madrid, a boyhood Barca fan Real’s board of directors have done well to secure his services. Now to a rarity in Ligue 1, a transfer that doesn’t involve PSG or Monaco as Dimitri Payet has completed a move from Lille to Marseille. A clever wide man, Payet has been capped by five times by France and Marseille hope he will add some much needed strength to their attack. Another Frenchman Frank Ribery, has put pen to paper on a new four year deal at Bayern Munich showing that even at the age of 30 he is at the forefront of Pep Guardiola’s plans. Big Bosnian centre half Emir Spahic has joined Bayer Leverkusen from Sevilla after two years in Andalusia.