Big Transfers Summary

June
David Villa (Atletico Madrid - New York City) Free
Rickie Lambert (Southampton - Liverpool) £4m

Rickie Lambert

Ciro Immobile (Torino - Borussia Dortmund) £15m
Philippe Senderos (Valencia - Aston Villa) Free
Lewis Grabban (Bournemouth - Norwich) Undisclosed
Mame Biram Diouf (Hannover 96 - Stoke) Free
Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona - Chelsea) £30m
Bacary Sagna (Arsenal - Manchester City) Free
David Luiz (Chelsea - PSG) £40m
Cheikhou Kouyate (Anderlecht - West Ham) Undisclosed
Joleon Lescott (Manchester City - West Brom) Free
Daniel Carrico (Reading - Sevilla) Undisclosed
Jake Livermore (Tottenham - Hull) £8m
Ander Herrera (Athletic Bilbao - Manchester United) £29m
Fernando (Porto - Manchester City) £12m
Luke Shaw (Southampton - Manchester United) £27m
Alexander Buttner (Manchester United - Dynamo Moscow) £4.4m
Robert Snodgrass (Norwich - Hull) £6m

Big Signing - Luuk de Jong to Newcastle - Loan

Luuk de Jong

23 years old

6 ft 2 in

At FC Twente (2009-12)
76 games
39 goals

At Borussia Monchegladbach (2012-present)
36 games
6 goals

Newcastle have got Luuk on loan for the rest of the season. The Dutch international was outstanding for FC Twente, which is the reason Monchegladbach came in for the forward. However he failed to preform to the same standards as he did at FC Twente for Monchegladbach. You could say that Newcastle this season have been lacking in the attacking department this season and this is the reason Luuk was brought in. This was a deal both teams thought would be useful, and i believe that its defiantly a positive for Newcastle who I believe will get the best out of Luuk de Jong.
What do you think?

Big Signing - Rafik Djebbour to Nottingham Forest - Undisclosed

Rafik Djebbour has played 29 games for international side Algeria, and scored 5 goals for them. He was signed today for two and a half years, with an undisclosed fee. Rafik was signed from Greek side Olympiacos who he played 59 games for and netted 39 goals. From 2008-2011 he played for A.E.K Athens and again preformed well in front of goals scoring 22 goals in 58 games. He was nearly signed by Forest in summer, however things accordingly broke down due to a problem with his medical.

I believe he is a fantastic signing for Forest. He has played for a big team in the top league in Greece and scored an impressive amount of goals. On top of this Rafik has not only international experience and World cup, but aswell Champions League with Olympiacos. He could make a massive difference to Nottingham Forest, it seems like a place to improve if any aswell for the Championship side.
What do you think?

Match Review of the week - Manchester United 2 - 0 Cardiff City

Premier League - Round 23

Attendance - 75,301

Old Trafford

Referee - Craig Pawson

Average Height 

180.7 cm Manchester United 180.1 cm Cardiff City

Average Age

27.8 Manchester United 27.5 Cardiff City

Last Meeting - Premier League - 24 November 2013

Cardiff City 2 - 2 Manchester United

Final Result

Manchester United 2

Cardiff City 0

Today's Match saw to of United's big gun return, Wayne Rooney was reintroduced later into the game as he started on the bench. However Robin Van Persie who has scored 33 goals in 49 games for Manchester United was thrown straight back into the side. This was a risky choice to put him straight back in to the team, starting after on return from an injury, However this risk proved to pay off as Robin got the goal that gave Manchester United an early lead after only 6 minutes. Van Persie's goal was a little bit scruffy, but it is the build up that the team and the coach should take from this goal as it was much more like the Manchester United we know. This Goal started from a long pass from new boy Juan Mata up to Ashley Young. Ashley lets the ball bounce over him to Patrice Evra overlapping him, Patrice then plays in inside to Robin Van Persie who taps its straight back to Ashley Young before he runs back into the box waiting to get on the end of a cross. Young whips the ball in perfectly to Antonio Valencia's head, who then hits the bar with a strong header, as it comes back out Van Persie throws himself at the ball heading it at Cardiff keeper David Marshall who stops it. As it comes out the third time after the keeper saves Robin's header, Van Persie heads in again this time into the roof of the net, making it Manchester United 1, Cardiff City 0. After 22 minutes Craig Bellamy picks up a yellow card for kicking the ball away in anger due to his team conceding a free-kick. At 52 minute, Cardiff made a substitution, Jordan Mutch who didn't have a particularly good game was replaced by Bo Kyung Kim. At the 59th minute Manchester United took a 2-0 lead over the Blue Birds. This goal came from Ashley Young who played a big part in the first goal for United today. Ashley did very well individually in achieving this goal, he beat Cardiff City full back Kevin McNaughton, then beating Cardiff winger Craig Noone before cannoning it in the bottom right corner, no chance for Cardiff goalkeeper Marshall. At the 63rd minute, Manchester United made a substitution, Wayne Rooney made his first appearance since returning for injury replacing the other recently returned striker, Robin Van Persie. At the 69th minute Cardiff brought off Mark Hudson in centre back and brought on Ben Turner. At the 71st minute Tom Cleverly came on for Manchester United replacing Ryan Giggs. At the 78th minute, Mats Moller Daehli replaced Craig Noone. The last substitution of the game was made by Manchester United as they brought on 18-year-old superstar Adnan Januzaj in replacement for there recent record signing Juan Mata, this was made at the 84th minute. There was 4 minutes added time before Manchester United claimed their 2-0 victory over Cardiff City at Old Trafford. In summary i believe this is a fantastic result for Manchester United. The red devils actually had the smaller amount of possession in today's match however clearly were more clinical with their opportunities. I also think that this is more of the Manchester United we know even if they aren't dominating the match they are still winning, this is something that United fans will be happy to hear. However can United maintain this? Will they go on to get a place in the top 5? And will Cardiff improve and start to get more satisfying results? What do you think?

Newcastle & Paris Saint Germain agree deal for Yohan Cabaye

Newcastle United have accepted an offer for Yohan Cabaye that starts at £19 million and could rise to £20 million, Manchester United were also rumoured to be interested in the midfielder.

Manchester United will have to make a quick response to this if they want to remain in the race to sign the French International, after rumours of them wanting to bring in another midfielder in this month after one of there worst seasons in 24 years.

4 Days left of the January transfer window - What are the possible late signings?

 Yohan Cabaye to Manchester United/PSG?
Cabaye is a creative midfielder who has a lot of experience and talent. He is the type of midfielder that you would find going from one end of the pitch to another many times in a game putting effort in both defensively and offensively. Cabaye has drawn interest from a couple of big teams, mainly from Manchester United & PSG who are suspected to have put an offer in for him. Manchester United fans will tell you how desperate they are for some good new midfielders at the club, even after the record signing of Juan Mata on Saturday. This move is even more likely after Alan Pardew suggesting he may well be gone by the end of January. He used the words 'not confident' to describe his feelings on Cabaye staying at the club.
What do you think?

Luke Shaw to Manchester United/Chelsea?
Luke Shaw has been impressing in the Premier League so far this season, Southampton started the season with an outstanding run as well, after 11 games Southampton were 3rd in the table, a point above Chelsea and only 3 points below Arsenal at the top of the tree. Manchester United would be adding to there other signing this month,Juan Mata if they got Luke before the end of this window. It would make a hefty offer though for Manchester United to snatch him after Chelsea's interests in the 18-year-old, £40 million is the suggested amount United would have to spend. This move is made likely by the fact Chelsea and Manchester United both have veteran Left Back, Ashley Cole & Patrice Evra, these both may need replacing in years to come, or possibly earlier after rumours of Evra going back to his home town France at the end of the 2013/14 season. Patrice Evra is 32 and Ashley Cole is 33 both closing on the normal retirement age for a full-back at this level. Shaw is only 18 and has a lot of potential.
What do you think?

Pablo Osvaldo to West Ham?
Pablo joined Swansea in summer. He has played 13 games since he joined the Swans and already looks like he could very possibly be on his way out. The interest for the forward first started when an incident in training involving him headbutting another player meant the club took action in banning him. Although he wasn't banned permanently, only for 2 weeks, the worry is whether the player remaining at the club may affect other Swansea players morale. West Ham signed Marco Borriello on loan from Roma on Saturday however we get the impression Sam Allardyce isn't convinced he has enough depth in his attacking options quite yet. Could the ex-Roma forward be the next forward signing of Sam's this month?
What do you think?

Lionel Messi to PSG?
First impressions, madness. However PSG have pursued interests, according to an Italian news paper, La Stampa. We know Messi is yet to renew his contract at FC Barcelona however can we imagine him anywhere else? Messi himself has said many of times before that he has never had any intentions of leaving the club where he grew up. Lionel Messi isn't actually Spanish, he was born in Argentina and Plays for the Argentina international team, however joined Spanish giants Barcelona at a very young age, as they offered a lot of money for the promising young boy at the time. However he was here of a very young age and loves playing here as far as we know. Paris Saint-Germain are one of the richest Football clubs in the world and therefore if anyone has the money you would put PSG as the team to pay for him. Rumours say they are lining up £207 million to lure the Argentinian.
What do you think?

 Luke Shaw             Lionel Messi            Pablo Osvaldo        Yohan Cabaye

Big Signing - Michael Essien to AC Milan - Undisclosed

Michael Essien officially signed for Italian side AC Milan today for an undisclosed fee and a contract 17 months long. Michael was on loan to Real Madrid last season, as he struggled to get into the team at Chelsea. When he returned from loan Jose Mourinho joined him as he was appointed as the new Chelsea manager, following the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo. Jose described Michael as his son in a recent interview and returned by Michael naming him Dad. However it didn't come as a huge shock that the previous record signing for Chelsea in 2005 announced interest in a possible move to the Serie A team.

Although Essien was told he could happily stay at the club if he wanted to by Jose Mourinho he felt a move permanently would be best for him. The Ghanaian international, I believe, is a fantastic signing for AC Milan and as positive a move as it is for Michael himself as he deserves regular game time at a top team. He plays his position really well and I believe he will be an important member of the Milan team.
What do you think?