Nsereko signing - Hammers record transfer

West Ham have signed Under 19 German international Nsereko from Serie B team Brescia for what will be a club record transfer fee. Zola is looking for cover now in the striking department now that Craig Bellamy has left to Manchester City. So far West Ham have managed to keep hold of their key players other than Bellamy amidst rumours of severe cash flow issues behind the scenes as well as the ongoing contractual scandal with Carlos Tevez.

Meanwhile in North London, Harry Redknapp's Spurs have signed 35 year old 'keeper Carlo Cudicini on a Bosman freebie and right back Pascal Chimbonda rejoins his old club after a brief spell at Sunderland.

One pattern of the transfer window system seems to be that managerial positions change before and after the windows. Managers are generally negative towards the system, mainly due to the fact that it limits you to scope your team mid-season when the pressure could really be on. So what does the transfer window system actually achieve?

Football signings update January 2009

Premier League favourite Jimmy Bullard has moved to Hull City from Fulham for £5m. This is a record signing for the Tigers. Emile Heskey has moved for £3.5m to Premiership high flyers Aston Villa. Martin O'Neill knows all about the England international from his days at Leicester City. Heskey is a shrewd addition to an already potent attacking force with Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor.

Mido is now on loan to Wigan from 'Boro for a six month spell.

We eagerly await more signings from big spenders Manchester City who are linked with Didier Drogba. Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim's group have now expressed in making a bid on Chelsea which is dramatic news in this fast paced, commercial UK football league.

Marlon King loan move to Middlesborough

Marlon King has gone out on loan from Wigan Athletic to North East strugglers Middlesborough. Apparently the Egyptian striker Mido is interested in a move to JJB Stadium, amidst transfer rumours at Wigan that other strikers may be moving on. This follows yestersday's news that Palacios has moved to Spurs, reported between £12-14m. Despite the fact that Steve Bruce bought Palacios for £14m, Wigan have been a great side in the Premier League this season and selling your best players is always risky. It seems to be that the minute you sell a striker, your first choice forwards get suspended or injured. Easy sitting in the stands and criticising as opposed to being a professional football manager I guess.

Manchester City sign De Jong

Mark Hughes made his third signing of the transfer window, acquiring Dutch international midfielder Nigel de Jong for an undisclosed fee.

Manchester City have also signed Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy. They have been linked now with Newcastle United 'keeper Shay Given.

In my view these are the signings that will strengthen Manchester City in a healthy way - just look at the issues that have arisen in the last week with Brazilian star Robinho.

Craig Bellamy signs for Manchester City

West Ham have sold 29 year old Craig Bellamy to the new Premier League fat cats Manchester City for an undisclosed fee. It is rumoured that the transfer reached around £14m and is probably of no surprise after Bellamy did not play in West Ham's 3-1 victory against Fulham on Sunday. Bellamy was also linked with Aston Villa in December.

All Football on TV

The Premier League in England was created in 1992 to supersede the old Division 1 and in that time has exploded to be the most lucrative league in all football. In 2007, the Premier League was valued at generating annual revenues of £1.8 billion. This is the fourth highest behind the US National Football League, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association. In 1992, BSkyB gained the rights to broadcasting all Premier League matches which at the time was quite surprising, 17 years later you can hardly imagine a Premier League without Sky TV coverage. The revenue levels shared between all football club in the Premier League makes being in the top flight very lucrative and has led to a gulf between the other English football clubs.

In 2006, Irish company Setanta broke Sky TV’s rights to broadcast all football and has also got involved in International football coverage. This occurred after the European Commission concluded that the Premier League matches should not be with just one company.
More recently, American sports network channel ESPN are interested in broadcasting Premier League football. They have publicly declared that they would want to cover 100% of all Premier League football matches. The deadline for the first tenders is February 4th 2009 and it is expected that ESPN will be bidding. This could negatively impact upon all Premier League club’s earnings depending on how the deal was scoped, but due to economical pressures club revenues through these TV deals could decrease anyway.

BBC’s rights to broadcast all Premier League football highlights is likely to remain the same.

Does our national game depend upon this revenue too much to produce high quality football as opposed to concentrating on English grass roots?

The Football Association and other bodies have a responsibility to preserve our nation's favourite sport. Ensuring that player behaviour on the pitch is part of this because in recent years footballers have huge popstar like status. Football has strong links with the working class and should be there for kids to seek good values - keeping fit, being a team player and taking part in activity that is fun!

Football for all is a great Scottish based charity whose aim it is to address racial discrimination, drug/alcohol abuse, homelessness and then promote inclusion in our beautiful game at a local level. This is an important part of the system and ensures that if there is talent out there that everyone gets to play football.

Tottenham close in on Palacios

UPDATE: Tottenham Hotspur have increased their offer to Wigan for Honduran Wilson Palacios. The original offer of £14m was then put on hold as neighbours Manchester City expressed an interest.

"I haven't given up hope of keeping the boy, but it is difficult," said the Wigan Boss Steve Bruce. "I'm the manager of a club where we will lose our better players if the big clubs come calling, that's a fact of life. But one thing I wanted to avoid was losing them halfway through the season. A lot of people have put in a lot of hard work in building this side over the last 14 months."

After recently playing some very average football at the JJB Sports Stadium, Harry has obviously assessed the Tottenham Hotspur midfield group of players and come to the conclusion that it is light weight and could benefit from Latics favourite Wilson Palacios.

One comment that I read on the BBC Sports blog was that if Diarra was worth £21m then Palacios was definitely worth £14m. Crazy cash, you might say. However if all transfer fees are relative then Spurs have paid more money for players such as David Bentley and Darren Bent, should Spurs sign him Harry Redknapp will be hoping for consistent displays like the one he witnessed on Sunday. Palacios covered every blad of grass against Spurs as my Dad and I looked on at a deflated Lily whites team. His strengthes are breaking up the play and maintaining possession, he also displayed great athleticism with a spectacular overhead kick.

Steve Bruce is gently hinting that the deal is close, providing great player revenue to Wigan Athletic and Spurs with a quality, young midfielder.

Kaka, Kenwyne Jones, Latest

Football isn't a funny old game any more. It is just pure madness. Some football clubs could be bought in its entirety for the recent £91m bid tabled for Brazilian international Kaka by Manchester City to AC Milan. £500,000 per week as a wage in the credit crunch....not bad really. Despite Kaka saying that he wants to 'grow old' one would imagine that money will talk yet again in our beautiful game. Although it is crazy numbers, if you've got it why not spend it.

"We believe the deal is very close," Bowen said today to BBC Sport Wales.

"We are selling the future plans of the club to the player.


Tottenham's latest target is Kenwyne Jones, who has impressed for Sunderland. The rumour is that Spurs have offered £15m for the Trinidad and Tobago international.

Chelsea feel the wrath of the Cigar of God

Diego Maradona's love for cuban cigars was apparently the reason for the disruptive night at the Radisson Edwardian Hotel at 7am on Sunday morning prior to the big clash with title holders Manchester United.

The Sun quoted a fireman at the Radisson Hotel: "It looks as though it was set off by Diego and his entourage smoking cigars on the 14th floor. I saw most of Chelsea outside shivering. It wasn't the best preparation for a vital game."

Although the Greater Manchester Fire Service couldn't confirm in a statement what caused the alarm, a fireman said that Maradona and his associates were responisble.

Hotel manager Steve Miles was quoted as saying: "We followed procedure. It was a genuine alarm."

A tired looking Chelsea were taken to school in their 3-0 loss at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon. Despite Scholari saying that this put a dent in the Premier League aspirations, I think Chelsea could come good and win the Premier League.

Portsmouth v Manchester City and Fulham v Blackburn Rovers called off

Premiership matches at Fratton Park and Craven Cottage have been called off because of the winter cold snap.

Portmouth do not have undersoil heating at their ground, alternatively they opt for a heated blanket and blowers to prepare during winter frost.

Should these standards be higher for all Premiership clubs?