Robbie Keane football gossip

Spurs journeyman Robbie Keane is linked now with interest from Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neil. After an awkward U-turn on his move from Spurs to Liverpool this interest will be flattering to the Irish striker, but I reckon Harry will want to keep hold of Keane as opposed to create another problem as Tottenham did last pre-season by selling him then.

Alvaro Negredo Football Gossip

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool are both eyeing up striker Alvaro Negredo from Almeria. Last season Negredo racked up 19 goals in 34 appearances in La Liga.

Michael Owen : Manchester United link

Much has been said about th ex England striker Michael Owen - he gets paid too much, he's not good enough for the Premier League but his goal scoring record speaks for itself. The team that sign Owen will go for a performance related pay based on appearances and goals.

Will it be Sir Alex and Man Utd that take a punt and benefit from all of that experience and natural goalscoring ability?

Emmanuel Adebayor link AC MILAN

Arsenal striker linked with AC Milan

Arsenal upfront man Emmanuel Adebayor has been linked with a move to the San Siro with AC Milan continuing their unsuccessful chase from last year. If AC don't secure the signing of Wolfburg's Edin Dzeko they will go in for Adebayor....

Franck Ribery : Chelsea will bid 59 million Euros

According to a report in the Sunday Express, Bayern Munich will be offered 59 million Euros by Chelsea for their star winger Franck Ribery. Ribery has been linked with other big clubs including Manchester United.

Samuel Eto'o targeted by Manchester City

Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o has been targeted by Mark Hughes and Manchester City with a bid that both selling club and player are looking to exploit because of Man City's wealth.

Eto'o reportedly will sign if he gets £200,000 a week after tax (!) with Manchester City looking at a level of £140k-£180k (apparently a similar package will be offered to Carlos Tevez this week).

In terms of the actual transfer level, Man City have reportedly offered £25m - Barcelona are demanding £40m....and who could blame them....they are in talks with trillionaires!

Good business for both teams? Barcelona definitely, and yes Samuel Eto'o would go some way to their campaign to push for European football next season. If you've got transfer funds you might as well spend it and Samuel Eto'o is quality.

Eto'o, Robinho and Tevez could be an awesome strike force for City.

Glen Johnson signs with Liverpool for £17.5m

England full back Glen Johnson has left financial strugglers Portsmouth to join Liverpool for £17.5m. This is Benitez's first signing of the summer and despite paying heavily this is a great signing for the long term as Glen Johnson is only 24 and has a great future ahead of him.

Johnson was well rated at Chelsea and has continued to impress within the Premier League for Pompey and in the World Cup qualifiying matches for his national team. This signing could help to get other transfer activity moving as Arbeloa has been linked with big spenders Real Madrid who are looking at buying the full back for £8m.

Setanta Sports goes pop

There are a few ways to view the Setant developments. After listening to a few radio phone ins, I got a little irritated with the view that Setenta Sports was an evil phenomenon that exploited the armchair football fan in a new way. Sky TV have been charing us for 17 years for 'sports packages' and Setanta had more depth than just the Monday nighters. US PGA Golf. IPL 20-20 cricket, SPL and boxing will all be missed.

So as suspected in my article in January about ESPN bidding for Premier League football rights, this huge Aerican media giant will now have a go to succeed where Setanta failed.

Yes I agree that raising season tickets and TV subscriptions is an ugly side of football for many football fans who just simply don't want to miss any action. However, such is the pull of the Barclays Premier League for players all over the world that we pay a premium for the best league in the world and I for one am happy to do that.

Wenger signs Thomas Vermaelen

Wenger has made his first transfer swoop of the pre-season, signing cente-half Thomas Vermaelen for a reported £10m transfer fee from Dutch club Ajax.

After a season where Arsenal were clearly weak defensively, this is a wise signing. Thomas Vermaelen is a big strong left footed centre back with Champions League and international experience playing for Belgium.

Thomas is primarily a left-footed centre-back, but he is multi-functional and can also play at left-back.

"He is strong technically with a positive winner's attitude and I have no doubt his arrival will strengthen our team.

"Thomas Vermaelen will be a huge asset to Arsenal."

Carlos Tevez turns down Manchester United

Carlos Tevez has turned down a 5 year contract offer from Man Utd chief exec David Gill and will leave the Barclays Premier League champions going into the new football season.

It will be a fascinating start to the new season if the Argentinian pulls on a Manchester City jersey. He could potentially be the catalyst for the new era at Eastlands, Tevez would make Mark Hughes' job easier through his admirable work rate.

City are currently closing in on Rovers striker Roque Santa Cruz, reportedly Hughes will sign the forward for £16.5m on Monday morning.