Hammers sign Behrami from Lazio

Sunderland sign Tainio, Chimbonda next

Blatter says clubs must release players for Olympics

Hull City wait on King

Borussia Dortmund defended their German Super Cup title with a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.

West Ham have completed the £5million signing of Switzerland international Valon Behrami from Lazio.

The 23-year-old can play at right-back or in midfield and has signed a five-year deal with the Premier League club after passing a medical.

Sunderland have announced the signing of Tottenham midfielder Teemu Tainio, with Pascal Chimbonda’s arrival expected to be confirmed imminently.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Wednesday that clubs must release their eligible Under-23 players for the Olympic soccer tournament despite the claims of Europe’s leading clubs that they were under no obligation to do so.

Hull City’s bid to sign Wigan’s Marlon King is being held up, the two clubs have agreed a fee but King and Wigan are now discussing the terms of his departure.

Chelsea deny Eto’o bid

Ronaldinho to wear Milan’s No.80 shirt

Egyptian signs year loan at Wigan

Swansea fans set for another taste of Brandy

Kalou’s brother goes Dutch
 
Essien has committed his long-term future to Chelsea by signing a five-year deal, the 25-year-old Ghanian midfield has been a major success since joining from Lyon in 2005 for £24m.

Chelsea have denied making a bid for Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o despite claims from the Cameroon international he has received offers from the Blues, Tottenham and Inter Milan.

Ronaldinho will wear the number 80 jersey at AC Milan, the club have confirmed, he had hoped to wear the number 10 shirt - his preferred choice for both Barca and Brazil, however, that number was already taken by Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf, and Ronaldinho has settled for a reference to the year of his birth, 1980.

Wigan Athletic have completed the signing of 25-year-old Egypt international Amr Zaki on a one-year loan deal.

Manchester United striker Febian Brandy will be back at Swansea City next season on a six-month loan deal.

Dutch club Heerenveen have signed forward Bonaventure Kalou on a free transfer. The 30-year-old Ivory Coast international is the older brother of Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou.

Kevin Taylor

The new season is just around the corner and, just like the clubs preparing for the new campaign, we’re hoping to strengthen our squad and add a few new signings.

We are especially looking for help in inputting match details from the four senior English divisions.

If you can commit to a couple of hours each Saturday evening / Sunday morning from August through to May, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

We would stress that this will be on an unpaid basis but trust it will be seen as an excellent opportunity to get involved with football statistics.

If you are interested in this or any other way in assisting the AFS, please email TJB1710@msn.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kapo wraps up transfer to Wigan

Hull City clinch triple transfer swoop

Linfield face an early Champions League exit

Kaunas likely to face Rangers next

Bristol City clinch Moteab deal
 
Hereford bring in two new faces 

Hibs keeper going to Beijing

Alexander Hleb has completed his £11.8m move to Barcelona from Arsenal. The 27-year-old Belarus midfielder had a medical in the Spanish city on Wednesday.

Wigan have signed midfielder Olivier Kapo after agreeing a £3.5m fee with Birmingham City.

Hull City have completed the signings of Peter Halmosi, George Boateng and Tony Warner ahead of the club’s debut season in the Premier League.

Linfield are facing an early Champions League exit after losing 2-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of their first round qualifying tie.

Former Hearts loan player Pilibaitis scored twice for Lithuanian side Kaunas as they cruised to a 4-1 win in Andorra over Santa Coloma in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier and look set to face Rangers in the next round.

Bristol City have signed Egyptian international striker Emad Moteab for a club record fee of £1.5m, subject to a work permit.

Hereford have signed two players from Premier League clubs, Robbie Threlfall and Bradley Hudson-Odoi. Liverpool full-back Threlfall, 19, has signed on a season-long loan. Fulham striker Hudson-Odoi, 22, has also signed on a one-year deal.
 
Hibs will be without goalkeeper Yves Ma-Kalambay for the start of the new season he was called up for Belgium’s Olympic squad.

Hibernian dumped out of Intertoto Cup

Ronaldinho not likely to join Manchester City

Stoke sign Austin and agree fee for Carson

Another Rooney set to grace professional football

Audacious bid by Marseille fans to bring Drogba back

With just thirty-two days to go to the new season, transfer gossip is still very much in the headlines as well as a few pre-season matches.

Manchester United visitied Fergie’s old home of Pittodrie and beat their hosts 2-0 with a slightly less mobile Rooney scoring one of them.

Liverpool made the short hop across the Mersey to beat Tranmere with Yossi Benayoun scoring the only goal of the game, Liverpool now travel to Switzerland while United head for South Africa to continue their preparations for the new season.

Hibernian’s European season is over after they were beaten 2-0 by Danish side Elfsborg in the Intertoto Cup to lose 4-0 on aggregate, meanwhile Aston Villa will face Odense BK in the third and final round of the competition.

Transfer news still centre’s more around gossip than any actual deals.

Ronaldinho looks set to snub Manchester City for AC Milan.

Premier new boys Stoke have signed Jamaican midfielder Rudolph Austin, subject to him getting a work permit, for £1m. They have also had a £4m bid accepted for Liverpool keeper Scott Carson.

While Wayne Rooney was scoring for Manchester United over the weekend his younger brother John was putting pen to paper on a two-year professional contract with Macclesfield Town.

Marseille fans have launched an appeal to try and raise the money to buy back their former star Didier Drogba who looks likely to head out of the door at Stamford Bridge. And raised 1.5 million dollars before their website crashed.

Kevin Taylor

Fowler signs for Blackburn

Villa sign Sidwell from Chelsea

Beckham selected for MLS All Stars

Phillips makes short move across Birmingham

Luton will start next season on an unprecedented minus 30 points after a ruling by the Football League.

The Hatters had already been deducted 10 points by the Football Association after being found guilty of misconduct for paying agents via a third party.

The penalty came after Luton failed to satisfy the League’s insolvency rules.

The combined 30-point deduction is the biggest in Football League history.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth are also waiting to see if they will face a further 15-point deduction from the start of their League Two campaign.

Robbie Fowler has signed for Blackburn after rejecting a pay-as-you-play deal from Cardiff.

The 33-year-old ex-England striker was expected to sign a new one-year deal at the Bluebirds but told the club on Thursday he would be joining Rovers.

Aston Villa have made their first signing of the summer after Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell finalised his £5m move and signed a three-year deal.

David Beckham has been selected in the Major League Soccer All-Star team which will play West Ham in a friendly in Toronto later this month.

Kevin Phillips has signed a two-year contract with Birmingham City, turning down a further season at West Brom.

Kevin Taylor

Turkish Delight for Kewell

Aragones also makes his way to Turkey

Premier new boys clinch deal for Geovanni

Italian’s facing Serie A match-fixing probe again

Liga de Quito defeated Fluminense 3-1 in a shootout to become the first Ecuadorean club to win the Copa Libertadores last Wednesday.

In front of 80,000 fans at the Maracana Liga’s goalkeeper Jose Francisco Cevallos saved three penalties in the shootout after the match had ended 5-5 on aggreagate.

Liga had taken a 5-2 aggregate lead before Brazilian playmaker Thiago Neves scored a hat-trick to take the game into extra-time.

With the victory, Liga also earn a spot in FIFA’s Club World Cup held later this year.

Australian Harry Kewell is set to put pen to paper on a three-year contract with Turkish side Galatasaray after being shown the door by Liverpool after five seasons.

Spain’s Euro 2008-winning coach Luis Aragones has signed a two-year deal to become coach of Fenerbahce.

The 69-year-old, who led Spain to their first major tournament win in 44 years last month, replaces Brazilian legend Zico in charge of the Turkish club.

Hull City have agreed a two-year deal with former Manchester City midfielder Geovanni, subject to a medical.

Five Italian players have been charged over alleged match-fixing of last season’s Serie A fixtures between Atalanta and relegated Livorno.

Manchester City busy as clearout begins

Crespo officially leaves Stamford Bridge

Villa sign Davies but Barry saga drags on

Mascherano set to miss start of season due to Olympics

Newcastle sign Argentinean winger

Agogo moves to Egypt

Annan Athletic have gained entry to Division Three after a vote by the 29 clubs in the Scottish Football League. They will replace Gretna after beating off the challenge of Cove Rangers, Spartans, Preston Athletic and Edinburgh City.

Manchester City have released Geovanni, Emile Mpenza and Paul Dickov.

Geovanni’s one-year deal has come to an end and the 27-year-old appears set for a move to Hull City. Striker Dickov, 35, had loan spells with Crystal Palace and Blackpool last season, while fellow forward Mpenza, 30, leaves after 16 months at the club.

PSV Eindhoven have signed Manchester City keeper Andreas Isaksson for an undisclosed fee. Isaksson, who represented Sweden during Euro 2008, only played six times for City last year after playing second fiddle to Kasper Schmeichel and Joe Hart.

Stiker Hernan Crespo has officially left Chelsea after the Argentine’s contract at Stamford Bridge expired. Crespo joined Chelsea in 2003 and scored 10 league goals in his first season for the Blues.

Aston Villa have completed the signing of defender Curtis Davies from West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee after he spent last season their on loan.

According to Villa’s website Gareth Barry will not join Liverpool until Villa’s asking price is met. Villa have rejected a bid of around £15m for the 27-year-old midfielder.

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has been named in Argentina’s squad for the Olympic Games in August as one ofthe three overage players allowed in the Under-23 squad.

Newcastle have signed Argentina winger Jonas Gutierrez from Real Mallorca on a five-year deal.

Nottingham Forest striker Junior Agogo has completed move to Egyptian top-flight side El Zamalek.

Kevin Taylor

Teams learn their fates in European Cups

Israel striker goes to Portsmouth on loan

Di Matteo all set for Dons role

Buffel leaves Rangers

Landi new boss at Livingston

Joey Barton has been given a four-month sentence suspended for two years for assaulting Ousmane Dabo when they were both at Manchester City.

Rangers will face either Andorra’s Santa Coloma or FKB Kaunas of Lithuania in the Champions League second qualifying round in July and August.

Northern Ireland’s Linfield face a tough first qualifying round test with Dinamo Zabreb of Croatia next month. Welsh side Llanelli have been paired with Latvian outfit Ventspils. Drogheda United from the Republic of Ireland are also involved in the competition and have been handed a tie with Estonian side Levadia.

Manchester City will play EB/Streymur of the Faroe Islands in the first qualifying round of the Uefa Cup. City will be away for the first leg on 17 July, while TNS face Lithuania’s Suduva and Welsh rivals Bangor will be up against Denmark’s FC Midtjylland.

Northern Ireland’s Glentoran have been drawn against Latvia’s SK Metalurgs and league compatriots Cliftonville have a tough tie with Denmark’s FC Copenhagen. The Republic of Ireland’s Cork City face Haka and St Patrick’s play Olimps.

Portsmouth have signed Ben Sahar from Chelsea on a six-month loan deal.

Former Chelsea star Roberto Di Matteo is expected to be named as Paul Ince’s successor at MK Dons.

Belgium midfielder Thomas Buffel has moved from Rangers to Cercle Brugge.

Italian Roberto Landi has become the new Livingston manager,the 52 year old has signed a two-year deal with the Lions following a takeover by a consortium from his homeland.

Kevin Taylor

Pellegrino returns to Anfield

Luiz Felipe Scolari has made his first signing as Chelsea manager by snapping up Portugal midfielder Deco from Barcelona for fee of around 8m.

The 30-year old joins international team-mate Jose Bosingwa who was signed earlier in the summer.

Deco’s arrival could mean the departure of Frank Lampard to Italy.

Former Argentina defender Mauricio Pellegrino has become has been appointed first-team coach at Liverpool.

The 36-year-old follows Sammy Lee, who became Benitez’s assistant manager last month, in returning to Anfield.

Pellegrino made 12 appearances for Liverpool during a short spell in 2005.

Rangers manager Walter Smith says the Ibrox club have no imminent plans to sell Scotland striker Kris Boyd. Boyd, 25, struggled to gain a regular starting place last season.

The Scottish Premier League has announced its biggest television deal, proclaiming it as a significant cash boost for its 12 clubs.

A £125m contract has been agreed with Setanta Sports to continue the rights to live SPL matches for a further four years, until 2014.

Spain midfielder Xavi has been named the best player of Euro 2008. The Barcelona star was a regular member of the tournament-winning side and scored the opener in the semi-final win over Russia.

Xavi, 28, was one of nine Spain players selected among a team of 23 by a panel of Uefa technical experts.

Dutch winger Daniel De Ridder has left Birmingham by mutual consent. The 27-year-old joined Blues last summer from Spanish side Celta Vigo and signed a three-year deal, which has now been cancelled.

Kevin Taylor