The summer soccer transfer merry-go-round is underway as players return to their clubs to start training for the new season.
Mostly the summer feeder sees the best players moving up the feeder towards the top clubs in each European league.
Active these year are Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester in the Premier League.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are seeking new talent to take the place of fading stars who are at or passing their peak after dominating world football for so the past five years or so.
Bayern Munich are looking to cement their position in Germany.
Other big spenders are Paris St Germain and Moscow’s Anzhi Makhachkala.
Rooney expected to stay
Meanwhile fresh managers Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, Manuel Pellegrini at Manchester City and David Moyes at Manchester United are jostling to mould their teams more to their liking by trading players.
Wayne Rooney is expected to stay on at United, despite rumours linking him with Chelsea and Barcelona. The agreement seems to hinge on how Moyes and Rooney got on at Everton, where Rooney made his league debut as a protégé of Moyes before moving to Manchester.
Real Madrid and Argentine Gonzalo Higuain striker is in advanced talks to line up as Arsenal’s record signing in a £23 million move.
Football nomad Nicolas Anelka has signed for Premier League West Brom on a free transfer and has indicated he will retire in England.
Thiago Alcantara has joined Premier League champions Manchester United on a £15 million five-year deal.
Luiz not for sale, say Chelsea
Brazil’s superstar defender, who showed so well as his nation won the Confederations Cup, is reputedly on his way to Barcelona from Chelsea, despite languishing in hospital while doctors reshape his broken nose.
However, Chelsea say he’s not for sale and Bayern Munich have thrown their hat in the ring for his services as well.
Another star Brazilian, striker Paulinho, is in London to supposedly ink a deal with Tottenham Hotspur, who have relentlessly pursued him for the past two or three weeks.
Making way is Emmanuel Adabayor, 29, who is favoured to move to Turkish side Besiktas.
Still no news yet on Ivorian Wilfried Bony, the Dutch league top scorer, with 51 goals in 66 games for Vitesse Arnhem.
A clutch of Premier League clubs are said to be wooing him – with West Ham apparently having a £10.2 million bid rejected. The Hammers want to pair him with £15 million signing Andy Carroll.