FC Porto have agreed in principle to sell Anderson to Manchester United, completing Sir Alex Ferguson’s raid on the Portuguese league where it appears he has bought the new Ronaldinho and the new Cristiano Ronaldo.

The details of the deal have yet to be finalised, the 19 year old has to agree personal terms before he along with Nani become Manchester United’s first summer signing ahead of Owen Hargreaves.
Play-off Winners

After announcing that they wanted to hold on to Nani Sporting Lisbon have agreed to sell the player to Manchester United. United have released the following statement on their website:

“Manchester United is delighted to announce it has agreed terms in principle with Sporting Lisbon for the purchase of the registration of Nani.
“Personal terms have been agreed and a formal announcement will take place once the necessary administrative procedures, including a medical have been completed.

The announcement will upset Spurs manager Martin Jol who had hoped to secure the services of the Winger who has been dubbed the new Cristiano Ronaldo.

Welsh wing wizard Ryan Giggs has decided that this weekend’s game against the Czech Republic will be his last. Giggs is only 33 years old and was thought to have many years of international football ahead of him possibly playing until the 2010 World Cup Finals.

In a 16 year international career Giggs has won just 63 caps for Wales, partly due to the demands of his Manchester United career, which he will be able to concentrate on. Wales manager John Toshack will have to choose an new captain to lead his side.

The great Beckham debate has begun again, following his inclusion in Steve McClaren’s squad for the upcoming matches against Brazil and Estonia. All involved with brand Beckham will have been delighted at the increased elevation of his already massive profile.

Many pundits, fans and ex-pros have all had their say and their reaction is mixed. As many saying it was a bad idea as those saying it is good, their qualification to form their opinion is more debatable than the former captains inclusion in the squad.

Beckham has been an integral part of Real Madrid’s surge to the top of la Liga and they are just two wins from securing their first silverware in four years, thanks to their results against second placed Barcelona who have a much healthier goal difference. Indeed both his club manager and his team-mates feel that he deserved a place in the England squad.

So why the great debate? All McClaren has done is his job, even if it has reportedly upset his number two Terry Venables, pick players who will do the best job for England. Choose the players with the most skill and form, and harness those attributes and impart tactics on the players to ensure and English victory. Which is something he has not really done since he took charge of Sven’s England team after last years World Cup. McClaren cut Beckham loose after he stood down from his role as captain, but not for footballing reasons, but because he could not handle the brand Beckham roadshow. Although to be fair Beckham’s form was poor, but then so was the form of many of England’s other top talents, yet they remained part of the plan. Beckham could have helped develop some of the younger talent but he was tossed aside like last years kit.

For years players have been picked for England due to their name and reputation or for their commercial appeal. Some were picked and played out of position, others picked just to help them win appearance records, or because of their familiarity with their club team-mates. When really the player who has contributed most for their club in each position of the system that the England manager has selected should be the one who makes the team.

Maybe if McClaren and future England managers were to make the England team a meritocracy instead of a popularity contest among a club of old boys. It might better serve those who it matters to most… the England supporters!

England midfielder Owen Hargreaves is expected to join Manchester United next week having already been shown round and undergone a medical at Old Trafford.

Canadian born Hargreaves was courted by Manchester United last summer, but was told by the board at Bayern Munich that he would not be allowed to move until his contract expired in 2010. However the board have changed their stance and they now want to cash in and sell the player who clearly wants a new challenge.

With Hargreaves unavailable Sir Alex Ferguson elected to buy Michael Carrick to play in the holding role for Manchester United. The Geordie helped the red devils to Premiership success and was an integral part of the reds charge in the Champions League. How will Sir Alex manage to keep both Carrick and Hargreaves content?

Martin Jol has begun his summer spending spree, as he prepares for more European football next season. The Dutchman has signed Gareth Bale from Southampton, after they failed in their bid to get Premiership football through the Championship play-offs.

Bale is the second prodigious talent to make its way up the M3 to a new home in North London, the young Welshman will be hoping to make more of an impact at Spurs than his former Saints team-mate Theo Walcott did at Arsenal.

Spurs had tried to secure the services of Bale in the January window, but he decided to stick with Saints and help their push for the Premiership, the Southampton board deciding that the £30m prize of Premiership football was worth more than the reported £10m Spurs bid. However with just a year left on his contract Saints hand has been forced and they will receive just £5m up front in a deal that could total £10 with other performance related increments.

Bale has taken the Championship by storm and will hope to do the same at Spurs, however he will have to fend off Young Pyo-Lee and Benoit Assou-Ekotto to secure a starting place alongside Dawson, King and Chimbonda in the Tottenham defence.

Bale has started on the right foot with the Spurs fans when he told the club’s website “I am just excited to be coming to a big club, a massive club like Tottenham”, he continued saying “I want to play in the Premiership, Tottenham is a club pushing forward and I want to be part of its future”.

Harry Redknapp has added another veteran to his Dad’s Army style squad on the south coast. Sylvain Distin will move to Portsmouth when his contract expires with managerless Manchester City.

Portsmouth almost lost their man when Liverpool placed an offer to tempt the Frenchman to stay in the North-West. The signing of Distin will add further resolve to Pompey’s defence as they push for Europe next season.

With a plane load of Liverpool fans with tickets stranded in John Lennon Airport, thousands of fans without tickets causing disruption at the ground in Athens it did not seem like a suitable environment for winning a sixth Champions League victory for Liverpool.

Unlike the game in 2005 it was Liverpool who made all the early running, to no avail. Indeed the Reds from Anfield found themselves behind at half time just like in Istanbul, this time the deficit was only one goal. The crushing blow came just before half time when Andrea Pirlo struck a free kick, which Reina had well covered until it took a wicked deflection off the head of Filippo Inzaghi in to the Liverpool goal.

There had been much debate about the tactics employed by Rafa Benitez and his team selection. He appeared to pick a team to stop Milan rather than one to attack and inflict their game on the Italians. The Spaniard also made his substitutions too late to have any real effect, bringing on Crouch with just over ten minutes left, and Arbeloa with just two minutes of normal time.

Inzaghi deepened the despair of the Liverpool faithful when he put AC two goals up with eight minutes left. With memories of the comback at the Ataturk Stadium fading fast, there was still hope of a comeback. When Dirk Kuyt directed Riise’s flick on in to Dida’s goal, it looked promising but with just a minute plus injury time there was little chance.

Milan captain Paolo Maldini lifted the cup aloft having received his fifth Champions League winners medal to crown his side as Champions of Europe for 2007 even though at the start of the season they were banned from competing following the corruption scandal last summer. Being a five time winner it begs the question will he get to keep a replica of the trophy like Liverpool did in 2005.

Reading Talisman Steve Sidwell has decided that he needs a fresh challenge having helped Reading to security of Premiership football. Sidwell becomes Jose Mourinho’s first signing of the transfer window.

Sidwell will join the Blues when his contract with Reading finishes at the end of June, to begin pre-season training with his new team mates. The 25 year old has experience of being at a big London club, as he was a product of the Arsenal academy.

The move is a strange one for Sidwell, as he will have to compete with some of football’s biggest talents for a place in the Chelsea side. Shaun Wright-Phillips made a similar move a couple of seasons ago and has only made a handful of starts in a wide position. Sidwell will have to out play Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Geremi, Makelele and others for one of the two central midfield positions. His only conciliation is he will be better rewarded for trying to get in to the Chelsea team than he was for helping Reading to Premiership safety

Wolverhampton Wanderers Sold For £10 To Steve Morgan On The Provision That He Invests £30m

Sir Jack Hayward has decided to sell his beloved Wolves after 17 years of ownership. Hayward has sold his entire interest in the club for a nominal fee which is believed to be just Ten (10) pounds. The deal struck with Liverpudlian businessman Steve Morgan is subject to his investment in the club. Morgan will have to invest a sum of £30m to build a Wolves for the future, ensuring the existence of the club in the often unstable financial climate.

Even with the massive investment of Morgan, manager Mick McCarthy will not be able to employ an open cheque book recruitment policy. Which would only undo all of the good work he has achieved on a limited budget this season.

Chief Executive Jez Moxey will remain in his position to help ensure stability during the transition. Morgan had previously been involved in the bidding for Liverpool, only to lose out to the American partnership of George Gillet and Tom Hicks.