With leagues about to get underway across Europe once again, there is still a great deal of focus on the summer transfer window which has over two weeks left to run. While it is still possible for clubs to do business up until the end of August, managers will be especially keen to strengthen their squads before the big kick off gets underway.
In Italy, it had seemed up until the beginning of the month that Wesley Sneijder would be staying at Inter Milan after his club issued a warning to other sides that their influential Dutch midfielder wasn't for sale at any price.
However, unconfirmed reports suggest that the player himself has suggested that Inter are in a difficult financial situation and will shortly be in a position to sanction the sale. While Manchester United were believed to be the main contenders for the player`s signature, the suggestion is that their bitter rivals Manchester City are also interested and this could be an interesting developing situation over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile, another player could be heading into Serie A as the future of Villarreal`s Giuseppi Rossi remains undecided. The striker seemed set to stay with his Spanish side as Juventus, who had been interested in his signature, switched their attention to Mirko Vucinic but the rumours over Rossi`s future have refused to go away.
Italy is still a possible destination for the player and while Spurs are believed to be interested, there are serious doubts as to whether the North London side would be able to fund the transfer fee and subsequent wage demands.
In the English Premiership, there will doubtless be some more major transfer activity before the season begins and the attention at the moment is firmly on Manchester City`s Argentinean striker Carlos Tevez. The man who shared the golden boot with Dimitar Berbatov last season has stated his desire to move on but as he returns to training at the Etihad Stadium, there is no sign yet of an imminent transfer.
Berbatov is another player whose future is in doubt after he was left out of Manchester United`s squad for May`s Champions League final with Barcelona. It was thought that the Bulgarian was a target for free spending Paris St Germain but once again, nothing definite has materialised.
Elsewhere in the Premiership, Liverpool have been among the biggest spenders in 2011 and this summer has been spent by investing in some quality British talent. While Charlie Adam, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson await their full debuts for the Anfield side, manager Kenny Dalglish is thought to be looking for further reinforcements with Newcastle`s Jose Enrique and Bolton`s Gary Cahill on the club`s radar.
Title challengers Chelsea have been quiet in the transfer market by their standards so far but they have snapped up one of the most promising talents in world football in Belgian striking sensation Romelu Lukaku. The big question for Chelsea fans now is whether manager Andre Villas-Boas will go in with a final bid for Spurs` Croatian international Luka Modric.
While football seasons across Europe are about to get underway, the transfer window is about to get even busier and with plenty of
live football coming up, it will be fascinating to see how clubs across Europe begin their respective campaigns.
World Football Daily
