ONLY UNITED DIPPING DEEP

So the rumours still abound in the football transfer market as the big clubs, Manchester United apart, choose to keep their powder dry, writes Abu George. 

While there is a feeling that we are waiting for the one big-money signing that will then kick-start a flurry of other moves, it is surprising to see these clubs still hanging on to their fringe players.

The norm, at this time of year, is for those that have warmed the bench for the majority of the season, or struggled with injuries, to be moved on to free up salaries while the clubs only obtain a nominal fee.

Why the difference this year? It could be to do with the fact that next season sees the start of the Financial Fair Play three-year monitoring period. This allows clubs to make total losses of (only) £45m over the next three seasons.

Barcelona and Real Madrid appear to be fighting it out over most of the bigger name targets, such as Sanchez, Pastore and Neymar, with Chelsea and Manchester City also being linked in dispatches.

Manchester United are the only team to have spent large sums, having acquired de Gea, Jones and Young for just short of £50m.  Sunderland and Newcastle are the only other teams in the Premier League to have added larger numbers to their squads.

However, it is at the top end where one would expect to see more transfer activity. According to the rumour-mill, Arsenal are having to look to protect their squad as the vultures loiter over Fabregas and Nasri looking to fend off any discontent.

Chelsea, and Manchester City in particular, should be seeking to reduce the number of fringe players, although with some of those still earning the lavish salaries made available by owner Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayhan, it may not be possible.

Emmanuel Adebayor, on loan last season, is apparently still earning a massive £165,000 per week with few clubs queuing to secure his services. Add to him Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bridge and an apparent desire to release other players such as Nedum Onouha, Shay Given, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Roque Santa-Cruz and Micah Richards and you can expect a busy few weeks once clubs start to spend.

Liverpool are in a similar boat with Joe Cole and Milan Jovanovic and rumours of swap deals involving Maxi Rodriguez and Raul Meireles, while Tottenham seek to finally drop Robbie Keane and David Bentley.

In the past, clubs were more willing to cancel player’s contracts and write-off their transfer value, usually in June, to allow themselves the opportunity to plan for the coming season. More recently teams have preferred to recruit early to allow new faces the opportunity to familiarise themselves with their team-mates and new surroundings.

However, it may come down to last-minute brinkmanship and early season desperation following a string of poor results to persuade the chairmen to open their cheque-books!

The Women’s World Cup is now well under way, although there have been few surprises to date.

The exceptions to this are Group B where England’s slip in their first match against Mexico leaves them vulnerable to a defeat against the already-qualified Japanese team, although Mexico will need to defeat New Zealand to sneak through.

Group D’s early fixture between group favourites, Brazil and Norway which Brazil comfortably won 3-0 thanks to two goals from five-time FIFA Player of the Year, Marta, leaves Norway needing a result against Matildas.

Watch out for some unusual results in the final group stages as teams look to rest players and hand-pick their preferred route to the final!