The summer months can be arduous times for football fans, as we have to endure June, July and most of August without our doses of domestic football action. However it does bring another exciting element of the beautiful game into play, the buzz of the transfer market. The window officially opens on the 1st of July, but that hasn’t stopped deals taking place already, with the big money moves for Jordan Henderson and Phil Jones grabbing the headlines. The rumour mill is in full swing and plenty of players are being linked with moves away from their clubs, in what promises to be another summer of big spending in the Premier League.

There are three high profile players rumoured to be linked with moves away from their clubs this summer and all three have emerged as potential targets for Premier League big boys Manchester United and Chelsea. Luka Modric, Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri have all refused to rule out moves away from their current employers this summer. This has led to suggestions the players could be tempted by the prospect of joining either the English Champions or runners up from last season. So I wonder if there is a chance of any of these transfers materialising.

Samir Nasri has one year remaining on his current contract with the Gunners and while he stalls over the signing of a new deal the rumours linking him to Man United and more recently Bayern Munich are intensifying. Arsene Wenger will be doing all he can to ensure he keeps hold of his creative playmaker for next season. It may take a hefty new contract and some words of wisdom for Mr Wenger to reassure Nasri that the Emirates is where he should be playing his football.

It was only last month that Patrice Evra went public with his plea to his fellow compatriot to join him at Old Trafford and since then there has been talk of United readying a £10 million pound bid for the former Marseille man. In a recent interview Nasri didn’t rule out the possibility of playing for another English club and with Man United in need of a player of Nasri’s ilk, could the Arsenal man be set for a move north? Personally I think Nasri will sign a new deal with Arsenal, but until he commits to the club the rumours will persist.

On the white side of North London Tottenham’s exquisite Croatian midfielder, Luka Modric, has all the attributes to be the perfect signing for Man United or Chelsea. With both clubs issuing their interest in the player Tottenham have moved quickly to reaffirm their stance that the midfielder is not for sale at any price. However, the guarantee of Champions League football and a huge jump in wages is likely to be a real temptation for Modric. Although he is happy at Spurs if the bids started to come in they could well unsettle the player and we all know Spurs have bowed down to the financial power of Man United in the past with Michael Carrick and Dimitar Berbatov. I however think Tottenham will remain defiant in their bid to stave off the advances of Man United and Chelsea and would be surprised if Modric is not running out for Spurs in August.

The third big hitter linked to both United and Chelsea is Inter Milan’s Dutch master Wesley Sneijder. Out of the players in question I think Sneijder is the most likely to make a move to one of the big two this summer. He recently committed himself to Inter, but has since spoken out about the uncertainty of his future. Sneijder would represent an excellent signing for either of these big hitters, but a stumbling block could be his huge wages, reported to be in excess of £7.5 million a year. This may rule Man United out of the chase but I’m sure wouldn’t deter Chelsea should they look to sign the £30 million plus rated midfield man.

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Football being what it is means there is no way the potential transfers of either Nasri, Modric or Sneijder can be ruled out. No matter how adamant a manager may be his player isn’t leaving there is always likely to be a spanner in the works that can change the whole outlook. Although I think Nasri and Modric will remain in North London, when Chelsea and Manchester United are involved anything can happen. You can rest assured that the three players focused on in this article will get their fair share of column inches this summer. What do you think, will we see Nasri, Modric or Sneijder on the transfer merry-go-round this summer?

Mexico have been granted permission to replace five players omitted from their CONCACAF Gold Cup squad for failing doping tests.Mexico’s national team was thrown into disarray earlier this month when six players, including goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, were provisionally suspended for testing positive to the banned substance clenbuterol.

Defenders Francisco Rodriguez and Edgar Duenas and midfield duo Antonio Naelson and Christian Bermudez were also removed from the 23-man squad after positive tests.

A sixth player – Ricardo Osorio – had already been ruled out of the tournament due to a prior medical condition.

The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) were adamant the players were innocent victims who had consumed the anabolic agent through contaminated meat, and requested permission from Gold Cup organisers to bolster their squad.

Organisers consulted with FIFA before granting that request on Monday.

“Based on the specific facts of this case, and on FIFA’s advice on the matter, the situation at hand is a case of force majeure as contemplated in the competition regulations,” a statement from CONCACAF read.

“Therefore the Mexican national team shall be permitted to replace the five separated players with up to five other players for the remainder of the competition.”

The FMF believes players inadvertently consumed meat containing clenbuterol during a training camp in Mexico in the lead-up to the Gold Cup.

Independent tests have cleared the five dropped players of doping, according to the federation.

“A laboratory at UCLA has informed us that (further) tests made on the five players were negative,” an FMF statement read.

The federation is awaiting test results on ‘B’ samples taken from the five players.

Mexico have gone undefeated through the Gold Cup thanks largely to the boot of Manchester United starlet Javier Hernandez, who has scored a tournament-best six goals in four games.

The reigning champions face Honduras in the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Swansea made it to the Premiership, playing an array of beautiful one-touch passing, and glorious attacking football, but will sticking to this style prove a success for them in the top flight?

Stoke boss Tony Pulis recently said that the Swans should stick to their principles and their style of play, which is easy for him to say, when his Stoke team play in a totally different style and have managed to establish themselves in the top division.

On the one hand, it would be naive to think that Swansea could just change the way they play overnight. They have been very successful with their style of play in the last three years, and it is what has brought them to the top flight.

Swansea’s expansive style, and passing game left them with loads of time on the ball in the Championship, but pace is a priority in the Premier League and the players will find they dont have as much time on the ball at this level, something manager Brendan Rogers will have to tweak. Swansea’s one touch football is the same kind that saw West Bromwich Albion under Tony Mowbray, go straight back down to the Championship, and struggle last year under Roberto Di Matteo, before Roy Hodgson came in and focused on a more defensive style, which ultimately saw them stay up.

If Swansea play in a similar style to Blackpool and Hull before them, they could find themselves in a similar position: starting off well by surprising people, and winning over the neutrals, but ultimately heading straight back to the Championship. The Swan’s, will need to be careful not to be focused on style over substance. To stay up, they will need to be up for a battle, to grind out results when they most need it, something that Wolves have shown over the past few seasons.

Defence is a priority in the Premier League, and it was ultimately Blackpool’s downfall last season, so Swansea will need to focus in this area, particularly when they commit so many forward in attack. Most of all they need to address their dead ball play, where they concede many goals, something they will not be able to afford against the Stoke City’s and Bolton’s of the world.

There are also significant weaknesses in Swansea’s squad. They are well short on Premier league experience. Although we have seen before that this isn’t a necessity for survival; Reading managed to finish eighth in 2007 with an equally inexperienced squad.

Brendan Rogers has had a tight schedule to work on, being the last side to be promoted through the play-offs. To be fair to him he has tried to bring in some players with experience and a more combative edge like Marcos Senna, albeit unsuccessfully. He has made three signings, goalkeeper Jose Moreira, striker Danny Graham and defender Steven Caulker on loan from Tottenham.

It seems that rather than changing their style, and throwing cash around on expensive targets, Rogers has settled on buying players who fit into his current system. Latest target Wayne Routledge is an example of this, a player who would provide good competition alongside the pace and productivity of Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer on the wings. It still seems as if they would benefit from one or two with Premier League or other top league experience in the side though. Strength in depth is absolutely vital, as is the ability to be flexible at this level.

Norwich another of the promoted sides, also have a squad significantly lacking in Premier League experience, and will be reliant upon many of the players who have taken them from League one to the top division. There is a huge step between Championship and Premiership level, and we will have to wait and see whether these players can cut it.

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Ultimately Swansea fans will want to see good football, but there is a price to pay in this league for sticking to your identity completely. It’s all right playing beautiful football that impresses the neutrals and gets you plaudits, but Premier League survival is what must come first.

Let me know your thoughts on what the Premier League new boys need to do to stay up, comment below or follow me @LaurenRutter on Twitter.

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Hosts Bayern Munich will play Barcelona in Wednesday’s Audi Cup final after both clubs survived penalty shootouts.Barcelona were largely under strength against Brazilian side Internacional, but did include the likes of Victor Valdes, Seydou Keita, Maxwell and Andres Iniesta.

They took the lead after 15 minutes when Thiago Alcantara finished off a swift passing move.

Internacional, the 2010 Copa Libertadores winners, equalised 10 minutes after the break.

Nei finished well after Leandro Damiao’s effort was deflected into his path.

Barcelona were ahead again seven minutes later though, Jonathan Dos Santos took advantage of some poor defending.

Damiao, who has been linked with both Barcelona and Spurs, did find the net five minutes before full-time, heading in after poor goalkeeping from Jose Manuel Pinto.

The match went to penalties, Barcelona prevailing 4-2 after Damiao ballooned his effort.

Bayern welcomed back former captain Mark van Bommel against Serie A champions Milan.

The Dutch midfielder joined the Italian side in January after making more than 100 appearances for Bayern.

It was van Bommel’s new side who took the lead inside the opening five minutes.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic broke the deadlock with a cool finish past new signing Manuel Neuer.

Neuer then did well to keep the score at 1-0, coming out well to deny Antonio Cassano.

Bayern’s Mario Gomez went close on 24 minutes, but he failed to hit the target.

The hosts drew level on 33 minutes through a fantastic strike from Toni Kroos.

A host of changes saw the pace of the game drop in the second half.

Luiz Gustavo came closest to grabbing a winner with nine minutes remaining. It finished 1-1 and headed into a penalty shootout.

Milan youngster Alberto Paloschi was to be the villain, sending his spot-kick high into the German crowd.

Bastian Schweinsteiger stepped up to convert the winning penalty as Bayern took it 5-3 in the shootout.

Arsene Wenger has finally conceded defeat in his hope to keep Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas at the Emirates. Fabregas will finally complete his long awaited switch back to the Nou Camp, while Nasri will sign a reported £165k a week contract to join up with Roberto Mancini at Eastlands. Apparently Stan Kroenke gave the Nasri move the green light as he felt the club would be foolish to turn down that sort of money, given the Frenchman only has a year left on his contract.

In the papers this morning there have been a mixed bag of stories that include John Terry calling on people to give Villas-Boas time; Werner suggests Liverpool will continue to keep investing, while Viera believes that Manchester City can win the title.

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Arsenal admit defeat in battle to keep Fábregas and Nasri – Guardian

Sneijder not joining us, say Man Utd – Guardian

Werner says Liverpool will keep investing – Guardian

Eriksson keen on Keane – Daily Telegraph

Villas-Boas IS Chelsea’s new Special One – Terry – Mirror

FIFA rock Caribbean football with new charges for 16 CONCACAF officials – Daily Mail

Aston Villa join the race to sign French striker Trezeguet on a free transfer – Daily Mail

Man City can win title – Vieira – BBC

Why Mario Balotelli hates life in Manchester – Sun

England job? Liverpool revolt was a lesson, admits Baggies boss Hodgson – Daily Mail

Robin will join the Arsenal exodus – Sun

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Odemwingie wants Baggies to double pay offer – Mirror

Arsenal snap up £12m Jadson as ‘new Fabregas’ – Independent

Pardew tries to get ‘chilled’ Barton onside – Independent

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Republic of Ireland kept their chances of qualifying for Euro 2012 intact by recording a gutsy 0-0 draw against Russia in Moscow on Tuesday night.

In a heroic defensive display, Shay Given and Richard Dunne performed admirably to keep out a home side full of attacking talent. Both goalkeeper and defender put their bodies on the line, and were the subject of praise from manager Giovanni Trappatoni.

“Dunne was fantastic. I thank God that we had Richard in this game. He sacrificed himself because he went back on to the pitch with four stitches. He understood the need to stay on the pitch,” the Italian told reporters after the game.

“Shay Given also saved two or three goals. They were fantastic saves.”

Despite the result, Trapattoni was quick to admit that his side had ridden their luck, and on another day may well have been beaten.

“It is impossible not to recognise that we have been lucky in this 90 minutes.

“The determination and the application on the pitch of the team, particularly of the senior players like Richard Dunne, Shay Given, Keith Andrews, Aiden McGeady was the pull for the younger players who gained confidence from them.

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“That balance allowed us to achieve what I call a golden point,” he concluded.

Ireland still have fixtures against Andorra and Armenia to play, and sit two points behind Russia in second place in Group B.

The nature of Raul Meireles’ move from Liverpool to Chelsea still remains unclear, as the player has stated that the club made him hand in a transfer request, and the Anfield outfit claiming he asked to leave of his own accord.

The Portugal international made a last-gasp move to Stamford Bridge on transfer deadline day, which angered some Reds fans, but the midfielder has stated he was forced out of Merseyside.

“All I have to say is that I had one promise at Liverpool which wasn’t fulfilled. Liverpool asked me to hand in a transfer request, so that’s normal. I was aware that Liverpool wanted to sell me in the summer, which was a bit surprising to me,” he stated in a press conference.

Liverpool director of football Damian Comolli has rejected these claims however, and has another outlook on how the move came about.

“I think Raul said it himself with what I’ve seen recently in the press. Basically, he came to see me and said ‘I want to leave, I want to play for another club’,” the executive told the side’s official website.

“Our intention was not to sell him but we were put in a corner a little bit when he put in a transfer request and said he wanted to go and that he didn’t want to play for Liverpool anymore. I think the owners and Kenny (Dalglish) have said it, and we all have the same view. When someone doesn’t want to be here it’s difficult to say ‘you are going to stay’.

“We’ve been through that process in January with Fernando Torres and this felt like the same situation. We’ve done it, we think it was the right thing to do for the club, because it’s very, very difficult to have somebody here who doesn’t want to be here,” he concluded.

Meireles made his Blues debut in a 2-1 win over Sunderland on Saturday, creating one of the goals for Daniel Sturridge, and may prove to be an important man for the London outfit.

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Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has admitted that the Goodison Park club are losing up to £5 million a year due to the lack of investment, as the search for a new owner continues.

The Merseyside outfit have well documented financial constraints, which limited David Moyes from spending money in the recent transfer window, and forced the £10 million sale of Mikel Arteta to Arsenal.

That said, Kenwright believes that The Toffees fans would rather have him in charge than see the club succumb to huge debt.

“Maybe there’s a downside to having a chairman who is a football fan. We lose £4-5 million a year; that’s a lot of money, that’s a player to David Moyes,” he told BBC Sport.

“I think Evertonians would rather stay with me, with all my drawbacks, if they knew that a potential new owner would saddle the club with debt.”

Kenwright has not hid the fact that Everton need a new owner, but has stated that the club’s finances are stable until that happens.

“Our history is second to none, but until I find the right man, and I will find him, you’re better off with me.

“You don’t get an overdraft unless the bank thinks you can look after yourself, you don’t get millions of pounds unless they rate you. We have a very good relationship with our bankers, and there is a feeling of real respect from them for what we have done.

“It’s a fallacy to say that we have the sword of Damocles hanging over us,” he admitted.

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Everton fans have been frustrated with their team’s lack of transfer activity, especially given the spending at city rivals Liverpool.

By Gareth McKnight

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Tottenham’s latest move in the Olympic Stadium saga is a sign of the increasing bitterness of proceedings. They have demanded that West Ham can never remove the running track around the pitch. The reasoning is simple enough but not admirable. They believe that West Ham’s promise to keep the running track was a defining selling point of the Hammers bid and that, were they allowed to remove it, they would have a ground capable of competing with Tottenham’s proposed new stadium but at a vastly reduced cost.

Daniel Levy is a terrier and he will not let the Olympic Stadium bid go and rightly so. A man who stubbornly refuses to take a loss on David Bentley must barely be able to sleep at night at the thought of West Ham securing a £600 million stadium for £30 million. Despite Mayor Boris Johnson’s best attempts to placate Levy with an offer of £17 million to kick-start redevelopments in Tottenham, the Spurs chairman is not happy.

Whilst Levy’s latest demand is undeniably mean-spirited, it makes sense. Spurs have already spent £85 million on new stadium projects without touching a brick, and the bitterness at missing out on the Stratford site will only increase as the spending escalates.

For West Ham this latest demand must be painful. Although they have shown no intent to get rid of the track, it would vastly improve their stadium. At times people will be over 200 metres away from the action and the atmosphere will certainly suffer as a result. Of course, right now, West Ham understand that their pledges to protect the Olympic legacy were instrumental in the success of their bid and would not jeopardise proceedings so early on but there must be long term desires to dig it up and bring the game closer to the fans.

Levy has a point. If West Ham manage to find a loophole or Gold and Sullivan sell the club, complete with new publicly funded stadium, off to a billionaire (like Shinawatra did with Manchester City) at staggering personal profits then that running track may well disappear and everyone will have been taken for a ride. This would be a terrible exploitation of public funds and a massive two fingers up to the Olympic legacy.

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It is unlikely that Levy’s demands will be met but there is certainly no harm in safeguarding against some potential profiteering.

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As most football fans will know the scope of the Ballon d’Or, originally the award given to the European Footballer of the Year was extended last year to become the FIFA Ballon d’Or which is now awarded to the player considered by both FIFA and UEFA to be the best in the world.

The 2010 Ballon d’Or was awarded to Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Argentina, who had also won the final Ballon d’Or in 2009 and is again among the 23 players named this week in this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or shortlist.

Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).

This list will be shortened to just three names on December 5th with the result being announced in Zurich on January 9th 2012.

Despite being regarded as the best league in the world, the Premier League has received only four nominations and one of them is the recent arrival to the league at Manchester City, Sergio Aguero. The other three are Wayne Rooney and Nani, both of Manchester United and Luis Suarez of Liverpool. In fact, Rooney is the only English player among the 23!

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Needless to say, the nominations have a huge bias towards attacking players, with only two defenders, Eric Abidal and Danny Alvez and one goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, making the shortlist.

It was three players from FC Barcelona who occupied the top three 12 months ago, with Messi winning ahead of teammates Andres Iniesta and Xabi Hernandez and many believe that the same outcome could easily occur again this year after Barcelona once again dominated European football and unlike 2010, the nominated players from the Catalan club can now boast a Champions League winners medal to the case for winning the award which has been around since 1956. In fact, it would be a major surprise should Messi not win for a third consecutive year and bookmakers are offering odds of just 1/7 that he wins again.

Also awarded on the night is the award for FIFA Coach of the Year and on that shortlist are three Premier League nominees, but one of those, Andre Villas-Boas, has been nominated for his performance in winning the Europa League last season with FC Porto before he made his move to Chelsea. The others are Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United and Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, although quite why Wenger has found himself on the shortlist after a trophy less six years at the Emirates is a mystery.

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The Coach award looks set to be a straight battle between Spain’s National Team Manager, Vincente Del Bosque and Pep Guardiola, Head Coach of FC Barcelona with only Oscar Tabarez, Head Coach of Uruguay, a possibility to upset the Spanish duo after his superb job in guiding his country to an unexpected victory in the Copa America.

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