Nani and Anderson - A Manchester United Young'un Coup

Manchester United has started off the transfer season with a bang. For several seasons now, the Brazilian Anderson (now 19) has been an integral part of Porto's success, but now barring legal complications - Anderson will now be plying is trade for Manchester United and possibly grabbing the reins from Ryan Giggs after his imminent retirement (in either 2008-2009). Nani, another starlet in Portugal's SuperLiga, has been nothing short of amazing for Sporting Lisbon. A winger, as well, he has been compared to the closest equivalent to a younger Cristiano Ronaldo. Add Nani to the Manchester United roster and you have a brilliant recipe for repeat. Add these two Owen Hargreaves (a $30+ million signing) from Bayern Munich and the future looks rather bright for Sir Alex Ferguson and his Red Devils. It's even more funny due to the fact that the transfer window hasn't even opened yet.


Barcelona is close to closing a deal with Rodrigo Palacio of Argentina's Boca Juniors for $30 million. The 25 year-old has been a constant highlight at the top of Argentina's scoring charts as of late and looks to be an immediate impact in La Liga. Problem: Huracan and Banfield, both teams that own a stake in Palacio, are demanding more and more money as they hear the transfer fee is up to $30 million. What's this mean for Icelandic international Eidur Gudjohnsen? Also, if he comes over - that piece of crap rat tail better disappear, or is that the craze in South America?


Bayern Munich have signed Italian World Cup stud Luca Toni for $22 million. Italian is a route that Munich doesn't often go down and it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Like Rafa Benitez with Liverpool, Bayern look to have significant turnover of the roster this summer and it will be fun to see who else makes their way in and out.


Other:

- Ryan Giggs has declared international retirement from the Welsh national team. Sucks for them as I don't know anybody even close to comparable to Giggsy, leaving Wales back at square one.

- The MLS has signed a formal deal with YouTube to provide a separate website for MLS video highlights within 24 hours of a finished match. Sounds promising. Read up on it here.

- Alain Perrin, former Marseille coach, has been appointed the new Olympique Lyonnais head coach as he aims to add to Lyon's six consecutive Ligue One titles. This is big in the French world of football but in terms of international appeal, Gerard Houllier is known by the world not just Ligue One. For the sake of Perrin, a good start has been in order as Juninho Pernambucano has signed on for two more years even though he has stated, "I will never win a Champions League title with Lyon'. Oh well.