Ghanaian youngster Andrew Ayew is in Ghana for the Nations Cup, and will be looking to make a big impact.

The French-born left-winger/striker is said to be wildly talented, and is the son of Ghanaian, African and Marseille legend Abedi Pele. The youngster also plays for Marseille, and he has received rave reviews for some of his performances this season (although he hasn't made too many).

He is definitely one to watch in this tournament, and it's rumoured that Arsenal are close to tying up a £5 million deal for him.

Who do you think will be the best new talent of this tournament? Leave your opinions in the comments! 

Rumours had been brewing over the last few months that Chelsea were interested in signing France forward Nicolas Anelka from Bolton. These were logical of course, because Anelka has been excellent this season, and has buckled down and worked on his game and temperament in the last few years. Chelsea were not the only interested party, and both Arsenal and Manchester United were rumoured to be interested, along with several continental clubs. The fees mentioned were anywhere between £8 and 12 million, and you can't say that Anelka isn't worth that.

Today however, official confirmation was received that Bolton rejected a bid from Chelsea. The amount of the bid is unclear but it is believed to be around £11 million, and it looks like Chelsea will have to shell out a lot of money, despite their slightly hilarious protestations of late that they are "not a spending club" and looking to "tighten the strings" and so on.

Apart from the fact that Chelsea have unlimited finances, and pay virtually 40-60% extra for all of their transfers because other clubs don't want to let them off lightly, there are several others reasons why Anelka will cost them a lot more:

1. Bolton are in quite a strong position. Anelka signed a 4 year deal at the start of the season. If he goes now, they can use the money to bring someone in, if he stays, then his class will be invaluable to them, and he can still be sold in the summer when Bolton can start a bidding war. Anelka has for a change not thrown his toys out of the pram and said that although he'd like to be playing Champions League football, he'd be happy to stay at Bolton as well.

2. Along with Dimitar Berbatov, Anelka is the best striker in the Premier League that isn't cup-tied for Europe. There are other strikers available in Europe (a few), but because of the way the Premiership is, it takes time for players coming from abroad to adapt, and with only 5 months left of the season, January signings generally need to come from within the league to have an impact. Anelka and Berbatov are not just two of the best in England, they are probably two of the best in Europe, and with Spurs reportedly wanting £35 million for Berbatov, Anelka is definitely the better option.

3. The African Nations Cup will deprive Chelsea of their two best attackers Drogba and Kalour. Pizzarro hasn't been much good, and Shevchenko's overall floppery is quite well known. They will be in serious need of attacking threat for a month or so, and so a striker buy is crucial.

4. Nevermind going missing for the ANC, but Drogba has once again come out and said that he wants to leave Chelsea, so they are also in the market for a top striker for next season, and Drogba's comments might seem him drop out of favour by the end of this one. The Ivorian had this to say - "The problem is that I say that I want to leave since two or three years. Mourinho's departure didn't help, to the contrary it made my desire to leave even bigger". Chelsea's main striker wants out, they're short of two for the next month and a half, their other strikers are poo, and they need someone who's good, not cup-tied, and able to spearhead them for at least a few years.

Bolton really hold all the cards on this one, although a lot depends on Anelka maintaining his good temperament and decent behaviour. If he decides to throw a strop and hands in a transfer request or something, then Chelsea will be able to bring the price down. But Anelka knows that he can get his move at the end of the season as well, so there shouldn't be any massive urgency. Peter Kenyon is also quite a poor negotiator, so Bolton should be able to get at least about £16-18 million for Anelka, if not more.

Some fantastic matchups await fans in Austria and Vienna next summer, after the group stages for Euro 2008 were drawn in Switzerland today. The groups are as follows:

Group A: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey

Group B: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland

Group C: Netherlands, Italy, Romania, France

Group D: Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia

That's some fantastic competition, and although all the groups are tough, Group C will easily be the Group of Death for the tournament.

Group A is interesting with hosts Switzerland joined by the more attack minded Czechs, Portugal and Turkey. The Swiss didn't concede at single goal at last year's World Cup, and their young side will have matured even more now. The Czechs unfortunately suffer from a reliance on the ageing Jan Koller that has been ingrained into their playing style over the years, and the creative burden falls almost entirely on the injury prone Tomas Rosicky. Portugal will be as strong as ever, with clubmates Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani providing attacking wizardry, Deco pulling the strings, and Carvalho, Ferreira, Meira and Miguel provide class and experience at the back. Unfortunately their strikeforce is still suspect - Nuno Gomes is over the hill, and Hugo Almeida is still unproven. As for Turkey, well they will be as unpredictable as ever. They did well at Euro 2000, then finished 3rd at the Korea-Japan 2002, and then failed to qualify for either Portugal 2004 or Germany 2006. Temperamental but gifted, they boast an array of German-based (and German-born!) talent in the Altintop brothers, Nuri Sahin, and Yildiray Basturk. Then there's Nihat (Villareal), Emre (Newcastle) and Tuncay Sanli (Middlesborough). The living legend Hakan Sukur is still soldiering on (37 years old, 112 caps, 51 goal), and Besiktas defender Gokhan Zan is one of Europe's brightest young stoppers. Russia-based striker Hasan Kabze might just have a surprise impact. The Swiss-Turkey match is likely to be bad-tempered and exciting - they fought during the Germany 2006 Qualifiers, after the Swiss knocked out the Turks.

My picks: Portugal and Turkey. Portugal have too much talent and experience. The Czechs no longer have enough quality. The Swiss lack goalscoring ability. The Turks have a huge collection of imaginative, dangerous attackers, and if they click they will cause problems.

Group B will have Germany joined by neighbours Austria and Poland, and nearby Croatia (well, Europe isn't all that big anyways). Austria are severely short of any real talent, and despite the home backing, they're likely to fall short. Croatia have become an excellent unit, with depth in every position. Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar are fantastic midfielders, and Arsenal striker Eduardo should be settled, fit and in-form by the time the tournament starts. Germany are stalwarts as ever, with Joachim Loew continuing the good work he started en route to Germany 2006. They have a batch of new talents, many of them with question marks over their heads, and a lot will depend on the fitness of Michael Ballack and how quickly the goalkeeping situation is resolved - if Lehmann continues to be on the bench for Arsenal, and Hildebrand continues to start for Valencia, then the latter will be Number 1. Poland qualified very easily, but are an ageing side that lack any genuinely top-class players. However they work well as a unit, and Rasiak and Zurawski work well together up front. 'Keeper Boruc is underrated, and could be one of the best at Euro 2008. This group should see a lot of intense matchups because of the presence of the hosts, and the regional/political rivalries of some of the countries, and the Germany-Croatia encounter will be a fascinating tactical matchup.

My picks: Germany and Croatia. The Germans will cruise through, and Croatia will be too classy and clever for the rest. The Poles might ruffle a few feathers, but will not cause any real surprises. Austria will be happy to get a draw or two.

Group C is going to be the highlight of the early part of the tournament, and sees two pairs of qualifying opponents rematched. The Netherlands have a lot to prove after repeated failures at major tournaments since Euro 2000 was played on their home soil. They have superbly talented players, but too many egos, and poor temperament. Van Persie, Robben and Van Nistelrooy make up a deadly attacking trio, with Van der Vaart, Seedorf and the amazing Sneijder providing the ammunition. The Dutch have one of the most talented squads in the world, but doubts remain over their defensive ability. Italy are Italy, and will always be tough. There are no new names or faces, although Totti has retired from Internationals. Gilardino is in much better form for his club now, and should provide more of a presence. Toni is banging in the goals in Germany. Apart from Pirlo, Italia don't have much creativity, but that's never been their strong suit, and they will always grind out results and get important goals. Romania are a talented but fragile team. They beat the Netherlands in qualifying, and they have a magician in Steaua playmaker Dica. They can also call on Fiorentina attacker Adrian Mutu, and Inter's Cristian Chivu, one of the world's finest defenders. They have a squad full of good technicians, many of whom ply their trade across Europe's top leagues. Finally, France will want to continue their post-Zidane resurgence. They have their old collection of big names like Henry, Trezeguet, Vieira, Thuram and Makelele, but they will be looking to the younger Franck Ribery for creative inspiration now. Ribery's former colleague at Marseille, Samir Nasri, and the two other French-Arab youngsters Hatem Ben Arfa and Karm Benzema (both from Lyon) are capable of sublime attacking magic. Much will depend on Domenech's willingness to give the new faces a chance. In Gregory Coupet, Mickael Laundreau, Sebastien Frey and Ulrich Rame, they have a varied but error-prone set of 'keepers. Apart from the obvious France-Italy and Holland-Romania grudge matches, every game in this group will be fantastic. The Italy-Holland games will be a fantastic battle of wits, tactics and skill.

My picks: Netherlands and France. The Dutch kids will finally come good. France are formidable, and already beat Italy in qualifying. Romania are too inexperienced and fragile. Italy have gotten away with having easy groups in past tournaments (not to mention "friendly" referees), but they will struggle in this mix.

Group D is unlikely to throw up too many surprises. Reigning champions Greece are still coached by German tactical magician "King" Otto Rehhagel, but are unlikely to be able to repeat the surprises of the last tournament. They have an ageing squad, with a sparse amount of attacking talent, and an unproven collection of strikers. But you can never say never. Sweden have always had a tradition of achieving results with average, workmanlike squads with a few gifted players. Previously with Dahlin, Brolin, and Larsson, and now with Ljungberg and Ibrahimovic, they benefit from a solid coaching setup, and a great understanding in the squad of how to play and compete. John Elmander is a very talented young striker who could have an impact. Not much can be said about Spain that hasn't already been said. Traditional flops at the major tournaments, but always blessed with world class players, they will arrive at Euro 2008 with Fabregas, Torres, Alonso, Casillas, Ramos, Puyol and so many other brilliant players in every position. Russia just managed to sneak through after finishing poorly. Hiddink is a great tactician, but with a harmful ego. Kerzhakov is their main attacking threat, and young 'keeper Igor Akinfeev is one of the best in the world, but he might not be fit for the tournament. The Spain-Sweden game is another rematch from the qualifiers and will be the highlight.

My picks: Spain and Sweden. The Spanish will get through the group stage easily enough, whether they can have the impact they should on the rest of the tournament remains to be seen. Sweden might have a few problems, but they will be able to get results. Greece are clever and can take points off the bigger teams, but are one-dimensional. Russia will be lost in the mix. 

Stay tuned during the tournament of course, for all kinds of updates from OleOle - videos, podcasts, blogs, news and more. We might even have a few contests running beforehand for you, and don't forget about our Tickets & Travel section, which will have some great deals to let you watch some great games.

When young Yoann Gourcuff left Stade Rennais for Milan, he was supposed to be the next big thing. There had been concrete interest from Arsenal and Lyon for a year, and it didn't take a particularly gifted talent-spotter to see that the boy had promise. Likened to Robert Pires, Youri Djorkaeff and Zinedine Zidane, Gourcuff is a technically supreme midfielder, able to see the game and manipulate the ball like few others. To add to that, he is tall and considerably strong (hence the comparison to Zizou), and able to work as a more conventional central midfielder in addition to his obvious abilities as an attacking one.

He emerged through the excellent youth setup at Rennes, but was lured away by the allure of Milanello, the San Siro, and all the dreams that come with. Arriving as one of Europe's most talented young midfielders (and NOT a raw one at that), the idea was that he would slot into the fluid, unpredictable Milan midfield - able to substitute for Seedorf, for Pirlo, and even for Kaka, with the eventual hope being that he might end up as consistently brilliant as the Brazilian.

But of course AC Milan being AC Milan, nothing went as planned.

After a promising start, Gourcuff found no playing time, and this season he has seen even less. The arrival of Emerson in the summer meant that central midfield was now more congested. Add to this the hype of Brazilian superkid Pato (who will arrive in January), and the odd return of Ibrahim Ba, and one wonders what Gourcuff is still doing there. The Pato situation is quite unfortunate, because in all the hype, people have forgotten that Gourcuff too is a "wonderkid" (albeit a slightly older one).

The French youngster has understandably become frustrated, and spoke out about how he wanted more playing time. This drew a reaction from the AC Milan supremo Adriano Galliani, and his quotes are quite ludicrous in places. I've higlighted a few of the choice bits:

"Gourcuff is partly right when he says that he hoped he would get more playing time, because that's what he agreed on with our coach last summer. But that was before we got the chance to sign Emerson, even though we had told Gourcuff we would buy no one in midfield to allow him more playing time.

However, Gourcuff has to understand he is lucky to be playing in the team that has won the most trophies in the world, and if he is really that good he should be able to break through into the side, even if now we have one more midfielder.

Nevertheless, I can understand his situation and I didn't get angry about what he said."

Well Adriano, you shouldn't get angry about what he said, he should be getting angry about what you and Ancelotti said! If it was agreed that he would get more playing time, and that no more midfielders would be signed, then why should he be content? What difference does it make to Gourcuff that Milan have won so many trophies if he's not getting any games, and unable to contribute to the team or improve as a player?

It's quite ridiculous stuff, and one would hope that Gourcuff just leaves. I'm sure Arsene Wenger would still be interested - he has a good record of rescuing talented French youngsters from their misery in Italy (see Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry). In fact, this situation is so similar to the Vieira one, it's uncanny. The Gunners legend arrived in much the same way as Gourcuff - one of the most talented young midfielders in France, who had only just had a season or two of establishing himself with his club (Cannes). When he arrived in Milan, chances were few, and he found his path to the first team blocked by expensive, more experienced players. Wenger rescued him from the reserves, and the rest, as they say, is history.

So don't rule out Arsenal making a move. Wenger is a keen admirer of his talents, and with Rosicky constantly injured, and a replacement for Robert Pires still to be found, it just might happen. And if not the Gunners, well previous suitors Lyon, as well as Ajax, Valencia, and many others are all still keeping an eye on him.