By Michael Sinnerton

Arsenal's unique take on ownership took another twist this week when the board, and its financial advisors, Rothschild, turned down an offer to underwrite a ‘rights issue' proposed by Alisher Usmanov. Days later Stan Kroenke, Arsenal's largest stake-holder, purchased 160 shares at £8,500 each, to his stake to 28.58%.

For those who don't know, if and when Kroenke reaches 30% he is obliged to make an offer for the remaining shares. The Uzbek must be frustrated at the board's seeming favouritism particularly when his ‘rights issue' seemed a relatively sensible proposal. The chief shareholder, and anyone else, would be able to buy ‘new' shares creating cash. The issue would mean Usmanov and other shareholders reaching into their piggybanks rather than plunging the club into debt. It was hoped around £150m could be raised, £60m of which would be made available to Arsene Wenger and the rest put towards the clubs reported £416m debts.

As David Conn points out in the Guardian care could have been taken to protect the stakes of smaller shareholders whilst providing an example to owners of the other big clubs whereby the benefactors invest real cash with no strings attached and no borrowing. As many of Arsenal's largest shareholders have made huge money selling shares, to Kroenke in particular, I think they should have been willing to give something back.

Ivan Gazidis claimed that Arsenal don't need the money, i.e. they are paying off the debt comfortably a bit at a time and don't want to overpay in the current inflated transfer market. But I'm not sure that's true, are Arsenal fans really happy to continue to invest in youth and, more than likely, end up 4^th? Wouldn't they prefer a big investment to give them the possibility of a real title challenge, particularly given the positive news announced this week?

With Van Persie signing a new deal and Eduardo and Rosicky potentially back as first team players Arsene has a hugely dangerous and talented bunch of attackers to choose from. Defensively (and I include the midfield in this) the team are miles short of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United. Two or three top quality signings could see this Arsenal team really succeed (not necessarily to the detriment of the youngsters).

Do the fans want the club to push on or are they really happy being ‘just' great to watch but ultimately trophyless?

by Joel Abraham

If I could hibernate until September 1st, I would. I'm utterly sick of transfer rumours: lazy journalists who make shit up, moaning players and big-mouthed managers. 

The Melo transfer saga is case in point, where one moment he wants to leave for England, then he signs a new contract with Fiorentina, then Juventus want him, then he says he wants to stay in Florence, then Juventus are about to sign him, then Fiorentina announce they're swapping him with Arsenal for Eboue, then they're swapping him with Juve for Marchionni and he's definitely signed, then Marchionni doesn't agree to it and the Arsenal move is back on, then he's a Juventus player, then BLAH BLAH BLAH and nobody cares anymore.

The way clubs and players conduct themselves over transfer issues is absolutely appalling. Why can't all parties just keep their mouths shut? What is the point of the constant 'come and get me' pleas made by players, what happens if they end up staying? Adebayor, that's what. And what do the clubs have to gain by disrespecting each other, unsettling players they're not even that keen on signing, and generally lacking even a shred of professionalism?

My general rule, with Arsenal at least, is to ignore everything until confirmation appears on Arsenal.com. Even when we actually end up signing a player we're linked with, often the transfer is so protracted that I've lost all enthusiasm by the time they sign (see: Nasri). My favourite signings are the one that come out of nowhere (like Eduardo). Who saw that one coming? What a treat!

Transfer rumours ruin the summer, and suck all the excitement out of signing a new player. Challenge yourself, see if you can go cold turkey on the rumour mills and only check your club's official website for your football news. And for god's sake stay away from Goal.com.

By Michael Sinnerton

Sam Allardyce wants to perform felattio on Sir Alex Ferguson. That's the conclusion I've come to after he initially suggested signing Michael Owen was too much of a gamble: "It's unfortunate for Michael but if you look at the last three years I cannot take a gamble on that." It wasn't that unfortunate for Michael in the end was it. Allardyce later went on say that Owen could be a very good signing for United. Strange.

This comes after Allardyce jumped on the back of Ferguson's criticism of Rafa Benitez's "game over hand signal". Despite having said nothing in the days after the game, Allardyce after Ferguson's outburst finally piped up, ""I was hugely disappointed by those gestures. I think they were disrespectful and quite humiliating. Having looked at them again this week, I think I'm right and ­everybody will see why I'm complaining."

Having written Owen off as too big a risk, Allardyce is hilariously eyeing Christian Vieri who is 35 (6 years older than Owen and with no Premier League experience. "He's obviously out of condition compared to the rest of the lads, but at this stage of the season, joining us in the pre-season shows a certain amount of commitment from him that he wants to try and play football again, and he fancies a go over here in the Premier League." Doesn't that sound like more of a gamble? I wonder who'll have the last laugh there.

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Carlo Ancelotti impressed everyone with his grasp of the language and sense of humour at his first press conference but the more shrewd observers among you will have noticed perhaps the best thing about Ancelotti is his commitment to the job. Already his scouting of last year's reserve leagues has seen Chelsea swoop for Ross Turnbull and Daniel Sturridge, big money moves for Nabil El Zhar and Febian Brandy seem nothing more than rumours at this point.

by Joe Walton

On March 9, Michael Jackson was in London announcing that he would be playing 50 gigs in London. The assembled crowd of morons screamed as he told them the news that they already knew. Last night, Cristiano Ronaldo was 'unveiled' as a Real Madrid player in front of a near-capacity Bernabeu. At one point crazed fans ran towards their new hero of 1 hour prompting Ronaldo to be hurried out of the ground by Police accompanied by an angelic sound track.

One can draw comparisons between the two. They are both undoubtedly global stars with a truly world-wide fan base, they are both self-styled fashion icons, they have both been linked with some of the world's most glamourous women and, if you believe the reports of Jackson's autopsy, they are both hairless from the neck down. But there is one key difference. Ronaldo is one of the best practitioners of a team sport, whereas Michael Jackson was a solo star.

If a record label was to sign up the biggest musicians in the world it would make them the best record label in the world. This isn't true of football clubs. A club with the biggest names in football does not necessarily make them the best team. Although the attendance at the Bernabeu yesterday was boosted because school is out for summer holidays in Spain, the fact that it was world news needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. As good a player and as marketable as Ronaldo is, he still has to fit into a team. Teams that win things are good at football, not at events organising.

By Michael Sinnerton

Amir Zaki, football's Mr Unprofessional, wants to return to the Premier League. He may well still be able to do so but perhaps returning late from International duty five times in a row, might come back to haunt him. I kind of hope so.

Zaki has today claimed Aston Villa failed with an £11million bid to sign him in January. If that's true it casts some doubts on Martin O'Neill's judgement but it may well be just an attempt to get him some headlines at a time when it looks more likely he will be playing football for a lower league French club than anyone with profile in the Premier League. Zaki's arrogance and lack of respect towards Steve Bruce is enough to put any manager off, let alone his huge dip in form which points to Premier League defenders working him out. Good riddance to bad rubbish? Or a waste of talent that could prosper under the right guidance?

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Are Man City completely mad or genuinely onto something? Signing John Terry from Chelsea, to me seems an utterly impossible task. When Steven Gerrard almost moved from Liverpool to Chelsea he was moving from a team who he loved but were 4^th to a championship winning and potentially league dominating team. Terry, arguably more associated and in love with his club than Gerrard, would be almost moving in the other direction.

Perhaps City are just stirring and I don't think Terry would be move but it's strange that he hasn't come out to distance himself and end the speculation. At least Hughes and they owners have changed tack from simply attempting to buy any decent striker on the market. If they do manage to sign a couple of top-quality defenders, I still think City have the possibility to give the Big Four (possibly now the big 3 and a half) a real battle.

By Michael Sinnerton

Had a very busy day so sadly haven't managed to do a proper football blog today. Instead I thought I'd take the time to pay tribute to the greatest tennis player ever.

How lucky we are to live at a time when Roger Federer struts his imperial stuff. 15 grand slams tournaments in just 6 years; it took Pete Sampras 12 years to get his phenomenal 14. Federer returned to world number one today, admittedly partly in the absence of Rafael Nadal through injury, but also after coming back from two heartbreaking five set defeats to the same man. Those two defeats at Wimbledon and the Australian Open could have led to Federer retiring early, instead he battled back and won the French Open title for the first time and regained his Wimbledon crown.

A clay court legend, whose name sadly escapes me, rates Federer as probably the third or fourth best player on clay ever. He is just unfortunate to have met the best clay courter of all time in final after final at the French. When time judges Federer though, having survived Nadal's onslaught to win more grand slams he may be held in even higher stead than had he won three or four French Opens. Andy Roddick's name must be mentioned here, so wonderful was his performance today. Though it will be of little consolation to him, he won many friends today and even the harshest of judges wouldn't begrudge him success next year (or at the US).

Those of us of English or Australian nature have the Ashes to look forward to this week as football takes a slight back-burner but it won't be long before football's back on our front pages as Franck Ribery is forced to move to Chelsea or David Villa makes Barca's dream team that little more special.

by Joel Abraham

A couple of months ago, Alex Ferguson said that he wouldn't sell Real Madrid a virus. £80m pounds later, Florentino Perez has sent out a message: Real Madrid always get what they want.

A new era of Galacticos is upon us after an unprecedented spending spree that doesn't look like stopping any time soon. After a being left trailing in Barca's wake last season, Los Merengues mean business, and have the financial muscle to put themselves back on top of world football. This summer's dealings beggar belief, and are the sort of antics you'd expect of someone playing Football Manager who's just discovered the data editor and have subsequently edited billions into their transfer budget. 

Perez has emphatically put Ferguson in his place. First he signs United's best player, then he signs the man they were going to replace him with, and now the other guy Ferguson wants says 'it's Madrid or nothing'. Make no mistake about it, United have been left to feed on the scraps of the Real banquet. While Perez gorges on the finest players on the planet, Ferguson is filling the titantic, Ronaldo-shaped hole in his team with Antonio Valencia and Michael Owen.

"See you at the Bernabeu"

When Real Madrid go to war, nobody is safe. As big a club as United are, no team can match Real for history, prestige and reputation. By signing Kaka and Ronaldo, Perez told the rest of the world: this is the place to be. Benzema stated one of his reasons for joining was his excitement at being part of a project that involves all the best players in the world. If Real Madrid want you, it means you're one of the best. And nobody turns them down.

On a side note, there seems likely to be a Dutch fire sale, with Huntelaar, van Nistelrooy, van der Vaart, Sneijder, Robben and Drenthe all surplus to requirements. This highlights the flip side of playing for Real - you don't have long to prove yourself, and the long list of big names who got lost in the shuffle is proof.

Real will probably topple Barca this year, and who isn't looking forward to watching Kaka and Ronaldo play together? Even if it doesn't work, the pair of them will still make bucketloads of cash for Real. Either way, Real look set to launch a serious assault on the footballing world this season.

By Michael Sinnerton

Having blogged about Michael Owen less than two weeks ago I don't want to come across as repeating myself, but I'm glad to see that one of my favourite players and someone who was once England's next great hope land on their feet.

As a Liverpool fan I know I probably should feel a bit betrayed and I may struggle next season wanting Michael to succeed whilst wanting United to crash and burn horribly. Do other Liverpool fans feel betrayed? I feel that having sold Michael Owen and turned down good opportunities to get him back (admittedly once at too high a price) we don't have any right to be offended.

From United's point of view they've signed a player who is proven in the Premiership and can be one of the best strikers in the league. At only 29 and on a free transfer, why anyone thinks this is a bad move is beyond me. Obviously it's a great move for Owen who finally has some profile and is saved the, let's face it, embarrassment of having to choose between Stoke or Hull (although Aston Villa were a more likely destination). But for United who get a proven goal scorer for no money, the risk is virtually zero. Owen will be so grateful to be at such a high profile club that he's likely to accept whatever terms are offered. If he does turn out to be a failure, United will be able to sell him for £1-2m with ease and will make their money back from any wages.

Furthermore, I don't think he will be a failure, at Newcastle with no service his stats of 30 goals in 69 games are well known but a goal-scoring ratio that was the highest in terms of goals/minutes played in La Liga should not be overlooked. Owen scored 18 goals from 41 games for Madrid (just 15 of which were starts), this despite a poor start probably due to problems acclimatising. When surrounded by good players, Owen is the beneficiary of more chances and as a result scores more goals.

Since Van Nistelrooy left United have not had a pure finisher in the squad due to Louis Saha's injury problems, Owen fits the bill perfectly. With Berbatov and Rooney likely to be Sir Alex's first choice for big games, and another (high profile) striker likely to join, United may be back to that wonderful position they enjoyed in 1999 where they can call on four genuinely top-drawer forwards.

By Michael Sinnerton

As Manchester City eye-up a new set of world-class strikers in a Real Madrid-lite move, should Arsenal fans be worrying about their position in the top four?

If City do line up with Eto'o, Tevez and Robinho next season then their fire power doesn't seem far off Arsenal's, a slightly weaker back-line and attacking midfield is countered by a much stronger goalkeeper and huge strength in depth in defensive midfield - one of Kompany, Barry or De Jong could make a huge difference to the balance of Arsenal's midfield.

Having a look at two feasible line-ups for next season:

Arsenal: Almunia; Sagna; Vermaelen; Gallas; Clichy; Nasri; Song; Fabregas; Rosicky; Arshavin; Van Persie

Man City: Given; Zabaleta; Richards; Dunne; Bridge; Ireland; Barry; De Jong; Robinho; Eto'o' Tevez

My combination line up would see: Given; Sagna; Gallas; Dunne; Clichy; Nasri; Barry; Fabregas; Ireland; and then any of the strikers interchangeably. So four City players to five from Arsenal. Of course this does depend on City signing two world-class strikers but the potential strength in depth at City, with Elano, Johnson, Kompany, Wright-Phillips, Petrov and Santa Cruz all not making my potential first XI above, is frightening.

As a Liverpool fan I find myself more often than not worrying about dropping out of the top floor than whether we can make a title charge. I hoped this year would be different, and if we can sign one more world-class player without losing anyone I could be right. It seems pretty unlikely that City have what it takes to win the title just yet but their strength in depth given a few more top quality signings is already good enough to match the top four.

Where they lack at the moment is go-to-guys, the players who seem to win your club most of their points. Liverpool, of course, have Torres and Gerrard; Chelsea have Lampard and Drogba, and Arsenal Fabregas. With Manchester United selling their main go-to-man the title race is wider open than it has been in the few seasons. At the moment City do not have that player, Robinho has shone in patches but mainly when they have dominated while the same could probably said of Stephen Ireland (who probably comes closest to filling this role).

Without this kind of player City may find themselves struggling to crack the top four but if someone at the club steps up, or one of their world-class potential singings really comes off then the Champions League elite could see a newcomer making waves quicker than we think.

By Michael Sinnerton

The presence of Hull and Stoke in the top-flight this year offers real hope to the fans of Burnley, Wolves and Birmingham in their attempts to avoid relegation. As well as a stark reminder that staying up is very achievable, there should be a realisation that both Stoke, and in particular, Hull aren't that far away from top Championship standard. The bookies unsurprisingly have these 5 as the favourites to go down, with admittedly Stoke's excellent performances (and home record) last season seeing them at 3/1 to be relegated.

With Burnley clear favourites at 1/2 on to go down, the other three are covered by odds of 4/6 (Brum), 4/5 (Wolves) and 10/11 (Hull). I think Hull should really be second favourites to go down, and Portsmouth and Wigan may struggle depending partly on their new management teams.

What is without question is that all three promoted teams will require strengthening. So far Wolves have added Kevin Doyle (£6.5m) and Andrew Surman (£1.2m). Both are good young players who will add to Mick McCarthy's blend, although Doyle will be expected to have the kind of season he had with Reading upon promotion (13 goals) rather than more second season syndrome (4 goals). They have also signed Nenad Milijas who I have heard very little about, although what I have heard is fairly promising. Wolves need more, particularly at the back, but their transfer business so far seems good with those players decent investments even if they are relegated.

Birmingham have been busiest of the promoted clubs in the off-season so far bringing in no less than five new faces. Sensibly McLeish has strengthened at both ends of the pitch with Joe Hart on loan perhaps the best piece of business by any club in the window so far. Roger Johnson from Cardiff and Scott Dann from Coventry should add depth to the squad but I'm not sure how good they actually are. Christian Benitez is the player Brum fans will be expecting most from however having seen him break the clubs transfer record, whilst Gioavanny Espinoza should add some flair to the midfield.

Burnley have added Tyrone Mears for £500k which I think is a good piece of business for the 26 year old who has Premiership experience and should have learnt plenty whilst on loan at Marseille last year. He certainly offers more going forward than Mike Duff for instance. Their marquee signing, so far at least, is Stephen Fletcher. £3m for a player only proven at Hibernian may seem a lot but Fletcher is only 22 and has been monitored by Real Madrid amongst others. He should add a real goal-scoring threat to an already attacking looking Burnley side and isn't much of a risk given his resale value.

Who do you think the promoted clubs should add? And who has the best chance of staying up?