We’re already in the middle of June, and though the signings haven’t been coming hard and fast just yet, that doesn’t mean that there’s a shortage of action thus far in the summer transfer window.

In this morning’s transfer news and rumors roundup, we’ve got tidbits from England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and Greece, with many big names and big clubs looking to spend, spend, spend. Some of the rumors are pretty concrete, while there is at least one in the bunch that, like Manchester United being linked with a move for Fernando Torres, are a little head-scratching, to say the least.

There are also a couple of signings to report, and remember, to keep up with all of the latest confirmed signings, check out our summer 2009 transfer lists.

England

Manchester United After Valencia Stars

There has been a great deal of speculation over the last few days about what Manchester United are going to do with the money they get from selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, and it could be that a sizable chunk of those funds go towards signing Valencia stars David Villa and David Silva.

United are reportedly set to make a £45m bid for Villa (The Mirror). The competition could wide open between United, Barcelona (Sky Sports), and Chelsea for Villa, as his potential move to Real Madrid appears to have broken down (Daily Mail).

Meanwhile. Rafa Benitez might not like hearing about United making a concerted effort to land Silva, as the winger has been a target for Benitez for a while now but could be the subject of a £25m bid from United. (The Mirror)

Analysis: £25m looks to certainly be enough to land Silva, but even though they could outbid Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Chelsea for Villa, they could be out of luck if Villa prefers the chance to stay in Spain. Of course, if Barcelona land Villa, that’d all but free up the opportunity for a United move for Samuel Eto’o.

United and Boro In Downing Swap Deal?

Middlesbrough are heavily interested in Manchester United duo Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, and there are reports that they could offer Stewart Downing to United to try to make a deal happen. (The Mirror)

Analysis: Both Scholes and Neville could be reluctant for such a move, but even so, it’d seem like United would come out a lot better in this deal, especially if they didn’t have to spend much of that sizable transfer kitty on purchasing Downing.

Costa On Shortlist To Replace Ronaldo?

Along with the moves mentioned above, United could be set to swoop for Gremio starlet Douglas Costa. (Sky Sports)

Analysis: Brazil’s becoming more and more of a hotspot for United, and signing a prospect of Costa’s ability and potential would be worth the fee United may have to stump up. He’s only 18, so he’s more one for the future and wouldn’t be expected to step in and star right away. But as Ronaldo did when he arrived at United, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him earn first-team opportunities immediately.

Bolton Lead Race For Veloso?

Bolton are back in for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso, and after refusing to overbid for Veloso in January, could be in with a £10.2m offer for the 23-year-old, who’s also been linked with Arsenal. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: £10.2m is still a little lower than Sporting might like to get for Veloso, but it could be a sign that Bolton are willing to fork out a little more in order to land him.

Bentley And Huddlestone To Sign For Villa?

It could only be a matter of time before Aston Villa seal the deal on a couple of new signings, as there are reports that they are close on Tottenham pair David Bentley (Goal.com) and Tom Huddlestone (Birmingham Mail).

Analysis: Considering their interest in Bentley, Huddlestone, and Jermaine Jenas, I’m surprised they haven’t been strongly linked with Darren Bent or Roman Pavlyuchenko, considering a forward should also be on their summer wishlist.

Several Sides Interested In Newcastle’s Martins

Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Everton are all interested in Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins (Tribal Football), but they could face competition from a mystery Bundesliga club (Tribal Football).

Analysis: Everton would be a great fit, considering the familiar faces that would await, but wages would likely be a stumbling block, and that could also be the case with Aston Villa. No telling what the situation could be with the Bundesliga club, but Arsenal may well be the best match financially – but that could all hinge on whether or not they sell Emmanuel Adebayor.

Fulham And West Ham Interested In Acquafresca

It’s a London battle for young Italian striker Robert Acquafresca, as Fulham and West Ham are both interested in the 21-year-old. Acquafresca was supposed to go to Genoa as part of the deal that brought Diego Milito and Thiago Motta to Inter, but he could yet move elsewhere, with even Juventus being linked with a move. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: I don’t have any doubts that Acquafresca could succeed in the Premier League, but if Juventus come in for him, that might be an opportunity that’s too hard to pass up.

Sunderland Bid For Cattermole

Sunderland have made a £7m bid for Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Well they sure aren’t sitting on their money, are they? That’s certainly a tempting offer for Wigan, considering it’s double what they paid for Cattermole just last summer. I don’t know if Wigan will offload him right now though, unless he’s just that eager to be reunited with Steve Bruce. If someone’s willing to pay 7m for him right now, they could be in line to get a lot more if he continues to develop well over the next season or two. Besides, the sale of Antonio Valencia will net a nice amount of transfer funds for Roberto Martinez.

Wolves Sign Milijas

Wolves have completed the signing of Red Star Belgrade midfielder Nenad Milijas. (The Guardian)

Analysis: For a little while, the deal looked to be in some doubt, but in the end, Wolves fought off some pretty good competition to land the free-scoring midfielder.

Birmingham Bid For Gomez

Birmingham have made a £1.5m offer to Espanyol for midfielder Jordi Gomez, who starred on loan for Swansea last season. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: With Roberto Martinez set to complete his move from Swansea to Wigan anytime now, Birmingham could face some competition from Wigan for Gomez, so it might be in Birmingham’s best interests to try to get him signed, sealed, and delivered as soon as possible.

Spain

Real Madrid Offer Sneijder For Inter’s Maicon

Real Madrid could be set to offer Inter Milan €20m plus attacker Wesley Sneijder in a bid for right back Maicon. (Goal.com)

Analysis: Sounds like a reasonable deal. Sneijder’s someone that has been linked with Inter, and €20m + Sneijder would meet the €40m asking price that Inter have for Maicon.

Italy

AC Milan Sign Cissokho

AC Milan have completed the signing of Porto defender Aly Cissokho for €15m. (Sky Sports)

Analysis: This time last summer, Cissokho had just made the jump from France’s Ligue 2 to Portugal, joining Vitoria du Setubal, and now, he’s signed for AC Milan. Talk about a quick rise!

Inter Closing In On Double Swoop

Jose Mourinho could be close to being reunited with Deco and Ricardo Carvalho, as Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti spoke hopefully about being able to agree a deal with Chelsea for the duo. (Daily Mail)

Analysis: Seems to be only a formality, really.

Juventus To Swap Trezeguet For Rossi?

Juventus are prepared to offer striker David Trezeguet as part of a swap deal for Villarreal star Giuseppe Rossi. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: £15m + Trezeguet would fall a little short of Rossi’s buyout clause of £40m, but it could get Villarreal to bite, or at least think seriously about the offer. Trezeguet might turn down the chance though, considering the interest that he’s had from the likes of Inter, Real Madrid, and others.

Lazio In Talks For Barnetta

Lazio are in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a move for Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Barnetta’s valuation is reportedly €10m, but even though Lazio don’t exactly have the room to break the bank on summer purchases, it shouldn’t be a problem to spend the right amount on a player who’s certainly worth it.

Germany

Wolfsburg Want Berbatov?

In one of the more interesting transfer rumors of the day, Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is being linked with a loan move to VfL Wolfsburg. (Sofia Echo)

Analysis: Though things didn’t exactly go completely swimmingly at United last season, Berbatov’s not going anywhere.

Stuttgart Interested In Tottenham Striker

VfB Stuttgart could be targeting Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. According to Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt, the Russian striker has come up in discussions within the club. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: After selling Mario Gomez to Bayern Munich for €30m, Stuttgart have money to spend and a big void to fill up front. Replicating Gomez’s 33-goal output from this past season might be a little much to ask, but Pavlyuchenko does have the quality to succeed in the Bundesliga, even though his struggles at Tottenham last season might convince some otherwise.

France

Shevchenko Offered To French Trio

Chelsea have offered striker Andriy Shevchenko to Lyon, Marseille, and Monaco. Lyon have turned down the opportunity to sign the Ukrainian, but Marseille and Monaco are still considering the chance to snap him up. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Safe to say then that Sheva doesn’t have a future at Chelsea, eh?

Coupet To Sign For PSG

Former Lyon goalkeeper Gregory Coupet could be set for a quick return to Ligue 1, as he has agreed personal terms over a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Coupet moved from Lyon to Atletico Madrid last summer, but after seeing little time last season, will be back on familiar soil if a fee can be agreed. (Goal.com)

Analysis: With current #1 Mickael Landreau looking to leave, PSG needed to swoop for a quality replacement, and Coupet, with his long history of success with Lyon, certainly fits the bill.

Greece

Panathinaikos Close On Drenthe?

Panathinaikos are going all out in their efforts to sign Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe, as they could offer £11m in order to land the versatile Dutchman. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: That’s about the same amount Real spent to sign Drenthe from Feyenoord in the summer of 2007, so I don’t see them turning down an offer of that amount. Drenthe hasn’t exactly blossomed at Real, and he wouldn’t appear to have much of a future there, so the only holdup might be whether or not he wants to move to Greece or to a more elite league.

“Transfer Rumors (15 June 09): Man United after Valencia stars Villa and Silva, Aston Villa close on Tottenham duo, Berbatov and Pavlyuchenko linked with Bundesliga moves, and more” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

The Magpies went behind early but managed to equalise before the break and allowed Alan Shearer to pull off what the Sun called a “tactical masterstroke” and the Daily Mail labelled “the managerial magic that could keep Newcastle in the Premier League”.

The Daily Star and the Daily Mirror both call Obafemi Martins and Peter Lovenkrands “supersubs” after Shearer brought them both on and watched as they scored the goals to seal victory in the tensest north-east derby in years.

The Daily Express claim Shearer’s decision to bring on Martins and Lovenkrands will earn them £50m arguing the win will stave off relegation, while the Times warn that the result means the writing is on the wall for Championship-bound Boro.

The Independent argue that the result signalled the moment Shearer arrived as a manager because it suggested he showed the skill all good managers must have: the ability to affect the course of a game at critical moments.

It’s a sentiment no doubt echoed by the Newcastle fans who worship Shearer, and who, as the Daily Telegraph mention “continues to give the Toon hope and joy, continues to script dramas in this passionate Geordie theatre”.

Elsewhere the Guardian claim that Chelsea officials met Carlo Ancelotti and his representatives on Monday night seeking assurances that he still intends to swap San Siro for Stamford Bridge at the end of the season.

If Ancelotti does leave AC Milan it could mean that he misses the chance to coach Carlos Tevez, who the Daily Mail claim will be heading to the San Siro in a £40m deal from Manchester United.

The Sun however say that Tevez will move to Liverpool in the summer after United failed to make the Argentine feel wanted. The Daily Mail also reckon Liverpool are keen on Boro’s Stewart Downing and will make a £12m bid at the end of the season.

In other transfer news the Daily Mirror claim Jose Mourinho is ready to offer Chelsea £15m for midfielder John Obi Mikel, while the Daily Star report that Arsenal are targeting a summer move for defender Gary Cahill – but have been told it will take £20m to tempt Bolton into selling.

And finally the Sun have the story that Harry Redknapp will order a booze ban at Tottenham in the wake of Ledley King’s nightclub bust-up.

Bearing in mind the slump in form at Spurs last year when Juande Ramos banned ketchup at the training ground Harry will have to hope the players don’t miss a few beers or glasses of Cristal as much as the missed red sauce on their chips…

St James’ Park didn’t know what to think. Michael Owen did, but he knew he better not say. The captain’s armband had already passed to Nicky Butt by the time the fourth official’s board went up. Newcastle’s skipper’s number was on it. Their former skipper’s, and current manager’s, number was the one to replace him. Nine on, ten off.

In the commentary box, Craig Burley opined that this decision–replacing Owen with Obafemi Martins, twenty minutes from the end of a game they simply HAD to win–“could backfire” on Alan Shearer, and that “no other manager would have gotten away with that substitution”. He was probably right, but fifty five seconds later Burley’s musings appeared to be fallacy as Martins shimmied inside Robert Huth to steer a right foot strike beyond the despairing Brad Jones and give Newcastle an ultimately-decisive advantage. “Better to be lucky than to be good” was Shearer’s typically cliché-dripping retort.

Luck, like Shearer, appeared to have left Tyneside permanently some-time in the 1980s and, like Shearer, has been banded as just about the only thing that could save Newcastle during this tumultuous campaign. But to attribute this hard-fought, hard-earned victory to anything as subjective as good fortune would be doing a disservice to both Shearer, and his players.

The St James’ regulars have not had much to cheer about this season, home or away. Just six league victories from thirty five games had left their side wallowing in the bottom three for much longer, much later, than anyone had expected. Especially Shearer. His arrival had threatened to sweep the Magpies to safety on a wave of “feel-good-factor”, before last night it had simply seen another legend fall victim to the curse of the Gallowgate. One point from four games had left this Tyne-Tees derby–rightly or wrongly–wearing the tag of “The Biggest Game in Newcastle’s history”

Good job then, that Middlesbrough are in as much turmoil–on the pitch at least–as their rivals. Gareth Southgate may well have endeared himself to the footballing world with his lucid, thoughtful contributions in pre and post-match interviews, and his suits may well be improving, but his side’s results were not. At start of play last night they were locked on 31 points with their crisis-riddled neighbours, and knew that only a four-goal victory could lift them above Hull City and out of the bottom three.

St James’ was a cauldron for kick-off, the black and white cards left on each seat may well smack of organised spontaneity, but they created quite a sight. The tradition began at Shearer’s own testimonial in 2006, and was revived here for a game of equal significance to the Tyneside masses.

Yet within three minutes, most of the cards had been scrunched up into tiny balls and thrown in anger at the ground, Newcastle’s boisterous start undone by Sanli Tuncay’s footwork to negotiate his way past Steven Taylor, and Habib Beye’s misfortune in dragging the ball into his own net after Steve Harper had blocked at the Turk’s feet. Fingers to lips time for Tuncay, fingers in ears time for Magpies.

Middlesbrough are not a good side, it must be said. But still the inkling here was that Newcastle simply would not have the stomach to fight back, that this early sucker punch would be one too many. Thankfully for Shearer and the fans, this notion proved misguided. They were level within six minutes, home-grown Steven Taylor meeting Danny Guthrie’s corner with a bullet header after outdoing Matthew Bates with some Shearer-esque movement. Mark Viduka had already hit a post, Owen would bring a smart save out of Brad Jones with a glancing header, and the performance as a whole was at least approaching cohesive.

There were still defensive lapses; there will always be in a game involving Newcastle. Especially one of this importance. Sebastian Bassong chose this game to have one of his poorer outings for the club, but alongside him Taylor, Habib Beye and Damien Duff limited Boro to just a couple of chances- both of which fell to Marvin Emnes, neither of which he could take.

Shearer spoke post-match about some “Big, big performances from some big men”, and it was not hard to suss out where the compliments were aimed. Jokes about his waist aside, there are few bigger players at Newcastle (when on-form) than Viduka, and the Australian was in imperious form throughout. It was his composure and hold up play that gave Newcastle a pivot from which to attack, and his physical presence allowed Newcastle to commit more men from midfield than at any point during Shearer’s tenure thus far. The difference was marked.

Where Nicky Butt dealt almost exclusively in the rushed and the hopeful, Guthrie possesses a liking for the simple pass, moving intelligently into space to take the ball back, rather than the round-the-corner antics of Butt (and Geremi & Alan Smith before him). His composure and thoughtfulness seemed to rub off on his former Bolton colleague Kevin Nolan, who had his best game for the club by a country mile, culminating in a tidy assist for Peter Løvenkrands’ clincher.

Even defensively there were some promising signs. Boro’s attack may be powder-puff- not many clubs would view an injury to Afonso Alves as a blow, and Jèrèmiè Aliadièrè possesses “more syllables than goals” according to Setanta commentator Jon Champion (harsh perhaps but do the maths….)–but Newcastle gave up far fewer chances than usual. Harper did make one smart save to deny Gary O’Neil–Boro’s best player on the night- whilst Aliadièrè sent a presentable headed chance wide seconds after Martins’ momentous contribution, but on the whole it seemed unlikely that a winner would come from a red shirt.

And so to Martins. Shearer himself admitted he knew better than to expect instant rewards for a bold substitution, and those proclaiming him as a tactical genius should view the switch with a more logical eye. Yes Newcastle needed a goal; yes Owen has–in the past–scored goals. But so has Martins, and more often than Owen during his stint on Tyneside. Viduka’s performance meant he was essential in the last twenty minutes, whilst to withdraw a midfielder would have meant a tactical reshuffle that may well have allowed Boro’s better players–Tuncay and Stewart Downing–to exploit an increase in space down the flanks. Owen was the natural choice for replacement.

Of course the fact that Martins, and Shearer’s other substitute Løvenkrands, made such a telling impact reflects well on the manager. Both finishes were confident, clinical even. Neither of those words could be tossed at the men they replaced–Owen and Jonas Gutierrez, whose gameness endears him to the public, but whose tangible returns have been minimal over the course of this admittedly-tough debut season.

Shearer was keen to stress that “nothing has been achieved yet, it is one win”, as the black & white clad army made its way down to the Quayside for that rarest of treats, a celebratory pint, but his side have leapfrogged a Hull side that seems to have forgotten how to win, and have another home game to look forward to on Saturday against Fulham. A win there is likely to ensure their Premier League status, and Shearer’s as a legend. Not that he ever needed reassuring of course.

For Boro, the prospect of Championship football looms large. Alves will miss the rest of the season with his ankle injury, and with David Wheater, Emmanuel Pogatetz and Chris Riggott all missing, there is a paucity of options in central defence that even utility-man Bates seems unable to fill. Gareth Southgate hinted at his own desperation in handing a first Premier League start to the Dutchman Emnes, but unlike Shearer, his calculated risk failed to work. They have two games remaining–at home to Aston Villa & away to West Ham–both of which have to be won if they are to stand any chance of staying up. On this showing, they are doomed.

They have some players of quality. Tuncay, Downing and O’Neil will all be Premier League players next season I suspect, whilst Huth is a defender of presence and power, but around them there is a distinct lack of class and conviction in their side. Mohamed Shawky was given a start in midfield and was made to look pedestrian by Butt & Nolan (no mean feat that), whilst Aliadièrè & Justin Hoyte must long for the days of Carling Cup run-outs at Highbury with which they could convince observers they were players of potential. Even Jones in goal, although blameless here, does not strike you as someone who could make match-winning contributions on anything other than a semi-regular basis. The manager, whether that is Southgate or not, has some work to do this summer if Boro are to bounce back at the first time of asking.

Onwards and upwards then for Newcastle. One grinning Magpie quipped that they were looking for the “top six” next season on his way out of St James’. He was only half-joking.

“Big men step up to the plate as Newcastle wrestle free” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.