According to Barcelona’s official website, Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta confirmed how much the club offered for Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. He said,

“We paid Liverpool 20 million euros plus the 4 million that came from the player by reducing his salary.”

“Both the Club and the player did as much as possible [for Cesc Fabregas]. Our second offer was 40 million euros. From the moment Arsenal said they didn’t want to negotiate we respected their position … We would have liked to have signed him but we weren’t able to negotiate. It wasn’t a disappointment – it was simply impossible … Thanks to the conversations we have re-established contact with Arsenal”.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Tottenham received a “big-money” bid from an unknown club for defender Gareth Bale. Wales national coach John Toshack said,

“It was a big-money bid - it’s big money to me anyway. You’ll have to ask Tottenham, they know about it. Gareth is aware people are looking at him and people are interested.”

However Toshack would not reveal the club, saying,

“I wouldn’t do that out of confidence for the people who have informed me … He’s still a young lad and there’s things he has to learn but there are a lot of people looking at him and taking an interest in him.

“I just hope he can take his club performances into our games at international level. He’s in Champions League football now, which is another platform for him to show what he can do, and if he steers clear of the injury problems he has had he’s got everything going for him to be a big, big player.”

According to John Curtis at The Independent, former West Ham manager Alan Curbishley interviewed for the Aston Villa manager position yesterday.

Ronald Koeman has also expressed his interest in the coaching position today.

UPDATE: According to Sky Sports News, free agent Danny Shittu admitted that he has interest from European and Middle Eastern clubs. Shittu said,

“I believe quitting Bolton was the right step to take as I didn’t have options to play at Bolton … I wish the club all the best in the future and now I have to find myself a new club.

“I am now reviewing my options and there are quite a few sides interested in me from Europe and the Middle East … Hopefully I can announce where my future lies shortly after I return from international duty.”

September 1st 2010: According to Bolton’s official website, Bolton have terminated the contract of defender Danny Shittu by mutual consent.

According to Blackpool’s official website, Blackpool have completed the signing of free agent goalkeeper Richard Kingson. Kingson signed a one-year deal with the club with a further one-year option. The signing is subject to a work permit.

According to Ian Ladyman at the Daily Mail, Manchester United could have signed Bebe for only £125,000 instead of £7.4million if they had signed him last season instead of this summer. Former manager Jorge Paxaio said,

According to Ian Doyle at the Daily Post, Liverpool defender Paul Konchesky talked about why he decided to join the club. Konchesky said,

“It’s not a big decision when a club like Liverpool comes in for you … It also helped me with the manager being here who I know well … I know what the manager is about and he knows what I am about. Hopefully I can bring that to Liverpool and make the team stronger.

“I had a great time with the manager at Fulham for two-and-a-half years. He did really well for Fulham and hopefully we can have great success at Liverpool and we can achieve bigger and better things.”

“I want to win silverware. I believe this club is capable of doing that and hopefully we can start this year … Liverpool have a great tradition in Europe. We got to the final with Fulham last season but hopefully we can go one step further this year and win it with Liverpool.”

According to Christopher Lepkowski at the Birmingham Mail, West Bromwich defender Paul Scharner claimed that he had drawn interest from several other teams this summer. Scharner said,

“There were always different options for me and I always had a plan B regardless … I was never worried about finding a club. I had opportunities elsewhere so I was confident I could join a good club.

“West Bromwich is a traditional club even though their last few years have been marked by promotion and relegation … We need to stop this and establish ourselves in the Premier League as we did with Wigan.

“Negotiations lasted for three days and it was really hard work but all sides are now satisfied … And what we must not ignore is that, despite the global crisis, my financial situation has further improved.”

Sunderland is thought to be one of those teams that had a lot of interest in Scharner.

Two days ago Manchester City took a loss financially when they sold Robinho to AC Milan for about £14million less than they paid for him. However was Robinho truly an awful signing or a good one?

The Manchester Evening News was wondering that same question and gave a reason for both yes and no. Definitely a nice read for all you Manchester City fans out there.

Premier League Rule:

[Starting September 1, 2010] clubs must include eight home-grown players out of a squad of 25.‬‪

A home-grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21).‬

Clubs will be able to supplement their squads with unlimited additional players under the age of 21 on 1st January in the year in which the season commences

Changes to the squad list of 25 may be made during the period of a transfer window.

Manuel Almunia, Andrei Arshavin, Nicklas Bendtner, Marouane Chamakh, Gael Clichy, Denilson, Abou Diaby, Johan Djourou, Emmanuel Eboue, Lukasz Fabianski, Cesc Fabregas, Laurent Koscielny, Vito Mannone, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song, Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen, Sebastien Squillaci.

Supplement List: Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Carlos Vela, Emmanuel Frimpong, Aaron Ramsey.

Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, James Collins, Carlos Cuellar, Curtis Davies, Habib Beye, Richard Dunne, Eric Lichaj, Stephen Warnock, Luke Young, Stewart Downing, Jonathan Hogg, Stephen Ireland, Isaiah Osbourne, Stiliyan Petrov, Nigel Reo-Coker, Moustapha Salifou, Steve Sidwell, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew, Emile Heskey.

Supplement List: Marc Albrighton, Nathan Delfouneso, Barry Bannan, Ciaran Clark and Fabian Delph

Maik Taylor, Stephen Carr, David Murphy, Lee Bowyer, Roger Johnson, Liam Ridgewell, Sebastian Larsson, Craig Gardner, Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome, Garry O’Connor, Barry Ferguson, Colin Doyle, Matt Derbyshire, Scott Dann, James McFadden, Michel, Keith Fahey, Nikola Zigic, Stuart Parnaby, Alexander Hleb, Jean Beausejour, Ben Foster, Martin Jiranek, James O’Shea

Paul Robinson, Martin Olsson, Chris Samba, Gael Givet, Ryan Nelsen, Brett Emerton, David Dunn, Nikola Kalinic, El-Hadji Diouf, Vince Grella, Morten Gamst Pedersen, Mark Bunn, Steven Nzonzi, Keith Andrews, Michel Salgado, Jason Brown, Frank Fielding, Pascal Chimbonda, Mame Biram Diouf, Jason Roberts, Benjani.

Supplement List: Aaron Doran, Gavin Gunning, Grant Hanley, Junior Hoilett, Phil Jones, Amine Linganzi and Josh Morris.

Charlie Adam, Alex Baptiste, Chris Basham, Stephen Crainey, Malaury Martin, Danny Coid, Ishmel Demontagnac, Neal Eardley, Rob Edwards, Jason Euell, Ian Evatt, Matthew Gilks, Elliot Grandin, Marlon Harewood, Dekel Keinan, Brett Ormerod, Keith Southern, Ludovic Sylvestre, Gary Taylor-Fletcher, Luke Varney, David Vaughan, DJ Campbell, David Carney.

Supplement List: Craig Cathcart, Mark Halstead

Robbie Blake, Adam Bogdan, Gary Cahill, Tamir Cohen, Kevin Davies, Mark Davies, Sean Davis, Johan Elmander, Ricardo Gardner, Stuart Holden, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Ivan Klasnic, Zat Knight, Chung-Yong Lee, Fabrice Muamba, Andy O’Brien, Joey O’Brien, Martin Petrov, Sam Ricketts, Paul Robinson, Jlloyd Samuel, Gretar Steinsson, Matt Taylor, Ali Al-Habsi (on loan to Wigan).

Supplement List: Marcos Alonso, Rodrigo, Danny Ward, Tom Eaves, Tope Obadeyi, Robert Lainton

Petr Cech, Henrique Hilario, Ross Turnbull, Branislav Ivanovic, Ashley Cole, Jose Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Yuri Zhirkov, John Terry, Alex, Michael Essien, Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard, Yossi Benayoun, Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou, Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba.

Supplement List: Patrick van Aanholt, Jeffrey Bruma, Josh McEachran, Gael Kakuta, Daniel Sturridge, Fabio Borini

Tim Howard, Jan Mucha, Iain Turner, Tony Hibbert, Seamus Coleman, Sylvain Distin, John Heitinga, Leighton Baines, Marouane Fellaini, Leon Osman, Mikel Arteta, Steven Pienaar, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Phil Neville, Tim Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Louis Saha, James Vaughan, Victor Anichebe, Yakubu, Jermaine Beckford.

Supplement List: Jack Rodwell, Jose Baxter, Shane Duffy, James Wallace, Shkodran Mustafi, Magaye Gueye, Joao Silva.

Mark Schwarzer, David Stockdale, John Pantsil, Fredrik Stoor, Aaron Hughes, Rafik Halliche, Chris Baird, Brede Hangeland, Carlos Salcido, Stephen Kelly, Zoltan Gera, Clinton Dempsey, Bjorn Helge Riise, Dickson Etuhu, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Danny Murphy, Jonathan Greening, Simon Davies, Damien Duff, Andrew Johnson, Diomansy Kamara, Moussa Dembele, Bobby Zamora, David Elm, Eddie Johnson.

Supplement List: Matthew Briggs, Alex Smith, Alexander Kacaniklic, Matthew Saunders, Lauri Dalla Valle, Keanu Marsh-Brown

Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Ryan Babel, Milan Jovanovic, Dirk Kuyt, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Lucas Leiva, Raul Meireles, Christian Poulsen, Pepe Reina, Maxi Rodriguez, Martin Skrtel, Fernando Torres, Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole, Stephen Darby, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Brad Jones, Paul Konchesky, Jay Spearing .

Supplement List: Peter Gulacsi, Martin Kelly, Daniel Wilson, Jonjo Shelvey, Daniel Pacheco, Nathan Eccleston and David Ngog

Shay Given, Joe Hart, Stuart Taylor, Jerome Boateng, Wayne Bridge, Aleksander Kolarov, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Shaleum Logan, Micah Richards, Kolo Toure, Pablo Zabaleta, Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, Adam Johnson, Michael Johnson, James Milner, David Silva, Yaya Toure, Patrick Vieira, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez.

Supplement List: Mario Balotelli, Dedryck Boyata, Greg Cunningham, Abdi Ibrahim and Alex Tchuimeni-Nimely

Darren Fletcher, Tomasz Kuszczak, Darron Gibson, Edwin van der Sar, Ryan Giggs, Wes Brown, Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson, Park Ji-Sung, Jonathan Evans, Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Antonio Valencia, Gary Neville, Dimitar Berbatov, John O’Shea, Javier Hernandez, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick, Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney.

Supplement List: Ben Amos, Fabio, Rafael, Ritchie De Laet, Gabriel Obertan, Bebe, Chris Smalling, Federico Macheda

Sol Campbell, Steven Taylor, Shola Ameobi, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie, Peter Lovenkrands, Jose Enrique, Alan Smith, Leon Best, Fabricio Coloccini, Jonas Gutierrez, Steve Harper, Kevin Nolan, Wayne Routledge, Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Mike Williamson, Xisco, Fraser Forster, Tim Krul, James Perch, Cheik Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa.

Supplement List: Andy Carroll, Ryan Donaldson, Dan Gosling, James Tavernier, Tamas Kadar, Shane Ferguson, Haris Vuckic

Asmir Begovic, Danny Collins, Rory Delap, Salif Diao, Matthew Etherington, Abdoulaye Faye, Ricardo Fuller, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Danny Higginbotham, Robert Huth, Kenwyne Jones, Carlo Nash, Jermaine Pennant, Danny Pugh, Ryan Shawcross, Thomas Sorensen, Tuncay Sanli, Ryan Shotton, Tom Soares, Michael Tonge, Jonathan Walters, Glenn Whelan, Dean Whitehead, Andy Wilkinson, Marc Wilson.

Marcos Angeleri, Phil Bardsley, Darren Bent, Titus Bramble, Fraizer Campbell, Trevor Carson, Lee Cattermole, Paulo Da Silva, Ahmed Elmohamady, Anton Ferdinand, Craig Gordon, Asamoah Gyan, David Healy, Steed Malbranque, George McCartney, John Mensah, Simon Mignolet, Nedum Onuoha, Andy Reid, Kieran Richardson, Cristian Riveros, Michael Turner, Robbie Weir, Boudewijn Zenden.

Supplement List: Jordan Henderson, Nathan Luscombe, Danny Welbeck and Ben Wilson

Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Sebastian Bassong, David Bentley, Vedran Corluka, Peter Crouch, Carlo Cudicini, Heurelho Gomes, Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe, William Gallas, Tom Huddlestone, Alan Hutton, Jermaine Jenas, Younes Kaboul, Robbie Keane, Ledley King, Niko Kranjcar, Aaron Lennon, Luka Modric, Kyle Naughton, Jamie O’Hara, Wilson Palacios, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Stipe Pletikosa, Rafael van der Vaart.

Supplement List: Gareth Bale, Giovanni Dos Santos, Sandro, Kyle Walker, John Bostock, Dean Parrett, Danny Rose

Giles Barnes, Roman Bednar, Chris Brunt, Scott Carson, Marek Cech, Simon Cox, Graham Dorrans, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Pablo Ibanez, Gonzalo Jara, Dean Kiely, Abdoulaye Meite, Ishmael Miller, James Morrison, Youssouf Mulumbu, Boaz Myhill, Peter Odemwingie, Jonas Olsson, Steven Reid, Paul Scharner, Nicky Shorey, Gabriel Tamas, Somen Tchoyi, Jerome Thomas, Gianni Zuiverloon.

Ruud Boffin, Robert Green, Tal Ben Haim, Manuel Da Costa, Daniel Gabbidon, Herita Ilunga, Lars Jacobsen, Winston Reid, Jonathan Spector, Matthew Upson, Luis Boa Morte, Valon Behrami, Jack Collison, Kieron Dyer, Julien Faubert, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Radoslav Kovac, Mark Noble, Scott Parker, Pablo Barrera, Carlton Cole, Zavon Hines, Benni McCarthy, Victor Obinna, Frederic Piquionne.

Supplement List: Marek Stech, Jordan Brown, Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson, Matthew Fry (on loan at Charlton Athletic), Callum McNaughton, Filip Modelski, Jordan Spence, James Tomkins, Anthony Edgar, Olly Lee, Junior Stanislas, Eoin Wearen, Ahmed Abdulla, Cristian Montano, Frank Nouble, Freddie Sears

Chris Kirkland, Mike Pollitt, Charles N’Zogbia, Emmerson Boyce, Gary Caldwell, Ben Watson, Steven Caldwell, Hendry Thomas, Ronnie Stam, Jordi Gomez, Hugo Rodallega, Mohamed Diame, Maynor Figueroa, Steve Gohouri, Daniel De Ridder, Ali Al-Habsi, Antolin Alcaraz, James McArthur, Mauro Boselli.

Supplement List: Tom Cleverley, Franco Di Santo, James McCarthy, Victor Moses

Marcus Bent, Christophe Berra, Jody Craddock, Kevin Doyle, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Dave Edwards, George Elokobi, Steven Fletcher, Marcus Hahnemann, Greg Halford, Wayne Hennessey, Kevin Foley, Adlene Guedioura, Karl Henry, Stephen Hunt, Carl Ikeme, Matt Jarvis, David Jones, Michael Mancienne, Nenad Milijas, Steven Mouyokolo, Richard Stearman, Jelle van Damme, Stephen Ward, Ronald Zubar.

According to Bolton’s official website, Bolton have terminated the contract of defender Danny Shittu by mutual consent.

UPDATE: According to Stoke City’s official website, Stoke City have signed Monaco striker Eidur Gudjohnsen to a permanent one-year deal. Gudjohnsen signed for an undisclosed fee.

August 31st, 2010: According to Stoke City’s official website, Stoke City have signed Eidur Gudjohnsen on loan from Monaco, Jermaine Pennant on loan from Real Zaragoza until January, and Portsmouth footballer Marc Wilson.

Stoke City sent cash in addition to Liam Lawrence and Dave Kitson in the deal for Marc Wilson

According to Blackpool’s official website, the League has granted Blackpool permission to sign FC Twente defender/midfielder David Carney for an undisclosed fee. Carney signed a one-year deal with the club with a further one-year option.

Like Tottenham, Blackpool submitted the paperwork at the deadline and were unsure whether the League would allow them to complete this deal.

UPDATE: According to the Lancashire Telegraph, Blackburn have denied that they had a deal with Ivelin Popov and that it fell apart due to a work permit. Blackburn chairman John Williams simply said,

“The reports are not true.”

September 1st 2010: According to ESPN Soccernet, Blackburn had agreed to a transfer fee with Litex Lovech and a personal deal with Ivelin Popov but the deal fell through as they were unable to obtain a work permit.

August 23rd 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Blackburn are in “tentative negotiations” with Litex Lovech for striker Ivelin Popov. Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce said,

“We had a little look at him and we are in tentative negotiations … I am not so sure what the total outcome is in terms of price, but he is an interesting player … He is a very good young prospect but whether all the numbers stand up is another matter.”

August 19th 2010 According to Andy Cryer at the Lancashire Telegraph, Blackburn have not made an offer for Litex Lovech striker Ivelin Popov. Popov trained with the club on trial but all the talks about the club signing him are premature. Chairman John Williams said,

“He is one of a number of strikers currently under consideration. We have not made an offer to his club.”

According to Chelsea’s official website, Chelsea have signed goalkeeper Matej Delac to a professional contract and have sent him on loan to Vitesse Arnhem.

According to Chelsea’s official website, 18-year-old Chelsea footballer Jeffrey Bruma has signed a new four-year deal with the club that will keep him there until 2014.

According to Blackburn’s official website, West Ham United have completed the signing of Blackburn defender Lars Jacobsen on a free transfer.

UPDATE: According to Tottenham’s official website, Tottenham have confirmed that the club has reached an agreement with Real Madrid for Rafael Van Der Vaart.

September 1st, 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Tottenham were not able to hand in the paperwork in time before the deadline due to technical reasons. Tottenham have request “special dispensation from the Premier League” to sign Van Der Vaart.
August 31th, 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp is still unsure whether they signed Van Der Vaart in time. Redknapp said,

“It’s still dragging on. We are just waiting to see whether it’s all gone through … We are waiting for clearance. The chairman is dealing with it and Darren Eales the secretary, there is nothing more I can do now.”

August 31st, 2010: According to Marca, Tottenham were able to finalize the deal for Rafael Van Der Vaart in time.

August 31st, 2010 According to the Metro, Tottenham went all the way to the transfer deadline trying to sign Real Madrid midfielder Rafael Van Der Vaart. Now we are forced to wait and see whether Tottenham were able to complete the deal for him before the deadline expired.

Just wanted to inform everybody that today teams announce who will be on their 25 man rosters for the season. Later today I will be posting all of these rosters as I am currently at work.

Last week Birmingham had agreed to a deal with Wigan Athletic for Charles N’Zogbia. However Birmingham were unable to agree to a personal deal with N’Zogbia due to his wage demands and decided to walk away. Did Birmingham do the right thing or should they have continued to negotiate with N’Zogbia.

Tom Ross at the Birmingham Mail feels that what Birmingham did was correct and that the action of Charles N’Zogbia “sums up exactly what’s wrong with the game today. What do you readers think about the situation?