Gareth Barry signs for Man City.

Manchester City have snapped up Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry for £12M.

The transfer of Gareth Barry to Man City has come as a surprise as most had linked him with a move to either Liverpool or Arsenal this summer as his reasons for wanting away from Villa Park were the prospects of playing Champions League football.

His move to City however will not only see him miss out on Champions League football next season but also the new Europa League for which Manchester City failed to qualify.

This shock move will no doubt raise speculation that he has turned his back on Aston Villa and sold himself out for the vast amounts of money that Man City have to offer.

It does seem rather strange after the hullabaloo that was last years Gareth Barry transfer saga, where he stated that Champions League football was a must for him, that he should suddenly choose to sign for a club who won’t be taking part in any European football next season whatsoever never mind the Champions League.

I am intrigued to know what Aston Villa fans think of Gareth Barry’s move to Man City…

The 27 year old midfielder from Belarus has cost Barcelona £11.8m and he will be the Spanish giants fifth signing of the summer so far along with Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres and Daniel Alves. Although Barcelona managed to snap Hleb up for a bargain so to speak at £11.8M he has a staggering buy-out clause in his contract of £71M.

With Arsenal already having lost Mathieu Flamini this summer and with Gilberto Silva looking set for Panathanikos, Arsene Wenger will now need to bolster his midfield before the start of the season.

The latest arrivals at the KC Stadium are Peter Halmosi, George Boateng and Tony Warner. 28 year old Hungary winger Peter Halmosi has joined for a club record fee of £2m from Plymouth Argyle on a four year contract, George Boateng has joined from Middlesbrough for around about £1m on a 2 year contract and goalkeeper Tony Warner who was released by Fulham earlier on in the year will join for free on a 2 year deal.

These latest three additions to the Hull City squad add to the arrivals of Geovanni, Bernard Mendy and Craig Fagan who have already signed this summer.

Martin O’Neil has made his first signing of the summer with the transfer of Steve Sidwell from Chelsea. Sidwell signed for Chelsea from Reading last summer but has rarely featured for the Blues so he will be delighted with his move to Villa and the opportunity to play more regular first time football.

With Gareth Barry looking set for Liverpool, Sidwell is expected to be his replacement. It has been that long since we have all seen Sidwell in action and have kind of forgotten how good he is. In Readings memorable first season in the Premier League he was inspirational and Martin O’Neil will be hoping he can do the same for his side.

Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin has dealt a blow to any Premier League clubs who were looking for his signature this summer by stating the he only wants to play for Barcelona.

Despite suggestions that Arsenal and Chelsea are interested in the Zenit St Petersburg man, Barcelona are the only club to have so far tabled a bid for him so this news will all but guarantee that Arshavin will be playing his football in the Nou Camp next season.

It could however be a lengthy process trying to get his signature down on paper with Zenit St Petersburg demanding no less than £20M for him.

Don’t get me wrong, he is a good player but it is only this season that he has come to everyones attention at the age of 27 after an excellent UEFA Cup and Euro 2008. I reckon it is a bit pre-mature to be slapping a £20M price tag on the lads head, but, i suppose football is a world of over-inflation nowadays isn’t it!

The transfer of Didier Digard to Middlesbrough has been completed. Middlesbrough fans will be pleased to see that their manager Gareth Southgate has been active in this transfer market this summer so far after already securing Dutch striker Marvin Emnes he has now captured the services of holding midfield player Didier Digard from Paris St-Germain.

The transfer is thought to be around the £4M mark on a four year deal. An encouraging thought for the Middlesbrough faithful will be that Gareth Southgate is looking to add to all areas of the squad, both attacking and defensive.

Although this new arrival could confirm the departure of George Boateng, it is still good news for Middlesbrough and Digard should be a good addition for next season.

Middlesbrough Sign Marvin Emnes

The transfer of Marvin Emnes to Middlesbrough has been completed it has been announced today. The Dutch under 21 International striker was named as Sparta Rotterdam’s Player Of The Year last season and Middlesbrough are thought to have secured his services for four years in a £3.2m deal.

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate feels that Marvin will certainly be one for the future and at 20 years of age he can only get better. Ajax and Feyenoord apparently were also keen to secure the services of Marvin Emnes so Middlesbrough fans should know that they have secured a great prospect here.

He has the pace and technical skills to do well in the Premier League but as we have seen so many times before, young players (and old) come to England and find it very hard to adjust to the game. The question asked of Emnes is not whether he has the quality to make it in the Premier League but the character to adjust to the style of play and the determination to succeed.

Philipp Degen’s transfer from Borussia Dortmund to Liverpool has finally been sealed. The Swiss defender will join the Anfield club on a free transfer. The right back is thought to have been handed a four year contract and he will be competing with Steve Finnan and Alvaro Arbeloa for the right back spot in the Liverpool defence next season.

Personally i haven’t seen all that much of Degen but from what i have seen of him, his strength really seems to be in attack rather than defence and i don’t expect he will be Liverpool’s first choice right back for next season.

He will be a decent addition to the squad there’s no doubting that but I’m not convinced he is of more quality than Liverpool already have. But, like i said, i have only seen him play a couple of times. He’ll probably go on to win Player of the Year next year now that i have said that!

Chelsea have completed the signing of Portuguese Midfielder Deco from Barcelona. The fee for the now former Barcelona play-maker is thought to be around £8 Million.

This makes Deco, Luis Felipe Scolari’s first signing as Chelsea boss and add’s to the new Portuguese contingent that is arriving at Stamford Bridge. Technically the capture of Deco makes it Chelsea’s third Portuguese signing of the Summer (including big Phil Scolari and Jose Bosingwa).

Deco joined Barcelona in 2004 after a spell at FC Porto where he won domestic league titles, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. With Barcelona he claimed 2 domestic league titles and another Champions League title in 2006 when the Catalan giants defeated Arsenal. No matter where he has been Deco has won trophy’s and Chelsea fans will be hoping his record continues at the Blues.

Deco may now be 30 years old and it would be fair to say that he is on the back 9 of his football career but there is no doubt that he is still one of the World’s best in the middle of the park and will be a great addition to the Chelsea squad, especially as Frank Lampard looks set for Inter Milan.