Brazilian attacking midfielder Elano has sealed his £8 million deal to Turkish club Galatasaray after finding his chances of a 1^st team place diminish since the recent incomings at Eastland’s. It seems that with the signing of Gareth Barry that Elano’s place in the side became far from certain, and this has led him to seek more regular football.

It became increasingly likely that Elano would leave when Mark Hughes took over at City, preferring other more complete midfield players such as Stephen Ireland, and too be fair that proved to be a good decision!

The reported disruptiveness of Elano in the squad will doubtless have had a bearing on Hughes’s decision to let him go, also his inconsistent performances last season will be another major factor. His style doesn’t exactly suit Mark Hughes’s type of player; too often he goes missing in matches and doesn’t do his bit for the team. Players such as Stephen Ireland and Gareth Barry on the other hand are much more to Hughes’s liking

Liverpool have struck a deal with one of their banks (The Royal Bank of Scotland) to re-structure the debt owed to them, they also owe money to another unnamed bank. The £290 million debt with RBS has been re-structured after owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett agreed to pay back £60 million. The overall debt is a massive £350 million, that must surely worry Liverpool fans!

The problems Liverpool could encounter all depends on when RBS and the other bank require the money to be paid back, but clearly there is some level of urgency otherwise the re-structuring wouldn’t have happened. It seems Liverpool need to sort this mess out and get some sort of financial stability, otherwise severe consequences could occur. It looks like a big multibillion dollar owner is what Liverpool need, and with the stature of the club you would think they would be an attractive option to somebody out there, still the debt will be a put off.

Hamilton young prodigy James McCarthy has decided to sign for Wigan after competition from Celtic, Tottenham, Portsmouth and Burnley for the Irishman’s signature. McCarthy broke into the Hamilton side at the tender age of only 15 years and became their youngest ever goalscorer at only 16 years and 55 days.

He is highly thought of in Scotland and has clearly made an impression on the watching English scouts. It is though that the fee is for an intial £1.2 million rising to £3 million depending on performance.

It is thought that Hamilton are happy with Wigan having purchased their young star due to the promise from Roberto Martinez that he will be playing regularly, they also believe that he will be well looked after by the Lancashire club.

It has been reported in areas of the press that the former Manchester City and England Manager Sven Goran Eriksson is in talks with League 2 Nott’s County about becoming their Director of Football!! You’re probably wondering why and how they are talking to him, well I’m thinking the same too be honest! But I can shed a little light on it, County have been taken over by a Middle Eastern Consortium who have high ambitions for the club. So this appears to be a big factor in Eriksson’s interest in the position, although I’m struggling to understand why a mean of his age would be interested in such a demanding job.

Nott’s County have always been one of the giants of the lower leagues and always massive underachievers, it’s not that long ago that they were in the top division of English football, so the potential and fan base is there.

David Beckham’s LA Galaxy last night played out a 2-2 draw with his temporary club A.C Milan last night, and it was inevitably Beckham that stole the headlines as he was booed by sections of the Galaxy supporters.

There has been much controversy over his loan move to Milan last season amongst the American supporters, with many of them seeing it as a betrayal as he missed the Galaxy’s 1st game as a result of his loan spell carrying over into the start of the MLS season. Who can blame them really? He made a commitment to play in the US for the Galaxy and then after a season he gets cold feet after seeing the awful standard and hops off to Milan to play with proper players!

This comes after American teammate and fans favourite Landon Donovan openly criticised the former England captain for his lack of commitment, and I agree with him. He openly stated his desire to join Milan and clearly didn’t want to return to the US, although he comes up with some rubbish defence of his actions.

Everton have rejected an alleged £15 million from Man City for their England capped centre back Joleon Lescott it has been rumoured this afternoon. City have been heavily linked with Lescott for some considerable time now so a bid would hardly be a surprise given the speculation flying about, the only real surprise is that it’s taken this long to materialise.

Lescott has been a huge success on Merseyside since his move from Wolves a few years ago and if Everton decided to cash in the profit could be huge, maybe as much as £10 million, which is a good retune if they do decide to sell.

If I was Mr Moyes I would be digging my heals in as if they have any chance of maintain their performances of last season this is the sort of player they need to keep hold off.

Aston Villa have signed Middlesbrough and England winger Stewart Downing on a four year deal after completing a medical on his injured knee. Downing has been injured since the end of the season, not long after having surgery to fix the problem, although he is not expected to be back to full fitness until October at the earliest.

Speculation over his future has been rife since Boro’s relegation to The Championship with Spurs also being rumoured to be interested in his services, although it is Villa who have gained his signature. This could now see him get a greater chance of a regular England place presuming he can get in the team. I wouldn’t say thats  a sure thing as Ashley Young is currently occupying his position for Villa, but that would depend on how Martin O’Neil see’s the way the team will gel together. There are plenty of options open to him with this extra addition to the squad.

Sunderland are thought to be in talks with Peter Crouch after Portsmouth accepted a £12 million bid for the 6ft 7 inch jolly green giant. Fulham are also rumoured to be in the hunt for his signature after agreeing to sell Bobby Zamora to Hull for a hefty £5 million, it does seem like a lot of money when you consider his lack of goals last season.

This show’s Sunderland’s ambition to kick on next season after putting so much money into a key area of the pitch, goals was a problem for them last season and a position that needs strengthening. I personally think he will be a success at The Stadium Of Light, the black cats will be hoping he will be as successful as their current chairman Niall Quinn, difficult to know who’s taller isn’t it?!

Here’s a peak at the king of the robotic dance!

Steve Bruce will be hoping to have a similar  if not greater effect on his new club to that of his previous club Wigan, Sunderland’s ambitions and fan base clearly had a huge bearing on his decision to move to the North East.

Carlos Tevez has today signed for Manchester City in a fee believed to be around £25.5 million and on a lengthy five year deal. The deal is somewhat of a surprise if you consider that he only played for City’s fierce rivals Manchester United at the end of last season, can’t see that pleasing them.

Tevez has long been linked with a move back to the Premiership since he confirmed he wouldn’t be staying at Manchester United not long after his loan spell expired. Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid have also been linked with the Argentine Striker, although it seems that he preferred to stay in Manchester and also a chance of more first team football.

The money might have had a part to play, but if in my view he was only interested in playing for a club which is going places and has the chance of claiming trophies in the coming years. If City buy well and get organised they have a fantastic chance of joining Europe’s elite, because money can buy a lot of things. Organisation and the gelling of players is also an important factor, we will wait and see what happens in the future.

Here’s a look at what City have invested in.