The saga continues.....

Now that Wimbledon is long gone, I can finally turn my attention back to football again. It was competitive sport and certainly kept my attention away from football for awhile.

But then again there's nothing new to write about. It's all transfer rumours and signings and press conferences again and that's the way it's going to stay until the start of the new season. The big story that has emerged today is Liverpool's reported interest in David Villa. Rafa Benitez certainly would love to pair him with Fernando Torres in a direct clone of Spain's forward line. You get the feeling however that Torres will be a completely different player should Villa arrive at Anfield. It was clear in Euro 08 that Torres did most of the running and Villa simply added the finishing touch to the move. Just a thought.

And apparently, Goal.com has the exclusive scoop that Barca have concluded a deal for Aleksandr Hleb and are going to make an official announcement within the next two days. It's another signing to boost their midfield which will be missing Deco, and most likely Ronaldinho as well, next season. I think Hleb will do no better for Barca than he did for Arsenal. He is accustomed to their one touch passing style and may find it difficult to adjust to the Spanish style of play. However, he has wonderful dribbling abilities and may indeed shine in Spain where individual skill is allowed to shine much more than in the Premiership. Only time will tell but my feeling is that Barca have signed themselves a solid player who won't take La Liga by storm.

Meanwhile, Frank Lampard is still unsure where he will be playing next season. Chelsea have also denied reports that Lampard was angered by Luiz Felipe Scolari's announcement that he will still be a Chelsea player for the coming season. Inter had a bid of £7.95m rejected by Chelsea and it is widely expected that they will continue to bid for the England player over the summer. Chelsea and Lampard have yet to come to an agreement on a new contract and this can only be beneficial from Inter's point of view. Lampard could work wonders in Italy given his talents. His pasing range can be fully shown of in a league where the pace is slow, giving him ample time to pick out his target. It would also probably give him more time to unleash his trademark strikes from distance. If he could regularly score those in the Premiership with such little time and space, he could probably do it a lot more frequently in Italy. There is also the small matter of linking up with Jose Mourinho again, a relationship that goes deeper than just footballing matters. I'm not too sure what to expect with all the different reports from different perspectives. I wouldn't be surprised if Lampard stays but I wouldn't be surprised if he left for Italy either.

The Ronaldo saga will simply not die down. Apparently Rafael Nadal was told after his Wimbledon victory that Real Madrid have the transfer of Ronaldo under control and that all that was left was for them to seal the deal. While this may be true it's a sign of how this transfer had blown everything out of proportion and any sliver of news is viciously gobbled up by the media. Then again we all read it so it gives them a reason to. Either way I still expect him to go. I ceased to care a long time ago. I only hope he leaves quickly. Gives United ample time to bargain for more players.