With this summer’s transfer merry-go-round fast approaching, it’s time to see which players have attracted the most attention from Premier League clubs. Whether they’ve been touted as the blockbuster deal of the year or simply become the lower leagues’ most sought after player, they’ve all been discussed in detail by more than one team and will likely find themselves at the centre of a transfer tug of war.

This list looks at 15 players who have already been linked with a number of clubs and qualified as this summer’s most wanted.

Click on Kagawa to unveil the 15 most wanted transfers within the Premier League

Given the relative success of Bilbao’s cantera policy, would such a system be a hit in the Premier League and would it be sustainable enough to maintain a respectable league finish? It would be interesting to see Newcastle United field an entire XI of Geordies or Liverpool field an entire team of Scousers. Let us take a metaphorical journey into the pros and cons of such a system if introduced on these shores.

Firstly, Bilbao are traditionalists in many ways and only signed their first sponsorship deal in 2008 after rejecting the ideal for over 80 years. It may leave a sour taste in your mouth that the Basque’s are rigid, narrow-minded and prejudiced in their refusals to embrace non-Basque talents but you can’t help but be intrigued by the ideal that the club reflects its immediate community perfectly by schooling players from an early age, overseeing their upbringing, and then thrusting them into the senior ranks in front of familiar faces and family, representing their region patriotically with an almost international identity. You could presume a greater attachment would be felt between fans and team and therefore greater patience would be the likely result; factors certainly under question in this country.

This homely description is unfortunately at odds with the culture of the Premier League however with rising overseas imports over the years coinciding with greater attacking fluency, theatrical conduct and a more exciting spectacle as a whole. It has become second nature for fans to witness clubs and their scouts dabbling in the transfer market, bringing talents from all four corners of the globe, and designating them in squads alongside the home-grown lads in a multi-faceted approach. At the inception of the Premier League in 1992/93, just eleven players named in the starting line-ups for the first weekend of matches were foreign. On the contrary, in 2009, the average Premier League team had an average of 13 foreign players at their disposal. These stats clearly represent semi-conscious refutations of possible English Cantera’s and convey that the English game conceivably had lesser worth before the international brigade came along and added their wondrous sparkle.

It is only now in recent years that several punditry panels and onlookers alike have questioned the impact of the international influx, claiming they have blocked the path of many youthful English talents who frustratingly reside in the academies, with only a handful overcoming the stereotype that many don’t ‘make it’ as such and go on to play further down the English pyramid as an inevitable result. With the national team failing on the international stage since 1966, many fingers have ben pointed at blocked pathways and just whether enough talent comes through.

Perhaps the closest example of a Cantera in English football is that of Crewe Alexandra in League Two whereby a large number of the squad are Cheshire-born 20-somethings that have been immediately thrust into the senior ranks, following a distinct and trusted pathway from the academy. It has been a mark of Dario Gradi’s legacy that the club have moulded and sold on many renowned names over the years and the club finished a respectable seventh this term, sneaking in to compete in the end-of-season play-offs which gives them a chance of promotion to the third tier. Although lower down the scale, Crewe represent that young, hungry pros can be competitive and can cut it amongst elder statesmen in the division, Alan Hansen and his popular belief still may be proved correct if play-off failure represents ‘you can’t win anything with kids!’

We do see local lads come through each season, with Merseyside being a particular hotbed of home-grown talent with Wayne Rooney, Jack Rodwell and Ross Barkley at Everton and Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Jay Spearing and John Flanagan at Liverpool representing the local flavour, but the fact the international stars have thankfully given so much to our proud Premier League, it is very unlikely that we are going to see a revolution in the deployment of an-all regional squad anytime soon. The closest we might’ve come to such a phenomenon was probably during Middlesbrough’s FA Cup Fourth Round Replay with Sunderland in February whereby as many as nine academy products from the surrounding Teesside area made up the Boro eighteen that evening.

The simple fact of the matter is the demand for success or survival in the top flight nowadays far outweighs fan patience in being experimental with the squad. If it weren’t for competitions such as the Carling Cup, the young pro would undoubtedly suffer in their exposure to first team football. In an ideal or metaphorical world as we have envisaged today in this article, it would be an interesting proposition to see an all-regional XI but gallant stereotypes run deep and it is deep-rooted that success coincides with expensive European imports. Perhaps we should blame foreign owners and their big bucks, but the successful multi-national Premier League is here to stay and the English Cantera remains just a mere dream-like proposal. For Athletic Bilbao, their vision lives on and success in Bucharest in the Europa League final would be a remarkable achievement for one of football’s last traceable traditionalists.

How important are foreign signings in yielding success? Could an all-regional side cut it in the Premier League nowadays? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989

The 22-year-old box-to-box man has been labelled ‘the Spanish Steven Gerrard’ and has impressed in the Basque club’s stellar La Liga campaign and progression to the Europa League semi-finals.

City are believed to have sent chief scout Rob Newman and football officer Brian Marwood to watch Herrera during Bilbao’s draw at Granada on Wednesday.

United meanwhile have had first-hand experience of playing against Herrera this term, with Marcelo Bielsa’s side knocking the Red Devils out of the Europa League.

The midfielder still has four years left on his contract at San Mames, but a transfer fee of around £16 million is being touted for the English sides to potentially land their man.

By Gareth McKnight

It’s labelled by the FA as the best cup competition in the world but recent finals belie this. The semi-final line up this year theoretically will provide a good final but to eclipse its European rivals, the FA Cup Final will need to be special judging by the matchups the Copa Del Rey, the DFB-Pokal and the Coppa Italia have produced.

This year’s Copa Del Rey final for example has an intriguing matchup even though it’s not an El Clásico final. Manchester United know very well the talent which Athletic Bilbao possess, having been pressed into submission by the Basque side. Such is the tactical genius of Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa their opponents in the final will be well aware of the threat posed.

Barcelona may have swept all that have come before them in the last few seasons. Earlier in this campaign though, they were held 2-2 in what was an entertaining game in Bilbao as Bielsa further illustrated his tactical nous against Europe’s finest. What’s more it showed his players ability to carry out his instructions effectively, something which shouldn’t be underestimated against teams like Barça. With the free flowing nature of Spanish football mixed with the two teams competing, an entertaining final will hopefully ensue in May.

Six days prior to the Copa Del Rey final though, Barcelona will want to participate in the Champions League final in Munich. One of the tenants of the Allianz Arena, Bayern Munich, are also vying to reach that final. They too though have a cup final to look forward to though as they take on the side above them in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund.

The DFB-Pokal final perhaps won’t be as effervescent as its Spanish counterpart but it nevertheless will showcase Germany’s two best teams against each other. Champions Borussia Dortmund have led the table since January and are currently unbeaten in their last 22 Bundesliga games. Bayern Munich meanwhile are closing on Jürgen Klopp’s side despite being shaky on the road. Their prior meeting this season saw Dortmund sneak past Bayern 1-0 and it wouldn’t be too surprising if there was another tight encounter at the Olympiastadion.

The Olympiastadion was a scene of great joy for Italy in 2006 when they beat France on penalties in the biggest cup final of them all – the World Cup. The final of the Coppa Italia doesn’t quite compare but like other domestic cup finals around Europe, it offers a good match up as unbeaten Juventus take on the ever entertaining Napoli. These two played out a six goal thriller earlier in the campaign with Juve maintaining their unbeaten record by coming back from 3-1 down to claim a draw.

Napoli’s flair is doubtless and as a result, they’re always a good team to watch especially with the fluid front three of Lavezzi, Hamsik and Cavani. This is countered by the Juventus defence, which is currently the best in Seriea A. Now take into account the earlier meeting between the two sides and the Coppa Italia final could well be the best of them all.

In response, the FA Cup final does “on paper” (another great cliché) offer a decent final with either Chelsea or Spurs facing Liverpool or Everton. However, predicting thrilling finals is very difficult such is the somewhat erratic nature of modern football. What’s more each fan in their respective country has their definition of what makes a brilliant game; such is the subjective nature of football. This is a must. After all, if everybody played football in the same way, the game wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining and exciting than it is currently.

Nevertheless, the respective cup finals in Spain, Germany and Italy seem to eclipse the spectacle which the FA Cup Final will offer. Arguably there hasn’t been a good FA Cup Final for the neutral since Wembley was rebuilt. The 2006 final in Cardiff where Liverpool defeated West Ham on penalties isn’t easy to live up to but no final has even come close to this.

This doesn’t mean that goals necessarily make for a good game. Jonathan Wilson has pointed out before that, “If goals alone were a mark of excellence, there would be thousands queuing to watch primary school football.”

It’s also hard to be definitive as the finals of course haven’t been played yet. However, take into account also the individual stories of the underdog which help to characterise cup competitions. England hasn’t lived up to those of Spain and Germany this season.

The tales of Mirandes, a team from the third tier of Spanish football and Fürth of the 2.Bundesliga have added something special to the Copa Del Rey and the DFB-Pokal respectively. Both sides reached the semi-finals, beating first division opposition on their way, before being eventually undone by Athletic Bilbao and Borussia Dortmund.

The FA Cup this season cannot compete with this. Perhaps then in 2012, unless the FA Cup final does produce a fantastic game, the “magic of the cup” will belong to the finals in Spain, Germany and Italy.

This article was originally written at Gone With The Rhind

For more football musings on Twitter, follow @archiert1

The San Mames club were good value for their victory, with goals from Fernando Llorente and Oscar de Marcos putting them into an unassailable position.

Wayne Rooney did pull one back for the English champions, bur Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that his men were beaten by the better team over 180 minutes.

“We can’t complain. In the first half we gave away a real soft goal. That was the last thing we wanted,” he told Channel 5.

“At the start of the second half they did really well could have scored two or three more goals.

“We did better later on but nowhere near enough to win,” he confessed.

United, who are top of the Premier League, face Wolves on Sunday, and Ferguson admitted that he made his substitutions with that game in mind.

“We decided to take Rio Ferdinand and Michael Carrick and eventually Ryan Giggs off because we were thinking of Sunday.

“It’s not a sense of relief (to go out) because there are still 10 games to play in the league.

“There is still a lot to do. I think the key thing is we have to make sure we win on Sunday,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

Consequently, most of us felt it would be plain sailing and a cruise for the Red and Blue halves of Manchester to reach the final of the competition that will be contested in the National Stadium in Bucharest in May. Whilst this appealing prospect may still be the case, both clubs suffered surprising first leg defeats last week at the hands of Sporting Lisbon and Athletic Bilbao.

Whilst both victories were justified, they were still considered as shock defeats and went against the predictions of many an English punditry panel in the lead up to Thursday’s encounters. So let us ask ourselves the question. Are we snobs when it comes to the Europa League and the quality of the opposition?

To start, if you are an avid day-to-day viewer of Sky Sports News, you would have witnessed a reporter gauging the opinions of Manchester City supporters in Lisbon before the game at the Jose Alvalade on Thursday evening. Whilst Citizens fans have good reason to feel confident about most games these days, considering the depth and quality of their squad, every fan interviewed predicted a whitewash amidst feeling overly confident about the tie in general. This arrogance left a bad taste in the mouth and suggested Lisbon were already beaten, despite an outstanding home record in Europe.

Having just defeated national champions FC Porto by six goals to one on aggregate, the fourth placed Lisbon-based side were deemed just the next Portuguese giants to receive a beating. However, it didn’t turn out that way, and Sa Pinto’s side reminded everyone how unpredictable football can be; the beauty of the game perhaps.

Later on that evening, the interest built as a lesser-known Athletic Bilbao outfit broke the mould at Old Trafford by playing an expansive game and bucking the trend of teams that get intimidated by the trip to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. In an eye-catching performance, the fluidity of the Spanish game and talents such as Iker Muniain and Fernando Llorente showcasing their skill particularly represented the Basque side upsetting the applecart in the eyes of many, achieving not only a standout result, but a surprising one.

Whilst the managers do their homework and keep their feet more firmly on the ground than us as fans and pundits, with Mancini and Ferguson warning of tricky ties, we all still predicted first leg victories and a less watchable second leg whereby the teams would simply play out a game that had already been won.

Consequently, the games are finely balanced and will receive the utmost attention at the Etihad and San Mames next time out. If you look at the current La Liga table, you will find Bilbao as low as seventh position, and yet they gave the current English leaders a real game whereby Ferguson even admitted they were the far better side.

Amidst the inevitable and seemingly never-ending debate surrounding the strength of the respective European leagues and Guillem Balague immaturely tweeting that he told us La Liga was better after all, many of us may need to revise our opinions that the Europa League will be a stroll for the Manchester persuasion.

Most sides must possess something special to have reached this stage, and it may just pan out that a lesser known side goes on a majestic run of form. Perhaps an attitude of snobbery was the popular one subscribed to by foreign press during Fulham’s meteoric rise to the Europa League Final in 2010. One of England’s lesser known and less fashionable outfits went all the way to Hamburg defeating the likes of Juventus despite an inferior-looking squad on paper and the tables may have been turned in relation to the Manchester clubs this campaign.

With all yet to play for in the second legs, any complacency amongst players and fans would have lessened so and it is certainly time to wake up to the prospect that Europa League opposition isn’t as weak as perhaps first assumed.

Would we admit we thought the Europa League would have been much easier for the Manchester clubs? Is there such snobbery? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989

An even stronger Premier League this season suggested business as usual in Europe. But that’s not quite how it has panned out. The two Manchester clubs never made it out of the group stage. And as of next week, it would be perfectly plausible if there are no English representatives in the last eight of the Champions League for the first time in over fifteen years.

Of course it is par for the course that debates will start about the strength of the Premiership, if there is a power-shift, if Italian football is resurgent, and so on. But the more probable explanation, as is often the case, is one of circumstance, a consequence of short-term events at individual clubs.Chelsea appears to be the current “club in crisis”. There always has to be a “big” club in crisis, and Arsenal have passed over the mantle, having themselves taken it off Manchester City, due to their never-ending crises (if you believe what you read, which I’m confident you don’t).

Chelsea’s struggles in Europe have mirrored a slump in league form, so the explanation seems quite straight forward. A new, inexperienced manager dedicated to a distinct change in tactics to what went before has led to a bumpy ride that Villas-Boas, recalling the track record of the club’s owner, could not survive. It is of course far too early to predict a wane in fortunes for the London club, especially with such a wealthy owner behind them, who will not stop in his desire to capture Europe’s biggest club prize. But with many of their key players reaching the twilight years of their career, and with a £50m white elephant in the room, it is little surprise everything hasn’t gone according to plan.

As for Manchester City, their debut season in the competition has been an education for all concerned. Only in one of their first five games, away to Villareal, can City be credited with a good, professional performance. Otherwise, it has been a struggle. Changes in playing personnel have cost City dear. Playing Kolo Toure in Munich cost them dear, apart from Carlos Tevez super-gluing himself to the bench, wrecking Mancini’s attempts to turn the game. Playing two back-up full-backs away to Napoli brought similar results.

City can had no excuses for not qualifying irrelevant of the difficult nature of the group, because of the money they have spent. But we can see in how the crucial game in Napoli was approached by the two teams some clues that explain the end result. Whilst Napoli’s league form had tailed off and the goals dried up, they were fully focused, as were their fans, on playing City and getting the necessary victory. Mancini and City found themselves at the time five points clear at the top of the Premier League, and perhaps their focus has shifted in that direction for many a month now. Either way, Mancini probably thought he could get away with changes and still qualify, but there is nowhere to hide in the Champions League, as he discovered at Inter Milan, and the competition may prove to be his Achilles heel – it’s rather early to be drawing such conclusions though. Since demotion to the Europa League Porto have been despatched 6-1 on aggregate, but only last night they once more struggled – they remain favourites for the trophy however.

Manchester United last finished as group runners-up in 2004-05 and were duly beaten home and away by Milan to crash out in the knockout stages. In 2005-06, they finished bottom of their group. Apart from that, their progress to at least the quarter-finals has been consistent. And the statistics show their start to the Premier League season to be one of their best.And yet the murmurings continue about the quality of the side, or at least of their performances. United are used to this – such noises accompanied them to a league title throughout last season and all the way to a Champions League final.

As for Arsenal, well they performed pretty much as expected for a team without any honours for seven years in 4^th place in their domestic league. They qualified with ease, but were ultimately undone by one horror night. But to really challenge the best, Wenger has to soften his ideals, and buy established talent.

The Spanish League may or may not be stronger, but Real Madrid just thrashed Espanyol 5-0 on Sunday night without any trouble whatsoever. It was a victory against one of the many teams fighting for the very open fourth Champions League spot in la Primera and the 14th time in 25 league games that Madrid have knocked four or more goals against their opponents this season. So clearly there is a lack of depth in all the major divisions – and there are also big teams horribly out of form, as Inter Milan have shown recently. Even Bayern Munich have stuttered recently, especially away from home, and have already conceded the league title.

Arguments over who has the best league are tedious anyway, but the point is that teams like Manchester City and Manchester United will be back, along with the other big teams, next season and pose a strong challenge in the Champions League. Let’s nor write off the league because of a small period of struggles against foreign teams. Better instead to simply credit some of the “outsiders” for quietly building brilliant and entertaining sides – be it Napoli and their magnificent front line or the scintillating Athletic Bilbao team, and the fairytale progression of Apoel Nicosia. Rather than bemoan a “boring” quarter-final line up devoid of many of the traditional big names, let’s celebrate a more eclectic mix of teams, and some exciting emerging players. The traditional big boys are no longer having it their own way, and this should be applauded.

But there is an easier solution to eradicate the struggles faced by English sides in recent times. Every tie completed so far in the current knockout stage of the Champions League has been won by the southernmost team (a trend Napoli should continue next week). So the answer is obvious – tow Britain to somewhere off the North African coast – then we’ll conquer Europe once more.

Wayne Rooney gave the hosts the lead on the 22-minute mark, however Fernando Llorente headed a deserved equaliser just before half time.

However, the Spaniards were the better side in the second period, and rushed into a 3-1 lead through goals from Oscar de Marcos and Iker Munian; Rooney gave the Red Devils some hope with a late penalty.

Despite the setback, Sir Alex Ferguson has stated that his men can still salvage the tie in the second leg at San Mames.

“We were well beaten, I have to say they were the better team,” the Scottish coach admitted to Sky Sports.

“I thought our defending wasn’t very good tonight and that kept us on the back foot all the time. Our attacking play was very good at times and it was an open, entertaining match. But Bilbao were the better side.

“We can still win the game. No question. We showed we can make chances against them, but obviously we have to defend better.

“I need to really look and see how we can maybe bring Rio Ferdinand in without disrupting the league programme,” he concluded.

United travel to face the Basque side in Spain again next Thursday.

By Gareth McKnight

After another busy round of fixtures in Spain, here is a round-up of the league that includes 13 of the shortlist of players to win the Ballon D’or.

The Big Two

No La Liga conversation is complete without reference to Real Madrid and Barcelona, and this is where our review starts. Despite surprise package Levante topping the table for the first few rounds of La Liga, their bubble has now been burst somewhat and all attention is back on the top two. Real, under the Special One are in scintillating form, scoring for fun and managing to keep clean sheets to boot. Both Higuain and Benzema are on fire, giving Mourinho the dilemma of his life when picking his starting striker. Add to this the form of Ronaldo and the resurgence of one Kaka, and the fact that Real can now offer solutions when Xabi Alonso is effectively man marked during games, they are looking more than a match for Barca.

Of course they went into the first Classico and mauling one point ahead of their fierce rivals, so Barca will not be unduly worried. However, one thing that Real have in their locker this season is the ability to grind out a 1 – 0 win – something that was lacking last season during games where teams effectively parked the bus in front of their goal and closed down Alonso. This was shown on the weekend where Sociedad literally played with a back five at the Anoeta, yet Madrid scored early courtesy of Higuain and held on for a hard fought win. Not a vintage Madrid performance but one that shows how far they have come under Mourinho.

Regardless of Los Blancos topping the table by as point, most people’s favourites for the La Liga crown is reigning champions Barcelona, who looked back to their best at the Camp Nou, with Messi making a clear signal to fans and the media with his goal celebration after his hat trick – the prolific striker had failed to score in 3 games yet after being played in his preferred position down the centre not the dreaded wing for the game, with Barca putting a grand total of 5 past a hapless Mallorca.

The Surprise of the season

Most people thought that the team wearing blue and red stripes would be the ones to top la liga throughout the season, and they have been for the past few rounds – yet it was Levante not  Barcelona doing this. Levante have been everyone’s surprise of the season and have looked to be living some sort of footballing fairy tale thus far, before this weekend being unbeaten, even being able to claim a victory over Mourinho’s men at the Ciudad de Valencia.

In players such as Sergio Ballesteros, Valencia have a core of seasoned professionals who offer much more to the team than their average age would suggest, and new coach Martinez settling into life at Levante quicker than anyone could have expected.

However this weekend the bubble was somewhat burst with a 2 – 0 defeat at the hands of Osasuna. Several things were said after the game – Martinez praised his players for their unbeaten run, the media inevitably predicted a rapid slide down the table to mimic that of Espanyol last season and it was noted that due to their small squad who are mostly the wrong side of thirty, a couple of injuries and suspensions will have serious effects on the team from Valencia. Yet should they take the lead, especially at home, Levante are dogged in their defending and whilst they are probably not going to finish in the European places, they should manage to avoid the relegation fight they were involved in last tie round.

The best of the rest

Valencia – after a  slightly slow start, Valencia are picking up pace, and have been fast climbing the table. They now occupy 4^th place after the weekend’s victory and have their eye on the third place that is currently held by local rivals Levante. After losing their three best players – Villa, Silva and Mata over the last couple of seasons, huge amounts of credit has to be given to long-time coach – well for a league famous for waving white handkerchiefs at Managers, being at the helm since 2008 is a long time – Unai Emery, who has weathered all of this and still managed to keep Valencia widely viewed as the ‘best of the rest’.

Sevilla – Currently sitting in 5^th place, there is now a gap opening up between the top four and the rest after a shock victory for Granada at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. In a season full of surprises, this can be put down to a bad day at the office for Sevilla who next up face  a flailing Mallorca side and will expect to bounce back and take all three points.

Atletico Madrid – one side who expect to e doing much better are the second best team in Madrid, Atletico, who fully expect to be sat in the top four. However, after a poor start to the season they sit 10^th, with a sizeable gap between themselves and the champion’s league places. After a good victory against Zaragoza, Atletico will be looking to this as a kick-start to their season.  With few goals scored this season and fan protests calling for Aragonez to return, the pressure on Gregorio Manzano has been alleviated slightly, yet improvements are vital.

Malaga – the Andalucians were the team that, after a huge influx of money then players, not to mention coach Manuel Pellagrini were everyone’s favourites to break into the top four this season. However this, so far, has not come to pass, and Malaga have been struggling, and were so lucky against Espanyol receiving a penalty for a very dubious handball and do not seem to be gelling quite in the way they should be.

The relegation Battle

Getafe sit rock bottom and after a heavy loss last weekend things look no brighter with local rivals Atletico up next. A shock victory for Granada gave them much needed points, yet the newly promoted Andalucians need to improve their form and fast if they don’t want to go straight back down.  The final club to occupy a spot in the bottom 3 is Racing, and the victory by a single goal over Betis cannot be underestimated in importance. Hector Cuper and his team will be looking to now climb the table, starting with the away tie at Granada next round.

Whilst Betis and Rayo have made decent starts, only 4 points separate both these promoted sides from the relegation zones, and they are still in danger and will be looking over their shoulders until a real gap is formed.

Villarreal – after a vital 2 – 0 win over Rayo this weekend, despite the missed penalty from skipper Marcos Senna, the yellow submarines have shot up the table and out of the relegation zone to 13^th.  With an European campaign still to worry about, not to mention keeping their head above the relegation zone, Garrido has his work cut out for him.

The bottom half of the table is so tight, with only 5 points separating rock bottom Getafe and 11^th placed Rayo, so anyone who has a poor run of form or can piece together a run of victories can drastically change their fortunes so early on in the season.

Game of Next round –  Levante v Valencia

3^rd play host to 4^th in a real test of Levante’s credentials. A must see.

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The likes of Ronaldo, Robinho, David Silva, Carlos Tevez and Fernando Torres have graced the Premier League in recent years and that has turned the English game into the best in the world. Here is a list of players in Europe that are targets for Premier League clubs and could be seen here in the near future. Who would you like at your club?

Click on Ricardo Montolivo to unveil the top 10