Regular updates with all the transfer news as they happen through this transfer window..
Latest updates: Sunday 25 June.

From Molde FK: Left back EMIL JOHANSSON to FC Groningen. The 24 year old is a Swedish international.

From Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting Lisbon): Striker FLORENT SINAMA PONGOLLE to Saint-Étienne. The 26 year old Frenchman returning to France after being signed away from Le Havre to Liverpool as a teenager. After Liverpool initially let Le Havre have him on loan for two seasons, he joined Liverpool where his success was inconsistent over three years. The last four months in England he was on loan to Blackburn. The next three seasons he played in Spain, for Recreativo and Atlético Madrid, before being picked up by Sporting. However he only played a handful of matches in Portugal before he was sent back to Spain on loan to Real Zaragoza. The deal with Saint-Étienne is initially a loan deal but expected to become permanent.

From Sochaux-Montbéliard: Midfielder NICOLAS MAURICE-BELAY to Bordeaux on a free transfer. The former France youth international signed a three year contract.

From Deportivo La Coruña: Midfielder JUAN RODRIGUEZ to Getafe on a four year contract.

From Leeds United: Midfielder NEIL KILKENNY to Bristol City. The Australian international has signed a three year contract.

From Valencia: Winger JOAQUIN to Malaga. The soon to be 30 year old, former Spain international, has signed a three year deal.

From Asteras Tripoli: Midfielder KONSTANTINOS FORTOUNIS to Kaiserslautern. The U-21 Greece international has signed a four year contract.

From Fiorentina: Midfielder MARCO DONADEL to Napoli on a free transfer.

From Fiorentina: Striker ADRIAN MUTU to Cesena. The 32 year old Romanian international has been surrounded by controversies throughout his career. His goalscoring abilities however are proven.

From Lokomotiv Moscow: Centre back MARKO BAšA to Lille. The 28 year old Montenegro international joins the French champions after three years in Russia. He previously played for French club Le Mans.

From Bournemouth: Defender JASON Pearce to Portsmouth. The 23 year old returns to Portsmouth after fours years down the road at Bournemouth.

From Blackpool: Goalkeeper PAUL RACHUBKA to Leeds United on a free transfer. The American has signed a two year contract.

From Dundee United: Winger CRAIG CONWAY to Cardiff. The 26 year old Scottish international has signed a three year contract.

From Aston Villa: Winger ASHLEY YOUNG to Manchester United on a five year deal.

From RC Lens: Centre back RAPHAËL VARANE to Real Madrid. The talented 18 year old was sought after by several European top clubs.

From Schalke 04: Left back LUKAS SCHMITZ to Werder Bremen on a four year contract.

From Birmingham: Right winger SEBASTIAN LARSSON to Sunderland on a free transfer. The 26 year old is a Swedish international.

From Coventry City: Goalkeeper KEIREN WESTWOOD to Sunderland on a free transfer. Westwood had three successful season with Coventry after arriving from Carlisle.

From Real Mallorca: Forward ÓSCAR TREJO to Sporting Gijón on a four year contract. The 23 year old Argentinian has spent much of his time on loan away from Mallorca. Last season he helped Rayo Vallecano gain promotion from Segunda División to the Primera División (La Liga).

From Beerschot AC: Midfielder VICTOR WANYAMA to Celtic. The talented 20 year old Kenyan is set to leave after three season in the Belgian Pro League.

From AZ Alkmaar: Centre back HÈCTOR MORENO to Espanyol on a five year deal. The 23 year old Mexican international had spent three and a half years at Dutch club AZ.

From Swansea: Goalkeeper DORUS DE VRIES to Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three year deal. The 30 year old Dutchman’s contract just expired and he declined to renew it, making the move to Wolves instead.

From West Ham: Defender MANUEL DA COSTA to Lokomotiv Moscow for an undisclosed fee.

From Tottenham Hotspur: Midfielder JAMIE O’HARA to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £5 million. O’Hara spent the last half of the 2010/11 season on loan at Wolves and a permanent move was expected.

From Ajax: Midfielder RASMUS LINDGREN to Red Bull Salzburg on a free transfer. The former Swedish international has spent his entire senior career in Netherlands, with Ajax and Groningen, before his move to the Austrian club.

From Dundee United: Midfielder GARY HARKINS to Kilmarnock. With that the 26 year old Dundee captain joins the oldest professional football club in Scotland.

From Inter Milan: Striker VICTOR OBINNA to Lokomotiv Moscow on a free transfer. The Nigerian international has spent much of his three year period with Internazionale out on loan. First to Spanish club Málaga and last season in England with West Ham United.

From Atlético Madrid: Defender TOMAS UJFALUSI to Galatasaray. The 33 year old, former Czech international, has signed a two year contract with the Turkish top club.

From Racing Santander: Midfielder MEHDI LACEN to Getafe on a four year deal. A pre-contract for the Algerian international was made already in February.

From Genoa: Midfielder STEPHAN EL SHAARAWY to AC Milan on a joint ownership deal. Appearing as one of Italy’s major young talents, the 18 year old was on loan to Serie B side Padova last season where he was a key player.

From AC Milan: Midfielder ALEXANDER MERKEL to Genoa. The German 19 year old has been released to Genoa as part of a deal for Stephan El Shaarawy, initially on a loan.

From Bayer Leverkusen: Defender DOMAGOJ VIDA to Dinamo Zagreb. The 22 year old only came to Leverkusen last season, having signed a four year deal. His playtime has been limited and he’s happy to go back to one of his home country’s biggest teams.

From Schalke 04: Left back CHRISTIAN PANDER has signed a one year contract with Hannover 96.

From Wolfsburg: Striker GRAFITE to Al Ahli. The 32 year old Brazilian is going to Dubai on a two year deal.

From Lorient: Left back JEREMY MOREL to Olympique Marseille on a four year deal.

Kenny Dalglish is a former striker and current manager of English side Liverpool. He was born and grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, and came up through the ranks of Celtic. He won several titles with Celtic. He played in three World Cups for Scotland and has the national record of appearances and goals scored.
In 1977 he was brought to Liverpool to replace Kevin Keegan. He was given Keegan’s famous no.7 shirt and quickly settled in to become a firm favourite with The Kop. After having won 5 league titles, 3 European cups and 4 League Cups, Dalglish became player-manager ahead of the 1985/86 season. That season Liverpool won the double. He guided the club to another two league titles and another FA Cup before resigning in February 1991.
Dalglish’s retirement was short-lived and he was appointed manager for second division side Blackburn in October 1991. He led the club to promotion to the Premier League already that season. In the first season in the Premier League Blackburn came 4th, the following season 2nd before winning the title in the 1994/95 season. The following season his position changed from manager to Director of Football and at the end of the season he left Blackburn all together.

In January 1997 Dalglish replaced Kevin Keegan for the second time of his career. This time as manager of Newcastle United. Keegan had helped Newcastle to promotion from the second tier to the first tier of English football, first as a player in the early 1980s, then came back and also did it as a manager in the early 1990s. Dalglish finished the 1996/97 season with Newcastle being runners-up in the Premier League and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. The 1997/98 campaign was less successful and Newcastle finished 13th. The 1998/99 season had barely started when Dalglish was sacked from his position.
The following season Dalglish was back in Scotland, as Director of Football at his old club Celtic. He had recommended ex-Liverpool player John Barnes as manager. Barnes was eventually sacked in February 2000 and Dalglish took over as caretaker manager. He guided them to finish the season with the Scottish League Cup title. Shortly after Celtic terminated his contract with the club.

Ahead of the 2009/10 season Kenny Dalglish was brought back to Liverpool to contribute with the youth development and as an ambassador of the club. Manager Rafael Benítez left the club one year later and was replaced by Roy Hodgson. A disastrous start to the 2010/11 season had Hodgson quickly falling out of favour with the Liverpool supporters and a growing desire to let Dalglish take over. Hodgson did eventually leave the club in January and Dalglish was appointed caretaker manager. Things slowly started to turn around for the better and the club started climbing again. They finished the season in 6th place. Dalglish was given a permanent three year deal in May. Almost twenty years after he left the same position, Daglish is again a firm favourite with the Liverpool fans as he is rebuilding the club.

Regular updates with all the transfer news as they happen through this transfer window..
Latest updates on Sunday 19 June.

From Central Coast Mariners: Midfielder MUSTAFA AMINI has signed a four year deal with Borussia Dortmund. The 18 year old Australian talent recently joined on a 2 week trial where he impressed coach Jürgen Klopp. Amini looks to fit right into the talented, young squad of the German champions. He had one year left of his contract with Mariners and it is believed he will spend next season on loan at his old team, then move to Germany.

From Maccabi Haifa: Forward TOMER HEMED to RCD Mallorca. The 24 year old Israeli international had been linked with a move to Rangers in Scotland but chose a move to Spain instead.

From Olympique Lyonnais: Midfielder JEREMY TOULALAN to Malaga. The French international has signed a four year contract.

From Hamburger SV: Defender JORIS MATHIJSEN to Malaga on a two year contract.

From Napoli: Midfieler MICHELE PAZIENZA to Juventus on a free transfer.

From Young Boys: Left back SENAD LULIC to Lazio. The Bosnian international has signed a five year contract with the Italian club.

From FC Kobenhavn (Copenhagen): Midfielder WILLIAM KVIST to Stuttgart. The Danish international has signed a four year contract.

From West Ham: Striker DEMBA BA to Newcastle on a free transfer.

From Newcastle: Midfielder KEVIN NOLAN to West Ham. The 29 year old has a medical today and is expected to be made captain at West Ham, to lead the team back to the Premiership.

From Groningen: Defender ANDREAS GRANQVIST to Genoa on a four year deal.

From Heerenveen: Midfielder CHRISTIAN GRINDHEIM to FC Kobenhavn (Copenhagen) on a three year deal.

From Leicester City: Defender MICHAEL LAMEY to Wisła Kraków on a free transfer.

From Ipswich Town: Midfielder DAVID NORRIS to Portsmouth on a free transfer.

From Getafe: Midfielder DANIEL PAREJO to Valencia. The talented Spanish 22 year old has signed a five year contract with Valencia, who came third in La Liga last season.

From Stoke City: Centre back ABDOULAYE DIAGNE-FAYE to West Ham. The Sengalese international joined the relegated West Ham side after having been released from Stoke.

From Sedan Ardennes: Goalkeeper BENOIT COSTIL to Stade Rennais. The former U-21 French international left Ligue 2 side Sedan for a three year contract with Ligue 1 side Rennes.

From Toulouse: Defender MAURO CETTO to Palermo. The 29 year old Argentinian shifts to Italy after having played nine years in France.

From Kilmarnock: Midfielder MEHDI TAOUIL to Hearts on a free transfer. The Moroccan international turned down Hearts three years ago when he first arrived in Scotland from France.

From Fiorentina: Winger MARIO SANTANA to Napoli. After five years at Fiorentina the Argentinian has turned down a contract extension to move south, to Napoli.

From Oldham Athletic: Defender CEDRIC EVINA to Charlton Athletic. The Cameroonian has rejected his new contract with Oldham and is set to join Charlton. Evina is a product of the Arsenal youth academy.

From Manchester City: JÈRÔME BOATENG to Bayern München on a four year deal. The German international defender returns to the Bundesliga only one year after he joined Manchester City from Hamburger SV.

From Dundee United: Midfielder MORGARO GOMIS to Birmingham City on a free transfer. With manager Alex McLeish’s departure from Birmingham there were concerns about whether the Senegalese international would join the club. However it has been confirmed that Gomis will be there when pre-season starts.

From Nantes: Striker RONNY RODELING to Lille. He has agreed to a four year contract with the French double champions.

From Reading: Defender IVAR INGIMARSSON to Ipswich Town on a one year contract. The 33 year old Icelandic international has spent eight seasons at Reading.

From Blackburn Rovers: Defender PHIL JONES signing for Manchester United for £16.5 million. The deal stalled for a while, with Blackburn trying to inflate the price but Jones is now all set to be a Man Utd player when he comes home from the U-21 European Championship.

From PSV Eindhoven: Winger BALÀZS DZSUDZÀK has signed a four year contract with Anzhi Makhachkala, the Russian Premier League club

From Nottingham Forest: Striker NATHAN TYSON to Derby County.

From Lorient: Striker KÈVIN GAMEIRO to Paris Saint Germain. The French international has signed a four year contract.

From Lille: Midfielder YOHAN CABAYE to Newcastle on a five year deal. The 25 year old box-to-box midfielder has been with the 2010/11 French champions since he was twelve years old.

From Charlton Athletic: Defender CARL JENKINSON to Arsenal for £1 million. The 19 year old is elligible to play for Finland through his mother’s side.

From Liverpool: Striker DAVID NGOG is about to move to Sunderland for £5 million. It is part of the deal which saw Jordan Henderson move the other way.

From Sunderland: Midfielder JORDAN HENDERSON to Liverpool for a surprisingly high £20 million. The young talent turns 21 years old on June 17th. He is in the England U-21 squad playing in the European Championship in Denmark.

From Cardiff: Striker MICHAEL CHOPRA joins Ipswich Town in a move worth £1.5 million.

From Watford: Striker DANNY GRAHAM to Swansea for £3.5 million. The 25 year old has signed a four year deal.

From Chelsea: Defender MICHAEL MANCIENNE to Hamburger SV. He signed a four year deal with the German club after having spent most of his Chelsea days away on loan, first two seasons with Queens Park Rangers and the past three seasons with Wolverhampton Wanderers.

From Bayern München: Striker MIROSLAV KLOSE to Lazio on a free transfer. The 33 year old has signed a two year contract.

From AC Milan: Midfielder ANDREA PIRLO has signed a three year deal with Juventus. The deep-lying playmaker just turned 32 years old in May and is still in the Italy squad.

From Club Brügge: Midfielder IVAN PERISIC to Borussia Dortmund on a five year contract. The 22 year old Croatian was last season’s top scorer and Player of the Year in Belgium.

From Schalke 04: Goalkeeper MANUEL NEUER to Bayern München. Germany’s number one goalkeeper signed a contract until June 2016.

From Aston Villa: Goalkeeper BRAD FRIEDEL to Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer. Friedel has been given a two year deal at White Hart Lane.

From Everton: Striker JAMES VAUGHAN to Norwich. The youngest player to have scored in the Premier League, as a 16 year old in 2005, he spent most of last season on loan to Crystal Palace.

From Bolton: Striker JOHAN ELMANDER joined Galatasary on a free transfer. The Swedish international’s move to Turkey came after three season at the Reebok.

From Millwall: Striker STEVE MORISON to Norwich on a three year contract. Millwall’s top scorer last season is an international for Wales.

From Sampdoria: Left back RETO ZIEGLER to Juventus on a free transfer. He has signed a four year contract.

From Bayern München: Midfielder HAMIT ALTINTOP to Real Madrid on a free transfer. The Turkish international has signed a four year contract.

When Indian financier Ahsan Ali Syed in January got control of an 80 per cent stake in Spanish Primera club Real Racing Club de Santander, he vowed he would financially lift them to a Spanish top team. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t, or so the saying goes.

Ahsan Ali Syed, 37, grew up in Hyderabad, India, and shuttles between Zurich and Bahrain, where he lives with his family and manages his financial consultancy company Western Gulf Advisory. Last year Mr Ali was the frontrunner to buy Premier League team Blackburn Rovers for £300 million. That deal fell over and the club was eventually bought by Indian poultry giant Venkys. During negotiations, Mr Ali came under intense scrutiny from British media. The BBC alleged he had left a string of unpaid debts from his time living in Britain between 2001 and 2005. He is also accused of financial scams throughout Australia and Malaysia. He is alleged to have promised to make sizeable loans to struggling companies, taken large fees for setting the loans up and then never released the funds.

Blackburn Rovers decided against doing business with Mr Ali while Racing Santander signed the deal with him, after having had Deloitte and Credit Suisse carry out checks on Mr Ali and his company. So far the only signing Racing Santander have secured has been Giovani Dos Santos, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. Coach Miguel Angel Portugal was sacked after Mr Ali took over the club in January. He was replaced by Marcelino García Toral but he quit last week, as he was made the new coach of Sevilla.
Players salaries have been delayed for three months or more but the Cantabrian side’s president and staff are still hoping for Ahsan Ali Syed to the deliver on his promises.

Barcelona’s dismantling of Manchester United in the Champions League final was the crown of what has been thirty years in the making at Camp Nou. The 5-0 El Clásico trashing of Real Madrid earlier in the season and the manner they beat United gave them the third Champions League victory in six seasons and the fifth La Liga title in last seven seasons. Their dominance on the European stage is similar to what we saw from Real Madrid in the late 1950s/early 60s, Ajax in the early 1970s, Bayern Munich in the mid 70s, Liverpool in the late 70s/early 80s and AC Milan in the early 90s.

There are many historical links leading to the total football played by the Barcelona of today, most of them have a common link in Johan Cruyff. The system of “total football” was invented by Rinus Michels, who coached Ajax through their most successful period and with Cruyff as the greatest prodigy. Michels left Ajax for Barcelona, with Cruyff soon following as a player. In 1974 they led Barcelona to their first La Liga title in 14 years, before Michels moved on to lead the Netherlands to the 1974 World Cup. Cruyff was crowned as European footballer of the year for the third time. At the time he was a player at Barcelona, Cruyff convinced Barcelona president Josep Núñez that they needed a youth system similar to the one he came through at Ajax. The birth of La Masia came in 1979, the year after Cruyff left, the complex used by the Barcelona youth system.

In 1988 Johan Cruyff returned to Barcelona as a manager. He had already enjoyed managerial success with Ajax, winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, and further developed the playing tactics first implemented by Rinus Michels. Some of his Ajax players went on to enjoy further success with teams like AC Milan (Rijkaards and Van Basten) and Arsenal (Bergkamp). With his old Barca team mate Carles Rexach as assistant coach Cruyff pushed on with his football philosophy. He brought in foreign stars who suited the style of play, with Ronald Koeman, Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Romário while pouring resources into La Masia. The first product of the youth system making it through to the first team was Guillermo Amor. He was to go on to win 17 titles with Barcelona, more than any other player in the club’s history.

When Cruyff brought another La Masia graduate in to the first team squad, a 19 year old Joseph Guardiola, he instructed Ronald Koeman to take him under his wing and make sure he understood everything about the Dutch style of play. In 1992 Guardiola and Albert Ferrer (also from La Masia) won Barcelona’s first European Cup final, at Wembley stadium, with Koeman as man of the match.

After Cruyff left players like Victor Valdés, Oleguer Presas, Carles Puyol, Albert Joquera, Xavi Hernandez and Andrés Iniesta were still coming through the youth system, whiles the likes of Cesc Fabregas was poached away from the club. In 2008 Guardiola was promoted from Barcelona B coach to manage the first team. Guardiola was passionately involved with the youth system and Barcelona B and had since his playing days been looked up to by the players. Under his leadership the club started taking maximum advantage of the incredible resource at hand. The club have 15 scouts throughout Catalonia, another 15 throughout the rest of Spain and a further 10 scouts around the world.

Guardiola has successfully continued Cruyff’s Dutch total football, which Cruyff married up with the Spanish tiki-taka one-touch play. In practise superb one-touch players like Messi and Iniesta have Xavi keeping the ball constantly moving. The likes of Busquets drops back to cover when full backs or centre halfs move forward. In the 2011 Champions League final Xavi completed 148 passes, a record high in this season’s competition, where only seven of them were misplaced. Xavi is the conductor of today’s champions, like Laudrup was for Barcelona’s dream team of the 1990s. The current Barcelona team are a level above any other European top team, as conceded by Alex Ferguson after the Wembley defeat. Two thirds of the team won the European Championship and the World Cup for Spain. In addition they have the likes of Brazilian full-back Dani Alves and Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi. Guardiola will continue at least for another season and thus far it’s difficult to see anyone catching up with them. After all, this success did not come overnight.