Transfer Scramble Begins

Manchester United caught everyone a little bit cold with their sudden swoop for Anderson and Nani. Following a World Cup summer, during which all moves took place mid-July at the earliest, no-one seemed to be expecting a mad rush to complete transfers for a good few weeks yet. As Man U announced the three signings they'd promised within a week of the Champions League Final, the idea that we weren't going to see much activity yet was totally blown out of the water.

Now every f**ker's at it. Newcastle are the latest ones to go transfer-crazy, selling their club captain whilst bringing in a mentalist and a whale. It was West Ham who took Scott Parker of course, and they look set to ship out their own captain, Nigel Reo-Coker, to Aston Villa. Who may well be letting Steve Davis go to Fulham - who may be letting Collins John go to Middlesbrough to replace Mark Viduka, who is of course set to be the newest fat b*****d to attend St James' every week. It's all a crazy inbred transfer cycle that's started up, and moves are being completed all over the place.

But there are plenty more deals to be done, and some big f**king scraps look set to break out for some of Europe's most wanted. Florent Malouda looks like he can choose between Milan, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool and Juventus, whilst Dani Alves is wanted by Liverpool, Chelsea, Barca, Madrid and Milan. Samuel Eto'o is said to be wanted by Arsenal, Liverpool and Milan (three clubs who seem to want every player in Europe), whilst Bayern Munich look to have won the Europe-wide race for Franck Ribery. It doesn't stop there either, with Real Madrid today announcing negotiations with Arjen Robben. To which Darth Kenyon has objected hugely by the way, being as he is, well renowned for never tapping up an opposing player. Yeah.

So that's the state of play in the world of transfer moves at the moment - f**king mental. Who's going where? How much can Liverpool and Arsenal really spend this summer? Is a Sam Allardyce / Mark Viduka press conference the heaviest in Premiership history? Well we don't know. What we do know though, is a rumour that has yet to hit the back pages.

Yes, The Late Flag has an exclusive for you. You've read our s***e for about a month now, and you're finally getting something you didn't know already. There is a rumour, and a growing one at that, suggesting that Thierry Henry is negotiating a move to Liverpool. This one had me laughing when I first read it, until I saw these quotes, from a William Hill spokesman:

'We started to take calls asking for odds for Henry to join Liverpool a couple of days ago and initially offered 10/1, not believing it was that likely a move for the Frenchman. However, after taking increasingly more calls and bets - predominantly from the Liverpool area - we have shortened the odds significantly just in case there is something to the story, which has yet to emerge into the public domain.' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe. Further information.....graham sharpe...0208 918 3731

I'm sceptical, but give the man a ring, he's put his number up in that statement on their official website! Ask him if he thinks there's anything in it, and let us know! I can't get through, writing as I am outside of office hours.

Messageboards all over the internet are even claiming many bookies have now fully suspended betting on Henry moving to Anfield. Of course, the bookies cutting the odds really means nothing, as they're just responding to the bets. The chances are a rumour has done the rounds in Liverpool and got a lot of Reds very excited, prompting a lot of bets. But Henry has stated a love for Liverpool in the past, and a desire to link up with Steven Gerrard. This is something no newspaper has reported on yet, and I reckon it's likely to hit at least the Daily Star tomorrow. Remember, you heard it here first!