With Newcastle owner Mike Ashley reportedly desperate to sell the club on a cut price of £100million, it was reported that Profitable Group, a Singapore based investment company linked to former Liverpool legend Steve McMahon had sounded their interest.

According to an official statement released ''The Profitable Group can confirm that it has expressed an initial interest in acquiring Newcastle United. A preliminary discussion with the representatives appointed to handle the sale of the club has been held, but contrary to some reports, no direct talks have been held with either the owner, Mike Ashley, or the chairman [sic], Derek Llambias. The group consider the leaking of the Group's interest in this matter unfortunate, and as supporters of Newcastle United, seek only to serve in the best interests of the club, the fans and the local community. The group will not be making any further comment at the present time.''

Newly signed Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry is still trying to justify his move to the midlands after infuriating the wrath of the Aston Villa fans for ‘betraying’ the club which nurtured him into a world class footballer. In his new justifications, he claims that he would definitely stayed in Villa if they qualified for Champions League next season.

But Villa failed in their bid to finish among the top 4, instead they completed the season sixth which means they play in the second tier of European football in the Europa League. He said ''I was very honest about the Champions League and if Villa had qualified I would have been honourable enough to keep my word and stay. It would have been wrong to leave if that had been achieved but it was something that did not happen.''

Since leaving Villa Park, some fans are calling him traitor, for being disloyal as well as the usual calls for being a ‘Judas’ despite his more than a decade long of service there. he wrote a public apology letter to the local daily but still it would never be enough for the sense of ‘betrayal’ would definitely out shine any sense of sorry.

He added that ''I am not apologising, I just felt it was right to give my reasons. I have been at Villa for 12 seasons and always had a good rapport with the fans. To leave after so long was a big thing.''

It seems that Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo will get his ‘dream move’ to Real Madrid after all. It is now official! Manchester United today accepted an offer from Real Madrid for the Portuguese who last season wanted so badly to move to the Barnebeu. The transfer fee is a record breaking £80million. Real Madrid had only 2 days ago broken the world record when they purchased Kaka from AC Milan at £57million. Now they have gone ahead and broke their own and the world’s record again. This deal is putting Chelsea, Manchester City and whoever so-called ‘billionaires’ at shame.

According to a statement released by Manchester United, ''Manchester United have received a world-record, unconditional offer of £80m for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. At Cristiano's request - who has again expressed his desire to leave - and after discussion with the player's representatives, United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player. Matters are expected to be concluded by June 30. The club will not comment until further notice.''

Zinedine Zidane was the player whom Florentino Perez broke the world record to bring to Madrid when he first built his galacticos. The £46.7million he paid to Juventus for Zidane was the world record until he decide to bring Kaka over. Now he is in the process of building his second team. With this prospect of having Kaka and Ronaldo at the club, more other will definitely follow.

Kaka, who joined Real Madrid with the world transfer record of £59m said that he is leaving AC Milan on a good note and that he has no regrets at all. On top of that, he said that such a lucrative deal will bring more good than bad to the club he love and sort of developed into a world class footballer. This came after Kaka passed the medical in Brazil through the agents sent by Real Madrid to Brazil where he is involved in the World Cup qualifiers.

Kaka said "I can officially say I'm a Real Madrid player. My professional link with AC Milan finishes now, but my sentimental link will never end. Real Madrid intend to build a great team, with historic players such as Raul and Casillas. We will make history again, both in Spain and Europe. I guess the sport project is very good."

The Brazilian playmaker was the center of rumours where he was linked to a move away from San Siro including a £100million move to Manchester City but did not do so as he wanted to finish the season with Milan. He said "Manchester City and Real Madrid are two different clubs with different situations. At that time, it was mid-season, I had a strong emotional impact due to the Italian fans requesting me to stay, and I decided to stay. Now another chance came up and AC Milan is in a big crisis (financially). For me, the sporting project (at Madrid) is interesting and will be an important boost to continue my career in the highest level.”

One thing for sure, one cannot deny Kaka’s sentiments for Milan where he has won almost every accolade in club football including 2 European medals. He said "I wanted to stay on at Milan, but the world (financial) crisis affected a lot of clubs, especially those like Milan which are businesses. So then, I spoke with the Milan directors and we reached the conclusion that the best thing for everybody would be to sell. The president (Perez) is already making contact (with potential signings) and is putting together a competitive team, one which will try to once again become champions in Spain and Europe. That's why I chose Madrid."

Now that the deal is concluded, Kaka’s next move is in Spain where he will work around the team to end Barcelona’s dominance this season where they won a rare treble. But whatever the case, he has no qualms of his time in Milan saying "I'm happy to leave Milan by the front door, with a lot of friends. It has been very emotional to see what the Milan fans have done for me."

Danish defender Daniel Agger who is playing very well in Liverpool FC signed a new contract to extend his stay in Anfield. He had been earlier linked with other clubs after he found his place in the team limited where the back line is commanded by Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Fabio Aurelio and lately Emiliano Insua. AC Milan were among the clubs reportedly interested in securing his services.

With the signing of the new contract, he put to rest all speculations. He also added that ‘no promises’ was made to him by team manager Rafael Benitez on whether he gets to be in the first team. It was rumoured that contract talks stalled due to issues like these as well as demands for a wage rise which was seen as unreasonable.

He said ''In football you can't get any promises from the manager about when you are going to play, and especially not at a club like Liverpool where we have so many talented players all competing for places. I believe I am good enough to play regularly in this team and that is what I want to do.''

He feels strongly that the club is moving the right direction where he said ''I believe this team, with the players we have, will be able to challenge for many honours and trophies over the next few years. I think I have a chance to play in this team, otherwise I would not be staying at the club. And I really like this city, and I like the people who live here. It's not the same as my home town, Copenhagen, but I actually really like where I live. That is important. I believe if you have a happy, settled and comfortable life outside the pitch then you're going to be a much better player on it. Of course, if you have a manager who tells you that he is confident in your ability and he believes in you and what you can bring to the team, then that is also important. The manager has done this by coming to me and offering me the contract.''

Vicenty del Bosque, the national coach of Spain only had good words one of the country’s top striker David Villa after the team’s friendly victory over Azerbaijan where they beat them 6-0 easily. The most positive outcome perhaps would be the hattrick scored by David Villa in the team’s preparation for the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Villa had, over the past week been strongly linked to a move away from Valencia. And the bidder is Real Madrid.

Madrid, who earlier acquired Kaka from AC Milan with a world record fee of £59million is said to be keen on Cristiano Ronaldo next but had not ruled out trying to bring Villa to the Barnebeu as well. Such talks did not deter Villa in his performance but perhaps spurred him further on why he should be part of the ‘new galacticos’.

The President of Real Madrid, Fiorentino Perez kept no secret of his desire to bring Villa to the club where a €37million transfer fee had been discussed. He said "I have spoken to (new Valencia president) Manuel Llorente and we need time to see what the actual situation is at Valencia and what they are going to do. If they want to keep him I think that would be a fitting decision and one I would respect,"

Del Bosque is upbeat about the form of the team which included goals from Daniel Guiza and Liverpool FC players Albert Riera and Fernando Torres. He said ''He (Villa) scored three times and showed he has plenty of desire. People like him know how to cut off things that could affect their future. We have achieved our objective, which was to win and to continue on the same path that saw us win the European Championships last year. The flying time was not a problem. The pitch was good, the opponents were good, and we have not had any injuries, bar Cesc (Fabregas).''

Veteran England midfielder David Beckham saw something he liked in the national team and found that it is very promising especially with new young player Theo Walcott whom he believe will play in important role for the country as he matures. Walcott has been terrorizing defences for club and country since his introduction in the last World Cup when although did not play in the tournament had been starting to get noticed.

Beckham said "I think Theo Walcott has performed well every time he has put on an England shirt. He is always a threat. A player with that pace and the way he runs at players and goes past players, he is always a threat. He is a talented player and, even against Kazakhstan, you gave him the ball, you put the ball in front of him, and he causes any defence problems. I have not seen too many of his Arsenal games. I don't care what anyone says about his form. Theo is going to be a threat to any defender in the world. Whether he is in form or not, he is going to be a threat to any player. He is a great person, and a great player, and he is fine.''

With Gareth Barry out of the next tie in Wembley after receiving his second yellow card, many believed that Beckham might be called to fit in. He said "I am not even thinking about that. We will enjoy this win and then move on to Wednesday. Whether I am playing or others play, we have a very talented group of players. Whoever steps in for Gareth, is going to be great. Most important was the result. That is what you aim for when you come to places like this. You aim to perform and get a result if you can. It is always going to be tough for the first 20 minutes but we came through it and a great result. We have scored a lot of goals in the campaign so far, and hopefully it continues, but the three points is the most important thing.''

New Sunderland boss Steve Bruce claims that he is up to the challenge of managing a ‘big club’ and that he is now looking forward to bringing the club forward. After all, Bruce has come a long way since his early days of management with Birmingham and with Wigan Athletic under his belt, he believes that the time is right that he move forward with a bigger club.

This is because, Sunderland to a large extend has more fans and is often perceived to be one of the more ‘reputable’ clubs in the same light with clubs like Tottenham Hotspur and Everton. He said "It doesn't frighten me. I think it's the right time for me. I've done 10 years and in my early days it was very, very difficult when it wasn't quite what was written in the brochure and I struggled with that. But over the years I've been able to get a bit of experience and I think this is the right time for me to take on this challenge. I've done over 500 games now so it's the right time.”

Despite the financial strain that Liverpool FC is facing, team manager Rafael Benitez looked all set to hang on to his most precious players including Xabi Alonso. He said that the Spaniard’s role in the team would be key to the future of the club’s success and as such is important that he remains in Anfield. This came in light where some offers have been coming in for Alonso, and one that would be most attractive would be from Real Madrid.

He believes that Alonso makes up the team’s spine, together with Steven Gerrard, Jose Reina and Fernando Torres. He said "We are working very hard to keep the spine of the team - that was always the idea. We have Pepe Reina as the number one goalkeeper with Diego Cavalieri behind him, another good goalkeeper. Then we have (Martin) Skrtel, (Jamie) Carragher and (Daniel) Agger - three good centre-backs. Then you go to the midfield with Alonso, (Javier) Mascherano, Lucas and Gerrard, with Torres up front and (David) Ngog, who is a very good prospect.”

Newcastle United, who had been relegated to the Championship next season is looking at either having their troubles deepened or perhaps a lifeline as its owner Mike Ashley is desperate to sell the club. He is looking at selling the club by July if possible and has revealed that there is actually some ‘real interest’ from a few parties.

According to the chairman of investment bank Seymour Price, Keith Harris, "I'm confident...that there will be offers for Mike to consider in quite short order. There is real and decent interest, this is not necessarily from far flung parts of the globe and those expressing interest when it was first marketed but this is good, gritty interest."

He also added that although Newcastle is not playing in the lucrative Premier League, the portfolio of the club is big enough for investors to come in. He added that "It is a huge club. If you think in attendance terms last year, it exceeded Liverpool, averaging 48,000 and Liverpool a little over 45,000. If you walk around the infrastructure, the training ground, the academy, if you're a person who is willing to take a view over the next two to three years, this is a club that belongs in the top seven."