Barcelona

The Spanish champions swooped to bolster their already impressive midfield options by snapping up Argentina international captain, Mascherano, from Liverpool for a reported £18million on a four-year contract on Monday evening following his five-hour medical.

The Catalan giants, who are aiming to secure the Champions League title this season after failing to emulate their May 2009 success last term, have already snapped up David Villa (11/2f Champions League Top Goalscorer) and Adriano to help them do that.

Bartomeu has now spoken out to reveal that they feel Pep Guardiola’s squad has enough strength in depth to fight it out for the Primera Liga and Champions League.

He said: “The squad is now complete and we will not sign anyone else. We have reached the decision that there is no need to strengthen the team any further.”

Meanwhile Mascherano, who took a pay cut to join Barcelona, could not hide his delight at finally joining the club.

“When I landed I said that I was achieving a dream. At last I will be able to say that I play for Barcelona, the team who I wanted to play for.”

The 26-year-old must now fight it out with some quality players to get into a Barca side that consists of eight of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad.

“It would be stupid if I thought I was going to play all the time. You need to respect the people here who have been doing so well,” he added.

“In my position there are three world champions who have won everything (Xavi, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta). For me it is a dream to grow, learn and enjoy playing next to them.”

He added: “I know that they’ve won everything, it’s a team full of great players, with a base of world champions and I will try to be humble and help the team continue winning things.

“I’m going to have the chance to play with players who I admire and I will able to say that I’ve grown and that I’ve been a better player at this club.

“This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I will train to be ready when I’m needed.”

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Manchester United

The Serbian star, rated as one of the best centre-halves in the Premier League, has been linked with some of Europe’s top clubs over the summer but has now extended his stay with United by signing a new four-year deal.

The likes of Italian giants AC Milan and La Liga outfit Real Madrid, now managed by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, had been mooted as possible suitors for the powerful stopper but Vidic will stick with United.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson was understandably delighted Vidic has agreed new terms.

Rio Ferdinand, who usually partners the powerful Serbian in the heart of the United defence, is still two or three weeks away from being able to play after suffering a knee injury in the build up to the World Cup and it was perhaps crucial that the United boss retained Vidic’s services.

“We are delighted Nemanja has committed his future to the club,” Ferguson said. “This kills all the silly speculation over the past few months.

“Nemanja has developed into one of the best centre-halves in Europe and we are pleased he will be here for many years to come.”

Both Real and AC Milan were rumoured to be lining up mega bids for the 28-year-old, with some sources speculating the duo would battle it out by launching bids of around £20million to capture the defender, but that speculation has now been ended.

The man himself revealed he was pleased to have extended his stay at Old Trafford and paid tribute to United for helping him improve as a player after joining in a £7.2million deal in 2005 from Russian side Spartak Moscow.

“I am very happy to sign this contract,” added Vidic. “I came to this club when I was young and have developed enormously with the help of the manager, coaching staff and my team-mates.

“During my time here we have had a lot of success and I look forward to continuing that success in the coming seasons.”

United take on Fulham at Craven Cottage as they look to continue their fine start to the season, having beaten Newcastle 3-0  and secured the Community Shield title with a 3-1 victory over Chelsea (Fulham 9/2, draw 14/5, Man Utd 8/13).

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Having initially been ditched by Steve McClaren following the 2006 World Cup, the former Manchester United star bounced back to reclaim his place in the squad and looked set to play in his fourth consecutive World Cup finals this summer.

However, the LA Galaxy star missed the chance to make history when he suffered an Achilles injury prior to the South Africa tournament.

Despite the severity of the injury, the 35-year-old has always maintained that he would return for both club and country and would never retire from international football.

He had hoped to play some part in England’s Euro 2012 qualifying campaign, with three matches scheduled to take place before the end of the year, but Capello let slip in an interview prior to Wednesday’s 2-1 friendly victory over Hungary that Beckham would no longer be part of the national set-up but may play in a farewell match before Christmas (England 2/7 – to win Group G).

“I hope when David is okay he can play here the last game at Wembley in a friendly to say goodbye and thank you very much to the crowd,” he said. “I won’t be picking him for any more competitive matches.

“David is a fantastic player, he was really important, but we have to see the new players for the future because the age is important for a lot of people, not only for David.”

Beckham won 115 caps for his country and played at the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups, as well as at Euro 2000 and 2004 and he skippered the national side on 58 occasions.

He polarized opinion within the media, with many pundits praising his commitment and ability to score from dead-ball situations and fire accurate 50-yard passes, while others felt he was one-dimensional and lacked the necessary pace to create a real impact out wide.

But his enthusiasm for the England team could never be called into question and Capello even allowed him to sit in the dug-out during the World Cup to offer support to his former team-mates.

The player’s agent responded to the news by stating that Beckham would still be available for England and has not officially retired from international football but it does appear that November’s friendly at Wembley will be the last time he is seen in an England shirt.

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Stoke

The Republic of Ireland international, 28, has been at the Britannia Stadium since 2006 after initially arriving on loan from Sunderland, but he was extremely tempted to move on this summer to try his luck in the SPL.

Lawrence’s admission came after Lennon, who was handed the manager’s job at the Bhoys permanently during the close season, declared his interest in taking the five-cap attacker north of the border.

However, Celtic’s spending plans appear to hinge on the sale of £10m-rated Aiden McGeady which left Lawrence in limbo as far as a switch to Parkhead is concerned.

But with just days to go before the start of the new Premier League – Stoke travel to Wolves on Saturday – Lawrence has decided to stick with the Potters and rule out a move away from the club for the time being (Wolves v Stoke 12/1 – Opening Day Fixtures – Game With Most Goals).

He told the Scottish Sun: “The idea of a move to Celtic was really appealing at the end of last season.

“It has gone on for so long now and they have bought a lot of players. Clearly, they’ve had plenty of opportunity to come and get me but for whatever reason it hasn’t happened.

“Stoke have been brilliant with me, stating they were prepared to give me the chance of a move if the conditions were right.

“I really wanted the opportunity to play for Celtic. If they had come in for me I would’ve been happy to go.”

Lawrence added: “With things dragging on it has given me time to reconsider everything.

“I have had a brilliant pre-season with Stoke, I’ve really enjoyed it, and now I feel I’ve got to be fair with them. I feel the best thing for me now is to stay and try to play in the Premier League.”

Stoke defied the odds to finish 11th last season and boss Tony Pulis is looking for them to kick on again this term.

The Welshman has already made room in his squad by parting company with the likes of Amdy Faye, Andy Griffin and Steve Simonsen, although so far he has only brought in Belgium youth international Florent Cuvelier from Portsmouth on a two-year contract.

Pulis’ number one aim is to land a big targetman and he has been linked with West Ham striker Carlton Cole and Sunderland hitman Kenwyne Jones.

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Arsenal

Spanish champions Barcelona have been desperate to bring Fabregas back to Camp Nou, with the 23-year-old starting his career at youth level with the Catalan giants, but have failed in two bids to bring Fabregas to La Liga.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had been adamant that the gifted playmaker was going nowhere, but the Frenchman was eager to stress it was down to Fabregas to end the speculation and commit himself to the Gunners.

The World Cup winner had previously failed to release any definitive statement regarding his future, often stating he was an Arsenal player but failing to rule out the possibility he would make the switch to Barca.  However, Fabregas has now confirmed he will stay at Arsenal for the coming campaign and apologised to the club’s fans, although he didn’t rule out a move to Spain in the future.

“Firstly I would like to apologise to all the Arsenal fans for not speaking sooner about my future but I have not known what I was going to do until this moment,” said Fabregas.”I cannot deny that joining a club like Barcelona was not an attractive move for me.

“This was the club where I learnt my football, it is my home town where my friends and family are and a club where I have always dreamed of playing. There are not many players in the world who would not want to play for Barcelona.”

Arsenal are gunning for their first piece of silverware since the 2005 FA Cup and Fabregas will be vital if the Gunners are to end their trophy drought.  Some have suggested he may struggle to replicate his previous form following the constant rumours surrounding his future but the Spain star insists his displays for Arsenal will not be affected by the lengthy transfer saga.

He added: “I can assure all the fans that now the negotiations have ended I will be 100% focused on playing for Arsenal. I am an Arsenal player and as soon as I step out on to the pitch, that is the only club I will be thinking about. I am looking forward to the start of the season and putting this speculation behind me.”

Arsenal face Liverpool at Anfield in their Premier League opener on Sunday August 15 in the pick of the opening round fixtures (Match Betting – Liverpool 5/4, draw 23/10, Arsenal 7/4).

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