The end of the transfer window is fast approaching and so far it has been fairly quiet (if we exclude the Manchester City-Kaka saga as it didn’t go through).

The deadline this year is February 2 given January finishes on a weekend so there is a little extra time for some late deals.

What transfers do you expect to see and which wacky moves would amuse you in an ideal world?

After Jermain Defoe and Pascal Chimbonda came back, will Tottenham Hotspur continue buying up their old players and target Liverpool’s hit-and-miss forward Robbie Keane? If they really want to roll back the clock, what about Sergei Rebrov?

Real Madrid made two hasty signings in Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra, but could they pull a rabbit out of the hat late on. Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo have committed themselves to Milan and United, haven’t they?

Didier Drogba to Inter Milan is a favourite for the tabloids while where will Andrei Arshavin end up? Arsenal, Hoffenheim, Zenit?

Barcelona probably don’t need reinforcements but I’ve felt for years they needed a really top class goalkeeper, with the greatest respect to Victor Valdes. Juve’s Gianluigi Buffon has said he would leave if a fantasy football bid was made.

Have some fun and tell us your top transfer picks.

Chelsea are back up to second in the Premier League ahead of Sunday’s glamour clash at Liverpool, but life as a professional footballer is not always so rosy - especially if you write a book.

England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole recently warned players not to release an autobiography if they are already enduring a bit of a rough treatment from the press and/or supporters.

“I think in the case of the book, I’ve probably done it out of frustration but it made everything 10 times worse,” Cole told the BBC.

The 28-year-old released “My Defence” in 2006 in response to the criticism he received for his conduct in his much publicised transfer from London rivals Arsenal to Chelsea.

Cole was close to crashing his car in shock when told that Arsenal would only offer him a weekly wage of £55,000 and accused the club of lacking ambition in their attempts to keep him. 

Media reports have said the book sold only 4,000 copies while it didn’t go down well with one half of north London — he described his former Arsenal team mates as ‘lazy.’

It is easy to see why Cole feels he has been given an even tougher time following the book. He has hardly done himself any favours.

Why does anyone feel they have the right to release an autobiography at such a young age anyway?

PHOTO: Chelsea’s Ashley Cole reacts during their Champions League second leg quarter-final match against Valencia at the Mestalla, April 10, 2007. REUTERS/Victor Fraile

Liverpool are short of goals, short of composure, short, perhaps, of a bit of luck but crazy is in plentiful supply.

Here’s how Benitez described the 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic that left Liverpool two points behind Manchester United, who have a game in hand:

“I was talking with my players about what to do on the pitch, but there are always things you cannot control in a game like this,” Benitez said. “The players were not nervous - they were working hard and played well in the first half. But things changed in the second half. It was a crazy game in the second half, and when it’s a crazy game you cannot control things.”

It’s not been a great start to the year for Benitez’s Liverpool.

The only team they have beaten in 2009 are Preston North End, the coach’s optimistic attempt to get inside the head of Sir Alex Ferguson has not been a notable success and that first league title since 1990 is starting to look as unattainable as ever.

So is that it from Liverpool? Is their challenge just going to peter out in a haze of missed chances, as Xabi Alonso looks on from the bench?

I’ve argued before that Liverpool will need an additional touch of inspiration if they are to win this title. They don’t, presumably, have the money to launch a bid for Kaka, Leo Messi or David Villa but there is one player with the necessary tradecraft* available for just 15 million quid.

Hijacking Arsenal’s bid for Andrei Arshavin when it’s 90 percent done would be a huge gamble, perhaps even a crazy one, but Liverpool sure need to do something.

PHOTO: Steven Gerrard waits for a corner during Liverpool’s Premier League match against Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium in Wigan, Jan. 28, 2009. REUTERS/Darren Staples

* Sorry, been re-reading Smiley

Bookmakers cut Aston Villa’s odds on winning the Premier League title from 50-1 to 40-1 on Wednesday following their gritty 1-0 victory at Portsmouth the previous night. It will not provoke a rush of punters parting with their hard-earned cash but with the wily Martin O’Neill at the helm and confidence soaring, there is no question Villa are now serious players in the title race.

What’s more, there appears to be genuine good will among fans of other clubs for Villa’s attempt to break the boring top-four stranglehold of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and
Arsenal. The reasons for that are plentiful.

Firstly, Villa have a policy of fielding mainly English players. Eight of the starting side at Fratton Park were English, including new signing Emile Heskey who scored the winner on his debut. Gabriel Agbonlahor, Gareth Barry, Ashley Young (who missed the game through suspension) and Heskey are all regulars in the England squad.

Secondly, they have a manager who thinks before he opens his mouth, rises above the normal cliches and retains a boyish sense of humour for the game that ordinary fans relate to. His honesty in defeat and victory are refreshing.

His football brain is as sharp as a pin as the astute signing of Heskey proved.

Thirdly, they may have been bought by a foreign owner but American Randy Lerner prefers to stay in the background and let his manager and players do the talking. He even ingratiated himself with the fans by forking out of his own pocket to restore a traditional pre-match pub next to the ground.

Lastly, Villa have acquired a winning habit through a fairly simple brand of football that maximises their strengths. Critics call it long ball, but there is plenty of skill on show. The 1-0 win at Portsmouth which put them above Chelsea into third place was their sixth consecutive away victory in the league.

United remain favourites to win the title, but Villa look like they are enjoying life in the top four and thanks to the solid foundations being put in place look as if they can stick around for a while.

Arsenal are the most likely victims of Villa’s rise this season but Chelsea and Liverpool will both be wary of the claret and blue threat coming from the Midlands.

PHOTO: Martin O’ Neill gestures during Aston villa’s Premier League match against Watford at Vicarage Road, Sept. 16, 2006. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Something strange is happening in English football. Stoke City, one of the less fashionable teams in the Premier League, have started a trend that has swept down through most levels of the game.

Rory Delap is the man responsible, with his long throws directly involved in seven of Stoke’s first 13 goals of this season, scored between August 16 and November 1.

The tactic has certainly been copied at Sunday League level – I can vouch for that as a goalkeeper in the West Fulham League — yet for some reason top-level clubs haven’t followed suit.

I can’t imagine Arsene Wenger employing such tactics, for it wouldn’t fit well with his beautiful football ethos, but last year Chelsea’s Luiz Felipe Scolari openly declared his love for the Stoke man’s talent.

So why are other teams hesitant to try it out?

Perhaps it’s simply that they don’t have players who can propel the ball the way Delap does. Delap was, after all, regularly throwing javelins 40 metres as a teenager.

At the very least he should have a job in coaching the art of the long throw once his playing days are over. If that doesn’t appeal to him, then he should do a tour of Sunday league grounds to see the havoc he has wreaked nationwide. Might bring a tear to his eye.

PHOTO: Stoke City’s Rory Delap takes a throw-in against Chelsea during their Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, Jan. 17, 2009. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Whichever way he turns, Mexico coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, whose team face his native Sweden in a friendly on Wednesday, runs into trouble.

If he looks to Europe for players, Eriksson will find most Mexicans either injured or warming the bench at their respective clubs. Previously seen as a chance to bring a more competitive and professional attitude to the national side, the export of Mexican players has become another headache for the national coach.

That leaves Eriksson with the Mexican championship — but here most of the top players are foreigners. Toluca won the most recent domestic title in December thanks largely to the exploits of their 39-year-old goalkeeper Hernan Cristante, born in Argentina, a stingy defence marshalled by Paraguayan Paulo da Silva and an attack led by Chilean Hector Mancilla, the championship’s top scorer (in previous championships, the topscorers were Humberto Suazo, another Chilean, and Alfredo Moreno, an Argentine).

Many of Mexico’s foreigners have enjoyed their stay so much that they have settled down, raised families and taken out Mexican nationality. But this has brought Eriksson yet another dilemma. Four members of his squad to face Sweden were born outside Mexico, bringing howls of protest from the Mexican media and even members of his own squad. (more…)

Rafa Benitez is often described as a master tactician but when it comes to man-management it can be hard to fathom what the Liverpool boss is up to.

Last July the Spaniard apparently considered Robbie Keane to be worth 20 million pounds. Six months later the prolific Ireland striker was not deemed good enough even for the bench in Sunday’s FA Cup game against Everton - just the sort of fixture that would suit the hard-running Irishman.

Still only 28, Keane has scored goals and given his all wherever he has played - including 35 in 85 internationals.

Last season he scored 23 goals for Spurs, and that while fighting for a starting role alongside Jermain Defoe and Dimitar Berbatov, and he was voted the club’s player of the year three times.

All three strikers left Spurs in the close-season and Berbatov initially struggled to justify his huge fee at Manchester United.

Alex Ferguson did not panic, knowing that he had a special player on his hands and that it was up to the manager and the rest of the squad to find a way to bring the best out of him. (more…)

Could Robbie Keane be the next former Spur to return to White Hart Lane? And what’s behind the signing of Carlo Cudicini?

Join Owen Wyatt, Jon Bramley and Tom Newey for answers to these questions and more in the latest exciting edition of Vlog on the Pitch…

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, AC Milan have fallen in love with David Beckham and it seems the attraction is mutual.

 ”Our wish is that he continues with us,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said after Beckham had scored his first Milan goal in Sunday’s 4-1 win at Bologna. “Beckham knows what our wish is.”

There has been enough daylight in Beckham’s recent comments too to suggest he might be persuaded to try to extend his two-month loan deal from Los Angeles Galaxy. ”We’ll see,” was all he would say to Italian media on Sunday but note he now isn’t ruling it out completely.

Beckham staying on in Milan is a pleasing thought. The Englishman has looked perfectly at home in Serie A thus far and his continued presence would make the 2010 World Cup in South Africa a realistic target for the former captain.

As everyone now knows, Beckham is not a man to be written off lightly. He showed great character to come back from a bad experience at the 1998 World Cup and regain the respect of everyone in the English game. He also managed to resurrect his Real Madrid career when that looked to have reached a premature end and he has proved that his England recall was richly deserved.

On the other hand, he has always seemed to be a man of his word when it comes to football and it would be out of character to go back on an agreement to return to Galaxy on March 9.  

I wonder too if Beckham’s Milan experience might be subject to the law of diminishing returns.

I was in Madrid when Beckham arrived and I watched first hand as the eye-catching performances of the first few weeks gave way to too many displays that were little better than useless.

Then there’s the fact that Milan have a bad habit of holding on to players in their 30s. Might they not decide, a few months down the line, that Beckham is a luxury they could do without?

His wife is another variable and although she has a number of fashion shows to attend in Milan, Italy’s second city can never match the glitz of LA where the three children are at school.

It’ll be interesting to see what they all decide. Do Milan and Beckham settle down and make a real go of their relationship? Or can they just enjoy a consequence-free fling while it lasts? We’re running a poll on this at our main soccer website and please drop us a comment here.

PHOTOS: A combination of pictures showing Beckham reacting during AC Milan’s Serie A match against Bologna at the Dall’Ara stadium in Bologna, Jan. 25, 2009. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Potential Real Madrid presidential candidates will be trying to decide whether Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is the player most likely to deliver them the majority of votes in this summer’s election campaign.

Ramon Calderon was forced out of the presidency earlier this month, setting the wheels in motion for another six months of rumours and speculation as rival candidates manoeuvre behind the scenes to take power at the Bernabeu.

The nine-times European champions are ‘owned’ by the thousands of club members rather than a small group of shareholders, and they get to chose their president every four years.

As a result, candidates need to splash the cash with full blown election campaigns complete with manifestos, lists of promises, advertising campaigns, and rallies to win over the voters and the local media. (more…)