Juventus Announce Giaccherini Swoop

Emanuele Giaccherini is officially a Juventus player after he completed his move from Cesena.

The 26-year-old, who can play as a wide midfielder or a second striker, passed his medical this morning before putting pen to paper this afternoon.

Juventus agreed to hand over €6m to Cesena – to be paid over a period of three years – for the player’s registration.

However, the two clubs then agreed a co-ownership deal which will see Cesena pay €3m to the Old Lady – again over the course of three years.

Spurs Close In On Falque

Tottenham are close to signing Juventus midfielder Iago Falque.

The 21-year-old Spaniard is reported to have flown in to London for a medical and could complete a season-long loan in the next 24 hours.

Falque started his professional career at Barcelona before moving to Juventus, where he has been loaned out to Bari and Villarreal B over the last two seasons.

"Iago loves big challenges and this with Spurs is very important," the player's agent and father Iago Falque Snr is quoted as saying on skysports.com.

"It will be hard, but he will fight for his place."

Falque, a Spain Under-21 international, is poised to be the third youngster to arrive at White Hart Lane this summer following the signings of former Barcelona player Cristian Ceballos and 16-year-old Souleymane Coulibaly from Siena.

Spurs are short of options in midfield thanks to injuries to the likes of Sandro, Steven Pienaar and unsettled star Luka Modric.

Arsenal Edge Closer To Signing Long-Term Serie A Midfield Target

Arsenal look set to swoop for Fiorentina's Riccardo Montolivo after a falling out with his employers and declining the offer of a new contract at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.

The Italy international has been a target for Arsenal for some time with Arsene Wenger having enquired about his availability in the past only to be quoted prices that were previously out of his price range. Now with £60m of transfer fees collected through the sales of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri money is less of an issue - as is the fact that he has just one year remaining on his contract - and Wenger will be buoyed by comments emanating from the Serie A club.

"Montolivo doesnt believe in the Fiorentina project," Fiorentina sporting director Pantaleo Corvino told reporters. "As a result, the player will be sold abroad."

Wenger has been understandably coy regarding his transfer targets largely so as not to inflate the asking price but also because their participation in this season's Champions League was not assured until their 2-1 victory over Udinese on Wednesday night. In fact, 'Le Professeur' had sought to play down any approach for either the 26-year-old or Lazio's Mauro Zarate though fell short of ruling out an approach.

"Zarate and Montolivo? No, there is absolutely nothing from us," the Arsenal manager said at the press-conference prior to the second leg of their Champions League playoff.

"But even if we were interested, I would not say."

Judging by that last line, expect a bid for the player sooner rather than later.

Chelsea Make Swap Offer For Liverpool’s Raul Meireles

Chelsea have made a counter-offer to Liverpool’s bid to swap striker Daniel Sturridge for midfielder Raul Meireles, by offering Salomon Kalou instead.

Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas is keen to be reunited with Meireles after they worked together at FC Porto.

AVB sees the 28-year-old as a younger alternative to Frank Lampard and hopes the Portuguese international can add more creativity and direction to Chelsea’s midfield.

Liverpool were willing to let him go to one of their rivals as long as hot-prospect Sturridge came in the opposite direction.

But Villas-Boas has been impressed by the 21-year-old and will include him in his first-team plans this season.

The Chelsea manager will instead offer Ivory Coast international Kalou instead who has fallen out of favour after a string of indifferent displays in pre-season and in the opening fixtures of the Premier League.

Reds fans do not want to see Meireles go as he was voted PFA Fans Player of the Year last season, but manager Kenny Dalglish needs to offload before he can enter into the market again.

The Scot has spent money strengthening his midfield but still wants a centre-half and a striker to complete his activity for the summer.

He has been linked with moves for Kevin Doyle and Craig Bellamy but it is unclear how excited he is about the prospect of taking Kalou.

Arsenal To Battle Inter Milan Over Transfer Of Argentina Hitman

Arsenal will face competition for the signature of Mauro Zarate from Inter Milan should Lazio decide to cash in on their man.

The Gunners have been tracking the 24-year-old ever since he spent four-months on loan at Birmingahm City in 2008. The Argentine ace impressed in the Premier League but Arsenal did not follow up on their initial interest.

Now they are looking to add the player to their ranks with Lazio willing to sell should a club match their £20m asking price though they have been delayed in making an offer due to the ongoing transfer sagas surrounding Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, both of which have now been concluded. However, they may see their move hijacked by Inter Milan are keen for him to replace the departed Samuel Eto'o according to his agent Giuseppe Bozzo.

"Zarate is no ordinary player," Bozzo is quoted as saying by Sport Italia. "He's an important one for [Lazio] president Claudio Lotito and the fans. Mauro is very attached to the Lazio shirt and he'll remain if no side demonstrates a concrete interest in his services.

"Now Inter have shown an interest in him and a decision will be taken calmly. The Inter offer was made to me and not Lotito. It's an option that could transform into a negotiation. However, it is obvious that the two clubs would have to sit down and talk about it."

Having qualified for the group stages 0f the Champions League, Arsenal's hand will have been strengthened. However, they will have to move quickly if they are to get their man.

Alberto Aquilani Completes Loan Move To AC Milan

Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani will return to Italy with AC Milan for the rest of the season after agreeing a loan move to the San Siro.

The former Roma player moved to Anfield in 2009 but struggled to make an impact in the Barclays Premier League and was allowed to spend the 2010/11 campaign back in Serie A with Juventus.

Now Milan have moved for the 27-year-old Italy international, with the deal only now hinging on the outcome of a medical.

Liverpool announced on their official website that an option has been negotiated to make the move permanent in the future.

Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli said: "I want to pay tribute to the way Alberto has conducted himself during these discussions.

"Throughout the entire process, his only desire has been to play football and he has put this ahead of any other considerations and at personal cost to himself. We wish him well for the season ahead."

Spurs Sign Emmanuel Adebayor On Loan

Tottenham Hotspur have announced the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor on a season-long loan.

The Togolese international has scored 81 goals in 186 appearances for both Arsenal and Manchester City since he arrived in the Premier League from French side Monaco.

Spurs fans will also, not too fondly, remember that Adebayor was on loan at Real Madrid for the second-half last season.

The six foot three forward scored twice against Tottenham at the Bernabeu when Los Blancos beat them 4-0 on the night in the Champions League quarter-final.

Arsenal's Vito Mannone May Head To Chievo On Loan

Arsenal are discussing a loan move with Italian side Chievo for goalkeeper Vito Mannone, according to Talksport.

Chievo are looking for a keeper this summer, and with Mannone allowed to head out on loan, the club are hoping that a season long deal can be arranged.

Arsenal already have Wojciech Szczesny in the starting position as goalkeeper, and the London club are happy to let Mannone to continue being loaned away from the Gunners.

Mannone is only 23-years-old, and Arsenal reportedly see the youngster as a future European talent. But the club want to allow him to get as much game experience as possible, and see him being in the Serie A as good preparation for European football.

Mannone spent the last season on loan from Arsenal at Hull, but only made 10 appearances for the npower Championship side.

Newcastle Raid Eredivisie For Defender Transfer

Newcastle United have agreed a deal with PSV Eindhoven to sign left back Erik Pieters, according to the player's agent.

"Newcastle's interest is very serious and Erik finds the club a real challenge," said Piet van der Pol to the Dutch press.

"I don't know the exact numbers of Newcastle's offer, but I'm pretty sure that the transfer will go ahead."

Pieters will be a direct replacement for Jose Enrique, who moved to Liverpool earlier in the summer, and will become part of a radically reshuffled squad at St James' Park.

Keirrison Joins Cruzeiro From Barcelona

Barcelona striker Keirrison has been loaned to Cruzeiro - his fifth loan adventure since joining the Catalan club in 2009.

The 22-year-old has failed to make his mark anywhere since moving from Palmeiras to Spain and will be hoping this latest venture to Belo Horizonte proves more successful.

Before moving to Spain, Keirrison was one of the most sought after players in Brazil as he topped the Campeonato scoring charts in 2008 and averaged over a goal every two games for Coritiba.

However, he was loaned out to Benfica and then Fiorentina - both unsuccessful spells - before returning home to Brazil to join Santos.

Even a return to his native country did not help, however, and he will now be hoping to rediscover his goal-scoring form with Cruzeiro.

He has until the end of 2011 to prove himself in Belo Horizonte and he will hope to have impressed both Barcelona and other potential suitors by that time.

Roma Sign Osvaldo for €15m

Roma have completed their signing of Pablo Daniel Osvaldo from Espanyol for €15m plus performance-related bonuses.

The Italian striker of Argentine descent touched down in Rome today and will be in the stands for tonight’s Europa League game against Slovan Bratislava.

He underwent his medical and the Giallorossi released a statement confirming “a contract has been signed with Espanyol for the permanent acquisition of Pablo Daniel Osvaldo.”

The announcement revealed €15m will be paid over three years, plus a series of performance-related bonuses.

Espanyol will receive €1m if Roma qualify for the Champions League in one of the seasons from 2011-12 to 2015-16.

A further €0.25m for every 25 appearances in official games for a maximum of €1m, plus €0.25m for every 10 goals scored for a maximum of €0.5m.

Osvaldo has signed a four-year contract with Roma worth €3.6m for the first season, working up to €4.47m in 2015-16.