TRANSFER BATTLES: Navas, Varela, Fabregas, Rooney, Ronaldo, Varane, Ambrossini, Bent, Alcantarra, Guarin, Courtois, Andre Villas- Boas, Pellegrini

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Spain winger Jesus Navas from Sevilla.

It is understood the 27-year-old World Cup-winner has signed a four-year contract after City agreed to pay the Spanish club an initial £14.9million. The deal had been expected since Sevilla announced they had sanctioned Navas' sale to the Barclays Premier League outfit last week.



Navas told the club's website, mcfc.co.uk: "Manchester City is an exciting project and this is the right moment for me to take this step. I'm very happy with the opportunity and the decision.

'The Premier League is a competition where the football is very fast and will suit the way I play. I'm really looking forward to it.

'I'm going to a great club in England and I want to continue developing my game there.

'The club has put a lot of faith in me and I want to repay them out on the pitch.'



Guillermo Varela has been unveiled as David Moyes' first signing as Manchester United manager. The deal to sign the 20-year-old Uruguay Under 20 full back from Penarol was confirmed last week and he arrived in Manchester to put to pen to paper on a five-year contract on Tuesday.



Varela spent time on trial at Old Trafford in the final weeks of last season and did enough to convince the club to pay Penarol around £1million for his services.

'I’m very pleased to be a part of this club, one of the best teams in the world,' Varela told United's official website. As everyone in the world knows, this is a huge club that has won everything and I really hope that continues.'

He added: 'I’m very lucky there are quite a few Spanish speakers here. It will certainly help me settle in.'



Fabregas who has been a Subject of a move away from Barcelona after 2 roller coaster seasons since his move from Arsenal, has publicly re-iterated his desire to remain with his boyhood club.



'It has taken a lot for me to get where I am, and I am not thinking about throwing it all away for nothing,' he told radio station Onda Cero.

'If Barcelona said that they didn't want me, that would be another thing - but what I truly want is to triumph at Barcelona. That's been my dream since I was a kid.

'The way in which some people always invent things is fascinating.'



Jose Mourinho’s attempts to unsettle Wayne Rooney will be frustrated by Manchester United’s policy of refusing to sell top players to Barclays Premier League rivals.

New Chelsea manager Mourinho risked the wrath of his Old Trafford counterpart David Moyes this week by telling his first press gathering on his return to Stamford Bridge that Rooney should ask himself what it is that makes him happy.

Any official interest from the London club in the 27-year-old will be met with a polite ‘no’ from Moyes and new United chief executive Ed Woodward.

United have long since had a simple policy in place that stops them selling top players to rivals in England. If players insist on leaving – as David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo did – then they will only be sold to the continent.



Monaco have already made some big splashes in the transfer market this summer but a monster move for Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo could top the lot.

Radamel Falcao, from Atletico Madrid, and Porto duo James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho have already been signed by the Ligue 1 side for a combined £110m and, according to the Independent, the mega-rich principality have now begun a flirtation with Portuguese superstar Ronaldo.

The figures the paper quotes are simply staggering – they say Monaco would be willing to pay a world record transfer fee of £85m for Ronaldo and offer him a mind-boggling wage of €20m-a-year (£17m) which is made all the more attractive for the player due to Monaco's tax haven status.



Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has reportedly turned down recent advances from Barcelona over a proposed move this summer.

The Frenchman enjoyed a strong second half to the season at the Santiago Bernabeu, earning rave reviews and reportedly attracting the interest once more of Manchester United.

TV3 say that Barca had also taken note and alongside the English were prepared to pay up his €30m (£25.5m) buyout clause.

However, in contacting the player’s agents recently, the Catalans were reportedly turned down.

The 20-year-old, whose form since January earned him his first caps with the France national side, apparently turned down the advance from Madrid’s rivals, out of a determination to ‘repay the confidence’ Los Blancos have demonstrated in him.



Massimo Ambrosini is leaving Milan and his agent confirms he’ll probably join West Ham. The 36-year-old captain will not be renewing the contract that expires at the end of this month, as confirmed by Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani yesterday evening.

“Obviously Massimo wants to continue playing,” agent Moreno Roggi told Calciomercato.it.

“There are some negotiations in place and we are evaluating every type of proposal. His preference would be overseas clubs, but if an offer did come in from an Italian side, we would not ignore it completely.

“At this moment we are in talks with West Ham, while we have already ruled out Major League Soccer.”

Roggi also spoke to TuttoMercatoWeb and pointed out Galliani’s announcement was no surprise.

“We already knew. If Milan had wanted to renew his contract, they would’ve done it a long time ago.”



Newcastle United have shown an interest in Aston Villa's out-of-favour striker Darren Bent.

The Magpies are understood to be keen to take the England striker to the north-east in a cut-price move that will test the forward's desire to remain in the Premier League. A fee of around £6m will be sufficient to secure the services of the 29-year-old forward who has played a bit-part at Villa Park under Paul Lambert.

But Bent's £70,000-a-week deal could prove a stumbling block to the deal progressing as Mike Ashley is reluctant to overpay.



That means the former Spurs striker may have to strike a deal if he is to remain on the frontline of English football. Bent has endured a miserable time at Villa since Lambert's arrival and although as a former Sunderland player he will be starting under pressure, he would back himself to grab goals.

Villa have not received any formal notification yet from St James's Park but are understood to have been sounded out about a potential move for a striker whose future has been clouded in further doubt by the arrival of Denmark international Nicklas Helenius.



Manchester United have reportedly stepped up their pursuit of Barcelona’s Thiago Alcantara ahead of preparing to make an offer. The midfielder has attracted attention this summer in light of a clause in his contract reportedly dropping his buyout clause at Barca from its usual €90m (£76.5m) rate down to €18m (£15.3m).

A clause activated due to the player not appearing in a certain percentage of games otherwise eligible for last term, Thiago is reportedly the subject of interest from both United and their rivals Manchester City, whilst rumours last week also suggested an approach from Real Madrid.



It is United that the English media believe today are advancing through, with the Daily Mirror reporting that David Moyes’ side have approached Thiago’s camp over a possible move and had a positive response back from his father, 1994 World Cup winner Mazinho.

Moyes is described as having progressed ‘behind the scenes’ in looking to secure the Spain Under-21 regular, and an offer to both the player and his club is anticipated soon.



It’s rumoured Inter turned down a €20m Tottenham offer for creative midfielder Fredy Guarin.

Sky Sport Italia ran the story with transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio making the claim.

Spurs have long shown an interest in Guarin and Alvaro Pereira, both specific targets for manager Andre Villas-Boas. According to this report, Tottenham raised their proposal to €20m – around £17m – but the Nerazzurri rejected it.

However, the same sources suggest Inter hope to spark a bidding war and are prepared to listen to higher offers. Colombian international Guarin turns 27 on June 30 and only joined Inter from Porto in January 2012.

He arrived on loan for €1.5m (£1.2m) and in May 2012 the club took up its option to make the move permanent for a further €11m (£9.3m).



Thibaut Courtois has revealed that he had to convince Jose Mourinho against keeping him at Chelsea for next season. The Belgian indicated over the weekend that Atletico Madrid will have him for a third consecutive year on loan from the London side.

Whilst no official announcement has come, the 21-year-old has reflected further on the deal and revealed his discussion with former Real Madrid and now returned Chelsea boss Mourinho.

“If it were up to him, he would have had me already for next season,” Courtois told Nieuwsblad today.

“I told him that this is a very important year for me. I want to remain as the first choice ‘keeper for Belgium in a year where we can go to the World Cup in Brazil.



“To do this I have to keep playing in a team at a high level because the competition for the national team is very hard. Chelsea have Petr Cech, who is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Mourinho would prefer to have all of his best goalkeepers with him. He would have liked that Petr and I were under his command next season at Chelsea and it is logical, but he has also understood my position.

“During the season we will see where my future is after this year, but that is still far away. Someday I would like to work with Mourinho, it was my desire when I signed for Chelsea a few years ago.”



Paris Saint-Germain want Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas to replace Carlo Ancelotti as their new boss. AVB has emerged as the prime candidate after a series of discussions between PSG president Nasser El-Khelaifi and his advisers.

The 35-year-old Spurs coach earned recognition last season for the way he rebuilt his reputation after an ill-fated spell at Chelsea.

The Portuguese, who is still the youngest coach to win an European title from his time at Porto, has been mentioned at Real Madrid and Napoli as they sifted through contenders for their own management positions.

Incoming Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has held a strategy meeting with sporting director Txiki Begiristain and chief executive Ferran Soriano before he has even been unveiled.

City hope to announce Pellegrini as manager today or tomorrow after agreeing terms with the former Malaga and Villarreal coach.