Tottenham have made a £4m bid for Fulham's Portugal striker Luis Boa Morte. (Daily Mirror)
 
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez says he hopes to lure Real Madrid winger Luis Figo to Anfield with a £60,000-a-week contract offer. (Daily Mirror)
 
Furious England skipper David Beckham tried to break into the opposition dressing room to get at a player who spat at him during Real Madrid's 3-0 defeat to Tokoyo Verdy in Japan. (Various)
 
Arsenal's Thierry Henry admits he is shocked that midfielder Patrick Vieira has left Highbury but insists the glory days are not over for the Gunners. (The Sun)
 
Staying at Highbury, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has rubbished reports that he is chasing the signatures of Edgar Davids or Olivier Dacourt (The Sun) but he is close to capturing Brazilian forward Julio Baptista after tabling a club record £17-£18m for the Sevilla player. (Various)
 
However, the Guardian reports that Baptista would prefer a move to Barcelona or Real Madrid.
 
Aston Villa striker Darius Vassell should complete his £2.5m switch to Manchester City on Tuesday (Various), while Villa have stepped up their efforts to land Liverpool's Milan Baros. (The Sun)
 
Mystery buyers have lodged a £20m bid for Newcastle president Sir John Hall's 28.5% stake in the club. (Various)
 
Meanwhile, former Magpies midfielder Lee Clarke has begun training with the club again in a bid to earn a new monthly contract at St James' Park. (Daily Express)
 
Newcastle boss Graeme Souness has been accused of unsettling Fenerbahce striker Nicolas Anelka by making a £4.5m bid for the Frenchman. (Daily Mirror)
 
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says he is grooming Alan Smith to become skipper Roy Keane's long-term replacement in deep midfield (Daily Mirror, The Times) and is ready to sell utility man Phil Neville to make way for fresh blood. (Daily Mail)
 
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has flown home from the Blues summer tour of America in a bid to wrap up the deal for Lyon midfielder Michael Essien. (Daily Express)
 
But Kenyon is facing a rap from the Premier League for branding Arsenal and Manchester United "hypocrites" for criticising Chelsea's transfer policy. (Daily Express)
 
Everton insist midfielder Tim Cahill is staying put, despite the fact the Australian has rejected the club's offer of a new contract (Daily Express, Daily Telegraph) but the player is likely to leave Goodison, according to the Daily Mail.
 
Wigan boss Paul Jewell reveals Chelsea rejected his £10m bid for midfielder Scott Parker, who has since joined Newcastle for £6.5m. (Daily Express)
 
But the Latics are poised to capture former Liverpool defender Stephane Henchoz (Daily Mirror, The Independent)
 
Southampton's new technical director Sir Clive Woodward insists he has the full backing of Saints boss Harry Redknapp. (Various)
 
Middlesbrough are in talks with Rangers striker Peter Lovenkrands over a move to Teesside. (Daily Mirror)
 
Celtic plan to tour the Far East next summer after signing Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura from Reggina. (Daily Record)
 
Hearts new boy Edgaras Jankauskas hopes that his days of playing under current Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho at Porto will help make him a success at Tynecastle. (Daily Record)

Lost in transition
By Tim Vickery
 
At what point is a game of football won and lost?
 
Late last year a conference of coaches in Brazil was debating this very topic.
 
Former Scotland coach Andy Roxburgh, now on Uefa's technical staff, was attending the event.
 
He had recently discussed the subject with Jose Mourinho and he passed on the views of the Chelsea boss.
 
While many believe that set-pieces are the decisive factor in a game, for Mourinho the key to winning lies in transitions - the moment when possession changes hands from one side to another.
 
If the side winning the ball can quickly organise a counter-attack and if the side losing the ball are slow to re-organise their defence, then there is a good chance that the move will end in a clear goalscoring opportunity.
 
It was an idea enthusiastically picked up on at the conference.
 
It was stressed that the physical development of the game, with players covering more ground during the course of the match, has made space on the field much harder to come by.
 
The moment of transition, with the side losing the ball caught off-guard, is the point when space is most easily found.
 
Roxburgh brought the house down by pointing out that it was all a bit like the appearance of the sun in Scotland - so rare that you have to take advantage of it.
 
The conference, the first of its kind in Brazil, was set up by national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira.
 
With decades of profound knowledge of football theory, Parreira was already fully familiar with Mourinho's ideas.
 
He pointed out that when he was studying the game in the 1960s his physical education professor was arguing that the counter-attack was the future of football.
 
Even so, it could well be that the event late last year help turned a few keys in Parreira's mind. Since then he has changed the balance of the Brazil side.
 
And he has done so in a way that gives priority to cashing in on moments of transition.
 
Brazil were playing 4-3-1-2, until Parreira dropped a midfielder to include an extra striker.
 
The logic is plain; the object of the exercise is to outnumber the opposition in the most important zone of the field.
 
With Brazil seeking to get the ball down the field quicker there is less need for another midfielder, more need for another striker to provide an option to receive the early pass.
 
It also means that Brazil can use more of the devastating attacking resources at their disposal.
 
This change in the formation caused Brazil some problems while they tried to get the balance right and will probably continue to give the odd headache.
 
But on its day the new system has already shown its potency. Argentina coach Jose Pekerman would doubtless agree.
 
After Brazil beat his side 4-1 in the final of the Confederations Cup he lamented that "every time you lose the ball Brazil kill you.
 
"It's not like people think. They don't dominate you. They're a counter-attacking team.
 
"When our creative players try something and lose the ball three quarters of the way down the pitch, Brazil start a move which ends up in a goal because they switch from defence to attack with incredible speed."
 
In other words, the game was won and lost in the moments of transition.

Man Utd reject Kleberson offers
 
Manchester United have reportedly turned down two bids for out-of-favour Brazilian midfielder Kleberson.
 
Spanish side Celta Vigo and Turkish outfit Besiktas are believed to have had offers for the 26-year-old World Cup winner rejected.
 
Kleberson is thought to be available for transfer but United are keen to recoup as much of the £6m they paid Atletico Paranaense for his services.
 
Kleberson has made only 30 appearances in an injury-ravaged United career.
 
His chances of breaking into the first team were further hit when Sir Alex Ferguson bought midfielder Park Ji-Sung from PSV for £4m.