Transfer merry-go-round: United must go to market soon

Roque Santa Cruz has signed for big spending Manchester City (GETTY IMAGES)

Expect a rush of transfer activity this week. Contracts running out this year officially expire on Tuesday; managers are returning from holidays keen to finalise squads now that pre-season training is about to begin; and the summer's biggest deal, Cristiano Ronaldo's £80m move to Real Madrid, was formally completed on Friday. United, with cash to flash, do not want to leave their spending as late as last year, when they signed Dimitar Berbatov on deadline day (putting Carlos Tevez's nose out of joint, the little Argentinian now says). Tevez should progress further towards a move to Manchester City, giving United even greater incentive to go to market.

ASTON VILLA Sol Campbell (Portsmouth) ch.

BIRMINGHAM Bobo Baldé (Celtic) ch; Lee Bowyer (West Ham) mf; Matt Kilgallon (Sheffield United) ch; Ferne Snoyl (Waalwijk) mf; Patrick Vieira (Inter) mf. Signed: Roger Johnson (Cardiff) ch.

BLACKBURN Peter Crouch (Portsmouth) fw; Steven Fletcher (Hibernian) fw; André-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse) fw; Ahmed Al Muhammadi (ENNPI Cairo) fw; Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid) fw; Jéröme Rothen (PSG) mf. Signed: Gaël Givet (Marseille) ch.

BOLTON Ferrie Bodde (Swansea) mf; Kevin Doyle (Reading) fw.

BURNLEY Rabiu Afolabi (free agent) ch; Bobo Baldé (Celtic) ch; David Edgar (Newcastle) fb; Tyrone Mears (Derby) fb.

CHELSEA Jonjo Shelvey (Charlton) mf; Ross Turnbull (Middlesbrough) gk; Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow) mf.

EVERTON Alan Hutton (Tottenham) fb; Stéphane Mbia (Rennes) mf.

FULHAM Jozy Altidore (Villarreal) fw; Fernando Morientes (free agent) fw; Gary O'Neil (Middlesbrough) mf; Tuncay Sanli (Middlesbrough) fw; Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa) mf; Bolo Zenden (Marseille) mf.

HULL Marc-Antoine Fortuné (Nancy) fw; Scott McDonald (Celtic) fw.

LIVERPOOL Signed: Glen Johnson (Portsmouth) fb.

MANCHESTER CITY Maicon (Internazionale) fb; Carlos Tevez (Manchester United) fw; Matthew Upson (West Ham) ch. Signed: Roque Santa Cruz (Blackburn) fw.

MANCHESTER UNITED Karim Benzema (Lyon) fw; Douglas Costa (Gremio) mf; Antonio Valencia (Wigan) mf.

STOKE Dean Ashton (West Ham) fw; Obafemi Martins (Newcastle) fw; Michael Owen (Newcastle) fw; Alan Smith (Newcastle) mf.

SUNDERLAND Darren Bent (Tottenham) fw; Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham) mf; Peter Lovenkrands (Newcastle) fw.

TOTTENHAM Lee Cattermole (Wigan) mf; Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough) mf; Victor Obinna (Inter) fw.

WIGAN Matt Kilgallon (Sheffield United) ch; Nani (Manchester United) mf.

WOLVES Matt Kilgallon (Sheffield United) ch; Matthew Mills (Doncaster) ch; Tommy Smith (Watford) fw; Ronald Zubar (Marseille) mf.

Key: gk = goalkeeper; fb = full-back; ch = centre-half; mf = midfielder; fw = forward.