The festival has begun!

                       The monsoon in India is setting its pace across the lengths and breadths of the subcontinent and to add more flavor and spice, the football season in Europe has begun with a big bang. This transfer season was not really that great compared to last one though teams such as Manchester City (big clowns) and Real Madrid have made a few key signings. To me the biggest signing of this season would be Silva, Balotelli and Yaya Toure for City, as these three players are very well versatile and cover multiple positions on the field. The same with Real Madrid where they have signed Angel Di Maria (the next Robben), Ozil and Khedira (another unwanted signing at this stage) and this has given multiple options for Jose. The only concern here is again City and Real will have the same problem of a very strong set of players trying to come in. Chelsea too showed their strength by signing Ramires who is likely to play in a sweeper position and has come in as a good replacement for Ballack. Maroune Chamakh also looks a very good potential striker with his physical presence and his pace will likely provide the much needed options for Wenger. Roy Hodgson did have the last laugh by singing Joe Cole for no costs at all, but it remains to be seen how this underrated/overrated midfielder will support Gerrard and Torres in their quench for the title and Champions League spot. I only hope Mascherano and Aquilani are fit enough through out the season and Mashcerano does not leave Liverpool for Inter. Barca signed Villa who once again proved how good he is playing on the left of the midfield and also upfront as the only striker for Spain and this will surely be a wonderful addition to the already star studded Barca squad. I just cannot wait for the new season to begin in Spain as even clubs such as Villareal, Sevilla and Athletico Madrid look very strong and are likely to push Real and Barca upfront.

                      In Italy, things looked a bit calm and Milan is yet to recover from the global recession and have not really showed their force in this transfer window. Galliani would be hoping for his players such as Pato, Ambrosini, Pirlo, Nesta and Zambrotta to be fit through out the season. He would also definitely hope that one day or the other Ronaldinho captures his pace and prowess which he exhibited in Barca and Paris Saint Germain. Inter would have been happy to load Balotelli off and Moratti would be definitely looking to sign more youngsters for the future as already a team with a system is in place for the next 2-3 seasons. Roma have signed Adriano and I only hope is that he gets connected with Totti and De Rossi to form a good partnership for getting back the Scudetto. I hope Felipe Melo shows the same prowess and flair for Juventus as he did for Brazil and it is time Amauri finds the back of the net. A new Italian coach, a new formation with Balotelli, Amauri and Cassano upfront looks promising for the country as a whole.

                        I just cannot wait for the Champions League to begin as this is going to be one of the most interesting and fiercely competed leagues ever in its history of the game. I would have been very happy to see Kaka come in to Chelsea but that never happened. For Chelsea to challenge the Champions league, they definitely need a player who is as versatile as Kaka. Look at all the teams around and with players such as Messi, Sneidjer, Ronaldo (when at old Trafford) looked better and won it all. I won’t be surprised at all if Real make the last four in the highly coveted crown as I am sure, Jose will put a very good formation in place with Ronaldo and Kaka at the helm. The festival has begun and all is well.