TRIPLE UPDATE -  The French wide player has returned to full training today and could be back for Juergen Klinsmann’s Champions League Match Day 2 selection with Bayern Munich facing Olympique Lyonnais.

DOUBLE UPDATE - Ribery has been scheduled to have the screw(s) removed from the initial surgery on Friday with hopes that he will be fit for action sometime in September.

UPDATE - Bayern Munich Chairman Karl-Heinze Rumminegge has stated that Ribery’s surgery in Basel, Switzerland was a success and the torn ligament in his left ankle have been repaired.

Every Munich player involved with the 2008 Euros will have at least three weeks off at the end and with Ribery’s eight week recovery period, you’d have to say it will be a welcome rest that will allow him to shut down and get his body back after an extremely long season.

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UPDATE - What does it say about Sir Alex that he lets one of his defenders that could play center-back and left-back head over to The Voyeur and Arsenal, one of Manchester United’s biggest rivals?

Better yet, what does that say about the Mikael Silvestre or The Voyeur’s faith in William Gallas?

Mikael Silvestre had looked set to join either Man City or Sunderland, but now The Voyeur has stepped in and is looking to bring his fellow Frenchmen to The Emirates. Looks like Arsenal will offer Manchester United somewhere in the range of £750,000 for his services. Craziest thing about this potential move? In the 12 years since Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal, he and Sir Alex have never traded any players.

[Via Daily Mail]

UPDATE - With the Berbatov to United rumors comes the Frederic Kanoute to Tottenham talk.

Yes, that Kanoute, the one who fell out of favor with then head coach David Pleat after heading out to the African Nations Cup with Mali. Kanoute scored 14 goals for Spurs in 60 matches only three years ago before moving to Sevilla and La Liga for 6.5 Million Pound, and finding the back of the net 43 times in 94 matches.

The move would once again link up Kanoute with former Sevilla head coach Juande Ramos.

Right at the beginning of the 2008 Summer Transfer Window, all signs were pointing to Tottenham Hotspur forward Dimitar Berbatov making a big money move to Manchester United. That was before the Tottenham brass reported Sir Alex and his staff to the Football Association over their pursuit of the Bulgarian.

After last weekends Community Shield win over Portsmouth, Sir Alex said he hoped to have a new “attacking” player signed within the next week and he might finally be close to landing his man.

With Zenit and Russian striker Andrei Arshavin’s price tag still considerably high, Spurs head coach Juande Ramos might use the sale of Berbatov to Manchester United (reported to be around 28 Million Pound) as the funding needed to pool together just a bit more cash, along with the money from the sale of Robbie Keane to Liverpool.

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Looks like the Dimitar Berbatov saga might be wrapping up with the striker on the verge of a £28m move to Manchester United. As with damn near every other transfer this summer, this one has been dragged out way longer than it should. With the season kicking off this weekend, and Manchester United taking their official team photos this Friday, look for this one to be wrapped up very, very soon.

[Via The Guardian]

With the signing of Robinho looking pretty likely for Chelsea, there are rumblings that Joe Cole could be headed to Liverpool. That would be quite the switcheroo. Not sure if this one will happen or not, but if Robinho does end up at Chelsea, I could see a move like this very likely for Joe Cole.

While his career almost began with Manchester United until a work permit was denied, Nery Castillo’s career has seen him take the path less travelled.

Castillo started his professional career at the age of 16 with  Olympiacos in Greece, scoring 30 times in over 100 appearances. But around this time, things started to get a bit interesting.

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Sir Alex is saying the Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid saga is all over, but Spanish paper Marca is reporting that Ronaldo is not going to report to Manchester at the end of the week as he is required to do.

Remember when I was just saying?

This is so far from being over in my opinion, especially when Madrid is saying that van der Vaart is their last and only major signing of the summer.

image via Starpulse

And they also acquire his wife WAG Sylvie in the same deal.   Bet we won’t hear her complaining about leaving Germany for Madrid.

DOUBLE UPDATE - Done deal as Real Madrid are set to announce van der Vaart Tuesday morning.

UPDATE - If Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon has his way, van der Vaart will be presented to the Galactico faithful by next week.

It’s believed that Madrid upped it’s original offer to the 10 Million Euro mark and with the teams set to meet in the Emirates Pre-Season Tournament this weekend, Bernd Schuster might very well get his man.

When a player either is within the last six months of his contract OR has a clause in his contract that stipulates that he can move to any club in the world he so chooses for only 1 Million Euro in 12 months, as the Chairman when do you pull the trigger and take as much as you can get?

Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart scored 21 goals in 44 matches last season while leading Hamburg SV to 4th place in the 2007/08 Bundesliga and reaching the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup competition as the teams Captain.

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