Most Manchester United fans will not have been excited when they heard of the club’s plans to sign Michael Owen. The experienced England striker certainly did not fit the usual profile of Alex Ferguson’s signings, at too old and far too injury-prone.

But could Owen prove to be another one of Ferguson’s transfer masterstrokes to rank alongside the likes of Eric Cantona and Henrik Larsson?

The departures of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have left United very short of attacking options, leaving Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov as the only experienced forwards at Old Trafford.

Danny Wellbeck and Federico Macheda are promising players but surely not ready to play regularly at the highest level. So why not bring in Owen to help their development, a player with 40 international goals and despite his recent injury problems, a good scoring record throughout his career even in a poor Newcastle side over the last four years?

Ferguson surely has nothing to lose. Owen cost nothing, is on a salary dependent on the number of games he plays and the number of goals he scores. He is desperate to play at next year’s World Cup and, after a few years in the wilderness, has everything to prove at the age of 29. He could barely disguise the grin on his face during interviews on Saturday.

Owen to Manchester United could be a disaster on both sides. But, equally, it could be a match made in heaven.

PHOTO: Michael Owen (L) leaves the Bridgewater hospital in Manchester after undergoing a medical before signing for United, July 3, 2009. REUTERS

On the face of it, replacing world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo with an injury-prone forward whose side just got relegated does not seem like a great bit of business.

The British media is certain that Michael Owen, a free agent after leaving Newcastle United, is on the verge of joining Manchester United if he passes a stringent medical.

Has Alex Ferguson gone mad? Far from it. Having banked 80 million pounds from the sale of Ronaldo to Real Madrid, he is poised to bring in one of English football’s most renowned goalscorers for free. And Owen is still under 30.

Even if Owen only ends up playing half a season, he will still be able to contribute and his England partnership with Wayne Rooney always looked promising.

However, United fans will hope Owen and Wigan’s Antonio Valencia will not be the only new recruits.

What do you reckon? An inspired signing or a gamble doomed to failure?

PHOTO: Newcastle United’s Michael Owen reacts during their FA Cup third round replay against Hull City, Jan. 14, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has interrupted his holidays to remind soccer fans what they have been missing in the month since the end of the season.

The outspoken Portuguese, whose side are favourites for a fifth straight scudetto this term, has far from mellowed while lying on the beach.

Here’s his latest amusing rant from the Gazzetta dello Sport about the discipline of different nationalities in soccer.

“The Brazilians are the most difficult and ill-disciplined. If you organise a meeting for 10, they don’t care if you let them enter or not. The English arrive at 9.55, the Italian, even if he comes at 10.01, arrives in a hurry and is fed up.

The Portuguese are there at 10 or 9.59. A Frenchman, who is always right, comes at 10 but thinks there was no actual reason to be punctual. Russians arrive at 10, not a minute before and not a minute after. They need to be guided.”

Looking at who he worked with at Chelsea and Inter, can you guess who he is referring to?

Roll on the new season…

Giorgi Megreladze - remember the name, it may well earn you some money in later life.

Why, I hear you ask. Well, the FC Olimpi forward has become the first man to score a goal in the newly revamped UEFA Europa League.

Yes UEFA’s second tier competition is underway on the second day of July, with Wimbledon still being played, the British Open yet to tee-off and England and Australia still preparing for their Ashes series to start.

Formally known as the UEFA Cup, the competition has undergone a major overhaul in a bid to boost its appeal.

We’ll see about that. Extending the amount of teams competing and the number of matches played may prove counter-productive as fans are likely to demand quality not quantity, especially in a global economic downturn.

Still, I’m sure Megreladze is not bothered by that!

Now, who was the first man to score in the revamped Champions League in 1992?

STARTER FOR 10, NO CONFERRING: UEFA President Michel Platini attends the UEFA Executive committee meeting in Bordeaux, in September 26, 2008, when the new Europa League format was announced. REUTERS/Olivier Pon

Much like a homeowner who decided to hold out for a higher offer and now finds himself stuck in a credit crunch, negative equity nightmare, Premier League side Portsmouth have made a highly regrettable financial faux pas.

Amidst the crazy antics of the January transfer window, Portsmouth decided to reject a 3.5 million pounds bid for midfielder Sean Davis from rivals Bolton Wanderers. On Wednesday he joined Gary Megson’s side for free.

Liverpool losing Steve McManaman to Real Madrid for free in 1999 when he would have certainly commanded a big-money transfer in the two years leading up to his exit, springs to mind as another high profile example.

Let us know if you can think of any others.

France striker Karim Benzema is joining Real Madrid from Olympique Lyon, the Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday on their website.

The 21-year-old Benzema will become Real’s third major signing under returning president Florentino Perez after Brazil’s Kaka and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

When Perez was first in charge at the Bernabeu he set about signing one Galactico each close season. Now he is trying to buy them all in a month.

Where is he getting the money from during this global economic crisis? Furthermore, what damage is the spending spree doing to other clubs?

Manchester United were reportedly interested in Benzema to try to boost their forward line after Ronaldo’s departure.

We really are in unchartered territory here. Will Real still pursue Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery too?

Last time the Galactico plan did not actually bring trophies. A few defenders might help this time.

PHOTO: Olympique Lyon’s Karim Benzema reacts after their loss to Girondins Bordeaux in the French Ligue 1 soccer match at the Chaban Delmas stadium in Bordeaux, southwestern France, April 19, 2009. REUTERS/Olivier Pon

Ever since returning to Serie A following their demotion for match-fixing, Juventus have had a terrible run in the transfer market.

Third and second-placed finishes in their two years back in the top flight are largely thanks to players who stuck with Juve during their season in Serie B such as Alessandro Del Piero and Giorgio Chiellini.

In contrast, new recruits such as midfielders Tiago and Christian Poulsen have been frustrating at best while former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg lasted just a season before being shipped off to Olympiakos.

Juve have also tried to sell Poulsen and Tiago but both players have said they would rather stay.

Right back Zdenek Grygera has not convinced all the Juve faithful while striker Amauri had a good start to last term following a big move from Palermo but his form fizzled out towards the end of the campaign.

For this season Juve have re-signed Fabio Cannavaro from Real Madrid, a move which has angered fans who have not forgiven him for leaving the club following their demotion. (Cannavaro argues it was Juve’s economic decision to sell).

Brazilian playmaker Diego, who has arrived from Werder Bremen, obviously has the skill but supporters worry his style of play will not suit Juve’s traditional 4-4-2 formation and may upset the apple cart.

Juve’s bid for Udinese midfielder Gaetana D’Agostino looks to have failed and media reports say they are now targeting Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso having surprisingly opted to pursue Poulsen last year rather than the technically superior Spaniard.

Can they get it right this time and really challenge Inter Milan for the scudetto?

PHOTO: Juventus midfielder Christian Poulsen (R) fights for the ball with Inter Milan’s Luis Figo during their Italian Serie A match in Turin April 18, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

So, the Confederations Cup is over and much of the pessimistic handringing beforehand proved unfounded.

Despite some real logistical problems, the general verdict seems to be that the tournament was a success with enthusiastic and colourful crowds and some classy and unpredictable football, not least the United States’ shock semi-final defeat of Spain and a thrilling final where Brazil went 2-0 down to the Americans before storming back to win 3-2 and ensure the football world was not thrown off its axis.

Crucially, South Africa’s own team, Bafana Bafana, did a lot better than many of their own fans had expected. The side suffered a lot of bad press from their terrible pre-competition form — they did not even qualify for next year’s African Nations Cup finals — and Brazilian coach Joel Santana had been treated with scepticism by football writers and fans alike. Even Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the organising committee for next year’s World Cup, expressed concern over their form.

After a slow start, however, South Africa turned in a creditable, if not outstanding performance. They reached the semi-final and held eventual champions Brazil until the 88th minute when they went down to a scorching free kick by Daniel Alves. And in the third place final they pushed European champions Spain into extra time before finally losing 3-2, again to a freekick.

They badly need more strike power and it looks like Santana must make peace with English-based striker Benni McCarthy who was dropped from the team for his apparent lack of commitment. But their performance gave grounds for some optimism.

Bafana Bafana’s Confederations Cup performance was key to the 2010 World Cup because it will encourage local fan participation — a constant worry for the organisers, who expressed concern before this tournament about lack of home enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, there are continuing worries that even the cheapest World Cup tickets are still too expensive for working class South Africans and that they will be unwilling to pay in advance for entrance in a year’s time, something which goes directly against the entrenched local custom of buying tickets on match days.

World Cup matches attended predominantly by foreign fans and restrained, middle class South Africans would be a huge disappointment for the first World Cup held in Africa, where the unique local atmosphere was a major selling point.

That isn’t the only worry in considering what the Confederations Cup tells us about the likely success of next year’s much bigger global competition.

FIFA boss Sepp Blatter gave organisers 7.5 points out of 10 for the Confederations Cup but World Cup veterans said this was nothing to be complacent about, given his likely tendency to talk up the tournament. Even Blatter said South Africa had to do “a little bit more” and FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke was more direct, acknowledging problems with transport, security and accommodation capacity, which is still significantly below what will be required next year.

Security is a particularly sensitive issue, given South Africa’s frightening reputation for violent crime, so it was unfortunate that the Confederations Cup saw alleged thefts from both Egyptian and Brazilian teams, although some of the circumstances remain mirky.

More serious were security lapses in access to stadiums and other areas. Such failures must be cleared up in the time that remains if fans are to follow their teams without constantly looking over their shoulders.

So the Confederations Cup provided both encouragement and warnings. Okay so far, but much more to be done. The next 12 months may be both nerve racking and frenetic for the organisers but we are all still hoping for a reasonably trouble-free football extravaganza with the special atmosphere that only Africa can give it–including those pesky vuvuzela trumpets…

PHOTO: A South African fan at the June 28 Confederations Cup final REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

“U” is an interesting letter in German. One of the first things that springs to mind is “U-Boot” (submarine) and then there is the “U-Bahn” (underground train) as well as “U-Haft” (jail).

But after Germany’s U21 team won the European championship, thrashing England 4-0 in Sweden on Monday to give the country all three “U” titles (U17, U19 and U21), there’s another “U” word that comes to mind: “Ueber alles” — as in “Deutschland Ueber Alles”.

“U-nglaublich (unbelievable), U-nfassbar (unreal) and U-nwiderstehlich (irresistable),” wrote Germany’s best-selling daily Bild, clearly caught up in the U-fever.

In May, they beat the Netherlands in the final to win the U17 championship it hosted with a national televison audience watching. Last July, Germany won the U19 championship, beating Italy 3-1 in the final. And Monday’s win over England was watched by a record 8.2 million, making it by far the most popular TV show in Germany all week.

England came under heavy fire in their home media for their “pathetic capitulation”, as the Daily Mirror called it or for “suffering yet more agony at the hands of the Germans”.

The Guardian noted that “Goalkeeping blunders are not the sole preserve of the England senior team”.

But in Germany the U21 team were feted as conquering heroes. Stern.de breathlessly predicted this was the team that would win the 2014 World Cup.

“It was great the way they beat England down at first and then played them into the ground,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew, who was in Sweden for the final.

The German DFB (FA) claimed credit for the three titles, with DFB President Theo Zwanziger saying the “good structures” put into place in recent years and the “good work” done by DFB sporting director Matthias Sammer was the reason for the success.

The Bundesliga also took credit, saying they had trained the players. “What I’m especially pleased with is that all the players are from Bundesliga clubs,” said Bundesliga president Reinhard Rauball.

And the German clubs, predictably, said they were responsible with officials from Hertha Berlin and Mainz arguing their good training, investment and talent development programmes had made the difference.

But the big question U have to ask is: Does it all matter? Does winning any or even all of the “Under-” tournaments mean U will later win the Euros or the World Cup?

PHOTO: German players celebrate celebrating after beating England 4-0 in the U21 European Championship final in Malmo June 29, 2009. REUTERS/Bob Strong

The U.S. were 2-0 up at halftime and threatening another major shock before Brazil stormed back to win 3-2 and seal the Confederations Cup.

Goals by Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan had Brazil in big trouble but Luis Fabiano took his tournament tally to five in five games when he scored just after the restart and equalised in the 74th minute. Brazil captain Lucio completed the job when he rose superbly to head home an Elano corner six minutes from time.

The U.S. comfortably beat Spain in the semis and they were equally brilliant in the first half at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park. Some may allege Spain and Brazil were not playing as they would in the World Cup, but something has certainly changed in soccer’s world order following this competition. 

It is all set up nicely for the World Cup next year, especially as the South Africans have proved themselves worthy hosts after a fine Confederations Cup.

PHOTO: Brazil’s Kaka, Luis Fabiano and Gilberto Silva celebrate a goal of their teammate Lucio (L-R) against the U.S. during their Confederations Cup final soccer match in Johannesburg June 28, 2009.REUTERS/Dylan Martinez