TIRED OF ENDLESS transfer speculation? Never fear, the end – 1 September – is in sight.

Luka Modric will demand a pay rise in order to stay with Tottenham – not that his desire to leave the club was anything to do with money in the first place of course.

Newcastle have given Joey Barton permission to speak with QPR according to reports – not that everybody’s favourite rebel would have needed permission anyway.

QPR also want Tottenham’s dormant midfielder, Jermaine Jenas, for £2million, or on loan, depending on who you believe.

Meanwhile, Juan Mata has revealed he rejected Tottenham in order to sign for Chelsea. And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out why.

Spurs, on the other hand, must be content with signing players who have points to prove.

Roberto Mancini will add yet another player to his increasingly expensive squad if reports are to be believed, with Roma’s Daniele De Rossi their apparent target.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has begrudgingly accepted that Samir Nasri did what most modern players would do in his situation and leave Arsenal for Man City. Wenger, ever the idealist, still admitted to being saddened by his actions.

Finally, Liverpool fans were less than pleased with Andy Carroll yesterday, after he was seen outside Man City’s training ground. However, thankfully for them, the event proved to be a false alarm.

Ill-advised prospective deal of the day: Sunderland will move for Roque Santa Cruz, which is risky, given how the player failed to score at all while on loan at Blackburn last year.

Advised prospective deal of the day: Arsenal will apparently swoop for Phil Jagielka and Mikel Arteta imminently. And it’s about bloody time too.