Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted he was close to signing Christiano Ronaldo prior to the wing wizards move to Manchester United. It appears that United's relationship with Sporting Lisbon (Ronaldo's club at the time) was the primary reason why Ronaldo joined them and not Arsenal. Since Ronaldo's move, Utd have signed winger Nani from Sporting, suggesting Wenger's revelations about the relationship between the two clubs could be true.

The undoubtedly talented, yet highly injury prone, England International defender Jonathan Woodgate has joined Tottenham from Middlesbrough. Woodgate turned down the chance to re join Newcastle to move link up with Juande Ramos at Spurs. Ramos who would be familiar with Woodgate from his time in Spain with Real Madrid now has a host of talented English defenders at his disposal, with Woodgate likely to be partnered by either Michael Dawson, or when fit, club captain Ledley King.

As well as Woodgate, Spurs continued their recent trend of signing young British talent by snapping up Glasgow Rangers full back Alan Hutton. The Scottish International was strongly linked with Manchester United but Ended up joining Spurs. With Spurs record of signing young British talent it really is no surprise Hutton has joined, in recent seasons Spurs have snapped up several young British stars - Jermaine Jenas, Gareth Bale, Tom Huddlestone, Aaron Lennon, Michael Dawson, Darren Bent, Wayne Routledge and Jermaine Defoe, just to name a few.

On the subject of Routledge and Defoe, both have left Spurs in January. Defoe has moved to Portsmouth, initially on loan, with a view to a £9m deal while Routledge has joined another, 'pro british' club in Aston Villa for £1.5m. Ironically Aston Villa were linked with signing a midfielder from Spurs for weeks, however the player in question wasn't Routledge, it was young German star Kevin Prince Boateng. They are expected to renew their interest in the Summer.

One non British players Spurs have captured is Brazilian international Gilbero. The 30 year old has played second fiddle to Roberto Carlos for most of his Inernational career, however at just under £2m could prove to be an absolute snip and joins a defensive squad over saturated with talent.

Two players who will be remaining at Spurs, for the time being at least, are French defenders Pascal Chimbonda and Younas Kaboul. Chimbonda was heavily linked to Newcastle during January but like Kaboul will have to wait until the summer for his escape route.

Portsmouth striker Benjani appears to be moving to Manchester City to finance Pompys move for Defoe. The move is a surprise considering Benjani has notched 12 goals for Portsmouth this season and has been there first choice striker in front of Kanu, Utaka and David Nugent. Somehow this deal will be sanctioned by the Premier League despite Manchester City missing the 12 midnight deadline on January 31st.

The African Cup of Nations is proving to be a very exciting tournament. There have been several screaming goals. At the time of writing Ivory Coast look like favorites to win, however hosts Ghana will have something to say about that, especially infront of their home faithful. In the Toure brothers, Drogba, Kalou, Kone and Dindane, the Ivorians certainly have the best squad in the tournament, however they will need to get past the Egyptians in the semi's. Egypt currently hold the trophy after defeating the Ivorians in the final two years ago.. Ghana are very reliant on the form of Michael Essian and Sulley Muntari, but in League One striker Junior Agogo will they have enough firepower to win the thing?

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