Top 5 Signings This Summer

Here are the 5 most talked about signings in football so far this summer.

5. Glen Johnson

Liverpool have signed England right-back Glen Johnson from Portsmouth for 18.5 million pounds. Johnson was also being linked with a move back to his old club Chelsea but he eventually chose to move to Anfield. Johnson is one of the best right-backs in the Premier League and is English and his arrival at the Merseyside certainly makes Liverpool a stronger candidate for next season's Premier League trophy.

4. Raul Albiol

Real Madrid and Valencia announced this Thursday that they have struck a deal over star defender Raul Albiol. The 23-year-old is one of the best young central defenders in Europe and has been a regular at the heart of the Valencia defence for the past four seasons. The fee has not been declared yet but it appears to be in the region of 15 million euros. Albiol was part of the Spanish national squad that won Euro 2008.

3. Diego

After a long and convoluted negotiation, Juventus finally managed to acquire the services of Brazilian international playmaker Diego from Werder Bremen for 24.5 million euros. The 24-year-old signed a five-year contract with the Turn club at the end of May and will now have Juve's game built around him. Diego has been a star at Bremen and is one of the most creative playmakers in Europe. With him Juventus can and will compete for Serie A as well as Champions League honours.

2. Kaka
Brazilian international playmaker Kaka had long insisted that he loves AC Milan and that he would play for them forever but this summer the 27-year-old eventually signed for Spanish giants Real Madrid. Milan are going through some tough economic times and were forced to listen to Madrid's offer and accepted it too. The transfer fee paid was just over 67 million euros, making Kaka officially the third most expensive player ever.

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Earlier this month reigning English champions Manchester United announced on their website that they have accepted Real Madrid's record breaking 80 million pound bid for their star player Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese has agreed to a six-year contract at the Bernabeu and will be officially unveiled as the new Galactico on July 6. This is the biggest transfer fee ever paid for any player in the world of football and outstretches the transfer fee paid by Real Madrid to Juventus to sign Zinedine Zidane in the summer of 2001 by a country mile.

Subhankar Mondal