Make no mistake about it, the next couple of months are going to become transfer bonkers. With that in mind, after the jump, you’ll find some of the biggest stories of the summer. Potentially.

1. Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona

Enthralling transfers

There’s all kinds of biblical talk about Prodigal Sons, but were the Barcelona boardroom to spend an afternoon actually reading the Gospel of Luke, they might notice that the Parable of The Prodigal Son doesn’t tell the story of a surplus-to-requirements footballer being sold to Arsenal by Barcelona.

In fact, if you want to get all biblical about it, there might be something to take from the commandment about not coveting thine neighbour’s man slave. Still, clumsy biblical references aside, this looks set to become the transfer story of the year.

A guinea says he’ll be lining up on the bench next to Krkic come the end of summer.

2. Fernando Torres to Chelsea

Enthralling transfers

Without wanting to bang this drum too loudly, for fear of overkill, The Spoiler has it on really rather high authority that the whole Torres-to-Chelsea stuff has been in the bag for some time – even since before he battled Rooney for the title of Biggest Disappointment of All Time at the World Cup.

Unless Roy Hodgson can deliver a speech of Churchillian proportions, he’ll be off.

3. Steven Gerrard to Real Madrid

Enthralling transfers

After the Chelsea soap opera of a few years ago, the Liverpool skipper might find the baying public feeling less venemous about another prospective move into the arms of Jose Mourinho.

The biggest difference being that back then he was a growing force, whereas now he’s dangerously close to becoming a spent one.

Confusing dinners of small plates of spicy sausage and a few garlic prawns on the side await the Gerrard family.

4. Ashley Cole to Real Madrid

Enthralling transfers

The rise in popularity of Cheryl Cole has proven to be inversely proportional to that of her estranged husband, Ashley. So much so, that in a week where she tugged gently on the nation’s heart strings by contracting Malaria, Ashley got booed at a wedding.

He will definitely want out, it’s more a case of whether anyone can match Chelsea’s massive asking price.

The best case scenario for the unpopular left back would be to make for a sixth or seventh choice nightclub snog for girls affiliated with Cristiano Ronaldo’s midweek sex entourage. It’s in the balance.

5. Mario Balotelli to Manchester City (or United)

Enthralling transfers

You’d assume that Balotelli would want out of Inter, after a season which found him having numerous stand up rows with his own fans, and even falling foul of Jose Mourinho, whose relationships with his players normally border on sensual love affairs.

Inter have said that he’s not for sale, but some coughing from the back of the room by a robed gentleman from Manchester could induce a very sudden rethink.

Nine quid says he goes to City.

6. Mesut Ozil to Arsenal

Enthralling transfers

For all that has been great and good about the Arsenal side in recent years, they have never quite replaced Dennis Bergkamp. Perhaps Mesut Ozil could be the new Dennis?

Arsenal would reportedly be willing to pay around £20million for the Werder Bremen man, which probably means that Man City will barge into the room with all of the grace of a man lugging the bloodied head of Osama Bin Laden, chuck £40million on the table, and boom “keep the change!”.

How Arsene will want him.

7. Ibrahimovic to Somewhere That Isn’t Barcelona

Enthralling transfers

No matter how good he believes himself to be, Ibrahimovic will presumably have watched Spain performing minus Torres at the World Cup, before it slowly dawned on him: Xavi, Iniesta, Pedro, Villa… hang on! They’re all in my team!

Now very much a square peg in a round hole, Barca will be keen to cash in on the rich man’s Peter Crouch — but where will he go?

Clue: Man City?

8. Javier Mascherano to Inter

Enthralling transfers

There is something rather puppy-like, loyal, and obedient about Javier Mascherano, to the point where you can almost imagine Rafa Benitez whistling, and Mascherano running to him. Or the pair of them playing “fetch”.

All of which makes it totally unsurprising that the whisper on the street is that Benitez will be reunited with the pick of the litter, and Hodgson will be left with a gaping hole in the middle of the park.

You know who could fill that, Roy – old Danny Murphy (who, BTW, has been spotted loitering around Anfield).

9. Vidic to Real Madrid

Enthralling transfers

When Vidic’s wife, who shares a name with the tennis star Ana Ivanovic, made some passing remark about how much she loathes everything about Manchester, the pair probably didn’t think that it would be repeatedly pulled out whenever talk turned to transfers.

Anyway, yes, in bullet point terms: she hates England, Spain is really nice, he’s great pals with Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho is feeling confident.

That tends to mean that it’s a done deal.

10. James Milner to Man City

Enthralling transfers

There’s always one astronomical transfer that blows everyone’s minds, and, in years to come, everyone might have forgotten that City payed a preposterous £24million for Joleon Lescott in 2009, because just a year later they short circuited and splashed out £90million on James Milner!

Decent though he is, be honest, he’s hardly Zinedine Zidane.

This post, written by Josh Burt, is republished with permission from The Spoiler. Go there often if you like soccer stuff.

Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to offer Dimitar Berbatov as part of deal to secure the signing of Werder Bremen playmaker Mesut Ozil. With the Bundesliga outfit reportedly ready to listen to offers for the German international starlet Man United are hoping the inclusion of the Bulgarian international would help sway them into accepting an offer from the Old Trafford side.

Berbatov’s success in Germany during his five seasons at Bayer Leverkusen may help persuade Bremen to consider an exchange deal and Ferguson seems more than able to allow the 29 year old to leave after two less than successful seasons at the club.

Ozil is yet to agree a new deal and with his current deal set to come to an end next summer Werder Bremen will not want to run the risk of losing the player for nothing and are instead ready to listen to offers for the 21 year old attacking midfielder who was a big success at the World Cup in South Africa.

Ferguson could well do with the addition of the creative midfielder as he looks to improve his squad. The former Schalke man is a great source of forward momentum and has an eye for goal as well as being a great provider. Last term he managed to net 11 goals as well as being the Bundesliga top assist maker.

The likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal and Bayern Munich have all been linked with a move for the youngster.

Germany’s Mesut Ozil showed just how talented he is during the 2010 World Cup, but his skills show wasn’t limited to just the matches. Apparently part of his pre-match warm-up included a bit of gum juggling, concluding with him kicking the candy back into his mouth. A pretty impressive little trick. And also kinda gross.

england-662×436.jpg”>BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa(AP) — Germany’s latest World Cup victory over England will be remembered not for any of the brilliant goals, but for the one that didn’t count.

Thomas Mueller scored twice in the second half Sunday and England had a goal not awarded by the referee in a 4-1 victory Sunday that put Germany into the World Cup quarterfinals.

The 20-year-old forward finished two quick German counterattacks within 3 minutes to sink England’s hopes of beating Germany at the World Cup for the first time since the 1966 final.

England was not helped by referee Jorge Larrionda waving play on even though Frank Lampard’s first-half shot landed well past the goal line after hitting the crossbar. Germany led 2-1 at the time.

“It was one of the most important things in the game,” England coach Fabio Capello said. “The goal was very important. We could have played a different style.

“We made some mistakes when they played the counterattack. The referee made bigger mistakes.”

Germany went up on goals by Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski before Matthew Upson pulled a goal back in the 37th minute.

On Lampard’s non-goal, after the ball landed inside the goal, it ball spun back into the arms of Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Capello initially celebrated what he thought was an equalizer by clenching his fists and shaking his arms. But his face changed when he realized the goal had not been given.

As the players walked off the field at halftime, Wayne Rooney walked over to a linesman and gestured with his hands how far he thought the ball crossed the line.

In 1966, England and Germany were 2-2 in extra time in the World Cup final when Geoff Hurst’s shot struck the underside of the crossbar, bounced down and spun back into play. That time, the referee consulted his linesman, who awarded the goal.

Hurst went on to score a third goal in England’s 4-2 victory at Wembley.

Germany plays the winner of Argentina-Mexico, which is later Sunday.

“In the knockout stages, Germany is always there,” Podolski said. “We fought and ran a lot, just fantastic today.”

Added Klose: “We were aggressive from the first minute and it was a deserved victory. Our target was to reach the semifinals and that’s what we want to achieve.”

It was the most lopsided England loss in a World Cup.

Mueller scored on the counterattack in the 67th minute, having started the move after a long clearance by Jerome Boateng. Mueller passed to Bastian Schweinsteiger, who patiently dribbled upfield and ran across the 18-yard line to feed the unguarded Mueller. His shot hit the hand of England goalkeeper David James and went in.

Three minutes later, Mueller struck again after a break on the left wing by Mesut Oezil.

“We played I think well at 2-1, but after the third goal it was a little bit disappointing,” Capello said. “Germany is a big team. They played a good game.”

Klose scored his 50th goal in 99 games for Germany – his 12th World Cup goal – by outmuscling defender Upson to a bouncing ball off a goal kick. Podolski gave the three-time champions a 2-0 lead, putting the ball through James’ legs.

Upson headed in a cross from Steven Gerrard to make it 2-1, then Lampard’s shot was not rewarded – a decision sure to be debated for as long as international soccer has no video replay.

“I think the mistake was of the linesman, but the referee also,” Capello said. “From the bench, I saw the ball go over the line.”

JOHANNESBURG(AP) — Germany won. Ghana lost, then won.

Mesut Oezil scored on a left-footed blast from outside the area Wednesday to give Germany a 1-0 victory over Ghana and first place in Group D at the World Cup.

Still, Ghana had reason to party.

Moments after the game was over, Ghana learned that Australia had defeated Serbia 2-1 – a result that meant Ghana took second place in the group and also will move on to the round of 16.

“It was a very difficult match, but we fought and it was enough to get us through,” said Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew. “We had opportunities but the important thing is that we went through.”

Once the scoreboard flashed the Aussie final, Ghana players hugged each other, waved their country’s flag and ran to the corner where their supporters were cheering and dancing.

The Germans, too, were saluting their fans and enjoying the moment.

“It was a tense game. We could have made more out of our opportunities,” Germany coach Joachim Loew said. “We were not very precise up front. But I can’t blame my young players, there was a lot of pressure, we had to win.”

The Germans had been heavily favored to take the group but an upset loss to Serbia left them needing a victory to be assured of advancing. They’ll play England on Sunday, another European power that won to stay alive Wednesday.

Ghana will face the United States on Saturday. The Black Stars pushed the U.S. out of the tournament in 2006.

Ghana is the first of the six African teams in the tournament to make it to the knockout phase. It could also be the last. Only Ivory Coast still has a chance to join the Black Stars in the final 16.

Oezil had a chance to score in the 25th minute but Ghana goalie Richard Kingson blocked his shot. The German playmaker struck his winner in the 60th minute.

“I simply shot the ball,” Oezil said. “I had a lot of support from my teammates. It doesn’t matter whom we play next, we have to keep winning.”

Ghana also had some chances and Kwadwo Asamoah broke through in the 51st minute but shot weakly at goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

The game featured half brothers Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana) and Jerome Boateng (Germany) playing each other, though the two had little contact.

“There is no time to celebrate, the next match is very close,” said Ghana’s Serbian coach, Milan Rajevac. “We knew it would be a tough match because to try to qualify against Germany is really hard. We played quite well, we resisted well, we had some chances but they had to win and they showed that they are among the best teams in the world.”

MESUT OZIL, GERMANY, 21 – Of Turkish descent, but the Werder Bremen winger/playmaker was born in Germany and has worked his way up through to the senior national squad with a string of eye-catching performances. Lots of confidence, lots of pace and trickery – he adds much-needed flair to the prosaic Germans.