Weekly News Round Up: Alonso Goes South, Aquilani Goes North, India Win In Barcelona And More

7. Andrea Pirlo Remains A Milan Player

AC Milan were in serious danger of losing yet another star this summer when Chelsea seemed willing to sign the 30-year-old deep-lying playmaker Andrea Pirlo. Even Pirlo was unsure of his future, never quite giving a concrete statement on his future until Wednesday, when both Milan and Pirlo dismissed all talks of a Chelsea move. It now appears that the player will stay put at the San Siro.

6. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Moves From Madrid To Milan

AC Milan finally signed a striker, their third choice summer target actually. The Rossoneri paid €15 million to Real Madrid to sign Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar on a three-year deal. Milan were initially after Edin Dzeko of VfL Wolfsburg and Luis Fabiano of Sevilla but with Wolfsburg refusing to sell their star striker and Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido not willing to sell the Brazilian at a low price, Milan finally settled for Madrid's want-away hitman Huntelaar, who was signed only in the middle of last season by the Spanish giants. 'The Hunter' is now expected to partner Alexandre Pato upfront for Milan for the 2009-2010 campaign.

5. Xabi Alonso Signs For Real Madrid

Spanish giants and European powerhouse Real Madrid finally signed Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. A €34 million deal was agreed between the two clubs and the player shall now play in Madrid’s pristine white. Alonso was signed by Liverpool in the summer of 2004 from Basque giants Real Sociedad and had developed into an integral fragment of Rafael Benitez's side. Alonso's relationship with Benitez, though, had reportedly deteriorated in recent times and the player is now happy to have joined the 9 times European champions.

4. Liverpool Sign Alberto Aquilani From AS Roma

Liverpool did not wait long to replace Xabi Alonso in central midfield. A £20 deal was agreed between Liverpool and Italian club AS Roma for the move of Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani from Rome to Liverpool. Apparently Liverpool were negotiating a deal with Roma at the same time they were discussing the sale of Alonso to Real Madrid. Aquilani will now slot into the midfield position that Alonso had earlier occupied.

3. India Win In Barcelona Again

India won their second match in their Barcelona tour this week when they defeated FC Santboia 1-0, thanks to a Sunil Chhetri penalty in the first-half. Santboia ply their trade in the Tercera Division in Spain but did give a decent account of themselves in the match. This was India's second victory in four matches in their Barcelona tour; Bob Houghton's men had drawn the other two matches.

2. Sunil Chettri Linked With Celtic

India's star striker Sunil Chhetri has reportedly attracted interest from Scottish giants Celtic. It's been reported that scouts from Celtic observed the player during India's just concluded tour of Barcelona and were (apparently) impressed by him. Chhetri's agent told Goal.com that nothing has been finalized yet and that he is expecting feedback from Celtic soon.

1. UEFA Champions League Play-Off Round Draw

The draw for the play-off round of the Champions League 2009-2010 was made on Friday and there are some very interesting ties. 20 teams went into the draw and the emerging 10 winners would book their places in the Champions League group-stage. The stand-out ties involve Celtic against Arsenal, Sporting against Fiorentina and Panathinaikos versus Atletico Madrid.

Subhankar Mondal