Chelsea with two new entries in top ten deals
Gerrard named MVP in Champions League
Chelsea have made their presence felt in the latest all-time transfer deals top ten.
The new arrivals of Ghana midfielder Michael Essien and England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips join Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba for whom Chelsea had paid a hefty transfer fee of £23.2 million to prise him away from Marseille.
With the transfer window now closed until January 1, the clubs that were left behind in the final rush will have to wait until the new year to strengthen their squads.
Rio Ferdinand's move to Manchester United from Leeds United is still the most expensive recorded in the history of the British game.
The top-ten transfer chart denotes only three transfers that have involved both English clubs.
The remaining seven that concern foreign teams indicate four transactions signed by Premiership sides.
The top ten chart now reads:
01. £28.25m - Rio Ferdinand (Leeds to Manchester United).
02. £28.1m - Juan Sebastian Veron (Lazio to Manchester United).
03. £25m - Marc Overmars (Arsenal to Barcelona).
04. £24.4m - Michael Essien (Lyon to Chelsea).
05. £23.3m - David Beckham (Manchester United to Real Madrid).
06. £23.2m - Didier Drogba (Marseille to Chelsea).
07. £22.5m - Nicolas Anelka (Arsenal to Real Madrid).
08. £21m - Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City to Chelsea).
09. £20m* - Wayne Rooney (Everton to Manchester United).
10. £19m - Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV to Manchester United).
* Fee can reach £27m due to performance-related clauses.
Other noteworthy soccer pieces for August read:
¤ Celtic win 4-0 at home to come very close to recover the 0-5 deficit suffered in Bratislava against Artmedia in the second qualifying round of the Champions League. At Anfield, Liverpool beat FBK Kaunas 2-0 to move on 5-1 on aggregate.
¤ At St James' Park, Newcastle suffer another 2-1 defeat against Deportivo La Coruna in the semi-finals of the Intertoto Cup to exit 4-2 on aggregate.
UEFA club awards
¤ The Premiership has seven players nominated in a list of 21 chosen for the UEFA club awards (on August 25).
The contenders: Jerzy Dudek, Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia, Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Petr Cech, John Terry, Frank Lampard (Chelsea).
¤ Premiership champions Che-lsea lift the Community Shield, beating FA Cup holders Arsenal 2-1 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
¤ In their first European Cup tie at Goodison Park for 34 years, Everton lose 1-2 to Spanish side Villarreal in the third qualifying round first leg.
Other results: Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus)-Rangers 1-2, Manchester United-Debrecen (Hungary) 3-0, CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria)-Liverpool 1-3.
UEFA Cup second qualifying round first leg: Mypa (Finland)-Dundee United 0-0.
¤ Lord Burns compiles a structural review of the Football Association and his main idea is to create a new FA board that reduces the professional's game influence and moves away from the current set-up.
¤ In an U-21 friendly in Denmark, England win 1-0 (Ambrose). Other results: Austria-Scotland 1-3, N. Ireland- Ireland 2-2, Wales-Malta 3-1.
England debacle
¤ In Copenhagen, England are trimmed 4-1 by Denmark in a friendly international for their worse defeat in 25 years.
Other outcomes: Malta-N. Ireland 1-1, Ireland-Italy 1-2, Wales-Slovenia 0-0.
¤ Celtic reveal debts of £20 million after a drop in turnover and a poor season in Europe last term.
¤ League Cup first round shocks: Blackpool-Hull 2-1, Ipswich-Yeovil 0-2, Lincoln-Crewe 5-1, Mansfield-Stoke 3-0 (penalties), Northampton-QPR 3-0, Preston-Barnsley 4-5 (penalties), Shrewsbury-Brighton 3-2, Derby-Grimsby 0-1.
¤ In the Champions League, Liverpool, Manchester United and Rangers progress to the group phase of the competition, but Everton are eliminated and move into the first round of the UEFA Cup. Dundee also falter in their bid as they are knocked out by the Finland side Mypa in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
¤ Steven Gerrard, of Liverpool, is named by UEFA as the Most Valuable Player in last season's Champions League. Chelsea's Petr Cech and John Terry are voted Best Goalkeeper and Best Defender respectively.
¤ In Monaco, Liverpool beat CSKA Moscow 3-1 after extra-time to lift the Super Cup for the third time in their history.
¤ Bolton Wanderers' second leg away against Lokomotiv Plovdiv of Bulgaria in the first round of the UEFA Cup will be played in Burgas, Hungary since Plovdiv's own ground is not licensed in accordance with the UEFA regulations.