Well for all the paper gossip over the past few weeks, we really didn't see this one coming. Michael Owen turning up at Manchester United on a free transfer - although it should be a pay-as-you-play deal.

The injury ravaged striker has been out of form, out of fitness and has now been out of a club for about two days, before Sir Alex Ferguson made his move. But he'll have to pass a stringent medical if he's going to make his bow in a red shirt. All the papers have it, but it's still a bit of a shock.

The Daily Mail reckon that Owen will sign for a paltry £20,000-a-week, with performance-related bonuses taking him the rest of the way to living in the manner to which he has become accustomed.

In four years at Newcastle, Owen started 65 games and scored 30 goals, say most of the rags. But he is reported to have cost the relegated club an eye-watering £41m in fees and wages. What a bargain!

Elsewhere, the Daily Telegraph are pretty sure that Franck Ribery won't be going to Chelsea, and will choose Real Madrid instead.

The club have also rejected a bid for John Terry from Manchester City. The defender has reportedly been tracked for quite some time now, but the Blues aren't budging and it's doubtful that the England skipper would be up for a move either.

Barcelona are still in the running for a big signing this summer and have targeted Cesc Fabregas as their main main. The Sun quote Joan Laporta as saying: “As I’ve said many times, Cesc has Barcelona in his DNA and I think that one day he should play for Barca.'' Cesc has said he's staying, but for how long?

Some other gossip, although everything seems a little soft now the news of Owen has arrived, and we'll begin with Tottenham. The club will have to pay £12m to sign Lille's 25-year-old Brazilian midfielder Michel Bastos, but are pretty keen say the Daily Mail.

The Daily Star have news of Aston Villa's search for a new striker now that Owen has apparently snubbed them and Marcus Berg is attracting attention after his performances for Sweden at the U-21s.

They also claim West Brom have rejected a £2m bid from Fulham for Jonathan Greening and that Manchester City's Zimbabwean striker Benjani is being lined up for a £5m move to Stoke.

Hull boss Phil Brown could be ready to offer Dietmar Hamann a 12 month contract and Wolves are set to seal a deal for Greg Halford.

We'll leave it to the Daily Mail for the final word, as they seem to think that if AC Milan lose out on Emmanuel Adebayor, they'll go for Peter Crouch instead. Rossoneri Robot?