Manchester United supporters are likely to take a dim view of Sir Alex Ferguson’s admission that the “type” of world-class midfielder needed to fill the void created by Paul Scholes is “not available” (Man United 7/4 – Premier League 2011/12 Outright).

With pre-season well underway and the transfer market continuing to build towards an exciting crescendo it’s time to begin looking at the best bets for the Premier League season.

Sunderland have been the busiest club in the transfer market so far this summer while Premier League champions Manchester United have not been shy to splash the cash either, but it is Liverpool’s dealing which are arguably providing the biggest talking points.

Liverpool kick off their summer pre-season games with a friendly against Chinese side Guangdong on Wednesday amid heightened expectation that the Reds are on the up under Kenny Dalglish – but just how well can they expect to do next season?

The transfer market is slowly starting to pick up pace with a number of the Premier League’s top players linked with moves this summer.

Next week sees the return to pre-season training for Premier League clubs and, with just over a month to go until the season kicks-off, the transfer activity is hotting up.

With the new fixtures having been announced we have passed from the old season into the new and can begin to look forward to what August will bring when it all begins again.

Despite the fact we are not even half-way through June, several Premier League clubs have been active in the transfer market already, as preparations for the new season gather pace. We look at some of the deals done so far, assess what impact they might have, and also predict who else is likely to be moving around this summer, in what is set to be another busy close-season.

Sir Alex Ferguson made clear his intentions at the end of the season by insisting there is a “responsibility and expectation” about moving 13/8 Premier League title favourites Manchester United forward – and it would appear the game’s longest-serving manager has been true to his word.

It has been another superb weekend of sport around the globe with Barcelona’s Champions League victory the highlight. As the dust settles on the various results and performances what have we actually learnt from the two days of action?