Michel Salgado - Remember him?

He's back on the Football radar. 33 year old Michel Salgado has made the surprising move to Ewood Park, to join up with Big Sam Allardyce and his Blackburn side.

The ex-Real Madrid man played a major part in the success of the Club during Vicente del Bosque's reign, but as the impatient President and Directors chopped and changed their number 1, Salgado found himself shut out at the Bernabeu. A combination of injuries and poor form contributed to that too. Salgado made just 17 appearances in his last two seasons in Spain, before being released at the end of the 08/09 season.

It's not surprising that Allardyce snapped him up. He's a player of great experience, and in his day he was a class act. I'm sure he still will be a class act, especially for Blackburn, although some of his old flair will obviously have been lost. However, since young Danny Simpson has left the club, the right back position has been a bit of a problem area for Big Sam, in pre season and the opening game of the season - the 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.

Salgado will give Rovers width, experience as I mentioned, some hard-tackling, and probably a bit of play-acting, which can be expected from a Spaniard with long, blonde hair. An accentric character, who I'm sure will slot nicely into life in Lancashire. It's a far cry from Madrid though!

Allardyce has likened the new signing to Fernando Hierro's stint at Bolton, when he was Manager at the Reebok. "It will give us bigger status. He will demand more from the players rather than me or the coaches. I want him to bring a Real Madrid attitude to the dressing room. That is what Fernando did at Bolton and we all benefited. Hopefully that will be the case with Michel."

As for Salgado himself, he's just happy to be back in action. After turning down Chelsea to stay with Real a few years ago, looking back he feels he made the right decision. "I had a chance to come to Chelsea but I was lucky too because my team was Real Madrid. I love the club, I was there 10 years - it is a lifetime. I am proud of playing for them for so long. Now I want to enjoy the next two years, playing in the Premier League. It is one of the best in the world. Not only that it is pure football - fantastic games and a fantastic atmosphere. This will be a good experience for me, my wife and children. I have joined a historic club.''

A signing that will no doubt excite the Ewood fans, and hopefully make an impact on the Premier League in a positive way.

Transfer news

Inter Milan have sold striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, with Samuel Eto'o and Alexandr Hleb going the other way - Eto'o also for an undisclosed fee, and Hleb on a year's loan.

Tottenham are close to capturing the signature of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth for £10,000,000. The deal will go through only after Darren Bent is sold to Sunderland, a deal that will conclude in the next 48 hours.

Steve Finnan is in talks with Portsmouth after being released a year early from his Espanyol contract. The ex-Liverpool right-back joined the La Liga side at the start of last season, and is now prepared for a return to the Premier League.

Manchester City's latest targets are two defenders. Arsenal man Kolo Toure, and Everton's Joleon Lescott have both been linked with moves to Eastlands recently, and with big money on the table, who would bet against them making the move?

Portsmouth centre-half Sylvain Distin has been linked with both Aston Villa and Liverpool in recent times, but it looks as if Villa have won the race to capture the Frenchman's signature. Portsmouth however are demanding £4,000,000 for the ex-Man City man, but Villa are only prepared to pay £2,500,000. Liverpool will be waiting in the wings should the deal break down.

Finally, Blackburn have expressed a desire to sign Zenith St Petersburg striker Pavel Pogrebnyak as a replacement for Roque Santa Cruz. The deal is still in early days, so it is hard to say whether it will happen, but it'd be a decent capture for Rovers who have already made 4 new signings this summer.