News and Notes before I take off for a week of peace and relaxation

So the English Premier League kicks off the 2010-11 season today, but there have been a number of very intriguing stories that have popped up in the last few days.

The first of which is that Arsene Wenger committed to Arsenal until 2014, great news for Gunner fans. I've stated this many times, no one does more with less money than Wenger, whom I consider to be the top manager in England. He consistently buys young talent for cheap then develops it into players like Cesc Fabregas and Samri Nasri and Thomas Vermaelen.

Another big headline is that FIFA President Sepp Blatter is saying the governing body is considering eliminating ties in all World Cup games, which would dramatically affect the competition as we know it. Blatter is of the opinion, and so am I, that the change would make the tournament more interesting. What would happen if the group games ended in a tie is likely they would go either straight to a shootout or into sudden death overtime. This would eliminate teams from playing negative football and force teams to go all out every game, something you don't see a lot of the time.

England manager Fabio Capello essentially retired David Beckham from national team football after England's friendly vs. Hungary the other day. When asked if Beckham would feature in the team again as it tries to qualify for the 2012 Euro Cup, Capello said Beckham was too old at this stage in his career to help the team that the Italian is trying to refresh after a disastrous 2010 World Cup. Capello offered Beckham the opportunity to play in some sort of friendly match down the road as a sort of charity send-off match, however, Beckham rejected that offer stating he would only play for England again if his form called for him to be used.

Australian and current Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer is apparently the man Arsenal have singled out to end the Gunners' nightmare at first-team keeper, which Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski have primarily filled the past two years. Fulham originally was not going to sell the 37-year-old Schwarzer, however, Schwarzer handed in a transfer request to Mark Hughes, the new Fulham manager stating that he feels this is his last chance to go for an English Premier League title. Arsenal's first offer was rejected for the Australian, but now they likely will come calling for him and be able to sign him because Fulham will not want the distraction of an unhappy keeper.

A couple of big transfers finally went through. Mario Balotelli completed his switch from Inter Milan to Manchester City. The Brazilian Ramires completed his switch from the Portuguese side Benfica to Chelsea. James Milner appears just about ready to complete his move from Aston Villa to Manchester City, the only hold-up is that Stephen Ireland - who would go to Villa as part of the deal - wants a cool $2 mill before he makes the switch. Craig Bellamy also appears ready to exit Man City as Mark Hughes wants him at Fulham.

Two players that are not ready to leave their Bundesliga clubs are German star Mesut Ozil of Werder Bremen and Dutch star Eljero Elia of Hamburg. Bremen rejected Real Madrid's offer for Ozil and Hamburg rejected Juventus' offer for Elia as both were not high enough.

Just the other day after watching Chelsea play Manchester United in the Community Shield I said the blues needed to make a splash in the transfer market as the team looked old. Well they have completed the move for one Brazilian as already mentioned and now appeared to be going after perhaps the most talented young Brazilian in young Santos 18-year-old forward Neymar. Santos have warned Chelsea they must pay his release clause of $80 mill or (£28.75 million) and will report the English club to FIFA if they continue to pursue a transfer for a smaller fee. Somehow I see this deal getting done as Chelsea really need a player like Neymar, who can inspire right now and later become perhaps a potential FIFA Player of the Year caliber player. And yes Neymar is the guy that scored that dirty header for Brazil against the U.S. Tuesday night in New Jersey.

John Rooney of Macclesfield Town in England's League Two recently had an audition for the Seattle Sounders. Haven't heard of him before, well perhaps the name Rooney sounds familiar as in Wayne Rooney - John is his 19-year-old brother. Seattle manager Sigi Schmid gave him a look along with a few other players. John Rooney however would have to enter the MLS Super Draft and then be drafted by the Sounders, he cannot simply straight sign with them for some reason.