Jerrad Peters

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There were so many moments over the course of the English Premier League season where one was tempted to say, “There. That’s it. They’ve got it now. Done and dusted.”

There was Manchester City’s loss to Swansea in early March, and the defeat at Arsenal a few weeks later when Mario Balotelli was sent off and handed a three-match ban. For a time it looked as though Manchester United, who cruised to the top of the table in early spring, would be crowned champions with several games to spare.

But the Red Devils had their moments as well. The 1-0 loss to Wigan seemed to shift momentum back to their “noisy neighbours”; a 4-4 draw at home to Everton allowed City back in the race for good. Then there was the Manchester derby late last month that City deservedly won through a Vincent Kompany header.

All that said, the campaign didn’t make its truly decisive turn until second-half stoppage time in the season’s final round of matches. A nine-month schedule, packed with twists and turns and hints of crucial incidents, contested until, quite literally, its final seconds. Who could wish for more than that?

At the end of it all Manchester City were quite rightfully presented the Premier League trophy for the first time in 44 years. It was theirs to losing coming into the final day, and while they very nearly came up short their performance under the pressure was admirable. Panic did not set in; the correct substitutions were made at important times.

And, so true to their recent history, they seemed incapable of doing it the easy way. Yaya Toure’s loss to a hamstring injury set the tone on what was to be an odd day of football, but even after that set-back and the shipping of two weak goals they didn’t collapse under the weight of what they had set themselves up for all season.

United remembers the late heroics of Sheringham and Solskjaer in the 1999 Champions League final, and in a similar light City will look back on the strikes of Dzeko and Aguero that turned an improbable defeat into deserving victory.

Aguero’s goal, in the fourth minute past the 90, was the moment of the season.

Villarreal relegated on final day

Just nine months after playing Champions League football Villarreal have been relegated to the Segunda on a dramatic final day in La Liga.

Coming into Sunday’s matches the Yellow Submarine were in 16^th place and would have been safe with either a win or wobbles from one of Real Zaragoza and Rayo Vallecano. Zaragoza were involved in the wildest match of the day and beat eight-man Getafe 2-0 thanks to goals from Apono and Helder Postiga, and Vallecano’s Raul Tamudo scored in second-half stoppage time to give his side a vital win over Granada.

Villarreal, meanwhile, conceded to Atletico Madrid in the 87^th minute at El Madrigal and, in an instant, dropped into the relegation places. Hampered by injuries this season (each of Marcos Senna Giuseppe Rossi, Nilmar, Cani, Christian Zapata and Marco Ruben missed significant time) Villarreal never really found their rhythm, and a run of one win from six matches to close out the schedule sealed their fate.

Italy boss Prandelli names preliminary squad for Euro 2012

Cesare Prandelli called up a group of 32 players, Sunday, in preparation for next month’s European Championship in Poland and Ukraine. The Italy manager will have to trim nine players from the list by the May 28 deadline, but his final squad will likely contain elements of both the old and the new.

Of the old guard, goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfielder Andrea Pirlo will be key players for Italy at Euro 2012, and Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale is likely to make the final roster as well. Mario Balotelli, meanwhile, headlines a faction of young internationals that also includes Roma forward Fabio Borini, Siena forward Mattia Destro (on loan from Genoa), Inter Milan defender Andrea Ranocchia, Torino defender Angelo Ogbonna and Pescara midfielder Marco Verratti.

Ogbonna and Verratti are the only players in the preliminary squad to be plying their trades in Serie B, while only six players in total come from outside Serie A. Juventus are the leading provider of players with seven.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon, Morgan De Sanctis, Salvatore Sirigu, Emiliano Viviano

Defenders: Ignazio Abate, Danilo Astori, Federico Balzaretti, Andrea Barzagli, Salvatore Bocchetti, Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini, Domenico Criscito, Christian Maggio, Angelo Ogbonna, Andrea Ranocchia

Midfielders: Luca Cigarini, Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Diamanti, Emanuele Giaccherini, Claudio Marchisio, Riccardo Montolivo, Thiago Motta, Antonio Nocerino, Andrea Pirlo, Ezequiel Schelotto, Marco Verratti

Forwards: Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini, Antonio Cassano, Mattia Destro, Antonio Di Natale, Sebastian Giovinco

The Republic of Ireland are so far the only side to have named a final 23-man squad for Euro 2012. Poland, Greece, Russia, The Netherlands, Germany, Croatia, Ukraine and France have named preliminary squads.

Czech Republic, Portugal and Sweden will name preliminary squads on Monday, and Spain will follow on Tuesday. Denmark and England will be the final nations to name an initial group of players when they make their announcements on Wednesday.

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer

Borussia Dortmund completed the domestic double for the first time in their history, Saturday, beating Champions League finalists Bayern Munich 5-2 in the DfB Pokal final in Berlin.

Some observations from the match:

Shinji Kagawa was immense for Dortmund, scoring after just three minutes and setting up Robert Lewandowski’s first of three goals just prior to the break. The 23-year-old Japan international, who scored 17 goals and earned 13 assists in 43 matches for Dortmund this season, always seems to have his body positioned perfectly in relation to the ball, and his creativity going forward makes him one of the best playmakers in German football. He’s unlikely to be at Dortmund next season, however. Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson watched the match from the stands and is rumoured to be preparing a bid for the player this summer. Kagawa is out of contract next season and has put off agreeing a contract extension with the German champions.

I’m not sure what match Bayern Munich captain Phillip Lahm was talking about when he said, “When you look at the 90 minutes we were clearly the better team, but we lost 5-2.” Bayern’s possession was rarely meaningful, and if it wasn’t for the stat-sheet you’d never know Thomas Muller actually played in the game. Bayern were wobbly at the back and unimaginative in attack. They lost by three goals to a side that thrilled everyone who watched them. How that equates to Bayern being “the better team” is beyond me, and if Lahm’s measure of success is the same next Saturday as it was this he can kiss the Champions League goodbye as well.

I’ve been raving about Jakub “Kuba” Blaszczykowski all season, so I was delighted to see him put in yet another solid performance on the final day of Dortmund’s campaign. Kuba was something of a forgotten man at the beginning of the season due to Mario Gotze’s meteoric ascendency to superstardom, but an autumn injury to Gotze put the 26-year-old Poland captain back in the spotlight and what followed was more than five months of excellent football. His intelligent read on the play that led to Dortmund’s first goal in the cup final was just another example of the sort of contribution he made game in, game out during the season.

Robert Lewandowski will be joining Blaszczykowski later this month as the Polish national team makes its Euro 2012 preparations. The 23-year-old striker, who scored a hat-trick against Bayern, bagged 30 goals for the first time in his career this season and has established himself as one of Europe’s most reliable finishers. He and Blaszczykowski will be joined in the Poland squad by Lukasz Piszczek, Dortmund’s 26-year-old right-back who has recently been drawing the attention of Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.

Elsewhere across Europe, Galatasaray won the Turkish title after a 0-0 draw with local rivals Fenerbahce, Académica’s last-day heroics helped them avoid relegation in Portugal and Pescara moved atop Serie B in the race for automatic promotion with a 2-0 win at home to Torino.

The top eight sides in the Turkish Süper Lig go into two groups after the completion of the regular schedule to determine the championship, the Champions League positions and the Europa League spots. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce played to a scoreless draw in the fierce Istanbul Derby, Saturday, which meant Galatasaray finished the season as champions and equalled their archrivals’ record of 18 league titles. Hundreds of Fenerbahce fans clashed with police and occupied the pitch following the match, and pepper spray had to be used to disperse the mob as the players fled down the tunnel. Galatasaray go directly into the Champions League group stage while Fenerbahce will join the tournament in the third qualifying round. Trabzonspor, Besiktas and Bursaspor will play in the Europa League next season.

An 81^st minute goal by striker Edinho ensured another season of top-flight football for Académica as the guests edged Guimaraes 2-1 on the final day of the season. The win proved only to be insurance, however, as Uniao Leiria were relegated after losing 3-2 at home to Nacional while Feirense’s fate was sealed with a 3-1 loss at Gil Vicente.

Pescara closed in on automatic promotion from Serie B with a 2-0 win at home to Torino, Saturday. Torino came into the match atop the division by two points but now trail Pescara by one with three matches to play. Three points behind are Sassuolo, who lead the promotion playoff teams with 74 points. Samdoria, who were relegated last spring, bring up the rear of the playoff positions but have a four-point cushion on seventh-place Padova.

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer

There will always be conspiracy theories when it comes to Juventus, especially when they’re winning titles as they did Sunday in Trieste. There’s never a shortage of ammo.

Giorgio Chiellini, who has been immense for the Bianconeri this season, should have been sent off three minutes after the restart for a nasty, two-footed challenge on Francesco Pisano. And if not then, he might well have been shown a second yellow card for bringing Andrea Cossu down in the area on a play the transplanted Sardinian home support felt should have resulted in a penalty for their side. Cossu, as it turned out, was booked for diving.

Of course, these are things that could well be pointed out in any given match involving any given sides. Milan, who lost 4-2 to Inter in Sunday’s derby, were gifted a penalty in the 46^th minute, for example. But because it’s Juventus, and because of their history of corruption and match-fixing activity, the Spockian eyebrow just seems to go up that much more easily.

Conspiracy—inspired mostly by reality and partly by jealousy—is an inevitable part of the Juventus conversation. It will always be there. But it hopefully doesn’t detract from what has been an exceptional eight months of football delivered by a club coming off back-to-back seventh-place seasons and, incredibly, just one result away from going the entire campaign undefeated.

Maturation point

Juventus were seven points back of league leaders and Scudetto holders AC Milan when they took the field for their 29^th match of the campaign on March 25. Opposing them were a tricky Inter Milan side that had gone unbeaten in three following their worst spell of an up-and-down season, and when the whistle blew on a scoreless first half it looked as though Milan would hold a commanding lead atop the table heading into the final stretch.

It was in the next few moments that Juventus matured.

Through much of the first two thirds of the season Bianconeri manager Antonio Conte had relied on a consistent group of players and had kept his circle of trust as small as possible for the rigours of top-flight football. A back four that only changed out of necessity played behind the reliable midfield trio of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio. Simone Pepe and Mirko Vucinic worked the attacking flanks, and Alessandro Matri led the line.

It was this group that couldn’t find an opening against Inter and spent much of the opening period on the back-foot. After eight minutes of the same to start the second half Conte had had enough. Pepe was replaced by Leonardo Bonucci; Matri came off for Alessandro Del Piero. Martin Caceres and Paolo De Ceglie re-deployed as wingbacks; Vucinic tucked in.

The result was a 3-5-2 formation Conte had toyed with in previous matches but had yet to use as a mid-game adjustment. And it came off splendidly. In an instant the pitch tilted in Juve’s favour, and with nearly three quarters of possession they received well-earned goals from Caceres and Del Piero. In the end, the victory seemed almost convincing, as if the first half had been completely forgotten.

It was in this match that Juventus went from being merely a watchable side with an eye for a draw (a split decision with Inter would have been their seventh draw in nine matches) to legitimate title contenders. Their credentials would be laid down in the following weeks as Conte juggled formations and increased his pool of players, but the Inter win would serve as a touchstone in what went on to be their 28^th championship season.

Next weekend

When Juventus host Atalanta next weekend they’ll be looking to become just the third Italian side, following AC Milan and Perugia, to complete an entire season in the first division without tasting defeat. A week after that they’ll contest the Coppa Italia final against Napoli in Rome. In other words, the Bianconeri are two results removed from winding up their campaign without a loss in all competitions.

That, of course, is at least partially down to the absence of European football. When Juventus finished five points back of the Europa League places at the end of last season they recognised their competitive future required the biggest rebuild since coming back into Serie A in 2007 after a year in the second division. Conte was part of the overhaul, but considerable changes were applied to the squad as well.

In the penultimate game of the 2010-11 season the Juventus starting lineup included Fabio Grosso, Felipe Melo, Manuel Giandonato, Jorge Martinez and Alessandro Del Piero. Only Del Piero wasn’t jettisoned in the summer, and he played only a small part of the team’s success in the current campaign.

All in all, 28 players who were on the books at the end of last season were ushered out of the club in the following summer and winter transfer windows. Conte really had no choice but to begin his tenure with a small pool of trusted players. The wall-to-wall renovation required it, and he learned as he went along which members of his squad fit into which roles, and which he trusted.

The groundwork has been laid, but the restoration will continue over the next few months. Juventus are heading back to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2009, and the demands of an extra competition will require even more squad enhancements in the summer. Juventus, it can safely be said, will not go unbeaten next season.

That’s why this campaign has been so unique, and is unlikely to be replicated in Italian football anytime soon. It took until now for the full effects of Calciopoli to be absorbed. In a roundabout way it’s because of their 2006 relegation that Juventus find themselves in their current set of circumstances.

Football is funny like that.

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer

Borussia Mönchengladbach won 3-0 at Mainz, Saturday, in the final round of the 2011-12 Bundesliga season. The result left them with 64 points and in a European position for the first time since 1996, when they also finished fourth. In the 16 years in between the one-time German football power was relegated twice and finished no higher than 10^th, and it was only 12 months ago that they stayed in the top flight by the skin of their teeth, beating Bochum over two legs in a relegation playoff.

That Mönchengladbach were in a position to contest the playoff at all was seen as something of a miracle at the time—the work of wizard-manager Lucien Favre, who after being appointed on Valentine’s Day 2011 took the last-place side on a run where they lost just four of 14 matches and closed out the season on a six-game unbeaten streak.

Igor de Camargo scored the only goal in Mönchengladbach’s 1-0 win over their North Rhine-Westphalia rivals in the first leg, but after level terms were restored through Havard Nordtveit’s own-goal in the first half of the return fixture it was left to Marco Reus to notch the series winner midway through the second period in Bochum.

Twelve months later, nine of the same 11 players who started that second leg were on Favre’s teamsheet for a 0-0 draw with Augsburg that clinched Champions League qualification, and a week later eight of the 11 started the last match of the campaign against Mainz. We’ve come full circle.

Reus, who scored twice at Coface Arena on Saturday, is the symbol of Mönchengladbach football under Favre. His heroics last spring as a 21-year-old—when he touched the ball at three different locations on the field during the build-up to the goal he, himself would score from 14 yards to secure another year of Bundesliga football for his side—were followed-up by an 18-goal, eight-assist season as a 22-year-old.

In three Bundesliga seasons since joining Mönchengladbach’s from Rot Weiss Ahlen he has established himself as one of the best playmaking forwards in the division and will be part of the Germany squad at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine next month.

He also won’t be back next season.

Reus, along with Roman Neustädter and Dante, have already been sold ahead of the 2012-13 campaign, and all will be joining a top-three side.

Neustädter, a tall defensive midfielder and a former Germany U-21 international, will be moving to Schalke. Dante, 28-years-old and one of the top centre-backs in German football, will be bolstering the defense at Bayern Munich. Reus, meanwhile, was signed by Borussia Dortmund in January for €17.5 million and will be joining up with his new side in the summer.

Their exists will drastically alter the team that came of age together over the last few months and, against all odds, earned a place in the Champions League. Mönchengladbach may have been able to retain for one more season the group that fought off relegation a year ago, but the side that lines up in Europe’s most prestigious club competition three months from now will have a rather different look to it, at least as far as personnel is concerned.

Stylistically, little will change so long as Favre is at the helm. The 54-year-old former Switzerland midfielder encourages a fluid, quick-passing brand of football. In a country where “efficiency” is often (and sometimes incorrectly) fallen back on as a stereotype, Favre’s teams embody the best elements of the term.

They let the ball do the work, and when they don’t have possession they ensure their position provides an option for a teammate who does. This they learn through Favre’s famously rigorous training regimen which, not unlike that of Pep Guardiola, demands extreme levels of fitness and concentration.

Even so, Mönchengladbach have a challenging summer ahead of them, and in that the next few months represent a seminal moment in their history. This is a club, don’t forget, that won five championships and two UEFA Cups in the 1970s before becoming next to irrelevant in the following decades. A measure of modest investment, at the very least, will be required to ensure they avoid the up-and-down pattern of the last 16 years.

No meaningful signings were made last summer, but Mönchengladbach have dipped into the transfer window in the past. Igor de Camargo was signed from Standard Liege for €3.5 million in 2010, and Juan Arango—who finished second only to Franck Ribery in the assist table this season—was acquired for €3.2 million from Mallorca the year before that. Both players were essentially cast-offs at their former clubs, and both have blossomed under Favre at Borussia-Park.

Mönchengladbach might have been the story of the Bundesliga this season, but it’s something they’ll want to avoid in the next one. For now, for the first time in a generation, the status quo would do quite nicely.

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer

A Premier League season is a winding road with twists and turns and bends that hide exactly what awaits around the corner. Just when you think you’ve got it figured, that you’ve finally solved the route to the title, another curve comes into view to take you in yet another direction, to yet another possible destination.

It was just three weeks ago, after all, that Manchester United found themselves eight points clear atop the table following Arsenal’s win over Manchester City, who had, themselves, led the league by as many as five points just a month before that. And now, with United’s advantage trimmed to a mere three ahead of Monday’s derby, the path could yet lead to the blue side of Manchester after it so convincingly appeared to be heading to the red.

Not that this title was always United’s to lose. On the contrary. Look far enough behind and you can still see the last few miles of a straight, smooth highway that had City on course for its first championship in 44 years before a Sunderland-size bump in the road signalled a rougher trail ahead.

That New Year’s Day defeat removed the aura of invincibility that had seemed to surround Roberto Mancini’s millionaires since the start of the campaign. A 1-0 loss to Everton followed four weeks later, and by the second week of March City had conceded first place to United after losing to Swansea in Wales. Draws with Stoke and Sunderland preceded the Arsenal loss where Mario Balotelli lost his head and got himself suspended for three matches.

A bumpy trail indeed.

United, on the other hand, got their jolt back in October when they were trounced 6-1 by City at Old Trafford. In a way, their season was redefined in that moment. A side that had opened the schedule with an eye to avenging their Champions League final loss to Barcelona by introducing a fluid, mobile brand of football was, in an instant, served notice that the bigger rivalry lay not on the continent but on the other side of town.

The Red Devils recoiled after the embarrassment; they slowed down and started again from first gear, rattling off a series of 1-0 wins before rediscovering their goalscoring touch that, not coincidentally, arrived in January in the form of Paul Scholes. From there the road flattened for a United side that went unbeaten in 12 until another jolt in the form of Wigan sent them reeling once again. A 4-4 draw draw with Everton last weekend allowed City to pull up alongside for a final race to the finish.

That Monday’s derby represents the final twist of the title route is a given. United, with even a draw, would set themselves up nicely for a repeat with matches against Swansea and Sunderland to finish the season. City’s superior goal-difference, however, would likely provide enough of an advantage in the final two rounds if they managed a win.

Derby news and notes

As all United really require from Monday’s derby is a single point, there’s a chance Sir Alex Ferguson may recall Ji-Sung Park into the starting XI after a seven-game absence. This would allow him to pack what it too often a porous midfield while leaving Wayne Rooney alone up top with Nani and Antonio Valencia working the flanks.

Roberto Mancini has hinted he may reinstate Balotelli, who is available for selection having served his three-match ban. The Italian has the explosiveness and quick-strike-ability to expose the United defense (as he did in October), although it’s unlikely he’ll play from the start. City are unbeaten in the four matches they’ve started Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez together in attack, and it would be shocking if the Argentine duo wasn’t dispatched on Monday.

Johnny Evans is a late fitness concern for United, which means one of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones may be called into the centre of defense. One of the two may also be handed a start at right-back, where Rafael has struggled recently. Nani picked up a minor ankle injury in training last week but should be fine to play from the start.

Manchester City last lost at Etihad Stadium to Everton in December 2010.

Manchester United have kept clean sheets in their last three visits to Eastlands.

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer

So Roy Hodgson is likely to be appointed England manager ahead of the European Championship. The FA admitted as much on Sunday when they confirmed they had received permission to speak with the current West Bromwich Albion boss about the national team job, and given that the 64-year-old has paid his dues at 19 posts in nine countries over the course of a distinguished 36-year career no one should have been all that surprised.

But this is the England job we’re talking about, and neither logic nor levelheadedness has ever come into play when it’s been vacant.

Whether Hodgson was the first-choice candidate or not is irrelevant. Yes, Harry Redknapp was the early favourite among the press corps and a good many fans, and everyone from Alan Pardew to Stuart Pearce was linked with the position at some point as well. The FA, however, claimed to have not made an official approach until now, and there’s absolutely no reason to disbelieve them.

The cold, hard truth of the matter is that when compared to Hodgson, no English manager has a résumé that comes close. Nor, for the sake of argument, do many of the national team managers who will be participating at Euro 2012. Take England’s group for example.

Laurent Blanc, the French boss, won a league and cup double with Bordeaux in 2009 but has only been involved in management for five years, over which time he’s been in charge of only 170 matches. Sweden manager Erik Hamren has won a title each in Denmark and Norway. Ukraine’s Oleh Blokhin, while an outstanding player, has a pair of Greek cups to his name as a manager.

Even the manager of tournament favourites Germany—Joachim Low—doesn’t have a pedigree that rivals Hodgson’s. He has an Austrian championship to his name with Innsbruck and won the DfB Pokal with Stuttgart in 1997. Netherlands boss Bert van Marwijk, meanwhile, won a Dutch cup and UEFA Cup with Feyenoord at the beginning of the last decade. Italy’s Cesare Prandelli has never won a major honour of any sort, but he took Hellas Verona and Venezia to promotion in 1999 and 2001, respectively. Croatia manager Slaven Bilic coached only 35 matches before his appointment and has no silverware to speak of.

I bring all of this into the discussion not to prove a point, but to ask a question: If not Hodgson, then who?

Reaction to the FA’s Sunday announcement (which, by the way, does not constitute an appointment) was as quick as it was overwhelmingly negative. For whatever reason, some pundits and fans got it into their heads that there was a star candidate at another club with titles and honours to his name who was just itching to take over the England job.

Again, the same question: who?

Did Pep Guardiola quit Barcelona to lead England on a memorably journey to international glory? Is Jose Mourinho merely buying his time until the FA give him that offer he so desperately craves? Is one of Arsene Wenger or Sir Alex Ferguson just chomping at the bit to manage the Three Lions when the domestic season comes to a close?

In. Your. Dreams.

If the FA wanted an English manager to take the team to Euro 2012 they’ve approached the best man available.

Hodgson is a rarity among his countrymen in that he’s actually coached abroad, and successfully. He has managed three different national teams and took Switzerland to the knockout stages of the 1994 World Cup. He has also won exactly the same number of trophies as the seven Euro 2012 managers mentioned earlier. Combined.

Two of those managers, representing France and Germany, have considerably less experience than Hodgson and are nevertheless in charge of legitimate European contenders. The FA would have never, ever appointed a young, up-and-coming manager after the Steve McClaren disaster (sorry Stuart Pearce), so their options were already limited. And Tottenham’s £15 million compensation demands and an embarrassing recent tailspin took Redknapp out of the reckoning.

So again, I pose the same question. If not Hodgson, then who?

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer

Some of the most compelling, emotional scenes in football occur when a side has been promoted to a higher division. Sure, a top-flight title or Champions League crown represents the pinnacle of success in the sport at club level, but there’s something altogether more refreshing—more pure—about thousands of home fans rushing the field after the final whistle that has made promotion official.

It’s a different type of success—one that has more to do with the club’s very existence and evolution than merely the coming-good of a handful of multi-million pound signings acquired just a few months ago. There is hope in it. The very top has not yet been reached. There is still a lot to play for.

We were reminded of this again on Saturday when Southampton regained Premier League status after a seven-year absence. Goals from Billy Sharp and Jose Fonte on one side of the interval and Jos Hooiveld and Adam Lallana on the other ensured the Saints’ progression at the expense of Coventry, who having been already relegated represent the exact opposite of the joy expressed at St. Mary’s.

This is the fascination of the The Football League, and every division positioned somewhere between the top flight and the amateur ranks. Its member clubs are typically in a state of flux, either moving upward or spiralling downward, and tend to exist on that knife’s edge where hope beckons on one side and despair on the other.

Thus the scenes both at St. Mary’s on Saturday and at Ashton Gate last weekend when Bristol City beat Barnsley to ensure Championship survival. Striker Jon Stead, whose 51^st minute penalty had provided a measure of insurance, was lifted onto the shoulders of adoring fans who chanted, “We are staying up; We are staying up!” It was one of the most heartening moments of the season.

Marin the latest Bundesliga footballer to agree move for next season

A player agreeing and announcing a transfer for the upcoming season before the current one has finished is a phenomenon far more common in German football than almost anywhere else. The latest such transaction became public on Saturday when Werder Bremen playmaker Marko Marin’s move to Chelsea was confirmed. The 23-year-old has already undergone a medical in London and agreed a five-year contract after the Blues finalised a £7m fee with the Bundesliga club.

Marin, 23, can play both in an advanced central role behind the centre-forward or out wide, and it’s already been speculated that his arrival signals the exits of both Salomon Kalou and Florent Maouda from Stamford Bridge. The Germany international was effectively tabbed as Mesut Ozil’s replacement after his former teammate joined Real Madrid in 2010, and while his season has been hampered by injury he has eclipsed the 10-assist mark four times in his career to date.

Marin’s announcement came just a day after Bayern Munich striker Ivica Olic made his summer move to Wolfsburg official. The Croatian was never first-choice in the Bavarian capital following a transfer from Hamburg in 2009 and has bagged just 23 goals in three seasons. Arriving at Bayern Munich in the summer will be Xherdan Shaqiri, who at 20 has already starred for three seasons at Swiss side Basel, and Brazilian defender Dante, who arrives via Borussia Monchengladbach and is one of the most underrated centre-backs in European football.

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund have also made some early forays into the transfer market and announced in January that Marco Reus would be joining up next season after paying Borussia Monchengladbach €17.5m for the forward. Reus, 22, has scored 18 goals in all competitions this season to go along with 11 assists. Energie Cottbus midfielder Leonardo Bittencourt, 18, will also be joining Dortmund in the summer.

With the summer transfer window still months away no fewer than 22 transactions have already been made by Bundesliga clubs.

Follow Jerrad Peters on Twitter @peterssoccer