Summer Transfer Period

The summer transfer period has already begun with a huge splash.  Chelsea continues to make news with the signing of coveted Belgian 21 year old, Eden Hazard, for a fee of 40 million pounds ($61.9 mil.).  Hazard has performed excellently for his former club Lille, and finally agreed to sign with Chelsea over Manchester United & City.  Chelsea's next target is said to be the Brazilian striker Hulk, the star of the FC Porto team in Portugal.  These moves follow the departure of three main players in Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, and Jose Bosingwa.  Arsenal also hopes to be big spenders in this summer period in order to entice Robin van Persie to stay in north London.  They already have procured the likes of German striker Lukas Podolski from German club FC Koln. Van Persie is connected to a few clubs for transfer, most notably Juventus and Manchester City.  Fulham and USMNT striker Clint Dempsey has made known his desire to play for a competitive team in order to experience more European experience.  Dempsey has proven himself worthy of a wealthy contract after this season, tying himself for 4th among the top goalscorers.  The other huge name in transfer rumors is Rafael van der Vaart, of Tottenham.  He is supposedly being offered a substantial contract from German team Schalke 04.  This all being said, soccer fans have alot to look forward to in the coming months following the Euro '12 competition.