Chelsea last night denied having made any formal bid for Milan's dazzling Brazilian midfielder Kaka as the player's representatives talked up the possibility of a move to London. His adviser Diogo Kotscho – not an official Fifa agent – had set the hares running by suggesting: "This is the first time we feel a deal will definitely happen. Because of the situation Milan are in at the moment, the deal is good for all parties involved."

The Premier League are to investigate whether Manchester United and Liverpool have broken any rules in their attempts to wrest Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane respectively from Tottenham Hotspur, who have made an official complaint about the clubs' "disgraceful" conduct. But the Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, has warned Spurs that such proceedings could prove "very embarrassing" as he had never mentioned any player by name.

Over the years the face of Luton Town has contorted itself into so many expressions it could win a world championship gurning contest. Among them, unconfined joy as a beige-suited David Pleat dashed across the pitch at Maine Road after the club retained top-flight status. Indignation that anyone should object to their artificial surface. Abject misery at recent relegations. And, inevitably, the laughter created byEric Morecambe, at one time a club director.

Sunderland's apparently faltering efforts to sign four players from Tottenham Hotspur for a combined fee of £23 million regained momentum yesterday when each of the quartet – Steed Malbranque, Pascal Chimbonda, Younes Kaboul and Teemu Tainio – arrived on Wearside individually to meet the Sunderland manager, Roy Keane.

West Ham were yesterday close to completing their first major signing of the summer, with the £5m acquisition of the highly-rated Swiss international Valon Behrami from Lazio. However the deal was over-shadowed by a public admonishment for Robert Green after the goalkeeper said he felt "completely undervalued" and intimated that he wanted to leave after not being awarded a pay rise.

They will forever be remembered as part of the greatest Barcelona team of all time, and one that eliminated Chelsea on their way to the 2006 Champions League title but Deco's love affair with the former European champions is well and truly over. On his official introduction as a Chelsea player, the Portuguese midfielder said that he and Ronaldinho had to leave the Nou Camp to get their careers back on track.

Sir Alex Ferguson has moved to end the constant speculation surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo's desire to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid by warning the player, in a face-to-face meeting in Portugal, that he will not be sold by the European champions this summer.

The shuffling of goalkeepers between Premier League clubs began in earnest yesterday with Blackburn close to caving in to Brad Friedel's demand that he be allowed to move to Aston Villa, who face competition from Manchester City, while Liverpool sold Scott Carson to West Bromwich Albion in a deal that could rise to £3.75m.

West Bromwich Albion have completed the signing of the England goalkeeper Scott Carson from Liverpool. Carson has signed a four-year deal, for an initial fee of £3.25m which could rise by £500,000, depending on "performance-related criteria". The signing is Albion's seventh since they gained promotion in May and brings their summer spending to £13.75m. Roman Bednar, Luke Moore, Doheon Kim, Graham Dorrans, Gianni Zuiverloon and Marek Cech have already been signed. The 22-year-old Carson, who played 35 Premier League games for Aston Villa last season, is second on the all-time list of England Under-21 appearance-makers, with 29, and was in the team that reached the 2007 European Championship semi-finals. Sven-Goran Eriksson, then the England manager, named him in his 2006 World Cup squad and he made two B international appearances before being given his senior debut in a 1-0 win over Austria in November 2007. Five days later, with the regular No 1 Paul Robinson out of form, Carson started the make-or-break Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia at Wembley which England lost 3-2, confirming their absence from this summer's finals.

Tottenham Hotspur are resigned to losing both Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane after complaining to the Premier League that the strikers had been tapped up by Manchester United and Liverpool respectively and were now a "negative influence" in the dressing room who lacked commitment.