The pursuit of happiness: Titles, Trophies, and Transfers.

Well, as we approach the end of the 2007/2008 football season and Champions are crowned, it is only inevitable that in the world of stars, stars scramble to shine brighter over the others for next season.

Whether it is to actually reach new heights, undertake new challenges, or fill up the trophy cabinet, there’s bound to be alot of action in the transfer season.

In probably the biggest clamor, it was reported that Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has expressed his desire to leave the Nou Camp if Barcelona cannot overcome its struggles and haul in trophies before the end of the season. Barca sees its pursuit of the league title slowly fading away and the only realistic trophy yet to be had is the Champions League. Looks like Barca’s slowly deteriorating internally, with reports of Ronaldinho planning on leaving Barca for AC Milan, Inter, or Man City. If not for Barca’s rising stars of Bojan and G. dos Santos, surely the Nou Camp is code red.

With Roberto Mancini struggling as Inter coach, it is reported that Jose Mourinho will take over the wheel and with it, will bring Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Lampard should be a welcome addition to the experienced, yet aging, midfield consisting of Luis Figo, Patrick Viera, Dejan Stankovic, and Esteban Cambiasso. Didier Drogba will only make Inter’s frontline more bone-shivering, alongside Z.Ibrahimovic, J.Cruz, H.Crespo, and D.Suazo.

PSV’s top goalkeeper, H.Gomez, recently found himself in conflict with PSV’s director of football over broken promises and policies, which basically means money problems. PSV won its 4th successive league title over this past weekend but bowed out in the group stage of the Champions League. He’s definitely worth every penny they value him at, and I’m sure he’ll be looking to join a team that can climb higher up the Champions League.

Flamboyant nappy-haired Brazilian, João Alves de Assis Silva, or simply known as “Jo”, is joining Manchester City from CSKA Moskow, where he paired up with another flamboyant nappy-haired Brazilian, Vagner Love, to pound goals samba-style. Knowing his limited exposure with playing for a team like CSKA Moskow, he’s ready to make the move to the big stage and with an ambitious team like Man City, who already have signed Elano, Nery Castillo, Valeri Bojinov en Benjamin Mwaruwari.

Arsenal versatile midfield duo, Mathieu Flamini and Aleksiander Hleb, are currently scanning the market for trophy winning alternatives, much to Wenger’s dismay. Wenger has said that “there isn’t much more chance of winning trophies at clubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid than at Arsenal.” Flamini is reported to attract the interest of Juventus while Hleb is looked at by Real Madrid.

Chelsea is reported to splash millions for Bayern’s Franck Ribery. Undoubtedly one of Bayern’s most influential figures of this season’s title campaign, it would take a hefty premium to pry Ribery away from Bayern. Bayern looks to challenge for the Champions League after restructuring the team last season.

More in the works:

Patrice Evra to Juventus and Genarro Gattuso to Manchester United?
Clarence Seedorf to Bayern Munich?

I’ll continue this post in series to provide a weekly update on transfers.