Small Steps Against Inertia

As if there isn't scarce enough stories to write about, the fact that I've stopped writing about Ronaldo and Tevez means there's even less to write about. Add the fact that sleeping in yesterday and not writing the round up till late means I covered some of today's stories yesterday and today is a very quiet day.
Covered yesterday, Valencia to decide where he's going when he gets back off holiday.
Substance of the story covered yesterday, Atletico want a boatload of cash for Aguero.
Two stories which might mean we have a boatload of cash going spare for Aguero - Ribery wants to join Real according to his agent:

Bayern insist Ribery is not for sale, but Alan Migliaccio claims his client has not given up on a move to the Bernabeu this summer.

"Ribery would prefer to play for Real Madrid than Barcelona," he told RAC-1. "The player has talked with Zinedine Zidane and he wants to play for Los Blancos for him.

"But at this moment everything is blocked because the people at Bayern are on holiday until the end of this month.

"I can't say anything else until we meet them in the next few weeks."

And Real are joining the "race" to sign Benzema:

Real Madrid are set to hijack Manchester United’s bid to land Karim Benzema after claiming they have given up the chase for Valencia’s David Villa.

Lyon striker Benzema is considering whether to leave France or stay and maintain his excellent form in World Cup year.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is a huge admirer of his talents and has been for some time. Madrid had made Villa their No.1 striking target as club president Florentino Perez continues his relentless march towards packing the Spanish side with Galacticos.

But Valencia maintain they will not sell Villa unless they receive a massive offer and Real Madrid are unwilling to pay above £36million

On the other side of the transfer stories, Sir Alex recommends Hull to Frazier Campbell:

[Phil] Brown said: ‘Sometimes a young lad’s head can get turned by interest from other clubs but the beauty of the whole deal is that I firmly believe Sir Alex Ferguson has the lad's best interests at heart.

'For him to recommend to Fraizer that Hull City is the best move for him speaks volumes for us. Hopefully he’ll take a lot of notice of that advice.’

And that's the lot.
No, wait... Just noticed another in the nick of time, on Douglas Costa:

The 18-year-old Brazilian is a target for Sir Alex Ferguson, who had been keen to see the player in action before sanctioning an £18m bid.

United have been tracking Costa for some time and wanted to bring him to England for a 20-day trial period. However, Gremio's president, Duda Kroeff, has rejected the idea, insisting he is too good for such a proposal.

"We have said to them [Manchester United] that this will not happen," said Kroeff. "Douglas is not at the stage where he would go through such a situation."

Douglas has played fewer than 20 first-team games for Gremio, but he has shone for Brazil at youth level, which has seen him attract interest from a number of clubs in Europe.