Record Deal for Handanovic

Samir Handanovic has become the most expensive post-crunch goalkeeper in the world following his £2.3 transfer to King Krimson from Grabimbyda Scrufoviznek, and takes manager Rafa Popovic's transfer spending this season beyond the £5m mark. In turn Handanovic becomes the first goalkeeper to demand a fee in excess of £1m since the economic collapse in season 3.

The £2.3m fee is still some way off the pre-crunch record of £11m paid for Mexican 'keeper Francisco Guillermo Ochoa by Shan State Tigers back in season 2 but is further proof of the growing strength of the economy.

The 29 year old stopper has been with Scrufoviznek since season 1, keeping 255 clean sheets in 687 appearances for the club, on the way to becoming widely recognised as one of the top goalkeepers in the world.

Modric and Rakitic Complete Transfers

Ivan Rakitic has become the first £3m transfer since the collapse of the transfer market following the changes to UFFA regulations that forced clubs to invest heavily in stadium construction nearly 3 seasons ago now.

Matosinhos SC have paid in excess of £3.1m to bring the Croatian midfielder, consider by many to be one of the best players in the world, to the Municipal de Matosinhos. Rakitic has spent the past 5 seasons at Matt Ellis' Scunthorpe Seraphim, making 740 appearances for the club in that time.

The news comes on the same day that Rafael Popovic's King Krimson completed a £2.5m deal to bring Luka Modric to Abrada Park from SFA Premiership side Ehcoelavon. These deals may be some way off the inflated transfer fees that were once commonplace, but it is clear that the market is picking up once more.

King Krimson To Defend Title

XEFA Organisers have decided to allow current UFFA Gold Cup holders King Krimson to defend their trophy despite Rafael Popovic's decision to move to the AEFA this season, it had looked likely that Rafa's team would not be present in the competition to defend their title.

The decision means that King Krimson will take one of the XEFA's three allocated Gold Cup places in the coming season, leaving only two current XEFA members taking part in the competition -- whilst Krimson's new federation, the AEFA, will be represented by four teams.

UFFA competition places are allocated to federations to award to teams how they see fit -- usually if a team were to leave a federation they would face sacrificing any UFFA competition qualification place they earned in the previous season as federation organisers have proved unwilling to provide one of their UFFA allocation to a team that has left their federation; an approach seen by some as an attempt to dissuade the top teams from moving to rival federations.

After initially informing Rafa that his place in next season's Gold Cup would be forfeited if he moved to the AEFA, XEFA chiefs have now distanced themselves from that position stating 'Common-sense prevailed' after including King Krimson their UFFA allocation for the season.

XEFA Gold Cup Qualifiers:

1. Duelling Dragons FC
   
2. King Krimson
3. ZenEagles

Krimson Keeps XEFA Guessing Over Title Credentials

It was a game of two halves - or should that be two matches - for Mihai Cristian's fading Rapid Pitesti players and Rafa Popovic's glittering King Krimson outfit. Both beat each other in quick succession, but it was the manner of the Bosnian team's victory and subsequent defeat that will no doubt have a big say on where the XEFA Premier title goes to this season.

Krimson drew first blood, smashing Pitesti 5-1 with Aleksandar Stepanovski in particularly scintillating form. Stevan Jovetic opened the scoring for Popovic's team, finishing off a well worked move, before Jo equalised from a corner for the opposition. The home team then ran riot, taking the lead again through a Nikola Zigic headed goal before Stepanovski added a third.

Jovetic completed his brace by heading in a corner and Stepanovski made Pitesti's misery complete with a stunning solo effort that surely deserves to be nominated for goal of the week.

However, it was a different story when Cristian demanded an immediate rematch, which Popovic accepted without hesitation. Jo once again demonstrated why he is one of the best strikers in the game, opening the scoring by heading in a pinpoint Danilo Rios cross. He then added a second by converting one of the typically dangerous Pitesti corners.

Late sub Cristian Nazarith then sealed the defeat by taking advantage of Krimson's inability to deal with a cross to slot in the third. Popovic was at a loss to explain how he won one game so convincingly, only to be beaten quite soundly the next:

I felt the second match was tight but my team attacked throughout. However Rapid scored with one long pass after a break, one corner as usual, and the last one at the death after I tried to come back into the match.

Meanwhile, Cristian was typically bullish after defeating Krimson:

It's important to learn from defeats. I saw where I was weak in the first game, I made two little changes and the game went my way.

While the Pitesti title challenge seems to have faded away, Krimson's hope of ending Dueling Dragons' grip on the league depends on which team turns up to play their remaining crucial matches: the one which is famed for its fabulous attacking play, or the one that seems to be creaky at the back.