This summer we have been treated to some super football at Euro 2008, so it comes as some surprise that the media have had to make up transfer rumours and report on even the slightest amount of gossip.

If this was a year ending in an odd number it could be understandable. After all, there would be no European Championships or World Cup to hold our attention. But this summer, football fans have been witness to THREE transfer sagas which seem, at the current time, to be no closer to being solved and will in all likelihood continue to dominate football discussion in the coming weeks.

In truth, every summer sees a transfer saga dominate the sports pages with little or no actual action to report on. For a couple of years it was the Steven Gerrard to Chelsea rumours and then last pre-season it was the legal wranglings around Carlos Tevez’s move to Manchester United.

But this summer it seems that every transfer is a “saga” – no move will happen quickly and seemingly every excruciating detail will be analysed by all sides. So, looking at the three main stories in recent weeks, which is more tiresome: Emmanuel Adebayor to Barcelona/AC Milan, Gareth Barry to Liverpool, or Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid?

More than anything, the Adebayor move leaves a bad taste in the mouth, He owes Arsenal and Arsene Wenger a lot and he is only leaving to make more money – which he is not exactly short of at Arsenal. He should heed the moves of many other players that have left Arsenal before him (Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Marc Overmars, Emanuel Petit etc). Life after Arsenal is often not so rosy.

Gareth Barry to Liverpool is another transfer saga brought about by a player with ideas above his station. Barry was going nowhere until Martin O’Neill came to the club and he owes his manager much more loyalty than just hopping off to Liverpool.

It is also unclear why Liverpool want to get rid of Xabi Alonso and sign Barry when arguably the Spanish midfielder is a better player. Everyone seems to be getting short-changed here. It would be great to see Barry stay at Villa Park and help challenge for a Champions League place but, sadly, that's a very unlikely scenario at the present time.

Then we have Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, the daddy of all transfer sagas - illustrated by Real Madrid chairman Roman Calderon on Sunday, who seemingly gave two different versions of his take on the move.

Above all, the behaviour of arguably the best player in the world has been tiresome and downright rude to the club and fans that made him into the player he is today. If he wants to move, why doesn’t he come out and just say it?

All three transfers seem to indicate there is little loyalty left in football, and perhaps the saddest part is that we can expect to go through these transfer rumours every summer for many years to come.

Arsene Wenger summed it up well in the News Of The World on Sunday: “If I had the power to change anything basic in football, it would be the transfer system which makes mercenaries of players. If they are bad ones, they stay, and if they are good, they think only of leaving. I have fought for them to earn a very good living, but I impose respect for their contract upon them. Clubs need stability and so do the public to identify with them in a lasting way.”