Earlier today, Italian Ivan Basso announced he has withdrawn from the Tour de , after discovering he has testicular cancer.

The 37-year-old's fellow riders have been sending messages of goodwill and throughout the afternoon - Britain's Mark Cavendish and the now retired Jens Voigt amongst them. 

If Raheem Sterling's seemingly imminent move to Manchester City from Liverpool goes ahead it will be the biggest transfer ever for an English player, at £49m.

Here's BBC Sport's David Ornstein with the latest:

Crystal Palace fans, we haven't forgotten you. 

Manchester United have kind of stolen the show today by announcing two major transfers within 20 minutes, as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin arrived at Old Trafford.

For my money though (nowhere near the Yohan Cabaye's price tag of £10m by the way), Palace have already got one of the best deals of the window so far.

Former US Open winner Andy Roddick has impressed while covering Wimbledon for BBC Sport and he has just gone up even further in Sportsday's estimations...

Defender Chris Smalling has amassed his team-mates for a photo ahead of their flight to the United States...

Further down the plane, MUTV pundit Lou Macari is making himself comfortable...

Belgian defender Denayer, 20, spent last season on loan with Celtic and was named PFA Scotland young player of the year.

Ivan Basso's Tinkoff-Saxo team-mates Michael Rogers and Alberto Contador have tweeted these messages of for the Italian, who has been diagnosed with testicular cancer. 

Basso, 37, has twice won the Giro d'Italia, and was placed 158th in the Tour de overall standings. 

Some shocking news about Italian cyclist Ivan Basso from BBC Sport's Matt Slater...

Goalkeeper David De Gea, the subject of interest from Real Madrid , has been named in Manchester United's squad for a pre-season tour of the United States. 

But. There is no Victor Valdes, and no Rafael either...

If this tweet from football writer Richard Jolly is correct, Bastian Schweinsteiger is in esteemed company...

There's a thoroughly entertaining debate raging on Twitter involving Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, Olympic gold medal-winning rower Matthew Pinsent and former England rugby international Brian Moore. 

The topic? Lewis Hamilton being turned away from the Royal Box at Wimbledon for not being suitably attired...

Even former US Open champion and "obnoxious American" Andy Roddick got involved...

Iker Casillas, after 17 years with Real Madrid, is set to FC Porto.

A legend at Real, he was almost brought to tears (the manly kind) as he said his goodbyes in a news conference. 

Spanish football writer Sid Lowe has this perspective...

Meanwhile at Stoke, interpretative dance is high on the agenda as pre-season training gets going in earnest. 

Presumably that's why Begovic left... 

The first big transfer of the day then. 

How long before the others follow? Are Bastian Schweinsteiger, Morgan Schneiderlin, or Raheem Sterling anywhere near? 

Robin van Persie must have put pen to paper at Fenerbahce by now, surely?

That's if he made it out of the melee that greeted him at Istanbul airport last night...

Cristiano Ronaldo has this message for former team-mate Iker Casillas, who has left Real Madrid after 17 years to FC Porto.

"Proud to have worked with you for so many years. Good luck with your new team," the Portuguese says.

Centre-back Medhi Benatia is one of several Bayern Munich players to have sent their best wishes back to Bastian Schweinsteiger. 

I wonder how manager Pep Guardiola feels about it all?

Not like Joey Barton to have a view on something but he's just tweeted this about the Raheem Sterling to Manchester City deal. Agree with him?

You can keep your thoughts coming on Twitter via #bbcfootball, external, or you can post on the Match of the Day Facebook page., external

We've already heard from Liverpool over in Thailand, Swansea are off to , Manchester United to the United States and now Arsenal have landed in Singapore. 

Arsene Wenger sporting the 'teacher on a school trip' pose in this one. It's not lunchtime yet.

Is this a vision of the Tour de in 40 years' time?

Erm, no. But's it's good to see German sprinter Andre Greipel still favours two wheels over four, even on his day off. Kudos for keeping the shorts on, too.

By the way, you can catch up on what's gone down in the Tour's first week with Geraint Thomas's latest column.