Berbatov A Barcelona Target But What Of Eto’o?
Reports in the English media have focussed on the possible transfer of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham to Manchester United. Suppositions were posited that the Premier League champions had agreed a fee in excess of £20m for the Bulgarian international but these have turned out to be false with no price yet agreed between the two clubs.
The move may be forced along apace if United are genuinely interested with Sport, a Spanish daily, reporting that as a result of the negotiations between Tottenham’s North London neighbours, Arsenal and Barcelona having stalled over Emmanuel Adebayor, the Catalans are now turning their attentions to Berbatov.
Once more though Barcelona are hamstrung by the absence of genuine offers for Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroonian is the key to incoming funds despite receiving €19m for Ronaldinho. Eto’o was an early close season target of Juande Ramos but rejected the move at that point on the grounds that Tottenham were not a ‘big’ club. Subsequent to those remarks, Eto’o has been publicly told he is not a major part of the new Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, plans. The announcement was not unexpected with the triumverate of Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto’o widely believed to a troublesome clique for former boss, Frank Rijkaard.
Guardiola has performed a small u-turn by confirming that any of them that remained at the club would be welcomed and used in the coming season. The motivation for Eto’o is to prove that he still has much to offer for a top European club otherwise Tottenham might represent the size of club that he is attractive to.
Samuel Eto’o, FC Barcelona, Totteham Hotspur, Arsenal, La Liga, Premier League, Transfer Gossip, Football, SoccerBerbatov A Barcelona Target But What Of Eto’o?
Reports in the English media have focussed on the possible transfer of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham to Manchester United. Suppositions were posited that the Premier League champions had agreed a fee in excess of £20m for the Bulgarian international but these have turned out to be false with no price yet agreed between the two clubs.
The move may be forced along apace if United are genuinely interested with Sport, a Spanish daily, reporting that as a result of the negotiations between Tottenham’s North London neighbours, Arsenal and Barcelona having stalled over Emmanuel Adebayor, the Catalans are now turning their attentions to Berbatov.
Once more though Barcelona are hamstrung by the absence of genuine offers for Samuel Eto’o. The Cameroonian is the key to incoming funds despite receiving €19m for Ronaldinho. Eto’o was an early close season target of Juande Ramos but rejected the move at that point on the grounds that Tottenham were not a ‘big’ club. Subsequent to those remarks, Eto’o has been publicly told he is not a major part of the new Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola, plans. The announcement was not unexpected with the triumverate of Ronaldinho, Deco and Eto’o widely believed to a troublesome clique for former boss, Frank Rijkaard.
Guardiola has performed a small u-turn by confirming that any of them that remained at the club would be welcomed and used in the coming season. The motivation for Eto’o is to prove that he still has much to offer for a top European club otherwise Tottenham might represent the size of club that he is attractive to.
GILBERTO DEPARTURE LEAVES VACANCY IN ARSENAL MIDFIELD
The departure of Mathieu Flamini left a hole in the Arsenal midfield; that gap became bigger yesterday as Panathinaikos agreed to buy Gilberto Silva from The Gunners. It means a shortage of experience within the defensive department at The Emirates. Amongst Arsene Wenger’s squad, he has a number of youthful players who could fill this role - Abou Diaby, Denilson, Johan Djourou and Alex Song - but none have sufficient Premier League experience to suggest that they are ready to step into the position, despite their obvious quality.
The Brazilian’s departure has led to speculation that Xabi Alonso may be on his way to The Emirates, a move that would allow Gareth Barry the chance to move to Anfield. Despite weekend rumours of Arsenal interest in the Aston Villa player, there has been little to suggest that this was serious interest on the part of Arsene Wenger.
Alonso’s agent stoked the fires of this rumour when he spoke to Publico, a Spanish newspaper, and suggest that he was aware of Arsenal’s interest in his client. Were Alonso to join The Gunners, his fee would be in the region of £14m. However, doubts are cast upon this move when considering the style of play the Spaniard would bring to the Arsenal squad. Alonso is a more thoughtful passer of the ball and is not in the same mould as Mathieu Flamini in that he is not an energetic or busy player. However, cast against that would be the wealth of experience that he has and a judicious choice of passing that he possesses.
Either player would sit comfortably in the Arsenal midfield yet the sensible money is on Wenger promoting from within. Diaby has played plenty of games on the left for Arsenal, covering the absence of Tomas Rosicky and Wenger is believed to have great faith in his ability. Song meanwhile has been introduced at the back although some sterling performances in the 2008 African Cup of Nations suggest he has a future in midfield. Djourou and Denilson would be considered outsiders for the role; the Swiss international played for Birmingham City on loan for six months last season and would benefit from such a move again. Denilson is more of a passer and creative than defensive and perhaps an understudy to Cesc Fabregas.
Wenger has a problem area but no-one should discount his ability to have already found a solution from within.
MILAN AND BARCELONA OPEN THE TRANSFER FLOODGATES
With Ronaldinho’s move to AC Milan all but confirmed, it seems that the barrier to a number of summer moves has been released. Barcelona held the key to three transfers and within twenty-four hours, there has been confirmation that the end-game in two of them approaches. Firstly, AC Milan agreed to pay Barcelona £19m for Ronaldinho’s services and subject to a medical, that transfer should be confirmed today.
The funds received will allow Alexander Hleb to leave Arsenal to join the Catalan giants for a fee approaching £15m. The Byelorussian international arrived in the Catalan capital where according to the club’s website, he will undergo a series of medicals at a local hospital and the club’s medical centre. Should these be passed, he will be confirmed as a Barcelona player tomorrow afternoon.
The final key in the jigsaw will be the transfer of Emmanuel Adebayor, again from Arsenal. This is more problematic for Barcelona as funds to purchase the player are believed to dependent upon the sale of Samuel Eto’o. Reports in the Spanish media today suggest that Valencia are considering a €25m bid for the Cameroonian international. Eto’o himself has made it clear he will only leave Barcelona if it suits him but his age will count against him next summer when more youthful rivals will be coveted by the big European clubs. Eto’o is also prepared to play in this summer’s Olympics, a move that will not sit comfortably with new employers, especially with the high value of his fee.
The transfer floodgates are suddenly coming ajar; the end of this week may yet see them open fully.
PORTO WIN CAS RULING LEAVING UEFA IMPOTENT
FC Porto will take their place in this season’s Champions League having won a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling earlier this week. The Portuguese Champions entry into the competition was rejected initially by UEFA on the basis that all participating clubs must have a ‘clean’ record to so.
Porto were ensnared in a corruption scandal earlier this year for attempting to bribe officials during the domestic 2003-04 season, an offence for which they were convicted by the Portuguese football authorities. On that basis, Porto were excluded from the Champions League, a decision overturned by UEFA’s own appeals committee on the basis that the investigations were still ongoing and therefore any punishment could not be meted out until such times as they were completed. Benfica and Vittoria Guimaraes sought to have that decision over-ruled.
The ruling raises more questions about Michel Platini’s drive to make football clean. UEFA’s own procedures require overhauling if they are able to make a ‘kangaroo court’ judgement despite other processes running to ensure the truth prevails. It cannot be right that the organisation makes ill-informed decisions in the first place whilst others sit in judgement.
ALONSO FUTURE LEAVES BARRY MOVE IN DOUBT
Liverpool’s public pursuit of Gareth Barry appears to be shrouded in doubt with the apparent failure of Juventus to seal the transfer of Xabi Alonso. The Italians have moved to sign Christian Poulson from Sevilla, leaving their only target now another goalkeeper.
Manager Claudio Ranieri said,
We’re 99 per cent complete, at least in terms of people coming in. We only need another keeper and then we’ll be all set, ready to face the new season
With Javier Mascherano signed permanently earlier this year, the departure of Alonso was seen as crucial to bringing Barry to Anfield. Now that has fallen apart, for the moment at least, Rafa Benitez needs to find another solution to fit the England international into his squad.
Reports of Arsenal’s interest in the player seem to be overplaying the situation; Martin O’Neill’s comments suggest that the enquiry by Pat Rice as to the current state of negotiations with Liverpool was more of a casual enquiry than a serious attempt at signing the player.
Whether Liverpool will be able to keep their interest alive remains to be seen. The desperation of the Merseysiders to sign Barry has been apparent and belittling to a club of their stature.
RONALDINHO ROW GIVES CITY HOPE
Ronaldinho’s exit from the Camp Nou is proving as colourful as his time at Barcelona. Spanish Radio reported last night that Adriano Galliani has argued with the player’s agent and brother, Roberto de Assis, leaving the door open for the improbable sight of the Brazilian international in a Manchester City shirt next season.
Barcelona are known to prefer City’s £22m bid for the player as it is £10m more than Milan have offered. It seems that the Mancunians are dropping their corporate trousers in their attempts to sign the player, offering him more money and the number ten shirt to fit in with his sponsorship by Nike. The deal on the table for the player is in the form of a ‘pay as you play’ contract and is believed to be supported by the sportswear giant.
However, City do not have the presence in the game of the Italians and that is counting heavily against them. Whilst next season will see Milan participate in the UEFA Cup, City have no guarantee of this even with their qualifying campaign starting this week against EB/Streymur from the Faroe Islands. Their ambitions to progress cannot be doubted with £18m already spent on Jo, their signing from CSKA Moscow. How wisely this money has been spent remains to be seen.
For his part, Ronaldinho would not be available for competitive action to his new employers as he seeks to participate in the Olympic Games in Beijing later this summer. It will be useful for either of his suitors to assess his fitness there given that he has not taken part in a competitive fixture since March 9th.
The player expects to make a ‘major announcement’ with regard to his next move this week and it is widely expected to be acceptance of Milan’s offer.
FOOTBALL LEAGUE ARE AS MAD AS HATTERS
The Football League’s decision to impose a twenty point penalty on Luton Town for failing to exit Administration has placed the future of the club in further doubt. Coming on top of a ten point deduction for paying Agents via a third-party, a direct contravention of the League’s rules, relegation to the Blue Square Premier League seems inevitable at the end of the 2008-09 season. In order to claw back their -30 point starting total, the Bedfordshire club must produce form that would ordinarily see them occupy one of the three automatic promotion spots.
Luton were left with little option but to accept the penalty as the League set out the criteria that appeal was not allowed if their membership of the organisation was to continue. In itself, that seems against natural justice, a feeling compounded by the fact that the League took into account that this was the third time in a decade that the club had entered administration. That the rules governing this aspect were not in place during all of that time again emphasises the absence of fairness in the penalty. However, Leicester City were accused of avoiding relegation from the Championship - a fate they succumbed to last season - by exploiting the now-closed loopholes in the League’s rules. Indeed, following Leeds United’s unsuccessful appeal against their fifteen point deduction last season, The Hatters fate was sealed.
It begs the question though whether or not the points deduction and the severity of Luton’s plight was in the best interests of sporting justice. Given their handicap, would it not better if they had been relegated to the Blue Square Premier League this season. Unless Luton get into the winning habit regularly, the odds of 1-10 on their survival will become even less attractive. Had they been put into the highest rung of Non-League football, the club would at least have the chance to rebuild and may have bounced back immediately in an altogether more healthier financial position.
As it is, they seem doomed before they have begun. There are two effects that this position though could have on the club. If they won their initial five games, the position would not seem so bad. However, the opposite will possibly ruin the future of the sport in the town as crowds may fall accordingly. Initially though it ought to be a rallying cry for the manager and players to use, a siege mentality created externally often brings out the best in sides. With Luton’s future still not resolved off the pitch, it is a club in dire need of good news. The only place that seems likely to come from is the band of players who are fighting for their professional lives.
NASRI SIGNS AS HLEB AND ADEBAYOR EDGE CLOSER TO THE EXIT
Samir Nasri has completed his protracted transfer to Arsenal, joining the club just as the first team squad return to training. The French midfielder did not enjoy the best of times at Euro2008, restricted to fleeting cameos as Les Bleus were dumped out of the tournament.
His signing would appear to open the door to Arsenal finalising the sale of Alexander Hleb to Barcelona. Spanish media reports suggest that this will be for an initial €15m, increasing to €18m with bonuses. The two players are very similar, indeed enjoying similar scoring ratios at Marseilles and Arsenal. It has been the biggest criticism of Hleb that during his time at Arsenal, the player has not found the net regularly enough.
That is to miss the essence of his contribution to the side. Hleb recently observed that he is more of a creator than a scorer, attributing this to a youth coach whose mantra was, “Pass, Pass, Pass“. It has made him the fulcrum of many Arsenal attacks whereby his dribbling and close control has allowed colleagues to make the final pass or score. It is this attribute that Nasri will be expected to fill, along with the recuperating Tomas Rosicky. Should those two be able to contribute more goals then it will make Arsenal a potent attacking force in the Premier League.
Whether the strikeforce will include Emmanuel Adebayor seems increasingly unlikely. The Togolese international has attracted the covetous glances of AC Milan and Barcelona all summer, seeking a move for monetary rather than footballing reasons. The Italians are not his first choice of destination but they have upped the ante by offering €30m plus Yoann Gorcuff to Arsenal. This though seems not to be adequate for The Gunners who want £35m, a fee that according to Adriano Galliani on many occasions is out of their reach. Barcelona are thought to be shy of that amount as well, reports suggesting that they will be prepared to go to €35m (£28m). The likely outcome is to be somewhere nearer to £30m for a player who scored thirty goals last season.
BOSTOCK VALUATION IS AN IMPORTANT RULING DESPITE PALACE’S OBJECTIONS
European clubs confirmed their opposition to Sepp Blatter’s Quota Plans earlier this week, a hardly surprising result since had they supported them, it would have been the footballing equivalent of Turkey’s voting for Christmas. Does this mean that the ideas are without merit or is it simply a case of the vested interests of the club overriding their concern for the game as a whole?
Without doubt it is the former yet despite the derision of the media, fed by the clubs, there is some point to the idea behind quotas, albeit the methodology of achieving those aims is awry. Blatter’s intention is to create a strong international game; arguably, he already has it. However, there are exceptions to this rule and one of them in particular, England, is also the richest league in the world.
To have the English fail to qualify for Euro2008 was neither good for the game as a whole nor was it bad. One nation’s travesty is a benefit for another; Russia served notice that under Guus Hiddink’s leadership that they are not to be taken lightly, providing a delightful aspect to the competition. That they were eventually undone by the uncrowned Champions is no shame. They had recovered from a thrashing in their first match to reach the semi-finals, dismantling one of the tournament favourites en route.
That the English failure to qualify forced the Football Association to bring into existence a National Training Centre, situated in Burton-on-Trent, is further benefit to the game as a whole. It is shameful that they had not done so sooner. Any initiative that brings a standardisation to coaching for the elite of the game of any age should be applauded.
However, the idea of quotas is an anathema to any European governement which is a member of the European Union. To the bureaucrats of Brussels, everything is about levelling playing fields without barriers to its citizens. The only way for football to address the imbalance at a national level is to ensure that there is sufficient technical quality amongst natives.
One example of this is John Bostock. Aged sixteen, Crystal Palace valued him at £5m. It is ludicrous to believe that his true worth was anywhere near that yet Simon Jordan, The Eagles owner, used emotive language in describing the players valuation at £1.25m by a tribunal. Jordan has a vested interest, a desire to do the best for his club yet he epitomises all that is wrong in the transfer system. Had the deal not been struck by the tribunal, another player would have been lost to the lower divisions through the excesses of money that are believed to permeate the upper echelons of the English game. There is merit in the argument that Bostock would have been better served by playing regularly for Palace but that is based on the assumption that he will be dumped into Spurs reserves. Perhaps he will be used in the same manner that Theo Walcott is at Arsenal, benefitting from a mix of substitute and starting appearances at Arsenal.
Whatever the case, transfer fees have to be regulated; this is the biggest cause of consternation at larger clubs. Some sense needs to come into the system otherwise indigenous talent is lost through greed. Yet protection of the lower league clubs is also needed, a balance must be struck. Simon Jordan observed that there is little incentive for clubs such as his own to nurture talent if they are not going to be suitably rewarded. As a businessman, he will recognise the paucity of his argument. If football clubs only survive because of transfer fees, something fundamental is wrong with their financial model. Seeking talent is to be eulogised yet seeking reward as their only solace through this opportunity is folly. Finding a talented youngster is the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack; many average players must pass through the doors for the ‘chosen ones’ to be found. If a club’s future is dependent upon this result, something is rotten in the state of Denmark and owners must look to their own weaknesses for a longer term solution.
SLAVE? BLATTER INSULTS HISTORY WITH ILL-CHOSEN WORDS
During his time in office, Sepp Blatter has been no stranger to controvesy. Famously derided as having 101 bad ideas every day, FIFA’s President has suggested that women footballers ’should wear tighter shorts’ to make the game more popular with men, capping that sexism by insulting millions of people throughout history whose dignity and humanity have been stripped bare.
Comparing Cristiano Ronaldo, a multi-millionaire whose every whim is pandered to, with those who have suffered unimaginable depravation through slavery is simply unforgivable and must surely be the final nail in his Presidential coffin. It is simply untenable that Blatter remain in office; unbelievable that those nations whose ancestors have been ripped asunder through the greed of others have not yet called for his resignation.
Quite how Blatter came to his conclusions in a television interview beggars belief. Ronaldo freely renegotiated his Manchester United contract last season, enjoying vast sums of money on a weekly basis as reward for his talent; hardly the basis of any slavery where abject poverty was rampant. All Blatter has done is convince a spoilt manchild that his toys have been taken away because his employers will not tear up his contract of employment. Ronaldo could of course force the issue and submit a written transfer request. He will not for in doing so he will deprive himself of millions of pounds in loyalty bonuses. Should United decide to sell him, they will be forced to pay this money, hardly slavery Herr Blatter.
The hypocrisy of Blatter has been laid bare for all to see. If Blatter were truly convinced of the inquitous nature of the transfer market, he would have pioneered changes long before now. Instead, he has ensured the inherent greed within the system is in plain view; clubs extorting huge sums of money for players, even of mediocre talent, buying clubs exerting pressure to ensure the talent floats to those at the top. Outside of sport, which other industries impose a fee for employing personnel currently working for a rival?
Blatter’s motivation of this outburst is hard to fathom. He knew the furore which would erupt over his words, indeed one questions whether that was his intention. Is he meddling to try to bring the Ronaldo transfer to a head? FIFA had already declared that Real Madrid were not ‘tapping’ the player up despite their ready quotes for any media outlet that asked. Blatter has also ensured that a legal challenge to the FIFA statutes governing transfers and contracts will be forthcoming in the next year or two, with him being called as a star witness. The apocalyptic scenario of clubs going their own way may well have been hastened if anarchy reigns over the transfer market. More likely though, this was purely about revenge. Under the auspices of UEFA, the European Club Association rejected his quota proposals, preferring the current ‘homegrown’ rules, approved by the European Union. Blatter could not get his own way on that and took the chance to launch an incendiary device into football. Whether it ends his career at the top prematurely will soon be seen.
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