Transfer Rumours
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.
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.
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.
LAPORTA SURVIVES DESPITE OVERWHELMING UNPOPULARITY WITH SOCIOS
As was widely expected, Joan Laporta was resoundingly defeated in yesterday’s Censure motion. Despite 60% of the votes cast being against the Barcelona President, Laporta has clung to power as the statutes required those against the President to total 66%. The outcome means that Laporta remains in office until 2010.
Dissatisfied at a second trophyless season, 23,870 socios voted against Laporta with 15,184 supporting his regime. It is a turbulent time at the Camp Nou with Frank Rijkaard and Deco having left, Ronaldinho seemingly on his way to AC Milan and Samuel Eto’o sitting and waiting for offers; out with the old guard, in with the new.
Attempts to strengthen the squad have been mixed. High profile signings such as Dani Alves from Sevilla will make the back line stronger to some extent but for every success, there have been shambolic attempts to sign others. Alexander Hleb remains an Arsenal player and Emmanuel Adebayor looks unlikely to arrive in the Catalan capital very soon. Indeed, there is a growing suspicion that the player is using Barcelona to extract a higher salary from The Gunners and has little intention of leaving the London club unless he is forced out by Arsene Wenger. Only Andrei Arshavin has publicly spoken of his love for the club and even then, the blaugrana face stiff competition from Arsenal and Chelsea, both of whom Arshavin is travelling to London to meet this week.
If this is the case and Adebayor rejects the offer of a move, the embarrassing summer for Laporta will be long indeed.
OH DEAR CALDERON NO RON-RON
Ramon Calderon, erstwhile President of Real Madrid, has conceded that his pursuit of Crisitiano Ronaldo is likely to be in vain this summer. According to reports from Marca, Calderon admitted this weekend that the ‘most likely scenario’ is that the Portuguese winger will be staying at Old Trafford for one more season at least.
The main stumbling block all summer has been the reluctance of Manchester United to enter into negotiations with the Spaniards, despite the best efforts of the Madrilenos to engineer a move through the media and with their own outbursts. The only reason United would now sell appears to be if the player himself requests a move, something that would be unlikely to happen as he will forfeit all of the bonuses due under his contract, signed only last summer.
For Calderon, it is a path well-trodden. During summer 2007, he publicly pursued Cesc Fabregas only to be rebuffed by the player and Arsenal. The use of ‘tame’ media outlets is a well-practised methodolgy for unsettling players and will no doubt continue despite its lack of success in these two high-profile transfers.
Had Real approached the United board quietly, they may have met with more success. Now, with egg on his face once more and empty promises in his hand, Calderon has to look elsewhere for new players.
WEST BROM TO OFFER ROBINSON ESCAPE FROM SPURS HELL
West Bromwich Albion have marked the Premier League’s cards that they do not intend to be patsy’s and suffer relegation on their return to the top-flight. The Midlanders have made an inquiry for former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson whose future at White Hart Lane has been doomed since the appointment of Juande Ramos, exacerbated by the signing of Huerleho Gomes from PSV Eindhoven last month.
Robinson had been expected to join Aston Villa as Martin O’Neill sought to replace the Liverpool ‘keeper Scott Carson after his loan spell at the club finished. The two clubs have locked horns over Gareth Barry and Carson may yet be involved as a makeweight in the deal although Villa are demanding that their valuation of £18m for the England midfielder be met in cash. Carson’s future at Anfield is under pressure already with rumours of Liverpool scouring the globe for back-up for Spanish Number Two, Pepe Reina, with Brazilian Diego Cavalieri expected to join next week for £3m.
Gordon Banks in this morning’s Sun newspaper laments the current state of English goalkeeping, noting that
If foreign managers keep buying foreign keepers, we’ll never have a top-quality England No. 1
Robinson was supposed to be such a player. At Leeds, he was constantly linked with the top sides yet when his availability became known, none moved for him and he ended up at Tottenham. His confidence consistently fell, reaching its nadir in Croatia when an own-goal contributed to England’s failure to qualify for Euro2008. Carson was given his chance in the return match at Wembley but suffered when a mistake gifted the Croats an early lead that they ultimately held onto.
It is however harsh to write-off the future of English goalkeeping at this moment in time. Robinson may recover at a new club whilst Carson, Ben Foster of Manchester United and Joe Hart of Manchester City head a promising generation. As with most other positions in the England team, there is a paucity of world class talent currently but enough coming through to suggest that its demise may yet be prematurely called.
RONALDO SAGA KEEPS UP ITS HEAD OF STEAM
Rivalling the tedium produced by Emmanuel Adebayor’s protracted entanglement with Barcelona is Real Madrid’s pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo. This week has seen more conjecture on his future, produced by the fact that he has not returned to Manchester for pre-season training. That he was not supposed to, his summer prolonged due to Euro2008 is a minor inconvenience.
With surgery on his foot - an injury that has moved from his toe to his ankle in the space of a week - scheduled to take place, the rumour mill will continue apace. Marca has fuelled the fire further by reporting that Real will this week table a formal bid of €87.5m, some €12.5m short of the target that United are believed by the English media to desire.
Marca is one of two notionally independent media outlets used by Real to unsettle players with constant speculation. The ideal scenario for the Spanish champions is that Ronaldo submits a written transfer request, a course of action that is unlikely to be followed as it would negate and signing-on fees owed from his contract renegotiation last season with United.
It means that Real will be forced to pay through the nose for the player, perhaps double his true value, in much the same way that Barcelona are being held hostage by Arsenal for Adebayor. The Catalans are perhaps in more urgent need of buying Adebayor with President Joan Laporta needing 65% of the vote to go in his favour in this weekend’s ‘Motion of No Confidence’ to survive; A big-money signing might well swing some more votes in his favour.
In both cases, the close of transfer window on August 31st is the only way speculation will end if neither has signed for either of the Primera Division clubs by then. Even so, the respite for the supporters of Arsenal and Manchester United will be brief; it is four short months until the window re-opens in January 2009.
CROUCH DOWN TO PORTSMOUTH
Liverpool moved a step closer to signing Gareth Barry this week when Aston Villa manager disciplined the player for his interviews last weekend, the punishment not conducive to a good working relationship. The final piece of the jigsaw may well fall into place with reports that Peter Crouch will return to the welcoming arms of Harry Redknapp and Portsmouth for a fee that might reach £11m.
For Crouch, the possibility of a move is crucial to stopping his career from stagnating. Rafa Benitez has made it clear that he does not believe that Torres and Crouch are a working partnership and has relegated the England international to the bench or playing when the Spaniard is rested. Still more famous for his ‘Robot’ dance celebrations than his career achievements, Crouch desperately needs first-team football on a regular basis to ensure that he figures in Fabio Cappello’s plans. More pressure is likely to be put on him if Michael Owen can stay fit and rediscover consistency in front of goal at Newcastle.
The perception of Crouch is that he is a one-dimensional player but he has shown that his touch belies the idea that he is purely a target man. However, his career is at an important crossroads. For it to carry on he must move in the right direction and that is away from Anfield
Chelsea To Sell Drogba?
Reports this morning suggest that Luis Felipe Scolari is not developing Chelsea through evolution but revolution. Didier Drogba can apparently be bought for £22m, which may be of interest to AC Milan. However, the Italians baulked at making a £24m bid for the Togolese striker so may not be able to fund the purchase of his Ivorian rival.
If the price quoted in The Sun is correct, it represents excellent value for money for a player who has proven that he can score at the highest level. There have been consistent reports for the last twelve months that the player is unhappy at Stamford Bridge but his release would come as some surprise, especially with a new manager in situ.
Strikers of his calibre are scarce at the highest level and Chelsea are continually linked with them. Current favourite in the media is Samuel Eto’o as David Villa committed himself to Valencia yesterday. With Jo costing Manchester City £19m, the two Spanish-based players and Drogba can be considered cheap at only £3-£5m more.
One criticism of Drogba is that he is opinionated and divisive in the dressing-room. Eto’o has a similar reputation having been part of the politically explosive environment in the Camp Nou. His availability was confirmed by Pep Guardiola recently, along with Ronaldinho and the now-departed Deco. The nightmare scenario for the new Barcelona coach is that Eto’o and the Brazilian remain at the Camp Nou for another season. Whilst there has been plenty of rumour surrounding Ronaldinho’s future, little interest is being shown in Eto’o. Barcelona will be actively seeking to change that and may yet be tempted to throw the Cameroonian into the Adebayor mix.
Adebayor’s Ego Rampages Onwards
Emmanuel Adebayor continues to agitate for a move away from Arsenal to join Barcelona with his agent claiming that the motivation for his client is to play at a higher sporting level and nothing to do with the offer from that Catalans that would almost triple his wages.
Arsenal have reportedly offered the Togolese international a revised deal worth £45k per week, a £10k increase on his current contract. For many, this is a realistic increase and the signs are that Arsenal supporters are growing increasingly dissatisfied with the player’s stance. Adebayor seems to mistakenly believe that his thirty goals last season are an indication of his class. Instead he should recognise that this tally shows he has the potential to be one the great centre-forwards in the game; the proof of his class will come when he repeats the total season after season.
Stephane Courbis, Adebayor’s agent, claimed
If this were a money problem, then he would have asked to leave. He is a man of the heart not of money. He is not greedy
The public utterances of his client undermine Courbis’ argument. Whilst Adebayor may not have asked for a move, he has made clear his desire to leave and his willingness to do so, claiming that if he did depart for a big fee then it was a “win-win” situationl; he would be happy with his new increased salary and Arsenal with the profit they have made on his sale. This is hardly the rationale of a player who is being sold against his will.
Adebayor stated that Barcelona represented a bigger challenge than AC Milan and that he would not be joining the Italians. His wish was granted when Milan pulled out of the race to buy him, citing the £35.6m fee Arsenal desired as being too much for them to pay.
For Adebayor though this is dangerous territory. Pep Guardiola has admitted this week that he has to sell to continue buying and the club has also stated that they have yet to receive offers for Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. If this deal falls through - a scenario that could happen if Joan Laporta loses the motion of no-confidence on July 6th - he has to make good his relationship with the Arsenal supporters. Whether that is possible remains to be seen. Certainly, the current feeling is that for footballing reasons, they might be happy for him to stay at The Emirates but as for the ‘love’ he claims to feel for the club, little is likely to be reciprocated from the stands.
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