European Summer Transfer Talk

It seems the fascists are once again showing themselves to be the most filthy underhanded club in all of football. It is being reported on Sky News that there are going above the head of Sir Alex and David Gill directly to the Glazer family to lodge a bid believed to be in excess of 90m euros for Ronaldo. The reasoning being that as the Glazers have taken on so much debt to purchase the club they will be willing to listen to such a large offer to reduce interest payments.

Filthy fucking fascists once again showing they lack any and all decency.

haha told you football was gay

Who are these fascists?

Chelsea? Real Madrid?

Yeah speak English.



gc.

Fascists = Real Madrid, i.e. a team who's glory days were financed by fascist dictator Franco, who seized power due to support from Hitler and Mussolini.

Other major rumours floating around:

Frank Lampard to Inter
Daniel Alves to Barcelona (please!)
Samir Nasri to Arsenal
Didier Drogba to AC Milan
Eto'o to Spurs (you've got to be having a laugh, I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves but Spurs?)

fuck I hate Real Madrid, always wanna buy the best players and end up winning nothing.

They are lucky to win the La Liga for the past 2 seasons.

if Ronaldo does leave, I'd rather see him at Barca.

Even as a die hard Man U fan in myself, I don't really see it happening, not in this summer anyway, why does he need to leave, if he goes to Real Madrid, he'll turn into a flop.

Viva Ronaldo!!!

Man utd are just as much fascists as the real fascists

FORZA LAZIO!

fuck off, seriously weak dude!

Who are Lazio?

lol @ Man U apologists :>

SS lazio from serie A - mind you minty they defeated man utd for the super cup in in the 99-00 season

on other note,

Amauri to juventus
on ragin speculation of Ronaldihno to milan

Kranjcar also a big one for arsenal

Transfer fee seems to be the biggest stumbling block for Ronaldinho, there's about 20m euros between Barca's asking price and Milan's offer. There's a bit of speculation here that Man City (yes City) are preparing to a massive bid for Ronaldinho, Deco, and Giovanni do Santos. Chelsea are also allegedly tapping up Giovanni as well (speaking to the player/agent before the club). Also Rafa Marquez may be heading to Juventus or Inter. Would have no problem with Ronaldinho and Deco leaving, and Marquez hasn't really featured so no complaints there either. Eto'o I'm kind of resigned to, would like to see him stay but that looks increasingly unlikely. But Giovanni... He's one of the best prospects around and with Ronaldinho and possibly Eto'o leaving he'll feature a lot next season, I really hope he stays for a long time.

I kn ow who Lazio are, I just took the piss back

what super cup?

haha i know, uefa super cup - i think they've scrapped it now forgot how it worked. it was held in monte carlo if i can remember correctly.

No it's still around, it's a two legged pre season cup between the winners of the Champions League and UEFA Cup.

yeah it's still around, but it's not two legged. just one mach

Wait I could be thinking of the Spanish Super Cup, which is between the winners of La Liga and the Copa Del Ray. Actually the European Super Cup has only been one leg since the late 90s so I think you're right about the Monte Carlo thing.

Quick has revealed that yes it is still around and contested in Monaco every August. AC Milan are the present holders but it's essentially a minor trophy and most teams field second string sides.

yup i thought about milan vs. sevilla

those didn't look like second string sides - milan were victorious 3-1 on the night after antonio puerta's death.

Second string is probably the wrong term, experimental would be a better term as given that it's while the transfer window is open teams are often keen to test new combinations.

true, man utd vs Zenit next year eh?

minty this should be a tough one

hehe I should be very nervous and afraid as I still remembered Zenit smashing 4 past Bayern Munich in this years UEFA Cup semi final 2nd leg

should still be a good one though.

will hopefully remember the date that it will be on, did someone say it'll be on this August or next August?

Anyway back to the thread topic:

Real Madrid forward Robinho has confirmed that Chelsea have engaged in talks with his club about a move to Santiago Bernabéu.

Aliaksandr Hleb's agent is giddy about reports linking his player with an imminent move to La Liga giants Real Madrid.

i dont know how im going to take on the entire man utd squad

Well no doubt success will bite them in the ass, as their best players will have caught the eye of bigger clubs and they'll struggle to hold on to them.

all i'll say is goodluck

Grant sacked

thought he _might_ have a chance..

snap!

Avram who?



Chelsea will crumble even more from now

shame, he's a scary motha fucka! never liked him

its those beady eyes he has.

so whos going to be brave enoug to take charge at the Bridge?

rumour has it rijkaard or a return for jose (highly unlikely) or, Roberto Mancini to leave inter and go chelsea and jose taking the empty position at inter.

also Guus Hiddink or Sven Goran Eriksson

who knows...

Talk over here is Rijkaard to take over at Chelsea, Mourinho to take over at Inter.

Also Manchester United's Catalan defender Gerard Pique has agreed to return to Barcelona on a four year deal.

Apparently ex-Juve Didier Deschamps is also on the shortlist for Chelsea.

a bit off topic, but United apparently will report Real to FIFA if they continue to annoy them with the ^^possible signing of Ronaldo^^.

It's irritating as fuck!

Reports from Italy claim Inter and Mancini have parted company, opening the the door for Mourinho to take over.

Also AC Milan's Carlo Ancelotti is the latest name to be linked with Chelsea.

Also Manchester United are threatening to involve FIFA in their dispute over Real Madrid's constant attempts to unsettle Cristiano Ronaldo. I hope they do and Real Madrid are handed a transfer ban for their complete lack of morals.

Also the biggest news of the day is Sepp Blatter's statement that all confederations have agreed in principle to new regulations forcing all clubs to field at least 4 players from their own country in their starting line-up by 2010, raising to 6 over the following few years. This has big implications for Arsenal and Liverpool to a lesser extent, Arsenal averaged 0.3 English players starting with Theo Walcott the only Englishmen regularly featuring (even then mainly off the bench). Their squad only actually contains 4 Englishmen in total. Whilst Liverpool usually only have 2 Englishmen in their starting line-up, Gerrard and Carragher, with Pennant and Crouch featuring sometimes. They do have a number of Englishmen in the reserve team but none have made any sort of first team impact.

Not sure how the rule will apply to naturalised players as the wording seemed to suggest they had to be eligible for the national team. By naturalised players I mean players who have taken citizenship in the country they are playing but still play for the home countries national team. Examples are Roberto Carlos (Brazil national team, Spanish citizen), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Spain), and Shevchenko (Ukraine, Italy). Obviously players like Deco and Eduardo won't be affected as they are playing for the national team of their adopted countries (although neither play in their adopted countries anyway).

It's official Mancini out Mourinho in at Inter.

the foreign players quota rule has pros and cons, it helps the national teams to perform better, on the other hand the Premiership, for example might not be the best league anymore because of this restriction, I don't know what to say as a Man U and England fan

I can't see how it's not a good idea, the Premiership may be the strongest league in the world, but England didn't even qualify for Euro 2008. The stats are quite ridiculous actually, West Ham are the most English side and averaged less than 5 English players in the starting line-up. What it will do is put the emphasis back on youth academies which can only be good for the game. With more Englishmen in the Premiership it should also drive down the ridiculous prices clubs are forced to pay for English players in comparison to foreigners.

English players who started for Man Utd in the Champions league final:
Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Wesley Brown, Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, Owen Hargreves.

I believe what you say is we'd still be European champions even with that rule in place.
Would a Chelsea fan like to do a head count of English players in their starting Line up? I have three: Cole, Terry, and Lampard

I for one see the merits of this idea, in fact I'm a fan...
But,
(if you can't be bothered reading my rant, the following can best be summed up with 'if England produced good enough players they wouldn't need to worry about quotas')

I do not believe it's the miracle solution for England.
The reason why England is getting left behind in world football runs far deeper than players getting game time at senior level.
English youth player development is simply not meeting the grade being set by the top foot-balling nations.
Do you see England winning or even making a dent at youth level world tournaments? No you don't, in fact they're no strangers in failing to qualify for those.
Despite all this you don't see anyone complaining about a foreign invasion in the youth/ development leagues.
As I said up top, if English youth development was up to scratch then there'd be more English players in the premiership and even abroad.

I'm not a Chelsea fan but you forgot the other Cole, they have Ashley and Joe... They also have Sean Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge but he plays the same position as Cashley, plus a large number of Englishmen in their reserve/youth ranks. Steve Sidwell also made a few first team appearances but I believe he has left now.

Chelsea wouldn't be in trouble, it's Arsenal and to a lesser extent Liverpool that would have to make some adjustments to their squads. Big clubs in Europe are generally okay too, Barcelona have four Spaniards in the first choice 11, plus Bojan and Pique who should feature heavily next season, as well as Oleguer and Ezquerro in the squad. Real have Casillas, Ramos, Raul, Guti, and Soldado featuring regularly, although Spain currently has a limit of 3 non-EU players on the pitch which limits things to a small degree (and is also why players in Spain take up citizenship as soon as possible). The Italian big clubs are all easily in the clear as well.

Oh yea, forgot him. The other two don't count as I was just looking at the starting line up.

So I guess for fans of either team the European cup final would remain the same rule or no rule.

Only those that follow Serie A will know who I'm talking about it, but Brazilian striker Amauri has finally completely his move from Palermo to Juventus. However it seems their efforts to sign Xabi Alonso have been hampered by Real Madrid joining the race. It is expected that in a bidding war Juve would have no chance against Real, plus Alonso seems to favour a move back to Spain over Italy.

yeah i'm not too happy about the amauri signing, Secco is an idiot. he keeps making useless signings! Juve have already a good attack line. he should be more focussed on signing good defenders, wing backs. possibly one good creative midfielder i.e Diego. he's willing to spend somewhere around 14 or 15 million dollars on sissoko but an extra 4 million for raffeal van der vaart is too much for him then he goes spends another 15 million on amauri.

IDIOT!

Zambrotta has signed for AC Milan, no surprise there as it's been on the cards for months with the player stating he wanted to move back to Italy.

Manchester United seem to be lining up a bid for Benzema who is probably one of Europe's hottest prospects right now. However because of this he won't be cheap, I can remember Lyon holding out for a huge fee from Chelsea for Essien, plus they hold onto him until after Euro 2008 where solid performances could drive his price up even further.

Daniel Alves seems to be another in demand player, with Barcelona and Manchester United heading the pack, however Chelsea courted him last year only to be put off by Sevilla's transfer fee demands. The player has stated publicly he would love to join Barcelona, I just hope they stumped up the cash.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Alves

Drunken Zennith already knows the outcome...

A year ago I think Daniel Alves was easily the best right back in the world, however I think lately he's been eclipsed by Brazilian team mate Maicon, who is playing for Inter at present.

Fergie issued Real warning over Cristiano Ronaldo, he'd rather put him on the stands than sell him to the Madrid outfit...

this is really getting ugly!



I'm a bit excited about the prospect of Benzema joining Man U, as they desperately need a striker to partner Rooney or Tevez up front for the upcoming season.

'The Special One' has officially joined Inter, so where is Mancini going?

Real's Brazilian ace Robinho continued to be linked with Man Utd and Chelsea and other top clubs in Europe, this could be another key signing in the summer.

Supposedly Sir Alex is flying to Austria and Switzerland to keep tabs on Ronaldo and prevent approaches from other clubs. He did a similar thing with Cantona after he went to France during his lengthy suspension for the infamous flying kick.

have you seen the press conference after that kick.

It's on youtube it's only like 10 seconds.

10 seconds?

are you kidding me?

Sven Goran Eriksson has been sacked by Manchester City.

Mark Hughes reluctantly has been given permission by Blackburn to talk to City... Don't do it Sparky! Sven was amazing for City, and was still sacked by a megalomaniac chairman who obviously has no understanding of how tough it is to achieve success in the Premiership. He expected instant success and Sven delivered them their best start to a season since the Premiership began, while the second half was disappointing it was only Sven's first year in charge and he basically built a new team. Hughes has been amazing for Blackburn, taking them from bottom of the table when he took over to consistently challenging for UEFA Cup places. Moving to City would be a huge mistake, as the chairman wanted overall control which Sven wouldn't give and a Champions League spot would God himself would have struggled to deliver.

here's the link watch it - http://youtube.com/watch?v=bTq6aApCBnA

cheers Juve

interesting now that Beckham has spoken out in the public saying Cristiano Ronaldo should stay with Man U, after what happened I guess he still love the club, maybe it takes him 4 years to win a trophy at Real tells the story.

Please Ronaldo stay with us!

Viva Ronaldo!

4 years that i only realized that now

Yeah definitly ronaldo should stay, Man U is the right club for him the stage is set for him to accelerate furhter in his career there and there's absolutely no reason to move (with the exception of 9.5million a year hehe)

If he knows what's good for him he will stay.

supposedly Ronaldo has said to his closest friends and family that if he doesn't leave Manchester this season he will definitly leave next season.

Mark Hughes is set to sign with City, I'm really looking forward to the Manchester derby now

I'm sick of the Ronaldo issues, why doesn't he just speak out?

TBH, Ronaldo must share some blame in this saga because he has refused to actually come out and either 1) commit to Man United next season or b) rebuff Real Madrid's advances. I have a feeling he's playing the game to try and get Man United to pay him more. Although if he thinks he can hold Sir Alex to ransom he'd be surely mistaken.

Confirmed recent transfers:
Edmilson from Barcelona to Villarreal
Jens Lehmann from Arsenal to Stuttgart
Emre from Newcastle to Fenerbache
Giovani dos Santos from Barcelona to Spurs
Mark Schwarzer from Middlesbrough to Fulham
Antonio Cassano from Real Madrid to Sampdoria (loan made permanent)
Alberto Gilardino from AC Milan to Fiorentina
Martin Caceres from Villarreal to Barcelona

Unconfirmed:
Samir Nasri from Marseille to Arsenal
Daniel Alves from Sevilla to Barcelona
Didier Drogba from Chelsea AC Milan
Alex Hleb from Arsenal to Barcelona

The unconfirmed are deals that according to some sources have already been completed, however others say they are just in advanced talks with the player (as in the two clubs have already reached an agreement).

Other rumours:
With Jose Mourinho taking over at Inter they are going through a bit of a clean out. Patrick Vieira has been told he is not part of Jose Mourinho's plans, Dejan Stankovic, David Suazo, and Adriano also look set to leave. Supposedly West Ham have made an offer for Vieira, and Sevilla have done likewise for Suazo. In the other direction, Mourinho looks set to bring in Deco, however the deal may be delayed as they may try to include Samuel Eto'o in the deal, with possibly Zlatan Ibrahimovic going the other way. Also Manchester City are said to be about to sign Ronaldinho as they are the only club willing to match both Barca's transfer demands and the players salary.

Nasri Wouldn't be moving until after EURO because his fucktard Agent wants to milk more money from Arsenal.

It appears big Phil's appointment at Chelsea has shake things up a little... Deco and Ronaldinho now look set to join Chelsea, Scolari has coached both players in national teams and both coach and players are keen to work together at Stamford Bridge. This throws a spanner in the works for Man City who looked set to sign Ronaldinho, mainly due to a lack of interest from other clubs, because the lure of Luiz Felipe Scolari and Chelsea will surely outweigh anything City can offer. There is talk that the announcement of Scolari as Chelsea manager was brought forward to ensure City didn't sign Ronaldinho before the end of Euro 2008 when the announcement was initially planned for (mainly to keep the vultures that make up the English press from houndeing Scolari during the tournament, which they subsequently have done since). As a result of missing out on Deco, Mourinho is said to be looking at Xavi now, however the player has reiterated his desire to spend his entire career at Barcelona.

The annual talk of United chasing Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov have begun in earnest once again. Also Milan may have missed out on Drogba as a result of Scolari taking over, as a result they appear to have turned their sights to Adebayor.

greato see El Nino scored finally, I'm no Spain or 'Pool fan, but he's a great player to admire.

Nice commentary there Jono

I must say even without England, watching the Euro 2008 has been great, without any pressure, and as a neutral, getting treated with a decent amount of goals

shit sorry wrong thread.

I was laughing so hard at Man City's proposed move for Ronaldinho, I don't think he's a Premisership player, but I could be wrong.

yep looks like Deco will join the blues soon as well, Scolari's team will be full of Portguese and Brazilian players, lol.

I thought Drogba will go to Inter, not sure about Adebayor going to Milan, I mean he needs to work harder and stay at Arsenal for a few more seasons, he's been kinda lazy in the second half of last season.

Zenit St Petersburg's Russian ace Andrei Arshavin has been linked with a move to either Spain or England, I hope he comes to the premier league, an exciting signing for any clubs, although he did mention he'd prefer a move to the La Liga.

Paul Ince has been announced as new boss at Blackburn Rovers, another ex-United player coming back to top flight management, hope he does well.

Ronaldo's saga continues as 'Pool player Arbeloa has publicly said he'd love Ronaldo to join Real as Man U will be without the man himself and that'd be good for Liverpool, what a dickhead he is to say something like this!

I can't believe the Arbelo comment is even news, does it mean Ronaldo is any closer to leaving Man Utd? No, plus of course a player at a rival club wants him to leave. The English press really do take the piss someti... Err most of the time. They're also excited about the fact the guv is the first black manager in the Premiership.

Oh and Daniel Alves is confirmed as a Barcelona player, fuck yes! Undoubtedly the one player I wanted to Barca to sign ahead of all others. Also there's talk of Ronaldinho staying at Barcelona now, Pep Guardiola challenged him to stay and recapture his form and now they have turned down a bid from Boca Juniors. However it could just be speculation and Barca may have turned down the bid due to the unlikelyhood of a Brazilian superstar being willing to sign for an Argentine club. But his agent has said Ronaldinho wants to stay for the remainder of his contract (June 2010). I was resigned to him leaving and not particularly concerned by it, however if Guardiola can help him recapture his form then I'll be extremely happy. The Eto'o talk seems to have died down too, not sure if he still wants to leave or if Guardiola has changed his mind as well.

Deco still seems set to leave though and this may happen soon now that Portugal are out of Euro 2008, as that frees up Big Phil to start his Chelsea job. I'd be very surprised if he wasn't turning out for Chelsea or Inter next season, especially after such a good tournament, despite his awful club form.

As it stands I'd like to see Barca sign another midfielder, we've replaced Marquez (Roma), Thuram (PSG), and Zambrotta (Milan), but if Deco leaves we'll be a little light through the middle with only Iniesta, Xavi, Yaya Toure, and Keita, although Crosas might be ready for a bigger involvement in the first team now.

Oh reportedly Pompey are in talks with Liverpool over Peter Crouch.

Barcelona have made a formal offer for Arshavin after the player said joining Barcelona was his dream.

Oh and there's rumours of Henry going to the MLS, not sure howmuch truth there is as his main problem at Barca was being away from his family who have remained in London. Therefore a move to America seems unlikely.

he's one wicked player, and possibly the standout player at Euro so far from any teams.

I was laughing about Pompey's approach for Crouch, the bloody scousers even turn down a £9M bid yesterday

Scolari will become the facists of England, wanting to sign everyone before the deadline, but some great players looks like heading to Stamford Bridge next season, the transfer market has been relatively quiet so far.

Oligarchs maybe but not fascists, that nickname comes from General Franco's financing of Real Madrid during their glory days. Also they have traditionally been the club of the ruling class, who were supporters of the nationalist movement and subsequant fascist regime (given that the other two major factions were Communists and Anarchists). Whereas the bulk of Abramovich's fortunes comes from the dodgey deals that saw the massive state owned enterprises fall under the control of a handful of oligarchs following the break up of the Soviet Union.

I have nothing but respect for Big Phil, and it's only natural for a new manager to want to bring in new players. Not to mention they're not publically talking about who they want to unsettle the players.

Also, the amount of money that United have been spending starts to dilute the arguments about Chelsea buying the Premiership. Yes without Russian billions they wouldn't be in a position to challenge however the days of them spending stupidly and inflating the market appear to be over and United can hardly claim they can't keep up with Chelsea's spending anymore.

Oh dear, this is getting hilarious yesterday it looked like Eto'o would leave and Ronaldinho would stay, now it seems the opposite is true. My preference would be for Eto'o to stay because prior to the last two seasons he was easily the best striker in Spain for 5-6 seasons, even when playing for lowly Mallorca. Eto'o has had a bad run with imjuries the last two seasons whereas Ronaldinho has been out of form, so I think Eto'o can easily get back to his best for Barca but I'm not so sure about Ronaldinho.

Also Adebayor came out and pledged his future to Arsenal then a little later he said to another reporter that he couldn't guarantee he's be at Arsenal next season.

To a press conference:

"Of course (I am staying) I have three more years,"

In a one-on-one interview with a Sky journo:

"I am footballer, I have a three-year contract at Arsenal but as you know, a lot of clubs are interested in me..."

"At the moment we are just going to sit down and talk and decide what to do."

"Nothing has been decided yet. We will decide next week."

these transfer and rumours are like the new mind games played by the managers before a big match, kinda sick of it already

Well they are mind games really, decalre your interest, unsettle the player, then make a bid... If the bid is from a bigger club the player might demand a transfer even if the club don't want to sell. The key seems declaring interest first so the player starts thinking about a move to a bigger club.

It's not limited to Real Madrid either, Chelsea have done it a lot of times in the past, Celtic and Rangers are notorious for it in Scotland, United did a similar thing with Saha (although that was a shrewd piece of business - some might say the player got a taste of karma).

now that the Euro is over, July will suck ass, as there'll be no football at all.

So this thread needs more posts about who's leaving and going where...

Clarence Seedorf said he wants to play in the premier league one day.

Chelsea launch massive bid for unsettled facsists Brazilian striker Robinho.

Adebayor said one day he wants to stay at Gunners, now he's done a U-turn, what is really in his mind and also in a lot of Arsenal's players minds? Hleb looks like departing soon, just when they're developing into a squad, the best players are going..

Samir Nasri's Arsenal move from Marseille are almost done

that's about it

the transfer market is still very quiet and slow, much like our economy at the moment.

Will be back to post more, and I'm sure I'll get snapped by Jono anyway, since he's in Europe and gets all the latest news before anyone else does

well Deco has completed a £8m move to Chelsea from Barca, sucks for Jono.

Lampard will be expected to join Inter soon, in his bid for Mourinho reunion again.

I wonder if this move could dampen the career of Lampard, who may not be selected for England if he doesn't do well for Inter, who knows...

Gareth Barry will be likely to go to Liverpool now that he's been given a green light by Aston Villa.

I'm more than happy for Deco to leave, he was shit the last two seasons and him having a good Euro just pissed me off (so now you decide to turn it in on). So to be honest I'm glad he's going elsewhere, he will probably recapture his old form now but to be honest I don't think he would have done so had he stayed at Barca.

If Lampard does go to Inter it will be the best move he can make, Mourinho chnaged him from a good midfielder to a amazing one and funnily enough under Avram Grant he went back to just being a good one. The only question mark I'd have is how he and Deco would play alongside each other, having said that if Mourinho figures that out it will be good news for England as it may mean Lampard learns to play alongside Gerrard. Plus playing in Italy will expose him to a new style of football which will be good for his career.

Erm was getting Chelsea and Inter mixed up, if he stays at Chelsea and Scolari figures out how to get him and Deco to play together...

My flatmate told me that Liverpool and Spurs have struck a deal - and are swapping Crouch for Robbie Keane. Can't find anything on the net about it though, seems there is mostly rumours Crouch is going to Arsenal.

Anyone have any idea whats happening?

Well I know Keane is interested in moving to Liverpool and Crouch seems to be on his way out, however I've seen nothing to indicate that either club are actually interested in the respective players. Pompey are making inquiries about Crouch however the price tag seems to be putting them off. There's talk of Arsenal moving for Crouch too, but I think that would depend on whether Adebayor stays. Spurs also might not be keen to let Keane go as there's talk of Berbatov leaving as well and I'd be surprised if they let both their first choice strikers leave.

Liverpool have signed Andrea Dossena from Udinese to fill the left back spot vacated by Riise. Can't say I know anything about him to be honest...

Wenger is also reported had enough of Adebayor's constant u-turns and is willing to let him leave once he has lined up replacement. Arshavin is set to join Chelsea apparently, no doubt Abramovich is behind this rather than Big Phil. Bapista is also set to join Roma who look to have strengthened well in their bid to go one better next season.

Chelsea are raiding every player in europe at the moment, I'm not sure if that'll help them win some trophies.

Many top clubs are in need of strikers, so we could see some record transfer fees in place, as Jo has already proven from CSKA Moscow to City

Crouch has signed for Portsmouth
Sidwell to Villa

Also Villa have offered Gareth Barry to Liverpool for £18 and have said they will not accept less than that.

To be honest minty I'm not so sure that we will see to many more big moves (barring a potential Ronaldo move) as I think the massive asking prices are putting clubs off doing business. Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Inter are really the only ones with the money right now, as Barcelona have already spent big on Daniel Alves. Manchester United don't need to strengthen unless Ronaldo leaves. This is why we haven't seen Ronaldinho and Eto'o move. Milan can't afford his transfer or wages, and Man City don't have the prestige plus not many Brazilians have adapted to life in the North of England.

Adebayor's big price tag seems to have put Barcelona off and as I said Milan can't afford him unless they seel Kaka or Pirlo which is highly unlikely (Milan are heavily in debt). Plus Adebayor has only had one good season so I'm not sure clubs would be willing to spend 35m on a player who has not conclusively proven himself yet.

For Eto'o the only feasible targets are Inter or Chelsea, perhaps Arsenal at a stretch but only if they offload Adebayor. Although somehave suggested a swap deal of Eto'o for Adebayor, but his wages would be an obstacle as Wenger is very strict about his wage structure. Drogba seems a more liekly target for Inter given his history with Mourinho which only leaves Chelsea. To complete the circle, any move to Chelsea would probably depend on Drogba leaving.

As I said before Ronaldinho's wages and transfer fee have priced Milan out, and the player has no interest in joining Man City. I can't see Chelsea being interested so he will probably be at Barca next year.

Arshavin's asking price may also have put most clubs off.

The only big piece of business I forsee is David Villa and possible David Silva. Valencia are heavily in debt and despite stating they have no interest in selling either player I have a feeling they maybe forced to part with at least one. Liverpool are said to be actively pursuing Villa to partner Torres, however Benetiz has stated he's not sure what his chances are as if Valencia are willing to do business it may spark a bidding war, and Villa previously turned down Liverpool and opted for Valencia when he left Zaragoza right at the start of Benetiz's Liverpool reign.

Oh and it seems Lampard will spend next season with Chelsea and then join Inter next season on a Bosman. Lampard's contract negotiations have been ongoing for two years and are not resolved so it seems certain he will leave at the end of this season. However Chelsea have turned down a bid from Inter and stated that Lampard will see out his contract. Other clubs might be temped sell in this situation to ensure they get a fee for the player, however lets face it Chelsea are not a club that needs money.

Barca are set to unveil Hleb very soon, what's your view Jono?

Well I said they needed another midfielder so Hleb is a good signing, may indicate a change in formation as well given that Hleb prefers to play wide. Although without a formation change, I wouldn't see Hleb as a starter right now. It should be remembered though that this report came from the Spanish media, so there's every chance it's complete bullshit.

Blatter must resign immediately!

He has created a massive conflict of interest with his latest comments, he has said Ronaldo should be allowed to leave United because that is what he wants to do. HE IS A MEMBER OF REAL MADRID! He also commented that the way clubs treat players is akin to modern day slavery... DUBBLE YEW TEE EFF?!?!?!!? Slaves don't earn £100k a week! He actually used the words 'modern slavery', and that he had sympathy for Ronaldo for being forced to stay at a club he wants to leave. What the fuck is the point of a contract? Oh and as I said, it's corrupt for him to these comments as FIFA president and as a member of Real Madrid. To put himself in this position means he must step down as his presidency is completely tainted now. How can anyone have any faith in him when he clearly is only acting in the interests of Real Madrid. Modern day slavery? Modern day fascism more like?

Blatter is a brainwashed motherfucker, he doesn't kno what the hell he's doing or saying!

this Ronaldo saga is getting so old, he's going to be out for 12 weeks anyway from now after surgery, I don't understand why Man U wouldn't sell if he really wants to go.

Benitez now claimed that he wants to sign Robbie Keane from Spurs, and not David Villa, to be honest I didn't think both would happen, as Keane makes an awesome striking partnership with Dimitar Berbetov

WTF?

that is crazy! I didn't think Ronaldo was itching to leave that bad?! why would he want to leave after hes had the best season of his career, won the league and champions league, and then just head to to Madrid?? Just cause him Mum said she would love him to play for Reald Madrid one day

AW said the other week that Arsenal had a sell structure, buy young talent and sell when they flourish.

Arsenal have a lot of expenses due to the new Stadium, and that will be the strategy for the next 10 years until they pay it off.

Adebayor is a good player, would lvoe to see him stay, but if his mind is in a different place then I say let him go. Would be good to catch Villa (but highly unlikely).

Helb has moved to Barca. Hopefully see Samir Nasri come in.

Nasri is officially an Arsenal player.

United have launched their first bid for Spurs Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, exactly what United need, a striker and one who can score you at least 20 goals in a season, (hopefully), with Ronaldo out for 3 months now after surgery

Appparently Poulsen has signed for Juve.

Secco is killing me they keep signing holding midfielders. YOU FUCKING NEED A PLAYMAKER! Nedved is too old and can't be relied on as he gets injured atleast twice a season same goes for Camoranesi. One Playmaker and one Rock and at the back is all that is needed!

Someone buy Adebayor because he is a cunt and I don't want to see him play for Arsenal again. Ever.

Interesting comments from Platini about clubs poaching young players, English clubs are easily the worst offenders in this field as they can offer professional contracts to players at younger ages than much of Europe. The reason it's a problem is that clubs develop the players and right before they are old enough for first team football they are poached meaning their hometown club gets nominal compensation (about 10% of the players true worth). Recent poaching:

Reggiana's Vincenzo Camilleri poached by Chelsea
Roma's Davide Petrucci poached by Manchester United

Some of the more famous ones in the past:
Barcelona's Cesc Fabregas poached by Arsenal
Parma's Sebi Rossi poached by Manchester United
Napoli's Arturo Lupoli poached by Arsenal

Italian clubs ared furious with the most recent two and Platini has said he will work with the EU to find a way to put an end to the poaching of young players.

Actually even within England Spurs have just poached Crystal Palace youngster John Bostock, who at 16 was already playing first team football. Many have claimed he is the best player in Europe of his generation. Fuck I hate Spurs they are the biggest pirate cunts, they basiclly wait for clubs to go down unsettle the players they want then offer the club fuck all for them knowing that they have unsettled the player enough that they will have to sell. Oh well at least Man United give them a taste of their own medicine and buy their best players.

shocking: Ronaldinho may sign for City, very soon...

more on this later...

As I said City's bid is much more attractive in terms of salary and transfer fee, Milan are in trouble after missing out the CL this season which has caused their already large debts to sky rocket.

God I hope in some way we get Sergio Aguero.

This from the agent:



Atletico still owe Arsenal Money from the transfer of Jose Antonio Reyes so you never know.

/pray