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Football Rumours – 28 February 2010

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:46:33 +0000

With more than two months left for the transfer window to open, there is no frenetic activity in the transfer market. But players and clubs have started saying all the right things that might help them when the window actually opens. David Moyes has warned the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal to stay clear of Jack Rodwell. Moyes does not want to part with the promising Everton youngster. Meanwhile, Gianfranco Zola has admitted that he would be powerless to stop Robert Green from moving to a bigger club. United’s plans to buy Rodwell though could be hit by a massive financial crunch. United will need to sell many of its key players to curtail their rising debt which has reached to levels of around £716m. Ben Foster and Michael Owen are the ones most likely to be shown the door.

Managerial movement is also a big talking point. Martin O’Neill has dismissed reports of him being Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor at Old Trafford. Rangers manager Walter Smith’s position is also uncertain at the Ibrox. The precarious nature of finances at the Scottish club has also resulted in Kris Boyd stalling contract negotiations. Last but not the least, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has backed Kieran Richardson to make the England left-back spot his own. Ashley Cole has been distracted with off field problems after a failed marriage. Wayne Bridge has decided to draw the curtains on his England career leaving the door open for a lot of youngsters.

Football Rumours – 29 October 2009

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:16:02 +0000

As the transfer window is firmly shut, there is not much gossip doing the rounds. But still, some news or the other keeps trickling through. Spanish club Valencia are in the spotlight again. Liverpool are planning a swoop for their young playmaker Juan Mata. They are ready to pay as much as £16.5m for him. Bothe Liverpool and rivals Manchester United are keeping tabs on the David Villa situation. Villa sacked his agent for not orchestrating a move out of Valencia last summer, and is eager to move to a ‘bigger’ club.

Liverpool are also targeting Sampdoria midfielder Konan Vladimir, who is currently on loan at Bari while Arsene Wenger is very keen on Mexican teenager Martin Luis Galvan. Manchester City have proclaimed that they won’t be spending big in January. But they are fiercely pursuing the signature of Yaya Toure. With Kolo already captaining City, it would be enticing for Yaya to join his elder brother. City are also keeping tabs on the Brazilian pair of Ramirez and Maicon. On the other hand, Juventus are keen on taking Pablo Zabaleta to Turin, but it would be unlikely for City to sell their priced asset.

Turning attention to lower leagues in England now, Watford are pushing hard to extend the loan deals of Tom Cleverley and Henri Lansbury, who are on loan from Manchester United and Arsenal respectively. But Ipswich boss Roy Keane has seen his bid to sign Danny Higginbotham and Leon Court on loan till January rejected by Stoke City.

And finally in some international news, Argentina coach Diego Maradona has tipped Benfica striker Angel di Maria to be the next worldwide superstar. Needless to say, Chelsea are tracking his progress with the Portugese outfit.

Football Rumours – 04 September 2009

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:49:59 +0000

With the transfer deadline behind us, we will take a look at some of the obscure moves that took place on deadline day and also at those which failed at the last moment. There was lot of talk about a possible swap deal between David Bentley and Martin Petrov. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy pulled the plug on the deal after it appeared that Manchester City only wanted to loan Bentley for a year. City defender Richard Dunne’s move was completed 24-hours after the window closed, when his paperwork was ratified by the Football League.

There’s trouble brewing at Middlesbrough too. Middlesbrough insist that striker Alfonso Alves remains their player despite an announcement on the website of Qatari side Al-Sadd that he has signed a three-year deal to play for them. The deadlock is yet to be broken. Spartak Moscow pulled out of the deal to sign Roman Pavlyuchenko after Spurs demanded a staggering £17.6 m for the Russian. West Ham’s search for strikers continues even after the window. They are tracking free agent Mark Viduka after they failed to sign Manchester City’s Benjani – apparently due to their inability to track down his agent. Reports also suggest that Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner rejected offers from Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich to sign a new deal at the Emirates Stadium.

Elsewhere, a lot of loan deals went through on the final day. David Nugent joined Burnley on loan from Pompey while Ivan Klasnic signed for Bolton from French club Nantes for six months. Versatile midfielder Teemu Tainio joine Birmigham on a season long loan from Sunderland.

We’ll be back next week with more transfers from England and beyond.

Football Rumours – 19 June 2009

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 06:37:38 +0000

With Real Madrid setting the benchmark for big money transfer deals this summer, quite a few deals with “obscene money” involved are expected to go through in the coming weeks. Real Madrid themselves have stepped up the pursuit for Frank Ribery. Zinedine Zidane, who is an adviser to Madrid commented – “I am for Ribery coming to Madrid and I will do everything to make that happen”. Inter Milan have thundered that they will sell their star striker Ibrahimovic only for 80 million pounds, as they believe that his value is no less than Ronaldo or Kaka. Samuel Eto’o will bag a huge paycheck if he transfers to Eastlands, with figures of 192,000 pound weekly salary after tax being reported in the media. Javier Mascherano could still make a move to the Catalan giants but Liverpool are holding out for 45 million pounds, which would be the highest fee paid ever for a defensive midfielder. Also, rumours about Robinho going on loan to Barcelona have been squashed by City executive Gary Cook – “The story is completely without foundation.”

Coming back to some not so larger than life transfers. Aston Villa look to Tom Huddlestone as Gareth Barry’s replacement. Nigel Reo-Coker will be offered to Tottenham as part of an exchange deal. Andrea Pirlo has welcomed a move to Chelsea. He was quoted as saying – “Perhaps it’s possible that I could join (Blues boss Carlo) Ancelotti. Maybe it’s time for a new chapter in my career.” Bayern Munich seem to have won their battle to sign Jose Bosingwa from English Cup champions Chelsea. Thomas Vermaelen is set to seal a 10 million pound switch to Arsenal. And finally in a deal that would get tongues wagging, Manchester United are poised to make an approach for Arsenal forward Robin van Persie. van Persie has been frustrated with the lack of trophies at Arsenal and fancies United as a good career move.