Everything seemed in place for Citeh: a "monster" offer of £25m accepted by Barca for mercurial striker Samuel Eto'o, who only has one year left on his current contract and has worn out his welcome at the Camp Nou; a £250,000 a week proposed salary (£180,000 after taxes), which would make Eto'o the highest paid player in the Premier League; a team on the cusp of a £100m summer and about to put together a lineup that would seriously challenge the big four.
The only problem is that much like Kaka earlier in the year, Eto'o has no interest in being part of the latest greatest experiment in the Eastlands. Yes, it seems that Eto'o has turned down a move to Manchester City and is content to play out the rest of his contract with Barcelona (who, on the other hand, are not exactly thrilled). There would be something endearing about leaving all that money on the table, except that Eto'o is a Grade A headcase and who knows what his real motivations are.
Some in the British press are speculating (as they are wont to do) that Eto'o's real motivation is to punish Barcelona for pushing him out the door by, strangely, not leaving. Others are speculating that Eto'o is demanding even more money. Eto'o's agent has scheduled a news conference this morning, so maybe that'll clear things up (full disclosure: I wrote this last night!).
No matter, this story will probably drag out during the summer. I can't help but anticipate it'll all end in tears and a nasty split between Eto'o and Barca. Meanwhile, why don't you click here and get this theme song stuck in head for days to come.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Eto'o Not So Impressed with Citeh's Money
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
This Should Help The Debt Payments
Manchester United will announce the largest sponsorship deal in football when they unveil a 4-year £80M deal with Chicago-based Aon Corp.
Aon engages in risk management, insurance brokerage services and consulting services worldwide (sound familiar?). But really, who the fuck cares? Outside of Carlsberg I can't think of a single shirt sponsor whose products I've consumed.
From the Guardian: "United have been scouring the globe for a new sponsorship deal since their current sponsors, AIG, the American insurance company, announced it would not be renewing its £14m-a-year deal when it expires at the end of the 2009-10 season."
So, US taxpayers are on the hook for another season, then the Glazers really get to cash in.
But here's a fun story that we hope is somehow symbolically prophetic.
The Aon Center in downtown Chicago was originally the Standard Oil Building. When it was completed in 1973 it was the world's tallest marble-clad building, with a facade of 43,000 slabs of Italian Carrara marble.
Too bad the marble used proved to be too thin. A year after the building's completion a slab detached and went through the roof of the nearby Prudential Center Annex. Eventually the entire building had to be refaced and from 1990-1992 every single marble slab was replaced with white granite at a total cost of $80M (over half the original cost of the building).
There's a little bit of fudging here as Aon didn't take over the name of the building until 1999 (and wasn't even the primary tenant for a couple of years after that).
But hey, Sir Alex is already showing an Achilles loyalty to aging players like Scholes and PFA Player of the Year Ryan Giggs, and if Ronaldo leaves, or if he dooesn't but the Portuguese split in the locker room festers... We're just saying, there might be cracks in the facade.
It's wishful thinking. But sometimes there is an ironic elegance to life.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
UF Quick Throw: It is Officially Official
We think. Guus Hiddink will take over Chelsea until the end of the season. He'll also continue his duties with the Russian National Team (for which Roman already pays part of Hiddink's salary). At least Hackman was well compensated for his brief stint at the Bridge.
The other bit of this is that it might be bad news for Peter Kenyon and his future at Chelsea.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Supply and Demand: Big Sam Style.
Sheikh Mansour's cash is still burning a hole in Mark Hughes pocket this am. Rumors of Kaka fill the airwaves and Craig Bellamy is taking a medical. We all know that 100million for Kaka is completely absurd, but it is only now becoming clear what effect Man City's new found wealth will have on the transfer market. Everyone wants to get some of Mansour's moolah and Sam Allardyce is no exception.
If Kaka is worth 100 million and a 29 year old Craig Bellamy is worth 14 , then what is Roque Santa Cruz going to sell for in today's over-inflated transfer market? How about 40 million? That's the price Blackburn are willing to sell the want-away forward for. Why not eh? Everyone else is jacking up the prices so why shouldn't Blackburn.
Man City are certainly 'upping the stakes' with the big four. How much will United be able to offer for their next signing when City can fire notes into the air with abandonment? Will Roman have the balls to compete? Wayne Rooney will be seem a snip at 30 million should City be tempted to pay 40 million for Santa Cruz. How much is Messi worth in this new, blue World?
What about Ronaldo? I'm sure United won't feel too aggrieved at the spending across town, if Kaka makes the move to Eastlands, Real Madrid can forget their perverted fascination with United's pock faced Portuguese prodigy. His transfer fee would likely be in excess of 150 million.
So how much will City spend this January. If Bellamy passes his medical then they would have spent 24 million already. Add Kaka and De Jong, at a rumored 18 million and they would have spent over 142 million before a punt on Santa-Cruz.
Personally I can't wait to see Kaka and Robinho at Carrow Road next season. How awesome would that be. A finger in Sheikh Mansour's eye and some record gates in the Championship to help boost the coffers of Swansea and Bristol City. Of course this is unlikely, but we can all dream and we can all say our prayers.
-Bigus.
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