The season is nearly done and the rumors are flying. Fans of all clubs biting their fingers hoping their teams' stars are going to stay and that their manager will sign some classy players in time for the new season. The papers are rife with speculation and made up bollocks and that's where the return of this regular piece comes in. I'll look at the rumors published in today's rags and try to assess their feasibility.
Let's wade through today's nonsense, shall we?
Inter Milan and AC Milan are set to battle it out over signing Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor. (Daily Mail)
Highly Likely. The fella wants out and has already stressed his desire to play in Italy. Italy is where the lazy go to earn money. Everybody knows he's gone and AC are likely to be his resting place. Emphasis on rest.
Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso could be on his way to Real Madrid for £21m if Florentino Perez returns as club president. (Daily Star)
This old chesnut again. Sure, Rafa wanted to flog Xabi last year, but he has recently indicated that he is happy keeping the Spaniard in his team. That said, this was an obvious rumor, much like the 578 concerning Ronaldo to Real.
Tottenham are targeting Lazio striker Goran Pandev. (Daily Mirror)
Stating the obvious, Harry Redknap is looking to off-load the sulky Pavlyuchenko and King of the Sitter Missers Darren Bent. No secret that Spurs are after forwards. They will be linked with 20 between now and August.
Wigan have lined up a deal with Real Madrid to receive £21.5m for Latics winger Antonio Valencia.
Possible. Madrid have been keen admirers of Valencia and they have him earmarked as a back-up plan to Ronaldo, who is going to be the subject of more speculation before staying at United. Yawn....
Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson is poised for a £1m summer move to West Brom. (The Sun)
Ferguson is 31 now and has recently been stripped of the Rangers captaincy. No surprise that he will be subject of paper talk. I can see him going to a side like West Brom. They would have to sell first as they are more than equipped in this area for an assault on the Colaship title.
Red Bull Salzburg left-back Ronald Gercaliu says he would be interested in joining Celtic. (The Sun)
Wow, really? Name a 'Red Bull Salzburg' player who wouldn't. Not news. Next!
Swindon Town have told Celtic to double their bid for striker Simon Cox after offering £1.2m for the striker and defender Sean Morrison. (Daily Mail)
22 year-old Cox is on fire right now. Many Colaship sides are also interested in signing him. Last season he scored 29 goals for mid-table Swindon Town. However, I can't see him going to Scotland. Not when he can join a top 3-4 Cola side and maybe even Wolves or Birmingham.
Manchester City are stepping up their bid to take on former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan for £20m from Atletico Madrid.
Who would pay 20 million smackers for a 30 year old? A rich Arab, that's who. Forlan has thrived in Spain but misfired for Man U, last time in he graced England with his presence. Still, Citeh have money to burn. I reckon Forlan will be a back-up option for Mark Hughes who would rather buy Santa-Cruz from Blackburn for the same price. The Blackburn forward is also 3 years younger and in his footballing prime.
Celtic are hoping to sign Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic on loan. (The Sun)
Now why would Barcelona want to loan out one of their prized youngsters to Celtic? Krkic only played 14 times this season but is still only 18. Besides, it's not exactly easy to bust into that line-up is it? If I were Barca I'd loan him to another Spanish side for experience or keep him around the bench. Krkic scored 5 time in the Spanish Cup this season to help Barca win it. Can't see him going anywhere.
Wolves are set to swoop for Standard Liege centre-half Oguchi Onyewu. (Daily Mirror)
This rumor has legs. The 27 year old American failed to crack a permanent place in the Newcastle side whilst on loan but newly promoted Wolves are looking for reliable center backs for the new campaign. Shackell was sent on loan and Ex-Hearts man, Berra, has received mixed reviews, leaving McCarthy with room at the back for improvement.
Arsene Wenger's future as Arsenal manager has come under more scrutiny. The Frenchman has been stung by criticism in the recent shareholders' meeting. He is also annoyed by the news that striker Adebayor is set to quit. (Various)
Yawn...I'm sure the shareholders are happy for CL football and happy that they haven't seen their cash gambled on pricey imports. The stadium is full, the youngsters are coming through and their manager doesn't want to spend large amounts of cash. Yeah the shareholders are pissed. Next!
Carlos Tevez's exit from Old Trafford looks sealed after the Argentine forward failed to attend Manchester United's player of the year dinner. (Various)
Tevez has already said that he isn't certain to be at United next season. His agent says United have not been willing to meet his valuation of the player and I personally think that Fergie thinks that handing a fella 26 million for his services smarts. Especially as 3rd-party ownership is not allowed and Tevez could likely fight for a free transfer. That said, Tevez is loyal to his people and has taken all of this personally. I am sure he has been discussing his options and there will be no shortage of suitors from Madrid to Merseyside. Will he join United's deadly rivals? Hmmm... Possibly.
Midfielder Stewart Downing, forward Tuncay, striker Afonso Alves and defender Robert Huth will leave if Middlesbrough are relegated at the weekend. (Daily Mail)
No... Boro's top players will leave if they are relegated? Wow. Daily Mail. What a scoop! Most players have a clause in their contract that addresses relegation and it's a certainty that the above players will be fleeing the Riverside at speed should they be relegated this weekend.
Wigan striker Amr Zaki, who is on loan from Zamalek, insists he was the one to pull the plug on a permanent move. (Daily Mirror)
Bollocks. Wigan have fined Zaki and Steve Bruce's patience has been tested many times this season with Zaki's failure to return from international duty. Bruce will easily sacrifice Zaki's talent for a reliable team player.
All of these rumors were collected by the BBC and published here.
Posts
8 comments:
Big players leaving if their club is relegated? Own your mistake, fucktards, and help Boro get back up next season.
I agree my friend. So far from Norwich? Bye Lee Croft, bye David Marshall. Clingan? Hoolahan? Soon to follow them.
Sorry to hear; its like jumping for a sinking ship, except when you are the reason the ship is sinking to begin with.
Up the Canaries! Literally.
The Alonso to Real link still confuses me. It was my understanding that Basque people hate Real Madrid with a passion.
Should they stay at Boro on 8k a week or move to another Prem team on 20 a week? Would you move to a bigger company if your current place of employment was going out of business or seriously downsizing? Cmon. Athletes have a limited amount of yrs to make the $$ they hope will last them a long time
with parachute payments they can afford a year at least on the same salary. Taking ownership shows character and repays that fat check in the first place. One year doesn't kill.
@BentPav: You're right, I would move, if my company were downsizing, etc. and I could make hay somewhere else; but your analogy is wrong: companies usually don't fail due to the (non)performance of workers, but rather the abysmal performance of management. NUFCs imminent relegation - remember, there is a shot at safety - can almost fully be placed on the wretched performance of their players. Perhaps the only one here absolved from a relegation is Shearer, but even he has been doing his best impression of the Peyton Manning face whilst managing.
sell greedybayor. sell sylvestre. sign marcos senna/yaya toure. sell gallas. bring back senderos. sign ajax's skipper (a center back. male sure they sign van persie. MAKE ABSOLUTELY sure they keep cecs. as much as it pains me, sell diaby. find a new back up keeper b/c fabianki leaves me wanting. hopefully HOPEFULLY we sign xabi (thats be such a cup to sign him and ive wanted him to be a gunner since that night in instanbul 4 yrs ago. as well (i dont think it'll happen but if so i'd be over the moon) SIGN RYAN BABEL!
Post a Comment