Football - Silly Season

[Majsju]

So, with the CL final tomorrow, we are almost done with the season. Which means the time of madness is about to begin, where crazy transfers and even crazier rumours will entertain us till september. And with a World Cup this summer, it will of course be sillier than usual.

 

So far we have

David Villa, Valencia to Barcelona. Done deal, assuming Villa passes his medical, which he of course will.

 

Marouane Chamakh, Bordeaux to Arsenal. Goes on free transfer, and it is a done deal.

 

Ben Foster, Manchester United to Birmingham. Done deal.

 

Laurent Blanc, Bordeaux to French national team. It is official that he will leave, but he will most likely be officially hired until after the World Cup.

 

Del Neri, Sampdoria to Juventus. Done deal, which means Benitez can quit his lessons in Italian...

 

Cesc Fabregas, Arsenal to Barcelona. The rumours have increased about this. I was convinced Fabregas would not move until next season, but I am not so sure anymore. The big issue is Barcelonas economy, they are quite a bit in debt, and Villa did not exactly come for free. Maybe if Ibrahimovic is sold...

 

Jose Mourinho, Internazionale Milan to Real Madrid. Mou seems to be bedning tht door open with his recent comments. I think that if Inter wins CL, he moves immidiatly. If they lose, he might give Inter one more season, even though that would be a gamble, whoever replaces Pellegrini in Real might turn out successful.

 

To be continued...

[Majsju]

Thierry Henry, Barcelona to New York/West Ham. Everything pointed at Henry moving to New York, but then West Ham offered him a quite good deal. And since Henry has a good history with London, he might consider returning to Premier League. But I still think New York has the upper hand. Though it would be good for the Premier League if smaller teams like West Ham could get a name like Henry.

[Majsju]

And now it is confirmed that Mourinho moves to Real Madrid.

 

One who will not move is Franck Ribery, who killed all speculations by signing a new 5-year contract with Bayern Münich. Chelsea and Real Madrid where rumoured to launch bids for him, but will have to look for other players.

 

Daily Star claims Steven Gerrard is considering a move away from Liverpool, but will not make any decisions until after the World Cup. Granted, it is Daily Star, a paper with even less credibility than The Sun...

[Majsju]

Everyone, Everywhere to Real Madrid. Rumour has it Mou will get around €120 million to go shopping for, which chould mean 2-3 fairly big names. Chelsea should be worried, as Drogba, Essien and Ashley Cole all are rumoured to be on Reals radar.

 

Yaya Touré, Barcelona to Arsenal/Chelsea/Manchester United. The midfielder has complained about lack of games for months now, and all but demanded a transfer. He seems set for England. Part of the payment for Fabregas?

 

Javier Mascherano, Liverpool to Barcelona. They tried last years, but Liverpool set a pricetag that Pep was not interested in even discussing. But he likes the player, and if Touré moves, they need a replacement.

 

Nicola Zigic, Valencia to Birmingham. Done deal, he has signed for 4 years.

 

Daniele de Rossi, Roma to Real Madrid. Rumours have been going on for weeks, now de Rossi says that he is willing to move if Roma wants to sell.

 

Adriano, Flamengo to Roma. The Brazilian bad boy is rumoured to have get his act together back in Brazil, and is now ready to return to Europe. Nightclubs in Rome are rumoured to be very excited...

 

Jermaine Jenas, Tottenham to Newcastle. Toons need to boost their squad now that they return to PL, and Jenas rarely leaves the bench in Spurs. A win-win situation.

 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barcelona to FC Milan. Berlusconi is determined to break Inters dominance, and is ready to open the big wallet to start building a new team. Ibra is rumoured to be the player he wants to buld the team around.

[Apollo277]

Jerome Boateng will be arriving at City on the day the window opens, apparently the deal's been done and dusted for weeks. All I really want done, though, is a proper left-back, Edin Dzeko, a Modric/Kroos type player for the center of midfield (better yet if Stevie could pull his head out and have another brilliant season), and if Bellamy's leaving, David Silva would do just fine.

 

Whereas, U****d will be buying David Beckham back for a tenner and a crate of Famous Grouse for Fergie.

[Majsju]

Modric just signed a new contract with Spurs, keeping him at the club till 2016, so he is not going anywhere.

 

Dzeko, today is the last day of his special clause that allows him to leave for a set price (around €40 mil.) After that, Wolfsburg can put whatever price they want.

 

 

Todays really silly rumour: Mourinho has been promised over €100 mil to try to beat Barcelona in the race for Fabregas. If that happens, I will pose in a Liverpool jersey ;D

 

Juventus new coach Del Nieri is rumoured to want to start playing 442, which would mean a hectic transfer in Turin. Among his targets is Arsenals Van Persie.

 

City and Chelsea are rumoured to be interested in Inters Maicon, after he mentioned to Gazetta that he would be willing to leave if Mourinho wanted to take him to Real.

 

Mourinho has several times expressed his admiration for Wayne Rooney, and how he would like to coach the English star one day. Now rumours are surfacing that he has a special clause in his contract with Real, allowing him to leave for free in two years if United wants him.

 

Mourinho moves to Real, now Pellegrini is rumoured to move the other way.

[Apollo277]

I hear Chelsea are getting Darijo Srna from Donetsk, he's a right back/midfielder with a wicked freekick in him, so if that happens I doubt they'd grab Maicon.

[Majsju]

That is the naure of Silly Season, for every transfer that actually does happen, you get 20-25 rumours.

 

Todays funny: Milan asked Real if it was possible to get Ronaldo... ;D

Apparently they also mentioned Kaka, and that is not as far out as Ronaldo, since Kaka did not exactly have a great season in Madrid.

Milan might face competition from England though, as both Chelsea and City have been rumoured to be interested in the skilled Brazilian.

 

Bojan to United? Barcelonas super-talent is rumoured to complain about lack of games, and Sir Alex believes he can get a real bargain.

 

Barcelona and Arsenal have confirmed that they are officially talking about Fabregas, and that they are not that far from eachother (only around €10 mil or so).

With Fabregas on his way out, Wenger is rumoured to run for Bordeaux' Gourcuff, whose contract allows him to leave for €25 mil.

[Majsju]

Rumours started to go around tonight that the players in Liverpool have more or less demanded that Benitez is kicked out. Considering that both Gerrard and Torres will be chased by other clubs, can Liverpool afford to keep him? On the other hand, he sits on a fat contract, and even before this the club had very little funds to sign new players for. Selling Gerrard or(/and) Torres to finance that sacking?

[Apollo277]

Times says that the Spanish Waiter's been offered 3 million pounds to do one. I doubt he'll go for that little, given he's entitled to to 15 million.

[Majsju]

I think he would agree to a cut, knowing that he is not wanted by anyone. But, a cut would probably mean £8-10 mil. Which is about what Liverpool has available for new signings...

[Majsju]

And there the confirmation came, Rafa is officially sacked. And it seems we were both wrong, media claims he did accept the 3 mil.

 

Now to speculate who will replace him...The current favourites are Martin O'Neill (Aston Villa), Roy Hodgson (Fulham) and Kenny Dalglish (Liverpool academy).

 

From a financial pov, Dalglish would be the perfect solution, as there is no contract to buy him out from. And there is no manager available with the heart for the club that he has. However, he has not managed a team for 10 years, and such a break is difficult to come back from.

 

Hodgson and O'Neill have both proved themselves at a very high level. But, they are both at clubs who are not really interested in letting them go, which could make them quite expensive for Liverpool to get.

 

But nothing will happen until after the World cup.

[Majsju]

Gael Clichy, Arsenal to Barcelona. If this rumour is true, Wenger must be seriously pissed at Barca now ;D

An alternative might be Gareth Bale, Tottenham. Spurs would not want to sell, but if Barcelona comes waving a fat stack of Euros, they might not afford to say no.

 

More Tottenham,

Diego Forlan, Athletico Madrid to Tottenham. Redknapp wants to boost the squad for the CL adventure, and Forlan has proven himself to be top quality, even though his stint at United did not have the impact many had hoped for. Athletico did not qualify for CL, so they must sell players, and Forlan is at a level where he wants to play CL.

 

Yaya Touré, Barcelona to United/Chelsea/Manchester City/Arsenal. His agent claims that the midfielder has reached an agreement with an English club, and Barcelona wants to sell. Slight advan tage for City, because his brother plays there? Arsenal on the other hand could accept him as part of the payment for Fabregas.

 

Raul, Real Madrid to ?. The iconic Madrista was for the first time in over a decade left out of the commercial campaign for the new jerseys. And with Mourinho  hinting that that he will clean out the squad, we might have seen Raul in the white jersey for the last time. At 32, question is if he feel motivated to take a year or two in a smaller club, or if he is ready for retirement.

 

Jerome Boateng, Hamburg to Man City. Done deal for the German defender.

 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Barcelona to Chelsea. Rumours about the Swedes eventual departure skyrocketed yesterday, when pictures showed him and Chelsea coach Ancelotti staying at the same hotel in Miami.

 

Alexis Sanchez, Udinese to Manchester United. The Chilean winger was one of the rumoured targets last season, when Sir Alex looked for a replacement for Ronaldo. And now Sanchez has talked openly about wanting to move on from the Italian league.

[Majsju]

Juventus chose Del Nieri, but now it seems Benitez might get a move to Italy anyway, as Internazionale has moved him to the top of their list (after Capello turned them down). It might happen within a few hours.

Fans of Juventus and AC Milan are rumoured to have started celebrating already... ;D

 

Milos Krasic, CSKA Moscow to Juventus. Inter and Man City have shown interst, but now the Torino club seems to lead the race.

 

Jimmy Bullard, Hull to Celtic. Hull needs to cut wages after dropping down to the Championship, which have prompted Celtic to decöare interest for the entertainer/footballer.

I would prefer if he went to Blackpool. Holloway + Bullard, talk about a combination that would guarantee laughs ;D

[Lilbaz]

Who do you support Majsju? I support Spurs myself (Tottenham Hotspur for the unwise) rumours of a swap Keane for Agbonglahor today. There will be a thousand rumours but I doubt much movement until after the WC. Spurs have already been linked with 47 players so far.

Once the world cup finishes there will be a lot of movement out of the Prem as the teams have to adjust to the 25 man squad rule for next season (Man City have to ship 7 before even buying anyone). So watch this space.

[Majsju]

Look at my signature  ;)

[Lilbaz]

Sorry kid, bit of a late one last night  ;D

[Majsju]

Ok, I was going to let this thread rest during the World Cup, but...

 

Roy Hodgson, Fulham to Liverpool. Confirmed.

David Silva, Valencia to manchester City. Confirmed.

Angel Di Maria, Benfica to Real Madrid. Confirmed.

 

 

[Danh]

It's "in" nowadays to buy any player just to keep other teams of getting that player... even more ridiculous imho.