Robben To Real Madrid ( Chances - 3/5)

Robben has denied interest in joining Real Madrid, but it still doesn’t sort out his worries at the club. He rarely has sparked under the tutelage of the special one. Chelsea have reported Real Madrid for tapping up their player. Yes, Chelsea the last bastion of fairness and ethics want Real to be penalised. Sit and spit, Mr. Arnesen!! Read the full article here.

Henry to Barcelona Chances - 4/5

For those who saw the interview with Thierry Henry on soccernet would not be betting on him staying at Arsenal. His apparent devastation at David Dein’s exit may seem as an excuse to leave his club. Barca have already sent out feelers and look set to make a bid for him. This time, the rumor is that the Catalans will launch a bid only after verbal assurances from the footballer. Cesc and Pires have chimed in with their opinion and this doesn’t bode well for the Gunners. The PM elect of England feels that Henry will stay at Arsenal but we wonder how much this man knows about Football. Milan have said they are interested but know its tough to prize him away. Its either Barca or Arsenal by the looks of it. Milan will be better of buying Eto’o who will be available in the summer
More on this soon….

Heinze to Real Madrid (Chances - 5/5)

I am betting on this move to materialise in the coming days. R. Carlos is leaving for Fenerbahce and this will pave the way for Heinze who has lost his starting place in the Man Utd line-up. Read the article here.

Other tidbits:

Iniesta is on the radar of Juventus (Chances -0/5)

No way are Barcelona letting him go after his fantastic performances for club and country.

Ljunberg to Celtic (Chances: 2/5) :

He looks set to leave arsenal but I doubt if Parkhead would be the destination.
Eto’o to Liverpool (Chances : 2/5) :

He is moving but has denied interest in joining the KOP. May move to Milan.

Kaka to Real Madrid (Chances: 0/5):

The raving loon Calderon has again mentioned his interest in signing Kaka. No chance this will happen

It’s not always I use David Beckham in a footballing comparison. Although he has achieved a lot of success in his Manchester United, the coverage and the press he received were not reciprocal to his performances. He was the poster boy, who defined the word ‘metrosexual’ and a marketing team’s dream. On the pitch, his career had not met expectations. As captain, his team always fell short of the target. His career had stagnated after his move to Real Madrid and his only option was to take the 250mill $ sinecure that the idiots in LA had offered. But one aspect of his game and his personality merits respect. It was evident in the last month and for his entire career and that has been his impeccable sense of professionalism. When lesser players would have taken offense at the demotion to the reserves, Becks took it as a challenge to prove his coach wrong. He appeared everyday for training and not once did he complain about the treatment. He has since earned his recall and looks set to leave his club with his head held high.

But over the weekend, arguably the the best striker in the world showed why, it’s not always the talent that wins you admirers. Prone to the usual fit of rage, Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o lashed out at his coach Frank Rijkaard for being labeled a shame. Well, to be frank, your behaviour over the weekend was a disgrace. It doesn’t matter if there are only 2 minutes of playing time, when the manager asks you to come on , you do it. When the manager asks you to play blindfolded, you do it. It’s as simple as that, as long as he gets paid the big bucks and is held accountable for every wrong turn he takes, the manager is the Big kahuna.

This is just one of the many incidents that have littered Eto’o’s career. The man can turn a match on its head with his feet, but can also divide a club with his vicious tongue. Some criticize Rijkaard for coming hard on his leading striker in a press conference. This was aberrant from a man, who prefers to dish it out in the privacy of the locker room. But in this case, the reputation preceded the person. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Eto’o went as far as revealing divisions in the dressing room between the Rosell (ex vice president, Sandro Rosell) group and the Laporta clan and how the ‘gentle’ African had been made the scapegoat. But honest to god, what the hell has that got to do with you not wanting to play?

It also is very clear that Rosell sympathizers will be leaving the club soon, whether that includes Ronaldinho is anyone’s guess. Although the club is indebted to Rosell for his masterful engineering of the Ronaldinho transfer, his shadow has hung over this team for too long.

The one club that will be celebrating this are the Merseysiders. This couldn’t have come at a better time for them and the controversy looks set to rock the Catalan club for a few weeks. Expect a major clearout in the summer at Barcelona, starting with the African striker.

For now, Eto’o can learn a thing or two from David beckham 23.

Technorati Tags: David Beckham, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Samuel Eto’o, Frank Rijkaard

Two of the biggest players in the world may be playing for different clubs come August 07. And No, I’m not talking about the 250 million $ mistake, David Beckham. I’m referring to the speculation surrounding Ronaldinho and Christiano Ronaldo. The two lynch pins of their respective teams, have had contrasting seasons.

Ronaldo, who was the scourge of England after the Rooney red card, has more than weathered the storm, he has gained mileage out of it. I don’t recall a player thriving on hatred as much as him and he seems to be getting better when he incurs the wrath of the away fans. His goal scoring record in the premiership matches thhose of top Premiership strikers. Granted, he does go missing and he can be a big fat turd, but even the most passionate Man utd hater would agree that CR7 has been their player of the year. I must commend Fergie for keeping his faith in Christiano. He saw talent when the rest saw an egotistical one trick pony with a fetish for step overs. Even when the ex sporting lisbon winger was issuing come and get me pleas to nearly every major European club, Fergie kept his cool and also appeased his fans, who at that point didn’t mind seeing his back. But will Christiano repay the faith? My guess is not.From the press reports he does look like he comes from the Luis Figo school of mercenaries and has so far not distanced himself from the speculation. It could be another Henry to Barca farce but who knows?

Another transfer talk that is doing the rounds is that of Ronaldinho to Milan. He has been an unhappy Brazilian for sometime now, the dance is missing, the smile is vacant and the passing has been well, crooked. Few are blaming his on field malaise on Laporta’s reluctance to hand out big bonuses he was due. Even ex Vice President and man behind the ‘Ronaldinho to Barca’ Transfer coup, Sandro Rosell has chimed in with his two cents. He claims that Barca were not fair to him and monetary issues have contributed to R10’s loss of form. Out of work Rosell, finds himself talking about Barcelona more often than not, though he had cut ties with the club atleast a year and a half ago. Maybe he should shup his mouth and move on with his life.

But It does look like all is not well. Personally, I wouldn’t dread a Ronnie less Barca. He has been a great servant but It looks like it is time to part ways. He would still command an astronomical fee and I don’t want Barca to commit the 50million $ howler that Arsenal committed in not selling Le Tit. It would be a match made in heaven. Barca would also promote Bojan or Dos Santos and may get Ronaldo to soften the blow.Its months before the transfer window reopens, so we will have to wait a while to see if there is anything to the tabloid talk. Until then, we have some good football to cover.

Technorati Tags: Cristiano, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Barcelona, Milan, Football

Well, it had to happen. Beckham had to leave Real Madrid and to no one’s surprise, he chose a move across the Atlantic to sunny Los Angeles where he would take his freekicks against teams such as Washington Wizards and Dallas Cowboys . Nobody really expected to move from Madrid to Portsmouth (although the prospect of him moving to Liverpool seemed interesting). What has surprised everybody has been the cash involved and the duration of the the deal.

The deal:

From the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Beckham’s five-year pact includes an annual salary approaching $10 million a year, 40% to 50% of team-jersey sales and a share of club ticket revenue. His endorsements are expected to bring in $20 million to $25 million a year. Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the operating rights to the Galaxy and two other MLS teams, said it estimates that, including endorsements, Mr. Beckham could could earn in excess of $250 million over the five years — a deal the company called “the biggest in sporting history.”

Thats an obscene amount of money for any sportsman, let alone a player who is now past his prime, is entering a country where the sport has little mass support (come on even George Best and Pele did try!), is not part of his national football team and at age 31 is now watching his limited football skills go on the decline. Beckham will also be selling global brands such as Adidas, Pepsi and Gillette to Americans.

Miserable days in Spain

After a very successful career at Manchester United where Beckham won trophies every year, he moved to Real Madrid following a spectacular fallout with Fergusson. United had agreed a deal to sell Beckham to Barcelona (albeit a Barcelona that were struggling and had not won a trophy in ages) and the deal appeared to be going through until Beckham hijacked it by signing a contract with Real Madrid. Beckham was a perfect fit for the galactico policy of Real, he was a global superstar, and he would bring millions to Madrid through jersey sales and image rights.

Since then, Barcelona, inspired by Ronaldinho (ironically a Madrid reject) and driven by manager Frank Rijkaard have gone on to win 2 league titles and were crowned European Champions in May. Madrid on the other hand have gone to the gutters as a result of poor management and terrible transfer policies. Last heard, emergency talks were being held at the Bernabeu to understand why the club was under achieving.

To be fair to Beckham, he tried and tried hard. I cant understand how people like Guti and Raul continue to be in the Madrid first XI ahead of Beckham. And, being pushed to the centre of midfield by a series of managers didn’t help his cause either. Worse, he had lost pace. He is no Zidane but he is no Pennant either. You put him on the right side of midfield and Beckham will deliver perfect crosses to your strikers all day long.

What does this mean for the MLS?

Short term interest is no doubt going to shoot up, when every national newspaper and television channel covers the story, you know it’s something big. There will be a definite spike in attendances wherever the Galaxy play atleast over the coming season. But can somebody explain to me how in four years time, a 36 year old David Beckham is going to continue to draw the crowds for much longer?!

Worse, the chances of the Yanks taking to the sport in a big way are about as remote as India qualifying for the 2014 football World cup. Football (or should I say soccer) is perceived to be a sport to be played by young kids, where every kid however poor gets to kick the ball. And there is way too much competition for the MLS from the other big leagues. On the other hand, the young kids (and there are eight million between the ages of 8 and 16 who are playing the sport) might just be the perfect target for the MLS bosses and Beckham’s football academy.

It is also going to be interesting to see if this transfer results in other football superstars like Figo, Ronaldo hopping across the atlantic. Who knows? maybe Shevchenko will move there too. There is already talk of Edgar Davids joining the Dallas Cowboys.

Will Beckham be the messiah who will take Football to the final frontier? Will a very average and ageing 36 year old David Beckham be able to sell cars and razor blades? Will this website survive to discuss that in 4 years time? Only time will tell.

- Z

No, this is not an article about Harry Redknapp and his South coast shenanigans, so keep reading (or stop reading, if that suits your fancy). The January transfer window is open, and many clubs are scrambling to sign players whom they think they might at need at some point of time during the rest of the season. We’ll take requests in a bit, but for now let’s have a look at the ‘Big Four’ plus Manchester City.

Chelsea:

The club is looking pretty shaky at the back without Terry. Jose needs to shore up the defense in case of another injury. Boulahrouz does not make sense as a player, let alone an emergency centre half/full back (Face it, he’s only ever gonna be used in an emergency anyway). Tal Ben Haim has been mentioned as a potential target, but Bolton have tripled his wages and extended his contract, so it’s unlikely he’ll be moving any time soon. Micah Richards is another possibility – young, built like an ox, pace to burn, and what appears to be a very good footballing brain – but he’ll cost Chelsea at least 20 million pounds, which, while they can afford, may not be an amount they’re willing to shell out. I’d buy Matt Upson if I were him, to be honest with you – a solid defender with a fairly good track record. Or Anton Ferdinand. For a laugh. They’ll probably win the league anyway. Funny, with all the money they have spent and they have hidden in Roman’s couch- they are still short of players.

Man United:

Fergie’s hunt for a defensive midfielder appears to be drawing to a close, with Bayern Munich announcing that they will consider bids for Canadian-Englishman Owen Hargreaves. But Munich want 20 million for it. Does Fergusson have so much cash? What about the money for the striker in the summer?

While United appear to be strong on both wings – indeed, with the form Cristiano Ronaldo has been in, they could ask him to play both wings simultaneously – they need a little more quality up front. Rooney, for all his talent, has performed sporadically at best for United. Solskjaer doesn’t have the same pace, even if he is an impact substitute of some pedigree. Saha has been in fine fettle, but is prone to injury, and SAF has done a wise thing by bringing Larsson to the club. Wonder, when the boy wonder Rooney is going to start scoring the goals.

Liverpool:

Rafa Benitez has been fairly shrewd with his transfers so far, and it appears that the signings of Bellamy and Pennant are finally beginning to pay off. Liverpool have signed Javi Mascherano from West Ham on loan for the rest of the season, although it baffles me to think of what Benitez will do with 4 top class central midfielders. There is strength in depth for every position except the right hand side. I’m hoping a cheeky bid for Dani Alves from Sevilla will get that sorted, though. Finnan is incredibly consistent, but is also the only quality player in his position, and would relish some competition. Lucas Neill has been mentioned a few times, but Benitez should realistically be looking at some younger targets. Some would argue that Liverpool still need to buy a striker, but I reckon Dirk Kuyt has shut everyone up for now, with some outstanding displays. I wouldn’t say no to David Villa though, and I suspect Rafa might break the bank to get him. But not now.

Arsenal:

Arsene Wenger’s young team have been bullied a little bit this season. Their (now insignificant) victory at Old Trafford apart, the Gunners have looked shaky all season long. Beating Liverpool 3-0 at home and losing 1-0 at Sheffield United is pretty much indicative of their inconsistency. Now, I’ll be frank here – I cannot stand Arsenal. For all their talent (Fabregas, Van Persie, Henry), they are incredibly arrogant and self-obsessed (sounds a bit like me, this lot). With youngsters all over the pitch, and the old heads of Henry and Gilberto, Arsene must be thinking “Well, these guys look pretty good right now, we’ll worry about next year when we come to it”. I don’t expect them to buy anyone. They already have? Sue me.

And I did mention Man City (I love this club, by the way), but I think they need to be bought before they do any serious buying.

Oasisboy

Technorati Tags: Transfer, Window, Chelsea, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Hargreaves, Mascherano, Terry, Ronaldo