There Is Only One Sinnacle

Michael Owen has been confirmed as a Manchester United player. The striker has signed a two-year deal to play at Old Trafford and no transfer was paid as the former Liverpool, Real Madrid and Newcastle forward was a free agent.

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Newcastle fans can now join Liverpool fans in their scorn of Michael Owen. In his defense the white Louis Saha had to do what is best for his career and joining Manchester United was possibly his last chance to shine on some of the grandest stages of European football. An interesting thing to look out for next season is a comparison between Carlos Tevez and Michael Owen as the former’s departure allowed Owen to join United.

Report: MLB loaned millions to Rangers

The league would not go into details about any borrowing, but said it was assisting Rangers owner Tom Hicks with the sale of the franchise. “Tom is the control person, and there was no issue of making payroll,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said Thursday. “Major League Baseball is working with the Rangers to sell the team, as Tom requested.”

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Only a matter of time before this story breaks on the other side of the pond. It’s not a good sign for Liverpool’s transfer plans when one of their owners if having issues meeting payroll on his other professional sport team. Even if Hicks is working on a sale of the Texas Rangers these type of transactions take months to wrap up just ask Newcastle.

Barcelona President Laporta Confirms Interest In Arsenal Skipper Cesc Fabregas

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed that his club are eager to sign their superstar youth product, Cesc Fabregas, from Arsenal.

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Barcelona are very much in a cold war style arms race with Real Madrid which may lead Laporta to make a move for Fabregas a year or two before he’d really like too. Arsenal has a price on just about every player except Fabregas. It would be a tough sell to Arsenal fans explaining how selling Fabregas would be good business.

Lyon Launch New Bid For Lisandro Lopez

Lyon have lodged an improved offer for FC Porto striker Lisandro Lopez, the French club has confirmed.

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Couldn’t begin to understand how Porto could turn down 18 million euros for Lope never mind a 20 million euro bid. Selling Lope for that amount isn’t good business, it’s great business.

Porto Move For Espanyol Striker Luis Garcia - Report

FC Porto have enquired about Espanyol striker Luis Garcia, according to reports in Spain.

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Here is my other point where keeping Lopez would be mad. Porto could lock up Garica for 5-6 million where I’m sure he’ll chip in the 10 league goals Lopez had last year for Porto. To be fair Lopez was also the 3rd leading scoring in the Champions League but clearly Porto is in rebuild mode going with youth next season.

Have a great 4th of July weekend everyone.

Former Liverpool and Newcastle striker Michael Owen will have to take a 50% pay cut - to £50,000-a-week - and pass a stringent medical before making a shock move to Manchester United. Full story: The Sun

Actually, Owen could be offered a basic wage of a paltry £20,000-a-week, with performance-related bonuses taking him close to the £110,000-a-week he earned at Newcastle. Full story: Daily Mail

This would be the best move for both parties since the risk is slim yet the reward is great for both of them. Currently when Fabio Capello picks an English squad no one bats an eyelash when Owen’s name isn’t included. At Manchester United, Owen will find himself in some high profile games which he hopes can place him back on the World Cup 2010 radar. Unlikely as that may be even if he can stay fit.

Chelsea are the only club to have submitted a formal bid, of about £40m, for Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery - but the French international wants to join Real Madrid. Daily Telegraph

You know this transfer market is weird when a 40 million pound offer doesn’t even shock the senses anymore.

Real Madrid have put their bid for Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso on hold, until mid-July when his former club Real Sociedad will no longer be entitled to a percentage of the fee.
Full story: The Sun

Liverpool are steeling themselves for two bids worth nearly a combined £60m from Real Madrid and Barcelona for Alonso and his fellow midfielder Javier Mascherano. (Daily Telegraph)

Let’s assume for a second Liverpool is willingly to sell Alonso and Mascherano. Personally can see one going but not both. Despite that Liverpool will realize what Manchester United is facing that it’s one thing to have cash on hand but another to find the right players to splash the cash on.

Manchester United will make a £16m move for Sevilla’s 28-year-old Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano, but face competition from AC Milan. Full story: Daily Mirror

Sevilla must hate the fact that with all the depth at forward for Brazil, Dunga picks Fabiano as his first choice striker.

Portsmouth defender Sol Campbell is considering a shock move to Championship club Newcastle United. Daily Star

Well he isn’t a starting Premier League centre back going forward. Unless he wants to play outside of England, Campbell would get the most playing time at a club like Newcastle.

AC Milan could make a remarkable £12m bid for Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch if they fail to sign Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor. Full story: The Sun

Between signing Adebayor at full price or getting Crouch at a discount i’d choose Crouch. Portsmouth is not going to sell Crouch however for basically the same price they paid Liverpool for him last year.

Aston Villa are weighing up a potential £8m bid for 22-year-old Swedish striker Marcus Berg, who impressed at the recent Euro Under-21 Championship. Daily Star

Didn’t just impress, Berg pretty much stole the show with his performances.

Hull boss Phil Brown could be set to offer veteran midfielder Dietmar Hamann a 12-month contract after he was released by Manchester City. Daily Mirror

Don’t see what Hamann can produce on a football field anymore. Having a class professional like Hamann would be good in the dressing room but on the pitch would be a different story.

West Brom have rejected a £2m bid from Fulham for captain Jonathan Greening. (Daily Star)

Greening was also on the bench when Manchester United defeated Bayern Munich in the Champions League final.

Stoke are set to make a £5m bid for Manchester City’s Zimbabwean striker Benjani. Daily Star

Stoke are paying 4 million too much. Aside from scoring in the Manchester derby, Bejani’s Manchester City highlights have been few and far between.

Interesting to see Landon Donovan say what everyone else is thinking regarding Beckham’s status with the Galaxy. Below are some interesting thoughts from Donovan’s interview with the Guardian.

“All that we care about at a minimum is that he committed himself to us,” Donovan said. “As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways – on the field, off the field.

“Does the fact that he earns that much money come into it? Yeah. If someone’s paying you more than anybody in the league, more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game, whether you’re suspended or not.

“Show up and train hard. Show up and play hard. Maybe he’s not a leader, maybe he’s not a captain. Fair enough. But at a minimum you should bust your ass every day. That hasn’t happened. And I don’t think that’s too much for us to expect. Especially when he’s brought all this on us.

“But with Beckham, I’d say no, he wasn’t committed. Let’s say he does stay here three more years. I’m not going to spend the next three years of my life doing it this way … I don’t want to have soccer be this way. I’ve got to confront it somehow. If that’s the way he’s going to be, fine, then hold him accountable. Bench him. Just say, ‘We’re not going to play you, we don’t think you’re committed’.”

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AC Milan To Sign Portsmouth Striker Peter Crouch?

The Serie A outfit have identified the man famous for his ‘robot dance’ celebration as a potential transfer target…

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Like Peter Crouch and A.C Milan could do a lot worse when spending some of that Kaka money. Crouch would be a great fit for Serie A where pace isn’t the end all and be all. A player like him with his height and ability to create space in the box would cause havoc next year if this ever became a reality.

New Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has delayed his arrival in London as he attempts to lure striker Alexandre Pato from his former club AC Milan. The Sun

Chelsea has yet to make much of a splash this summer and usually setting their sets on a player like Pato would be a wise move. The problem here is A.C Milan simply can’t sell Pato coming off selling Kaka. A.C Milan knows it can’t replace Kaka and even with a fistful of dollars they would be hard pressed to replace Pato.

Barcelona are preparing to make a £25m bid for Liverpool’s Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano. Daily Mirror

There has been talk all summer of so many bids coming in for Liverpool players I’m at the point where I want to see something happen one way or another.

The proposed deal to take Ricardo Carvalho and Deco from Chelsea to Inter Milan could collapse over the London club’s insistence that they want £12m for the duo. Daily Telegraph

Despite their age it isn’t like Chelsea are holding out for a kings ransom here. Considering they paid close to £10 million for Deco only last summer Chelsea are already resigned to selling Deco at a loss.

Forward Carlos Tevez will be unveiled as a Manchester City player on Monday next week, after agreeing terms of about £120,000-a-week. Daily Mirror

Don’t think Tevez will receive many cheers going forward during his yearly trip to Old Trafford.

Former Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira has been offered £100,000-a-week by Birmingham as they try to sign the Frenchman from Inter Milan. The Sun

This would be foolish for Birmingham to offer and for Vieira to turn down. Just can’t see this move making sense for either party. Vieira should either continue his role at a top club at Inter or go back to France to spend the last years of his career.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is facing the prospect of being priced out of signing Everton defender Joleon Lescott. Everton value the centre half at £20m, which is £5m more than Hughes is willing to pay. Daily Star

Common sense should allow Mark Hughes to walk away from this chase. Lescott is a fine player but few defenders are worth that amount of money. Still like the idea of Manchester City sending Jo Everton’s way in any deal for Lescott.

Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey could be set for a £4m move to Everton after turning down the offer of a new contract at Craven Cottage. The Sun

Dempsey has come along way from New England in MLS to the United States best player. At Fulham creativity isn’t really desired with Everton Dempsey would be able to show more offensively.

New Wigan manager Roberto Martinez is keen to sort out a quick deal for Honduras midfielder Hendry Thomas as Sunderland are also interested. (Daily Mirror)

Wigan had good luck previously in signing players from Honduras with them making a tidy profit on Wilson Palacios.

Aston Villa are ready to launch a bid of £3.5m plus midfielder Barry Bannan for Wigan defender Titus Bramble. (Daily Star)

Could of had Bramble on a free transfer two seasons ago. Aston Villa won’t be getting him for 3.5 million for Bannan this summer.

And Villa boss Martin O’Neill is exploring the possibility of signing Middlesbrough’s Stewart Downing - even though the winger will be out until October with a foot injury. Daily Mail

Never been the biggest fan but Ive soured on Stewart Downing this past year. He was the face of Middlesbrough and when his club needed him the most Downing wasn’t able to rise his game in order to help Middlesbrough save their Premier league status.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce will not be making a bid for Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton. (Daily Star)

Glad to see Sam Allardyce not repeat recent history with signing Joey Barton.

Arsenal defender William Gallas says he will not sign a new contract with the Gunners and will walk away from the Emirates for free when his deal expires next summer if he is not allowed to leave this year. Inter Milan are interested in the 31-year-old. Daily Mirror

Can’t see Jose Mourinho taking Gallas back after he whined his way out of Chelsea way back when.

Lucho Gonzalez To Sign For Marseille On Friday

On Tuesday evening, Porto and Marseille both released statetements on their official websites claiming an agreement in principle for Lucho to move to the French club had been reached.

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This move just saddens me. Lucho Gonzalez’s profile across Europe isn’t great but if he played on your favorite team it would take all of the 45 minutes for him to become a fan favorite. A perfect box to box midfielder who is able to supply that touch of class to go along with a high work rate. I’m happy for the player since he’ll be paid a lot more at Marseille than Porto could afford and 18 million is good business for Porto just wish Gonzalez could of gone to a team with a higher European profile than Marseille who are a notch below the top teams right alongside Porto.

BREAKING NEWS: Lyon Confirm Real Madrid Deal For Karim Benzema

A statement on the offiical Lyon website announces that the striker will cost Madrid €35 million initially and that with performance related bonuses the deal could rise to €41 million.

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The fun never stops with Real Madrid does it? Manchester United now has to turn their eyes towards Frank Ribery in their quest for a big name signing. So much for Miralem Pjanic possibly claiming Benzema was headed to Manchester. The story is yet again another epic Real Madrid signing. What I’m equally curious about is now seeing who will leave Real Madrid in order to somewhat offset these huge off season transfers.