There Is Only One Sinnacle

Getafe Agree Soldado Deal

Getafe have concluded a deal that will see them sign Roberto Soldado from Real Madrid for a total of €6m after extensive negotiations drew to a close late on Monday evening.

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Best move Soldado could make for his career. Soldado was never going to be a regular first team player for Real Madrid. He’ll be playing close to home with a Getafe team that exceeded expectations last year.

Inter Milan chief Branca: Quaresma deal still on

Inter Milan chief Marco Branca has indicated a deal for Porto winger Ricardo Quaresma was still on.

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Deal makes sense for all involved but I do hope that Porto is able to get every last penny out of Inter Milan. This is another transfer saga that can end anytime soon. It’s been too drawn out as is.

Brazil beats Singapore in Olympic warmup

SINGAPORE (AP) – Brazil began its preparations for the Beijing Olympics with a 3-0 win over Singapore on Monday at the National Stadium.

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Only reason I have any interest in the upcoming Olympics is to see how Brazil and Argentina will play.
(Yes I know nothing about the above is European and this is Euro Watch but just forget that small fact.)

Papastathopoulos Out, Kyrgiakos & Katsouranis In At AEK?

Greece international Sokratis Papastathopoulos is set to leave AEK Athens after it was widely reported that the Greek giants had accepted a €3.8 million offer from Serie A outfit Genoa.

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Can’t understand why there hasn’t been more noise about a Greek team trying to land Katsouranis. He is one of the best players to come out of Greece and a player who has expressed a desire to leave Benfica and return closer to home.

Tottenham want striker Roman Pavlyuchenko but have had a £10m bid rejected by Spartak Moscow. The London side is also confident of signing Real Zaragoza striker Diego Milito, who would cost around £8m. (Daily Mirror)

Trying to convince Spartak Moscow to sell Roman Pavlyuchenko won’t be easy after his Euro 2008 performance. Tottenham would have a better chance of convincing Real Zaragoza who were demoted from La Liga last year to cash in on Diego Milito.

Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan is close to tying up a £7m deal for Argentina defender Fabricio Coloccini from Deportivo La Coruna. (Daily Star)

Don’t think it’s close. The player himself has said he is happy at Deportivo. Smart move on Newcastle’s part targeting Coloccini however.

Aston Villa are poised to make a £4.5m bid for Reading’s England international left-back Nicky Shorey as manager Martin O’Neill sets about bringing in at least five new players before the new season starts. (Daily Star)

Direct result of Wilfred Bouma injuring his ankle. For a squad that doesn’t feature a lot of depth, Villa should look to make a move for Shorey right away.

Chelsea are cooling their interest in the Brazilian forward Robinho because Real Madrid keep changing their asking price, and are now considering giving Shaun Wright-Phillips another chance to prove himself. (The Independent)

Real Madrid signing Ronaldo = Robinho to Chelsea – Real Madrid not signing Ronaldo = Robinho stays.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is closing on a £5m swoop for Chelsea’s Tal Ben Haim and will offer the defender a four-year deal worth around £60,000 a week. (The Sun)

Chelsea selling Ben Haim and Steve Sidwell for a combined 10 million is a pretty good return for players who were signed as free transfers the previous season.

However, Everton are poised to test Tottenham’s nerve with a move for Darren Bent funded by the £10.75m they will bank from Johnson’s transfer. (Daily Mail)

Everton sure has bad timing. At the start of the transfer season Darren Bent could be had. With Keane moving on and Berbatov wishing to do the same Tottenham would be unwilling to sell another striker.

Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari has been told by owner Roman Abramovich that he not only has to win but do so in style – like rivals Manchester United. (Various)

You hired the wrong coach then.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has insisted the onus is on clubs outside the top four to “get their houses in order” if the perceived lack of competition in the Premier League is to be addressed. (Various)

Right thing to say, wrong person to say it. People are just going to roll their eyes at someone from Chelsea with all there money telling other clubs to get better.

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) – Liverpool has signed Robbie Keane from Tottenham on a four-year deal, completing one of the biggest Premier League transfers this offseason.

Liverpool announced the deal Monday after the Ireland captain passed a medical examination with the club. The teams agreed to a transfer fee over the weekend, rumored to be about 18 million pounds (US$35.8 million; €22.8 million), after the striker decided to accept an offer to join the club he supported as a boy.

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The key part was the last line for me. Couldn’t quite come to grips on why Keane was so willingly to leave Tottenham for Liverpool until I found out he cheered for Liverpool as a kid. The chance to play for your boyhood team may only come once in a lifetime so I can now understand the jump. Still feel that this is a bit of a panic buy by Rafa Benitez to appease the Liverpool faithful who have become anxious for any new signing after the long drawn out Gareth Barry transfer attempts.

Muntari Delighted With Inter Move

Sulley Muntari has spoken of his delight about joining Italian champions Inter Milan, describing it as a “dream move”.

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Smart move by Inter who unlike Real Madrid haven’t spent the entire transfer period obsessed with one player. Muntari knows the Serie A game well from his time at Udinese and quickly adapted to the English game last year. That along with his age (23 years old) made him an attractive proposition for Jose Mourinho. Interesting that Portsmouth sold him without much of a fuss as the transfer unfolded rather quickly over the last week.

Sunderland manager Roy Keane has continued his summer spending spree by completing the signing of Bolton forward El-Hadji Diouf for an undisclosed fee.

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Bolton should view this as an addition by subtraction since Diouf wanted out of Bolton at the end of last season and Bolton were happy to find him a new home. Along came Roy Keane and Sunderland who will take on the challenge of keeping Diouf happy. When motivated Diouf has the talent to break a game open which was the type of player that Sunderland were missing.

Barcelona To Step Up Benzema Quest

Barcelona are set to make one final effort to prise Karim Benzema away from Olympique Lyonnais this summer, but if they have any success then Real Madrid will join the race.

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Since Benzema has made no mention of wanting to leave Lyon the French Champions hold all the cards here. It would take a silly transfer fee before Lyon would be willingly to part with Benzema.

Sporting snub Everton’s bid for Moutinho

Sporting Lisbon have turned down an £11.8million bid from Everton for star midfielder Joao Moutinho, the Portuguese club confirmed on Sunday.

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Moutinho could learn a lesson from Hugo Viana about moving on to the EPL before he is ready.

Robben primed for big Real Madrid campaign

Arjen Robben was outstanding for Real Madrid in yesterday’s friendly victory over Austria’s LASK Linz.

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If Robben can stay healthy for an entire season most would consider that a successful year.

Having cooled his interest in Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is weighing up a shock £15m bid for Barcelona’s ex-Arsenal forward Thierry Henry. (Daily Star)

Much like the Michael Owen to United rumours of last year just can’t see Henry ever deciding to play for Manchester United after so many great years at Arsenal.

United, meanwhile, are ready to sell their injury-prone forward Louis Saha to Paris St Germain, freeing up funds for new arrivals. (Daily Mirror)

If you are French, over 30 (in Saha’s case 30 come August) you have a home at Paris St Germain along with Claude Makélélé and Ludovic Giuly.

Striker Robbie Keane is expected at Liverpool for a medical to seal his £20m move from Tottenham. (Daily Star)

Keane better of been told that Liverpool will feature a 4-4-2 throughout the season or else he’ll end up seeing as much action as Peter Crouch last season.

Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has hinted he may be interested in a move to Real Madrid but not this summer. (Various)

Don’t care how many good young players Arsenal has, the one player they can’t lose is Cesc Fabregas. He makes that team go.

Newcastle are prepared to pay £7m for Real Madrid’s former Arsenal forward Julio Baptista, although the Spanish club want closer to £12m. (Daily Telegraph)

Baptista much like Reyes previously wasn’t fond of life in London, nevermind life in Newcastle. The player must surely prefer a move to Champions League bound Roma before Newcastle.

Sunderland will complete the signing of El-Hadji Diouf from Bolton for £2.5m on Monday (Various)

Diouf and Roy Keane will make an interesting clash of personalities. Guess at only 2.5 million it’s worth taking a flyer on a player with Diouf’s talents.

Manchester United have moved quickly to finalise the details of Carol Tevez’s £32m British record transfer after Real Madrid were among those enquiring about his availability. (Daily Mail)

United are not dumb, they would want to lock Tevez up before the January transfer window to prevent other clubs from speaking to the player.

Atlético Reject €122m For Stars

Atlético de Madrid have turned down the chance to rake in a staggering €122m for just three players and have kept their stars ahead of the club’s return to the Champions League.

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Atletico is sitting on a gold mine with Sergio Agüero. There should be no rush to sell him since his value will only increase in the coming years.

Schalke’s Rafinha again in Liverpool sights

Schalke 04 rebel Rafinha is back on the agenda for Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.

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Only reason this rumor is coming up again is because Rafinha is playing for Brazil at the Olympics despite Schalke not releasing him. Schalke would be petty and be making a mistake if they end up selling Rafinha because of that.

Chelsea To Offer Lampard New Deal

According to the Mirror, Chelsea are ready to meet Frank Lampard’s demand of a five-year contract extension.

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Chelsea will regret that contract in five years time. Lampard will already find it tough to catch a game this year never mind five years from now when he is 36.

Real Madrid hope to sign Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas after conceding defeat in their pursuit of Cristiano Ronaldo. (News of the World)

Madrid acts like a chicken with it’s head cut off in the transfer market. First Ronaldo, then Kaka, now Fabregas. With the season a mere couple of weeks away and Fabregas firmly an Arsenal player, nevermind cheering and playing for Barcelona as a boy, needless to say this would be unlikely.

Ferguson is considering signing Barcelona’s Samuel Eto’o, Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz, Valencia’s David Villa or Lyon’s Karim Benzema instead of Berbatov. (Sunday Times)

Shocked they didn’t put Pele of Santos on the list. Eto’o and Santa Cruz can be had. Villa and Benzema just make a nice headline, nothing more.

Liverpool are ready to abandon their chase of Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry and will spend their money on Tottenham’s Robbie Keane instead. (News of the World)

The sale of Keane to Liverpool will allow Tottenham to chase David Villa, who is valued at £25m. (Sunday Telegraph)

I’m not going to jump on the Tottenham bandwagon but a case can be made that the Spurs have every bit of talent that Liverpool does.

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart wants talks with Mark Hughes after the Eastlands boss tried to sign new Aston Villa keeper Brad Friedel. (The People)

Foolish move by Hughes. Hart is a fine goalie and should be the number one without having to worry about his job going into the season. Why wreck a young players confidence?

Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given’s future is still in doubt, with Arsenal believed to be interested. (News of the World)

Given is one of those players that a lot of teams have always been interested in but thus far no one has tried to make a move.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson wants his former assistant, new Portugal boss Carlos Queiroz, to be his successor as manager at Old Trafford. (Sunday Express)

That’s nice but really it’s not his choice. Hopefully Sir Alex Ferguson has many years left in the game.

Roma To Hunt Klaas-Jan?

After seeing his attempted €20m capture of Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu thwarted, Roma manager Luciano Spalletti may instead pursue the signature of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Ajax.

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Despite not being able to seal the deal, Roma transfer targets have all been players that would be a good fit for the upcoming season. Huntelaar no exception.

HSV reject six million euro bid for Van der Vaart

HAMBURG, July 25 (Bundesliga) – Hamburg have rejected a six million euro offer from Real Madrid for Rafael van der Vaart, according to reports in Germany.

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Good for Hamburg. At only six million for a player of Van der Vaart talents it’s better to just play him for the year with the player wanting to play his best to showcase his skills. Hopefully those skills help Hamburg to the Champions League then Van der Vaart moves on.

Jose: Fixture List? Who Cares!

Inter coach, Jose Mourinho, has revealed that he is not bothered about the Serie A fixture list after the games for the coming season were announced on Friday afternoon. The former Chelsea tactician seems unfazed by all the hype surounding the new campaign.

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That first game against Sampdoria could be quite tricky for Inter Milan to start the season.