EPL Gossip Thursday August 21st
Chelsea are on the verge of signing Real Madrid forward Robinho for £25m after chief executive Peter Kenyon was seen in Madrid to finalise a deal for the 24-year-old Brazilian. (Daily Mail)
Chelsea will not be signing Robinho, at least not for the price quoted. It doesn’t matter if Peter Kenyon was seen sleeping next door to the Bernabéu.
Manchester City have given up hope of signing Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn and have instead switched their intentions to Real Zaragoza’s Argentine striker Diego Milito. (The Guardian)
Getting tired on hearing Miltio name always in the papers with no team making a firm offer. It’s easy linking Milito with a move away from Zaragoza since a) he is a good player and more importantly b) Zaragoza no longer plays in Spain’s top division.
But Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is ready to test Rovers’ resolve with a £16m bid for the 27-year-old Paraguay striker. (Various)
I’ve always said that Blackburn should cash in and profit from Roque Santa Cruz but it appears that will hang on to him at least to the next transfer period.
O’Neill is also set to up his bid for Newcastle’s James Milner to £9m after already having a £7m bid rejected. (The Sun)
Some would question that high fee for Milner. Those same people would of also questioned Ashley Young transfer fee from Watford and that turned up roses for Aston Villa.
Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, who has scored just nine league goals in 47 appearances, is set to re-join AC Milan on a season-long loan deal, but his wages could prove to be a stumbling block. (Various)
Leaving England wasn’t the end of the world for Juan Sebastián Verón. Same applies for Shevchenko. Can already see Shevchenko sticking it to former coach Jose Mourinho in a Milan derby game.
Everton will pay Juventus midfielder Tiago’s £4m-a-year wages in order to take the 27-year-old on a season’s loan. (Daily Mirror)
It appears Tiago has little interest in Everton however. Not holding out hope of this happening.
Sunderland manager Roy Keane has turned his attentions to West Ham striker Carlton Cole, 24, after securing a loan deal for Marseille’s Djibril Cisse. (The Sun)
Still in a bit of shock that Sunderland got Cisse on a loan deal. Not a bad piece of business there. Carlton Cole on the other hand will always be one of those players coaches will go for cause the potential is there but the work rate and goal scoring is not.
Bolton manager Gary Megson has made a £3m bid for Fulham’s 29-year-old midfielder Jimmy Bullard. (Various)
Bullard not happy about not receiving a new contact. It’s natural that this would create an interest in the transfer market.
Manchester City midfielder Michael Johnson, 20, will end speculation about his future by signing a new five-year deal at Eastlands on Thursday. (The Guardian)
He’ll regret that contract six months into that deal. Think Richard Dunne if he can do it over again would sign that new deal last summer?
“Same old story” is how most of the British press summed up England’s lacklustre performance during the 2-2 draw with the Czezh Republic, with many papers comparing England’s failure to the success of British competitors at the Olympics in Beijing. (Various)
England are lucky they face a cup cake team in Andorra for their first World Cup qualifier. In the game after against Croatia the knives will start to come out if they fail to win.
Dimitar Berbatov has provoked anger from Spurs fans after being photographed signing a Manchester United shirt. (The Sun)
Pretty soon he’ll be wearing one anyway. Shocked he doesn’t come to training blasting That Boy Ronaldo from the stereo speakers at this point.