There Is Only One Sinnacle

Paolo Maldini Says Yes To Italy Comeback!

Legendary Milan and Italy defender Paolo Maldini admits he will return to play for the Azzurri after he heard of Goal.com’s campaign to bring him back to La Nazionale for one last time…

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Italian or not Italian, few would have issue with seeing the greatest defender of a generation put on the national team colours one last time.

Moyes in F-word bust up

Everton manager David Moyes dismissed striker Victor Anichebe from a training session on the eve of Wednesday nights’ FA Cup replay against arch-rivals Liverpool after the youngster told him to “f*** off”.

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Somewhere Wayne Rooney understands how Victor Anichebe feels. Just like Anichebe, Rooney wasn’t Moyes biggest admirer.

With the transfer window closing look for this space to be quiet for the next couple of days at least.

Manchester United have failed to take up the first option to buy striker Carlos Tevez. (Daily Star)

If Manchester United wanted to sign Tevez they would of done so by now. Once they signed Dimitar Berbatov it sent a clear message that United were not interested in signing Tevez under the current loan agreement. If Media Sports Investments who control Tevez’s rights lower his asking price then Manchester Unite might reconsider.

Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho made a late bid to bring Chelsea forward Didier Drogba to the club as part of the deal that took Ricardo Quaresma to Stamford Bridge on loan. (Daily Mirror)

You know Quaresma must of annoyed Mourinho with his willingness to loan him out to Chelsea. The Drogba rumours much like the Lampard rumours over the summer will be a daily thing until the player’s future is decided one way or another.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce has urged striker Roque Santa Cruz to earn a summer move by saving Rovers from relegation. (Daily Star)

Allardyce will regret not cashing in on Santa Cruz who clearly wants to move on. Doubt Blackburn will get many offers worth 18.5 million over the summer.

Manchester City also missed out on a loan bid for Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski – as did Portsmouth. (Daily Mail)

Podolski is going back to FC Koln this summer. If Bayern wanted to get rid of him they would of let him go now instead of waiting until the summer for the transfer to become official.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is being nicknamed ‘Ronopoly’ in reference to the board game Monopoly after buying a hotel in Portugal. Ronaldo already owns four houses across the world, including a £4m mansion in Cheshire. (The Sun)

Beats reading about news linking Ronaldo to Real Madrid.

Enrique Cerezo Confirms Abel Resino As Atletico Madrid’s New Coach

Los Colchoneros’ supremo is confident that the club made the right decision in appointing the inexperienced Resino to replace the departing Aguirre.

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Despite being fired you can’t say Javier Aguirre reign was a failure. He took Atletico to the Champions League and even to the knockout stages. Even with that the case spending what Atletico have the last couple of years to be 7th in the table was simply
not going to be good enough.

Dunga Waives Amauri’s Brazil Call-Up

Brazilian national team coach Dunga is not able to call-up Amauri, after Juventus blocked the request…

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Look for this tug of war between countries to last awhile longer then.

- Somewhere in London Arsenal and Arshavin’s agent are still trying to hammer out an agreement. I’m sure Arshavin is looking for 90k a week where as Arsenal counters with 50k a week. Then Arsenal improves there offer to 51k a week and so the process drags on. Neither side is looking good over the way this transfer has been handled.

- Robbie Keane just wasn’t a fit for Liverpool 4-5-1 style of play. In life it’s best sometimes to just cut your losses and move on. Rafa Benitez better hope Fernando Torres stays fit for the entire season now that Keane has gone back to Tottenham.

- Speaking of Tottenham despite him leaving I can’t see the fans booing Keane for very long. He always did the job there and didn’t publicly moan once it became clear his childhood club became interested. It’s still a panic buy on Tottenham’s part but one they had to make.

- On the subject of panic we have Chelsea. Considering Roman Abramovich wallet is closed picking up Quaresma on loan is about the best they can do. With Joe Cole out for the year if Quaresma can find some of his old Porto form he’d make a better option than Florent Malouda.

- Just don’t read much into the great partnership Quaresma has with Scolari. This was the same Scolari who left Quaresma out of the 2006 World Cup squad and was his 4th choice wide midfield players behind Ronaldo, Simao, and Nani when Big Phil was coaching Portugal.

- Good move by Everton rolling the dice on Jo who clearly didn’t endure himself to Mark Hughes.

- Speaking of Manchester City who despite huffing and puffing didn’t blow anyone over with there transfer dealings. A cynic may say City kept there wallet closed cause they don’t believe Mark Hughes is the man to take them forward and will let a new coach spend come the summer.

Below is a recap of yesterday’s moves.

Angelos Basinas [AEK Athens - Portsmouth] Undisclosed
Henri Camara [Wigan - Stoke] Loan
Michael Chopra [Sunderland - Cardiff] Loan
Olivier Dacourt [Inter Milan - Fulham] Loan
Calum Davenport [West Ham - Sunderland] Loan
Jo [Manchester City - Everton] Loan
Robbie Keane [Liverpool - Tottenham] £12m
Juan Carlos Menseguez [San Lorenzo - West Brom] Loan
Youssouf Mulumbu [Paris St Germain - West Brom] Loan
Charles N’Zogbia [Newcastle - Wigan] Undisclosed
Ricardo Quaresma [Inter Milan - Chelsea] Loan
Ryan Taylor [Wigan - Newcastle] Undisclosed

Inter And Tottenham To Complete Quaresma-Jenas Swap Deal – Report

Italian press reports suggest the Nerazzurri will offload the Portuguese winger to Spurs and sign Jenas before the transfer window closes tonight.

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Despite Quaresma not making the grade with Inter it would still be to early too give up on him. This would end up being a steal for Tottenham if they could move Jenas for Quaresma. With the latter not being named to Inter’s Champions League squad, questions regarding Quaresma future will fly before the transfer window closes later on today.

Milan include Beckham in UEFA Cup squad

AC Milan have confirmed David Beckham has been included on their updated UEFA Cup player list – fuelling speculation they may try to keep him beyond his short-term loan.

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From one player not making the grade in Italy to a player who is passing with flying colors. A.C Milan placing David Beckham on their UEFA Cup roster is a clear sign they will try to make his loan move permanent.

Chelsea are still trying to sign Robinho from Manchester City and are prepared to offer striker Didier Drogba, centre-back Alex, plus £20m for the Brazilian. (The Sun)

After yesterday’s loss to Liverpool I’m sure the Chelsea higher ups are pleading with Roman Abramovich to loosen the purse strings in order to shake up this Chelsea side.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will let striker Robbie Keane leave Anfield for Tottenham – but only if Spurs are prepared to do a swap deal with Aaron Lennon. (Daily Mirror)

Tottenham had a £15m bid for Keane accepted on Sunday night (Daily Mail).

In most things in life the second time around is rarely as good as the first time around.

Tottenham striker Darren Bent is a deadline-day target for Newcastle and Sunderland – but the striker is holding out for a move to Everton. (Daily Mirror)

Darren Bent didn’t hurt his stock any with his two goal performance against Bolton.

Italy and Roma defender Christian Panucci, 35, is on the verge of signing for Hull. (Daily Mirror)

A touch of class Panucci would add despite his age. A perfect player to help Hull stay up. Despite his fall out with Roma would still be weird seeing him end his career with Hull.

Bolton’s £15m bid for Miguel Veloso was rejected on Sunday night after a mystery Premier League club joined the race for Sporting Lisbon’s Portuguese midfielder. (Daily Star)

Unless someone offers Veloso silly money, just see him waiting until the summer in order to decide his future.

The Trotters are eager to boost their midfield options and are ready to make a £3m bid for Rangers midfielder Pedro Mendes. (Daily Mirror)

Now this a move that makes sense. Every team the former Champions League winner plays for he makes better.

Julien Faubert thought he was the victim of a wind-up when Real Madrid first moved to sign him last week. The West Ham midfielder, who has moved to the Spanish club on loan until the end of the season, said: “I got a call from a Madrid agent but I didn’t really take it seriously. I thought he was winding me up. Then a few minutes later my agent called me to tell me it wasn’t a joke.”

Can’t really blame Faubert. Being a role player for West Ham usually doesn’t lend itself to catching Real Madrid’s eye.

D.C. United announced Friday that Argentine World Cup veteran Marcelo Gallardo will be leaving MLS and returning to former club River Plate.

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Another high profile player one and done in MLS. Considering D.C United didn’t make the playoffs last year after spending big bucks on Gallardo it’s for the best the player gets to finish his career back with his childhood club River Plate.

Glad the Special One is back.

- Barcelona are giving up too many goals for my liking but with Messi pulling the strings out there every time Barcelona play you feel even being a goal down it’s only a matter of time before they come back to take the lead. Despite Racing getting on the board thanks to a Zigic penalty, Messi again proved to be the difference as his double gave Barcelona a 2-1 win.

- Congrats are in order for Raul matching Alfredo di Stefano team mark with his 307th goal. Thumbs down however for Alfredo di Stefano coming out and criticizing Real Madrid’s recent style of play as too boring. Out of all the big clubs in world football the Real Madrid job has to be the worst. Not only do you have to win, you have to win with style. Could you imagine Sir Bobby Charlton criticizing Sir Alex Ferguson after only beating Everton 1-0?

- Good to see the Bundesliga back in action with Hoffenheim leapfrogging into top spot after their 2-0 victory again Energie Cottbus

- With Beckham sitting up A.C Milan’s first two goals they may never allow him to come back and play for the Galaxy. Few would of predicated he’d have this much of an impact.

- Even with Inter Milan dropping points on the weekend to Torino, the scudetto is still there’s to lose ahead by 6 points.

- Unless Scolari can somehow take Chelsea deep into the Champions League I just don’t see him coaching Chelsea this time next year. It’s clear watching him on the sidelines that he isn’t fond of many players in his starting 11 from week to week. On the flip side it also appears many Chelsea players are turning Scolari off. When it comes to replacing a multitude of players or the coach, it’s usually the coach who takes the fall.

- It didn’t help Chelsea chances when Frank Lampard get sent off after a questionable tackle. Could of it been a foul? Sure it could. Could of been a yellow card? Maybe, but given Lampard relatively clean history plus he got to the ball a red card seemed alittle harsh.

- Even with 11 men Chelsea never looked like they were going to break Liverpool down. Chelsea are quickly becoming a team with no flow out there. Just 11 different individuals out there.

- Nice dive Steven Gerrard trying to pick up another cheap penalty.

- How Jose Bosingwa karate kick late in the game goes unpunished is beyond me.

- Was that Steve Yzerman sitting next to George Gillett yesterday? I think it was. Good to have friends in high places.

- Not that I may agree but teams have a right to question double standards when it comes to refereeing. Rory Delap deserved a straight red for his kick to Shuan Wright Phillips gut but how could the referee miss Phillips kicking back towards Delap? At the very least that should be a yellow. David Beckham got sent off for less in the 1998 World Cup.

- What a sad defeat for Manchester City. Stoke City down a man basically man handled them for 90 minutes and Manchester City couldn’t come up with an answer.

- Welcome back to the EPL James Beattie. Two goals in three appearances is not a bad way to enduring yourself to the fans. A high degree of difficulty with his goal as he had to adjust his body then sling a header into the bottom corner.

- How much pressure to do think Arsenal is under to get Andrei Arshavin signed by tomorrow’s transfer dealine? Yes, Arsenal are without key players Cesc Fàbregas, Tomáš Rosický and Eduardo but every club at the top of the table has had to deal with injuries. There was a time no so long ago where Arsenal couldn’t of cared less what Aston Villa did but now Arsenal finds themselves looking up to Villa in the standings.

- Won’t be one for Aston Villa’s end of year highlite DVD but still no shame spiting points with an in form Wigan side.

- From bad to worse if you’re Tottenham. First you lose Jermaine Defoe for three weeks, then lose to Bolton on a late Kevin Davies winner. Now comes word Tottenham may lose points for fielding Wilson Palacios illegally as he was under suspension from his Wigan days.

- Good news for Portsmouth, David Nugent is scoring for Portsmouth. Bad news for Portsmouth, everything else as they go down 3-1 to Fulham.

- They can’t all be 5-0 thrillers but Manchester United still got the job down against an Everton side who are always a tough squad to breakthrough.

- Yes I know he scored from the spot but Ronaldo is now sitting second in goals this year. Nicolas Anelka with 14 goals is standing between Ronaldo and another EPL scoring title.

- Get ready for a crazy day of transfer rumours with the window closing today. Does Robbie Keane leave Liverpool? Will Manchester City and Chelsea swap one headache for another in the form of Robinho and Drogba (doubtful). Which team will over spend and end up regretting it a year later?