There Is Only One Sinnacle

Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham could join Tottenham when the 2009 Major League Soccer season ends in October to maintain his match fitness for the 2010 World Cup finals. The England star, currently on loan at AC Milan, grew up down the road from White Hart Lane in Chingford. (The Sun)

When Harry Redknapp was still coach of Portsmouth he tried to get Beckham on loan last year which was laughable then. Not so laughable now but let’s say A.C Milan doesn’t want Beckham next year, which is doubtful mind you. Surely a club like Real Madrid where he is respected and quite frankly can sell jerseys would take him back.

Manchester City defender Richard Dunne will join Sunderland this summer for £4m and the Black Cats also want West Brom midfield duo Jonathan Greening and James Morrison. (The Sun)

Despite having a season to forget this year Richard Dunne would be a quality signing if Sunderland could land him.

Tottenham striker Darren Bent is also on Sunderland boss Ricky Sbragia’s list of targets. (Daily Star)

Sbragia might as well have Kaka on his list or targets but that transfer would appears as likely as Sbragia staying in charge next season. Look for Sunderland to try a well known coach in the summer. Sbragia might as well be known as Avram Grant ultra light version. Replacing an iconic figure albeit with no as much success.

Chelsea are set to sign highly rated Rapid Vienna striker Philipp Prosenik, 16, during the summer. (The Guardian)

Kiss of death for a young player signing with Chelsea. The signing bonus better be real good.

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill will make a new defender his top priority if Martin Laursen is forced into retirement. The Danish centre-back needs another knee operation and could be out for nine months. (The Sun)

Shame really as Laursen was always a quality player for Aston Villa who could chip in with a few goals from set pieces too.

Everton defender Joleon Lescott has emerged as a shock target for O’Neill, who has £10m to spend and is also considering a move for Manchester City defender Micah Richards. (Daily Mirror)

Don’t see what Lescott would gain leaving Everton for Aston Villa. It would just be a sideways move with the chance that he wouldn’t settle at a new club. Not likely to happen I must say.

Manchester City will tour South Africa this summer as they look to start establishing themselves as a global brand by challenging neighbours Manchester United’s popularity in the country. (Daily Telegraph)

I’ll wish them luck with that as they will need it.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has not watched an episode of Coronation Street since he joined the club in 2003 but says he will watch the Manchester-based soap “next time it is on and I am home”. (The Sun)

Figured you all would want to know this.

Juventus Target Diego Will Do Well In Serie A – Brazil Coach Carlos Dunga

The 1994 World Cup winner feels Diego will succeed in Italy, should he complete his much talked over move to Juve…

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This is one transfer that needs to happen. During last weekend’s game against Inter, Juve was never a threat to score from open play. They need someone with Diego’s skill who can create chances out of nothing.

Eto’o To Reject All Offers To Stay At Barcelona – Report

Barcelona will have to discover whether Samuel Eto’o intends to pen a new deal or move for free next summer after he decided to stay put this year…

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How could Eto’o even consider leaving? I know strikers are flaky but what he has at Barcelona is magic and would be hard pressed to find such a collection of talent working to support him at another club.

Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz claims he has told the club he wants to leave at the end of the season, with Liverpool favourites to sign the 27-year-old. (Daily Mirror) Full story

For Liverpool’s sake hope Roque Santa Cruz doesn’t end up being Spanish for Robbie Keane.

West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola is set to step up his interest in Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli. (Daily Mirror)

This is like me saying I’m going to step up my interest in Gisele. Neither are likely to happen. No one really knows for sure what the West Ham ownership picture is going to look like in a couple months plus Inter is not in the business or selling their top talents to West Ham of all teams.

Sevilla striker Fredi Kanoute has insisted he has no interest in rejoining Tottenham, four years after leaving the Londoners. (Daily Mirror) Full story

No reason for Kanoute to come back at his age. He is well suited to the Spanish game but hasn’t done too bad at Sevilla winning two UEFA Cups in his time there.

Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh claims he is interested in moving to England, and would “give everything” to play for Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal. “A team like Tottenham could interest me, but not Sunderland,” he adds. (L’Equipe)

Just found the above funny so I’m including it here.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce looks set to give striker Amr Zaki a chance at redemption – after he returned late from international duty recently – by playing him for the reserves on Tuesday night. (Daily Mirror)

Looks to be one year and done as far as Wigan and Zaki are concerned.

Blackburn could be about to dump midfielder Tugay after he was dropped by manager Sam Allardyce. (Daily Mirror)

Surprised he is still going to be honest. Despite being a fan favorite and good passer, Tugay legs are just about shot.

Beatles legend John Lennon was a talented footballer who had dreams of playing for Liverpool. The band’s original drummer Pete Best has told how Lennon always had a ball at his feet before the group became famous. (Daily Star)

Like to think he made the right choice.

- Another game Inter will have bittersweet memories of. Serie A would all but be theirs with a win or a tie against Juventus. Giving up a late Juventus goal on a corner kick while up a man will not please the Special One however.

- To little too late for A.C Milan. Currently tied with Juventus for second if they would of displayed this type of form all season maybe things would of been different. Great seeing Inzaghi score another hat trick in A.C Milan’s 5-1 win over Torino.

- Getafe could almost consider it a moral victory giving a game to Barcelona and losing only by a 1-0 scoreline. Must be tough for Real Madrid knowing they are in an uphill battle week in and week out hoping Barcelona drop points.

- Nice rebound by Porto, getting over their Champions League defeat midweek but maintaining their lead in Portugal with a 3-0 victory over Academica Coimbra.

- Congratulations to Louis van Gaal and his AZ team for winning the Dutch Eredivisie for the second team in club history. Takes away the sting of 2007 when they lost the Eredivisie on the last day of the season.

- I’m here in Las Vegas for the week which is the reason you’ll see me post things at different times than custom. Back to my point however, sitting in the sportstbook yesterday watching Everton fans go crazy gave me another first hand lesson why the FA Cup means something. While not the Champions League or the EPL winning the FA Cup still goes down in history. Do you think Portsmouth fans will ever forget last season? This season may be a write off but no one can take away last season from them. This is what Everton will try to do against Chelsea and I for one will wish them luck.

- It would also be great for Everton fans to win a title this year. Something a big club like Liverpool will be hard pressed to do.

- It’s easy to second guess after the fact and all the titles Manchester United has could tell anyone that Sir Alex Ferguson knows what he is doing but leaving Ronaldo and Rooney at home? I mean couldn’t they sit on the bench and play for extra time if need be. I know they have a game on Wednesday and far be it for me to second guess anything S.A.F does but if that was the case this website would be pretty boring.

- Still think the team that wanted it more went to the finals but United could of easily had a penalty call when Danny Welbeck went down in the box with 20 minutes or so left in the game.

- Arsène Wenger excuses bug me. Arsenal could of had this game killed off but instead blamed another Arsenal let down on youth. The point of this game is to win, a club the size of Arsenal should strive for this each and every year but doesn’t. Again the same excuses about 20 year olds was played. Not to turn this into a United fanboy post but Rooney and Ronaldo were winning titles in their early 20′s because they had players in their late 20′s and early 30′s who have done it before. This could of been a historical season for Arsenal with the chance to do the FA Cup/Champions League double. Now it’s one down and only one to go.

- You really have to admire the job Guus Hiddink has done for Chelsea so far. Down to Liverpool and Arsenal early yet his Chelsea teams has stayed focus and got the comeback each time against top level teams. Will be interesting to see if he could do something Arvam Grant and Scolari couldn’t and that is bring a trophy to Stamford Bridge.

- Ugly week for Newcastle fans, first they lose to Tottenham and even worse still Sunderland get a massive three points over Hull City. Darlings of England the first two months of the year, Hull based on form are a very good bet to go down.

- The tank has run out for Aston Villa. Martin O’Neill will learn from this and add another piece or two to the puzzle in order to create some more depth and more more options next year.

- Congrats to Stoke City for all but staying up with their win against Blackburn. Must admit didn’t think they had it in them at the start of the season but they have taken their fair share of points at home.

- Manchester City’s four goal outburst is impressive until you realize it is against West Brom who have already checked out and given up on this season.

Great Show This Week

Juventus Captain Alessandro Del Piero: I Don’t Envy Inter

‘Alex’ insists he is proud of his Bianconeri career and does not hold any grudges towards Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

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Nor should he, Del Piero has been able to win just about everything there is to win at Juventus and if his career where to end today his list of accomplishments most players would marvel at.

Pep Guardiola Working On Treble-Winning Plan For Barcelona – Report

Barcelona have a busy schedule ahead of them as they aim to complete a unique treble and with only one absentee from training, preparations are going well…

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Last year’s Manchester United-Chelsea Champions League final was huge but a Barcelona-Manchester United would be epic. Would be curious to see the worldwide TV audience for that one.

Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor and Russian international Yuri Zhirkov head a £50m hit list of summer transfer targets being considered by Chelsea as part of the deal to bring AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti to Stamford Bridge. (Daily Telegraph)

Zhirkov would made a good insurance policy in case Joe Cole doesn’t come back 100% next year. These Adebayor to Chelsea rumours are little more to unsettle Arsenal ahead of their FA Cup semi match this weekend.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has issued a hands off warning to the Spanish giants hoping to tempt Xabi Alonso out of Anfield. Real Madrid and Barcelona have been linked with the Liverpool ace, who nearly left last summer. (Various)

Great player but Alonso would have a hard time cracking that Barcelona midfield. Real Madrid depending on who the President is next season wishes to bring in more Spanish players so obliviously Alonso is a fit there.

But if Liverpool are to end their wait for a league title they will have to do it within “a few years” or they will have to do it without Fernando Torres after the Spaniard said he would like to play in the Italian league one day. (The Independent)

I really don’t think any Liverpool fan would be up in arms over this. It’s not like Torres says he wishes to play in Italy A.S.A.P.

Manchester United’s bid for glory on five fronts is unfolding against a backdrop of growing instability, with Carlos Tevez joining Cristiano Ronaldo in contemplating a future away from Old Trafford, possibly in tandem at Real Madrid next season. (The Times)

Must be a slow day for this to make the papers. Is Tevez’s future really anything new?

Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas appear to have ruled out leaving Arsenal after Arsene Wenger’s team reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. (The Times)

Arsenal wouldn’t miss van Persie, at least to the point of having someone like Vela in the wings to replace him. Fabregas on the other hand is the key to Arsenal’s future.

Aston Villa are lining up a £6m bid for Leeds’ highly-rated youngster Fabien Delph. Boss Martin O’Neill wantes Delph, 19, to replace Gareth Barry if he joins Liverpool this summer. (Daily Mirror)

No better place for young English talent to go to than Aston Villa at the moment.

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn insists he is 100% behind boss Ricky Sbragia. (The Sun)

Niall Quinn must be biting his fingernails over Sunderland’s EPL future.

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson says highly-rated Norwegian central defender Brede Hangeland may stay at Craven Cottage. (Various)

But if he does leave it won’t be cheap and Fulham would turn a nice profit on Hangeland.

Wayne Rooney made a fool of former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall – when he was just 11 years old. The Manchester United striker was Everton mascot in 2002 and, while warming up with the Welsh goalkeeper, he continually chipped the ball over Southall’s head into the net (The Sun).

This was in Rooney autobiography released nearly three years ago.

Toni talks up Mancini to replace Klinsmann

Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni believes his compatriot Roberto Mancini would be the ideal man to replace Jurgen Klinsmann should the current coach lose his job at the end of the season.

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It does say something about how the Bayern Munich players feel about Jurgen Klinsmann when Luca Toni is openly talking about a new coach before any final decision has been made on the current coach.

Spartak sack Laudrup after seven months

The club have had a disappointing start to the Premier Liga season with just one win in four matches.

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Classic case of a coach getting way ahead of himself. Laudrup shouldn’t of left Getafe as he figured big clubs where going to come calling. Sadly he was mistaken.

Atletico Madrid Join Race For Valencia’s David Silva

Los Colchoneros have surprisingly emerged as a contender to snap up one of the most sought after attackers in the Spanish game…

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Is Atletico Madrid that much of an upgrade for Silva compared to Valencia? While it would be interesting to see if Atletico could challenge Barcelona and Real Madrid with Silva, at the end of the day just don’t see Silva moving to a club that isn’t among the World’s elite.

AC Milan forward Kaka wants the Italian club to sign Steven Gerrard, despite the England midfielder recently agreeing a new contract with Liverpool. (Daily Mail)

There would be a better chance at this point of Kaka playing for Manchester City then Gerrard playing for another team. If Gerrard wanted to leave the reality of it is he could but signing his new contract means Gerrard will spend the remaining of his best years at Liverpool. A.C Milan is a great club no question but is there anything Gerrard could do at A.C Milan that he couldn’t get playing for Liverpool?

Cristiano Ronaldo’s future has been plunged into fresh doubt after Ramón Calderón, the former Real Madrid president claimed the Spanish champions have a formal agreement to sign “one of the best players in the world” in the summer. (The Times)

Listening to Calderon talk at this point is like listening to a homeless man telling anyone who would listen how he use to be someone.

Liverpool forward Ryan Babel is expected to lead a summer exodus from Liverpool after voicing his frustration at his minor role in Rafael Benítez’s squad this season. (The Times)

Babel hasn’t won over Benitez in his two years at Anfield and doesn’t look to do so anytime soon. A change would do Babel some good heading into an important World Cup year next season.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp will keep striker Roman Pavlyuchenko but ditch Darren Bent in the summer, according to the Russian’s agent. (The Sun)

I’m sure Darren Bent loved hearing this news from Pavlyuchenko agent.

Or Redknapp could let Pavlyuchenko and Bent leave and spend £10m replacing them with Sunderland’s 24-year-old striker Kenwyne Jones. (Daily Mirror)

Unless Sunderland go down they would be little chance Tottenham could sign Jones for £10m.

England fans can breath easy, with the news that Wayne Rooney’s wife Colleen is planning a Caesarean birth for the couple’s first child.

Colleen is due on 10 October – the same day as England’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine – but she now plans to have a Caesarean in late September. (The Sun)

How do you bring this subject up with your wife? “Colleen, what are you doing on September 28? Nothing? Good your going to pop out our kid that day so I can play football.”