There Is Only One Sinnacle

Part One

and now Part Two

and finally Part Three

Barcelona Plan Summer Move For Arsenal Captain Fabregas – Report

According to Sport, Barca are keen to regain the services of Fabregas, who left the club for the Gunners when he was 16. Indeed, they are keen to conclude the deal post haste, before the midfielder gets tempted by Florentino Perez at Real Madrid.

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One of these years the papers will get the Fabregas to Barcelona rumours right. With Xavi and Andrés Iniesta still in their primes my gut feeling is that Barcelona won’t make a move for Fabregas this summer either.

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Werder Bremen

The last UEFA Cup final will be a clash of German brawn and Ukrainian technique, Shakhtar Donetsk coach Mircea Lucescu said ahead of their clash with Werder Bremen in Istanbul on Wednesday.

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I’m going to watch this game strictly as a fan. The form Werder Bremen has displayed in the Bundesliga is almost night in day different from their form in Europe and DFB-Pokal (German FA Cup) both of which Bremen has made it to the final. Aside from when Sporting Clube de Portugal played Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League this year which was close to 6 months ago I haven’t exactly been paying close tabs on the Ukrainian side. Would be nice from a Werder Bremen fans stand point if Diego ends up leaving the club on the heels of some silverware.

Liverpool are the leading contenders to sign Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez and are preparing a deal worth £50m to land the Argentine. (The Sun)

I know Liverpool fans just love the source of this rumour. I’d really love to know how the sun came up with this 50 million pound figure? How does it make any sense to sign Tevez for double the price Liverpool paid for Toress two summers ago? Monopoly money being quoted aside, the price of admission regarding Carlos Tevez will end up being between 25 million and 35 million on the high end.

Tottenham had been set to offer £18m to land the 25-year-old but have been priced out of the market for Tevez. (The Sun)

Kia Joorabchian should of replied to this offer by saying “Are you really offering me the same price you guys paid for Darren Bent?”

Instead Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will concentrate on securing the signing of Sunderland forward Kenwyne Jones. (The Guardian)

Good timing considering Jones scored Sunderland’s first goal in a month during their 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth on Monday.

Jones has conceded he will leave Sunderland if the club are relegated to the Championship this weekend. (Daily Star)

Always hate it when players speak out regarding their future plans if the club goes down. It’s almost like Jones wants SUnderland to go down in order to leave the club next season. His focus should be on the upcoming game on Sunday.

It is not known if Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor will remain at the club after his agent conceded he had “no clue” about the 25-year-old’s future. (The Guardian)

Adebayor wanted to be paid like a superstar last summer. Arsenal coughed out the cash but Adebayor hasn’t owned up to his end of the deal. Despite injuries Adebayor this season when fit he hasn’t taken the next step.

Barcelona are preparing a sensational £20m move for Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole. (Daily Express)

Something tells me that Chelsea wants nothing to do with Barcelona in any way shape or form.

Tottenham are interested in signing Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. (The Independent)

How many more midfielders to Tottenham need? Bringing a player like Barry in must mean someone like Jermaine Jenas goes in the other direction.

Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari will reject a summer move to Tottenham. (Daily Mail)

Despite his time with Harry Redknapp last year as Portsmouth, Sulley Muntari is not going to give up on Champions League football and playing with one of the biggest clubs in football for a team who has been unable to crack the top four in England.

Benfica are interested in taking Chelsea centre-half Ricardo Carvalho back to Portugal. (Daily Express)

Carvalho bleeds blue, both Chelsea blue and Porto blue. Despite his injuries and having a season to forget Chelsea would be foolish to part with such a loyal servant to the club. Carvalho is class.

West Brom want Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson to help lead their charge back to the Premier League next season. (The Sun)

Only including this since Barry Ferguson’s nickname “Barry Backpass” always kills me for some reason.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to commit his future to the club following reported interest from Real Madrid.
(Daily Mail)

But the Gunners boss will be given £13m to spend on new players in the summer.
(Daily Mail)

Giving Wenger only 13 million to spend is setting him up for failure. It remains me when Roman Abramovich closes up the wallet before getting rid of a coach.

Real Madrid are still hopeful of landing the Frenchman and have given Wenger until Thursday to decide. (Daily Star)

If you really want a coach so bad you should give me a couple days to decide once the season is over. That way Wenger could make a clear decision one way or another.

Wenger will be handed £100m by Real to spend on new players if he joins the Spanish giants. (Daily Mirror)

A joke could be made here. I’ll be nice and just say I’d find it really interested to see how Wenger would go about spending 50 million never mind 100 million.

It’s refreshing in this day and age to see a team come out and denounce the actions of their own player. Rangers striker Kyle Lafferty pulled a Dida in last weeks game against Aberdeen. The end result saw Aberdeen defender Charlie Mulgrew get a red card and Rangers winning 2-1. The win saw Rangers leapfrog over Celtic and into 1st place with a game left in the season. The fault of the red card lies on the feet of the referee but the way Rangers have come out with their disapproval of Kyle Lafferty actions with fines and suspension as a result should be an example more teams should follow but won’t. Below would be the clip in question and a look back at Dida dive when A.C Milan played Celtic in the Champions League a couple of years ago.

There is a reason fans of the beautiful game such as myself should largely stick to the sidelines regarding club matters. Could you believe it was less than a year ago that Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta lost a vote of confidence? Below is an article looking back on those stormy days for Laporta.

Laporta facing vote of confidence

Joan Laporta’s five-year reign as Barcelona president could be nearing its end if club members turn out in large enough numbers to vote against him in Sunday’s motion of confidence. The referendum has been forced by club member Oriol Giralt, who gathered enough signatures to support his motion criticising Laporta’s administration of the club.

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After hanging on by a string everything has come up aces for Laporta. Team harmony has improved with letting Ronaldinho and Deco move on. After originally hiring a coach without experience managing a big club in Frank Rijkaard, Laporta hit the jackpot following the same formula in hiring Josep Guardiola, a main stay of those great Barcelona teams in the 90′s. In a week either Barcelona or Manchester United will end up winning the treble but even with a Champions League defeat Barcelona has played world class football setting the bar so high in Spain that it will take something special for Real Madrid overtake them next year. Not bad for a man many people originally considered a fool for not being able to bring David Beckham to Barcelona and instead had to settle on Ronaldinho. Sure, sometimes luck plays a part of it but Laporta is far from the president many felt had lost it after two years without a trophy entering this season.

Ryan Giggs Omits Cristiano Ronaldo From His Best Manchester United XI

When asked to name his favourite Manchester United selection, the Welsh wing wizard made an astonishing omission.

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Interesting to say the least that he left Cristiano Ronaldo out. Below would be his all time starting 11. Must be his all time team in which he has played with since players like George Best are also nowhere to be seen.

Giggs’ XI

Schmeichel/Van der Sar
Neville – Stam – Ferdinand – Irwin
Beckham – Scholes – Keane – Giggs
Cantona – Rooney

Breaking News: Fabio Cannavaro Joins Juventus

The Real Madrid defender has signed for the club, and he will join them in July…

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Out with the old in Claudio Ranieri and also in with the old as Juventus welcomes back Fabio Cannavaro. Juve fans have long memories and won’t be welcoming Cannavaro with open arms after he was one of many players who bolted when Juventus was sent down to Serie B in 2006-2007.

Claudio Ranieri: I Did My Duty At Juventus

Juventus sacked Claudio Ranieri on Monday following a run of seven games without a victory and appointed former defender Ciro Ferrara as caretaker boss.

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Ranieri really did pay the price for Juventus poor dealings in the transfer market the last two summers. Juventus simply lacked the depth to compete over an 38 game season compared to Inter Milan and A.C Milan. Would Ranieri lead Juventus to the top with better players? Ranieri career history says no however. He can lead a team to the glass ceiling but has been able to break though it over his coaching career.

Koeman relishing AZ challenge

The 46-year-old was appointed AZ boss on Sunday after reaching an agreement with the club’s board on a two-year deal.

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This could end up being a win-win for all involved. Despite his horrible run at Valencia, Ronald Koeman has had success managing Vitesse, Ajax and PSV previously in the Dutch Eredivisie. In Koeman AZ finds a suitable big name replacement for Louis van Gaal who took over Bayern Munich last week. Koeman returns to a team in the Champions League next year with the challenge of defending their first Eredivisie crown since winning it all back in 1981.

Inter Milan and AC Milan are set to battle it out over signing Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor. (Daily Mail)

Couldn’t see Inter Milan going for Adebayor unless a certain Swedish striker moves on this summer. Adebayor to A.C Milan is nothing new but it would all depend on if A.C Milian is willing to spend the near 30 million pound figure Arsenal will be sure to ask for.

Manchester City are stepping up their bid to take on former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan for £20m from Villarreal.
(Daily Mirror)

I’m sure the Daily Mirror means Atletico Madrid who Forlan currently plays for and not Villarreal. Anyone who scores 28 goals in La Liga will surely draw interest despire Forlan never adapting to life in England while playing for Manchester United.

Wigan have lined up a deal with Real Madrid to receive £21.5m for Latics winger Antonio Valencia. (Daily Mail)

Can’t see Real Madrid making a major move before their presidential elections are decided. Doesn’t take a physic to see Antonio Valencia’s future being away from Wigan but I have a feeling he might end up on those worst transfer of the season lists come next year.

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso could be on his way to Real Madrid for £21m if Florentino Perez returns as club president. (Daily Star)

Iker Casillas has called for more Spanish players at Real Madrid and signing Xabi Alonso would be a great place to start.

Spurs are lining up a bid for Wolfsburg’s Bosnia striker Edin Dzeko. (Daily Mail)

Thing rumors trend to happen when you score a hat trick on the weekend and have your club in first place.

Wolves are set to swoop for Standard Liege centre-half Oguchi Onyewu. (Daily Mirror)

Onyewu got a raw deal during his previous loan stint with Newcastle at the end of Glenn Roeder’s reign in 2007. The combo of his size and the fact he can be signed as a free transfer should make him appealing to Wolves and a host of other teams.

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti’s proposed move to the Chelsea managerial helm has taken a twist, with the London club reluctant to employ the Italian’s assistants Mauro Tassotti and Filippo Galli. (The Times)

I’m sure Chelsea loved signing million dollar cheques when they had to pay off Scolari’s assistants. Still would be foolish telling Ancelotti that he couldn’t bring over his back room staff to Chelsea.

Carlos Tevez’s exit from Old Trafford looks sealed after the Argentine forward failed to attend Manchester United’s player of the year dinner. (The Sun)

It was sealed when they spent 32 million on Berbatov. I’m shocked it took this long for things to get heated and public between Manchester United and Carlos Tevez.

Wigan striker Amr Zaki, who is on loan from Zamalek, insists he was the one to pull the plug on a permanent move. (Daily Mirror)

Either way Zaki was a non factor since the turn of the year. Wigan may miss his goals but won’t miss his attitude.

England midfielder David Beckham, who is on loan at AC Milan from Los Angeles Galaxy, has warned Chelsea about their potential new manager Carlo Ancelotti. Beckham said of the Milan coach: “While I have never had the hairdryer treatment from him I have seen it from him.” (The Sun)

At least never took a boot to the face from Ancelotti.

Must admit I find the rumours of Arsene Wenger going to Real Madrid intriguing. On one hand Real Madrid love to play beautiful football and the closest team which plays in the Barcelona style is Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal teams. Just ask Fabio Capello what winning ugly gets you at Real Madrid. On the other hand despite some fan unrest Arsene Wenger has it pretty good at Arsenal. Unless you are the coach at Manchester United no other coach holds more power with a club than Wenger has with Arsenal. Real Madrid may present his best chance of winning the Champions League but unlike Arsenal, Real Madrid and patience don’t quite go hand in hand. While not known to adapt to new ideas moving to Real Madrid would present a change. When Real Madrid asks to sign the best player in the world they don’t mean a 15 year kid playing in the Finnish second division. At the end of the day I don’t see Wenger leaving Arsenal but I’m sure he is thinking what if right about now. There comes a point where everyone could use a new challenge.