There Is Only One Sinnacle

AC Milan’s 19-year-old Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato has opened the door to a £40m switch to join former boss Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea by asking for permission to talk terms with the Blues. (Daily Mirror)

Pato may be allowed to speak with Ancelotti however the conversation won’t centre around a contract. A.C Milan is simply not going to allow Chelsea to sign Pato. It’s one thing to sell Kaka, while A.C Milan fans are not happy about it most deep down understand the business sense behind it. Sell Pato and riots will flare up on the streets of Milan.

New Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is targetting big-name players to bring to the Stadium of Light, claiming that recruiting for his new club, is “like shopping in Harrods, not Tesco.” (The Sun)

We’ll soon find out what type of players Sunderland will attract.

Alternatively, Chelsea have earmarked that £40m to fund a move for Atletico Madrid’s Argentine striker Sergio Aguero. (Full story: Daily Star)

This is silly. Chelsea actually met Aguero buy out figure of 50 million last year and Aguero turned the move down. With his buy out clause now at 60 million Atletico Madrid not settle for a penny less.

Midfielder Javier Mascherano has stunned Liverpool by admitting he wants to quit Anfield and join Champions League winners Barcelona, saying “if a club like Barcelona want you, obviously a player will say he wants to play there”. (The Sun)

The only sin Mascherano committed is actually saying it out loud. Very few world class players would snub a move to Barcelona.

Arsenal are ready to offload defender William Gallas once they complete the signing of £11m Ajax centre-back Thomas Vermaelen.(Daily Mirror)

This wouldn’t shock me. Once Gallas lost his captaincy in mid season it should only be a matter of time before he moves on.

Tottenham are also aiming to beat West Ham to the signing of Inter Milan’s £10million-rated Chilean forward Luis Jimenez. (The Sun)

Guess Jimenz lost 5 million in value over one day. Even at 10 million Inter would pack Jimenez bags and drop him off at the airport.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will also kick off a shake-up of his playing staff by selling Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. (Daily Mirror)

After an awful first half Gomes improved greatly during the latter half of the season.

Far too many think of Juan Sebastian Veron based on the picture above with his less than stellar stints at Manchester United and Chelsea. More people should recall his brilliance playing for Parma and Lazio before his ill fated transfer to England. What is most amazing about Veron is the fact he still commands a place on the Argentinian national team which isn’t exactly lacking for depth in midfield. In Argentina’s 1-0 victory this weekend in World Cup qualifying against Colombia it was his cross which set up Daniel Diaz only goal of the match. Another reason to respect Veron is the fact he called time on his European career when he still had some football left in him to play for his hometown club, the club his father also played for in Estudiantes. There he lead them to the Apertura in Argentina and the finals of the Copa Sudamericana, South America’s version of the UEFA Cup.

Kaka joins Real Madrid on six-year contract

The deal with AC Milan is expected to set a new world record transfer fee and could pave the way for a new ‘Galáctico’ era at the Santiago Bernabéu under recently re-elected president Florentino Perez.

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Few people are going to shed tears with the money Kaka is about to make but in some ways I actually feel sorry for him. Loyalty is rare in world football and here you have a player who wanted to stay at A.C Milan but instead saw the writing on the wall and left due to A.C Milan wanted to pay off some debts. It bugged me seeing reports out of Milan saying it’s Kaka decision if he stays or goes which wasn’t fair to him when A.C Milan did everything but push him out the front door.

Valencia striker David Villa will decide on a move to either Real Madrid or Chelsea this week.
(The Sun)

One of these years the press will get it right regarding Villa. With Real Madrid buying players Chelsea wish they could attract, I have a feeling Chelsea will over spend on a player trying to make up for it.

Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner has backed boss Martin O’Neill’s attempts to outgun Everton and Roma in the battle for Newcastle striker Michael Owen. (Various)

Villa is coming up 3rd in this race. Living in Rome and playing Serie A wouldn’t be a bad place to finish playing the prime years of your career. He could sign for the team he cheered as a boy in Everton. Either way Villa would have to do something special to land Owen.

Villa will also compete with Liverpool in trying to sign Portsmouth defender Sylvain Distin. (Daily Mail)

Distin would make a strong bench player for a top team provided he is ok with spending his last years in football as cover for the first team.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez, meanwhile, says he is not interested in signing striker Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli. (Daily Mail)

Nor should he be for the 20 million euros it would take for Napoli to sell him.

West Ham’s takeover will result in manager Gianfranco Zola upping his attempt to sign Inter Milan’s £15m-rated attacking midfielder Luis Jimenez. (Various)

Inter Milan would sing and dance if West Ham came up with 15 million for a player not even on Mourinho’s radar as first team football is concerned.

Tottenham could make a £4.8m loss by offloading striker Roman Pavlyuchenko to Italian side Roma for £9m. (Daily Mirror)

With Roma not playing Champions League football next season don’t see them spending 9 million on a player who is no sure thing.

Birmingham will have to battle it out with Bolton for the signing of defender Danny Shittu, while the Midlands club also set their sights on Newcastle defender David Edgar. (Daily Star)

Since David Edgar is Canadian I’ll include this. Don’t know what Birmingham see’s in Edgar however.

Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has had offers of £10, Oasis tickets and a curly wurly after inviting offers for the Tyneside outfit by e-mail. The Magpies have been given a £100m price tag. (The Sun)

Funny and really what else could Newcastle expect when they invited offers by e-mail.

Aston Villa boss Martin O’Neill is ready to offer Newcastle striker Michael Owen a two-year deal worth £55,000 a week. Full story: Birmingham Mail

Why low ball Michael Owen? Martin O’Neill this just come out and say this story isn’t true but here you have a player who has played at the highest level. Paying him half of he use to make isn’t the best way to jump start his career again. Whoever Owen signs for doesn’t have to pay a transfer fee surely 75k a week with bonuses tied would be fair middle ground.

Ajax’s Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, 23, claims he is on the verge of sealing a £10m move to Arsenal. (Press Association)

Vermaelen is another of the up and coming young Belgian players coming through the pipe. My worry is Ajax hasn’t played Champions League football in three years and for a team that needs to win yesterday bringing in a player who hasn’t won doesn’t inspire me.

Manchester City will make a £15m bid for Everton defender Joleon Lescott when he returns from England international duty. Full story: Manchester Evening News

Even if the price is right Everton simply can’t sell Lescott. For a team chasing the top four selling one of their cornerstones to Manchester City doesn’t send the right message to everyone else on this Everton team

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has confirmed he wants to sign Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. Full story: This is Anfield

Ask Florentino Perez if he wants to sign just about any player and you’ll end up getting the same answer.

Barcelona will make a last-ditch attempt to keep striker Samuel Eto’o this week as Manchester City prepare a £25m bid for the Cameroonian. (Full story: The Sun)

If Barcelona wants to see Eto’o go, he will go. Would be shocked still if Eto’o would leave Barcelona for the money of Manchester City. Can see Eto’o leaving but it would be for another top team.

Manchester United have accepted a £6m bid from Hull City for 21-year-old striker Fraizer Campbell.

Good piece of Business for both teams. Manchester United get a sizable transfer fee for a player not in their future and Hull get a player who helped them get promoted two seasons ago.

Birmingham are set to sign ex-Newcastle loanee Oguchi Onyewu from Standard Liege and have made a new £5m bid for Cardiff centre-back Roger Johnson. (Full story: Daily Mail)

Big fan of Onyewu who should get another chance in the EPL after his failed Newcastle stint a couple of years ago.

Former Chelsea defender Glen Johnson has revealed that leaving Stamford Bridge to join Portsmouth helped him fall back in love with football. Full story: The Sun

Wonder if he falls out of love again with a possible return to Chelsea?

Inter President Moratti Rules Out Ibrahimovic-Eto’o Swap With Barcelona

News of Massimo Moratti’s appearance in Catalunya on Thursday evening sparked wild speculation that the Inter chief was about to begin negotiations to sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Barcelona.

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Barcelona is in an interesting spot when it comes to Samuel Eto’o. When things weren’t quite so rosy last year everyone on the current Barcelona team stayed loyal to Barcelona expect for Eto’o who often voiced his displeasure over his contract and welcomed interest from other teams. Now that Barcelona are the best in the world maybe it’s time they repay Eto’o by granting his wish to leave which he made last summer.

Claudio Ranieri Hits Out At Juventus

The tactician has launched a barbed attack on the Old Lady, but would not be drawn on the reported legal battle with the club.

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When upper management loses faith in you soon after the players follow suit which what poisoned Ranieri at Juventus. He is right to a degree. Any coach but him could of won the final three games of the season.

Manchester United will sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid if the Spanish giants stump up a stunning £75m. (Daily Mirror)

Up until May 27th Ronaldo was considered the best player in the world. We all know what happen on that day. If you are Ronaldo what challenge would be more appealing to you? Doing everything you have done previously at Manchester United or moving south where he can go head to head against Messi twice a season? Ronaldo can then engage in a personal battle to be considered the best player in the world again and of course help lead Real Madrid back to the top of Spanish and European football.

Chelsea are set to offer Ashley Cole a £27m four-year deal in order to fend off interest in him from Barcelona, who are believed to be ready to bid £20m for the left-back. (The Sun)

Always loved the Cashley Cole nickname.

As well as hanging on to their best players, Blues midfielder Frank Lampard has urged the club to sign “someone to do something special”, identifying a need for a creative midfielder or a striker. (The Independent)

With Real Madrid taking away Chelsea’s thunder in the transfer market wonder what Chelsea has up it’s sleeve regarding their efforts to bring a big name player to Stamford Bridge. If Chelsea were smart they would be making a call to Zlatan Ibrahimovic agent right about now.

The Gunners are favourites to beat Manchester City to the signature of £8m-rated Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko, who they see as a replacement for Emmanuel Adebayor. (Daily Mirror)

Things I like : Edin Dzeko as a player. Things I don’t like : The silly 8 million pound fee being quoted. Wolfsburg are the German champions backed by Volkswagen’s money. With them playing in the Champions League next year they are not going to sell Dzeko for such a low fee.

Adebayor’s future, meanwhile, could be in Italy as AC Milan are believed to be poised to make a £15m bid for the Togo striker. (The Sun)

Once A.C Milan sells Kaka the fun begins. Don’t image too many teams will cut A.C Milan a discount knowing the transfer fee they are sitting on.

Aston Villa are bracing themselves for a battle to hold on to Ashley Young, with Chelsea and Real Madrid set to be interested in the £20m-rated winger. (Daily Mirror)

Ashley Young is no Shaun-Wright Phillips but I do think that experience will sour Chelsea from making a bid this summer. Real Madrid wants players who will sell jerseys so Aston Villa should also be safe there.

Villa have targeted Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone as a replacement for Gareth Barry and will bid £6m for him. (Mirror)

Huddlestone would make a good replacement. Having a combination Huddlestone, Sidwell and Reo Coker in midfield should lessen the blow of Barry’s departure.

The clear-out at Spurs could also see Didier Zokora join Sevilla – but the Spaniards are thought to want to pay £2m less than the Londoners’ £8m valuation of their man. (Daily Mirror)

Still makes me laugh thinking about those Zokora to Real Madrid rumours soon after Juande Ramos took over.

Sunderland want to sign the world’s tallest player, Serbian striker Nikola Zigic, who stands at 6 ft 8 ins. New boss Steve Bruce is set to sanction a club record £10m bid for the Valencia player. (Daily Mirror)

Zigic plays great for Racing, looked lost at Valencia. The question wouldn’t be if Zigic would be a good fit for Sunderland, the question would be who does Sunderland have who could feed Zigic the crosses he’ll need to be effective. Steed Malbranque? Kieran Richardson? Andy Reid?

Blackburn striker Matt Derbyshire could be priced out of a move to Greek side Olympiakos as Rovers are holding out for £2m more than the £3m bid they have received. (Daily Mail)

Have a feeling Derbyshire and Roque Santa Cruz are going to laugh on the Blackburn bench next season over the fact Sam Allardyce could of had 23 million for them.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has been demanding a central striker’s role for next season, as he is fed up of being played out on the left flank. (Daily Express)

Someone should show Rooney tapes of Ruud van Nistelrooy around the net. All the hustle in the world, great team player but still misses too many chances for my liking.

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Part Two

Part Three

Italy’s Gattuso called up for Confederations Cup

The World Cup winner is in the 23-strong group which will travel to South Africa to take on Brazil, CONCACAF Gold Cup winners the United States and African Cup of Nations champions Egypt.

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Despite missing 2009 due to injury you knew Marcelo Lippi was going to trust Gennaro Gattuso to clean up the midfield area after his 2006 World Cup performance. Interesting to note that almost half this team going to South Africa didn’t take up in Euro 2008.

Squad:

Goalies : Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray);

Defenders : Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan) Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Davide Santon (Inter), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool);

Midfielders : Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan);

Strikers : Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Pepe (Udinese).

Liverpool’s American owners make huge loss

In the annual accounts released tonight, Liverpool’s accountants have also warned that remaining uncertainty over refinancing the £350m debt before the July 24 deadline ”may cast significant doubt on the group’s and parent company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.

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That is a massive amount for Liverpool to lose considering their global fan base. You have to believe if Hicks and Gillett could do this over again neither would of bought Liverpool knowing how the economy would fare 18 months later. I’m not a Liverpool fan but I wonder if Liverpool fans would hope the banks do put the squeeze on Hicks and Gillett, forcing them to sell their interest in the club?