There Is Only One Sinnacle

Aston Villa have been linked with a move for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane. West Ham defender Matthew Upson and Real Madrid forward Klaas Jan Huntelaar are also targets. Birmingham Mail

After Keane’s misfortune with Liverpool last year don’t see him wanting to jump ship again even with the arrival of Peter Crouch. Regarding Matthew Upson, stranger things have happen but it’s a long shot and not a chance Huntelaar goes from Madrid to Aston Villa.

Liverpool will reluctantly sell midfielder Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid in the next few days. Although manager Rafael Benitez wanted £35m for the 27-year-old, the fee is likely to be less than £30m. Daily Express

Now Rafa needs to do is go out and but Alberto Aquilani and keep the change. Aquilani would be a great replacement for Alonso who while professional just wouldn’t of been the same player this year playing for a team who he seems no longer committed too.

Everton defender Joleon Lescott is ready to tell manager David Moyes that he wants to join big-spending Manchester City.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Don’t know what he is waiting for. It’s been weeks since Manchester City were linked with Lescott.

Middlesbrough have received a £9m offer from Stuttgart for Turkish striker Tuncay. Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham are also interested in the 27-year-old. Daily Mail

Considering Missesbrough have very little leverage here 9 million is a great return for Tuncay.

Stoke have joined the list of clubs chasing Tottenham striker Darren Bent. The Sun

In that case Stoke has been added to the list of teams Darren Bent would turn down.

Chelsea are lining up a swap deal with AC Milan in order to land midfielder Andrea Pirlo. As part of the package, striker Claudio Pizarro and defender Michael Mancienne would head to Italy. Daily Star

Must admit I have a laugh when thinking about Claudio Pizarro playing for A.C Milan. Mancienne on the other hand is an interesting young player but would be a fish out of water playing outside England at this point.

Arsenal utility player Emmanuel Eboue is set to become the latest player to leave the Gunners by signing a five-year deal with Fiorentina. Daily Mirror

At least I won’t have to shake my head in disgust watching Eboue start over Theo Walcott like I did during the 2007/2008 season.

Portsmouth want to sign former Wigan forward Amr Zaki on loan from Egyptian side El Zamalek.

Portsmouth isn’t in a position to sign many players so taking a shot on Zaki makes sense in that regard.

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has suffered another setback in his recovery from knee surgery and could be out until Christmas. Daily Mirror

Hargreaves played a key role in United’s Champions League/EPL double in 2007/2008 so it’s hard to fault the transfer but since then it’s been business as usual with Hargeaves often being injured.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has renewed his war of words with Real Madrid, this time over their summer transfer spree.

“They will have plenty of problems with balance,” he said. “I told Ronaldo before he flew out that he will end up playing centre-half because I don’t think they have one. I don’t envy (Real coach Manuel) Pellegrini picking his team. Barcelona are different because they have grown their squad properly and added one or two players each season.”

Ferguson is going to join a long list of managers who face Real Madrid fall flat on their face this season.

Hopefully the first of many this year.

Samuel Eto’o: I Will Make History With Inter, But Don’t Compare Me To Ibrahimovic

Samuel Eto’o is ready to write history with Inter and win the Champions League, but he has asked not to be compared with Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Article

Eto’o may ask not to be compared to Ibrahimovic but from this moment on their careers will always be linked. Inter Milan has to be counting on the fact Eto’o is going to be motivated this year to not only one up Ibrahimovic but to also prove Barcelona wrong for getting rid of him. Some may say Barcelona had to no choice but to get rid of Eto’o who beats to his own drummer and had only a year left on his deal. While Eto’o like many strikers can be head cases but so is Didier Drogba and Mourinho was able to get the most out of him. The Special One must be hoping he can now repeat that same magic with Eto’o.

Benfica Close To Barcelona’s Keirrison – Report

Barcelona signed Keirrison from Palmeiras last week in a €14 million deal but are looking to loan the 20-year-old out so he can gain more competitive experience, and Benfica appear to be leading the chase for him.

Article

What I find interesting about this piece of news is the loan could be for two seasons instead of the standard one. While Keirrison preference would be to stay with Barcelona playing in Portugal is the perfect starter league when adjusting to European football. Keirrison will be close to Spain, playing for a top team and while no flights are close to Brazil it’s still the closest flight back home Keirrison would get.

Morientes delighted to be reunited with Deschamps

Morientes played under Deschamps, the new coach of Marseille, during the 2003-04 season when he spent a year on loan from Real Madrid at Ligue 1 side Monaco.

Article

Morientes career flatlined at Valencia these last couple of seasons so it’s a good move for him playing with a coach who knows his strengths right off the bat. Not a bad move for Marseille picking up a capable striker on a free transfer.

Andrea Dossena is another defender possibly heading out of Anfield. The player’s agent has told Italian radio station Radio Kiss Kiss that Liverpool have accepted a £4.3m offer from Napoli for the 27-year-old. (Press Association)

Liverpool fans will always have his goal to make it 4-1 at Old Trafford to remember him by. Aside from that Dossena didn’t exactly set Anfield on fire last year.

Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa says he is close to completing a transfer to Spanish giants Real Madrid. (Marca)

I’m sure Jamie Carragher will approve this transfer.

Manchester City have struck a deal with Arsenal for the £15m signing of defender Kolo Toure, who will double his wages at Eastlands. Daily Mail

Can’t wait for Arsene Wenger to calm the fears of Arsenal fans by saying Philippe Senderos and Johan Djourou will make up for the loss of Toure.

Toure’s departure from Arsenal to Manchester City is set to spark a defender merry-go-round this summer. Joleon Lescott will also move to Eastlands from Everton, with Tottenham’s Alan Hutton and City’s Nedum Onuoha replacing him at Goodison Park, while Arsenal are to move for Fulham’s Brede Hangeland. (Daily Mirror)

At least all these moves make sense. If I’m an Arsenal fan I’d love to see Hangeland replace Toure. One is dangerous on set pieces (Hangeland), the other is a danger to his own team on set pieces (Toure).

Manchester City and Bolton are leading the chase for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso, who is valued at about £15m. The Sun

It annoys me to see Veloso name being linked to Bolton. This has gone on for the last six months and the player is no closer to leaving Lisbon then as he is now. Could easily see Sporting cashing in on Veloso but it won’t Bolton who will be writing the cheque.

Real Madrid have said that Liverpool’s £30m valuation of midfielder Xabi Alonso is unrealistic. The Spanish club are not willing to pay more than £24m. Daily Telegraph

It would be unrealistic in most transfer windows but after Real Madrid went wild this summer everything gets thrown out the window. Liverpool knows Real Madrid has the money plus Alonso being a Spanish international will have a premium attached to him.

Aston Villa are interested in Blackburn’s £6m-rated defender Stephen Warnock. Daily Mail

Warnock is one of those players who always does the job without much fanfare.

Hull are poised to join Everton in the race for Tottenham defender Alan Hutton. The Sun

Don’t see what Hull could offer Hutton that Everton could not. Poor Phil Brown must be at his wits end trying to secure players for the upcoming season.

Inter Milan’s ex-Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho says he wants to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as manager of Manchester United. Daily Mirror

The English papers would love to see Mourinho back in England. While this is nothing new, Special One or not anyone who replaces Sir Alex Ferguson one day will have huge holes to fill.

Darren Bent really was a last-minute withdrawal from Tottenham’s pre-season tour to China as his move to Sunderland gathered pace on Monday night. The striker was strapped in his seat just before take off when the call came that the two clubs were close to agreeing a deal. His bags were retrieved from the hold of the plane before he travelled north to begin talks. Various

I’d be relieved if I was Bent. I understand the reasons but I’m sure some players dread traveling half way around of the world to play in a bunch of friendlies.

Goal.com World Team Of The Decade 2000-2010

Selecting Goal.com World Team Of The Decade was no easy task, with there having been so many world class players over the past 10 years.

Article

Truthfully never place much stock on this lists because it’s all subjective anyway. Made the exception since one of my all time favorites Luis Figo made this list. Don’t think Florentino Pérez will like this list since his current Galácticos Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka are not on it but Perez can take stock in his previous Galacticos Figo and Zidane did.

Goalie : Gianluigi Buffon

Defenders : Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini

Midfielders : Claude Makelele, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldinho

Forwards : Ronaldo and Thierry Henry

Peter Crouch Signs For Tottenham Hotspur

Portsmouth have confirmed on their official website that Peter Crouch has made the switch to Tottenham Hotspur for a fee estimated around the £9 million mark.

Article

Aside from Crouch’s robot dance the main thing which comes to mind when thinking about Peter Crouch is how well he dealt with the challenges of the last two seasons. In 2007-2008 Peter Crouch was playing little more than garbage minutes with Liverpool and last year Crouch figured he just signed for the defending FA Cup champions and a team on the upswing. Couple of months later Harry Redknapp bolts for Tottenham and Portsmouth are in a regulation battle going forward. With mounting debt on Portsmouth books the fight for survival didn’t seem like it was going to change this year so Portsmouth and Peter Crouch made the best deal for themselves and gone their separate ways. Unlike a lot of transfers don’t recall Peter Crouch publicity stating his pleasure at Portsmouth and he did play his part in helping them stay up in the EPL last year. Will now be interesting to see if a Jermain Defoe-Peter Crouch partnership will click again after being cut short last year with Portsmouth.

“Fed up” Ibrahimovic seals Barcelona move

“When did I start thinking about moving somewhere else? In December, before Christmas,” he is reported as saying on Tuttomercatoweb.it. “The more I saw Barcelona play, the more I wanted to leave.

Article

Zlatan Ibrahimovic got his wish and Barcelona got themselves a player to rip away the headlines from Real Madrid for a day or so. Aside from a certain signing in Madrid the eyes of the footballing world are going to be paying close attention to how this transfer plays out over the next couple of years. It will be interesting to see if Ibrahimovic do away with the label of not being a big game player. It will also be interesting to see if the Barcelona fans start to resent Zlatan if he doesn’t keep Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table this season.

Inter Target Benfica Winger Angel Di Maria – Report

Inter boss Jose Mourinho is believed to be an admirer of the 21-year-old, and according to news daily Record, he may be readying a bid for the player, who has a €30m buy-out clause.

Article

Don’t see this happening anytime soon and not solely because of the non EU status of di Maria. While he was the best player for Argentina during last years Olympics his hasn’t exactly been stealing the spotlight in the Portuguese SuperLiga. No question the talent is there but for di Maria to succeed at any level he’ll need to start living up to it.

Ronaldo unperturbed by slow start at Bernabeu

Ronaldo, who had never before played at the Bernabeu, was included in Manuel Pellegrini’s starting XI for Sunday’s Peace Cup clash with Al-Ittihad, along with fellow newcomers Karim Benzema and Ezequiel Garay.

Article

Part of me gets why this is news but really what did people expect? It’s a new player having to adapt to player with a lot of players who are also new to Real Madrid. Throw in the cultural and language difference it is going to take some time before Ronaldo is up to speed. This is why teams have preseason to sort all this out.

Hicks & Gillett complete deal on Liverpool loans

Negotiations between the Royal Bank of Scotland, Wachovia and the owners have continued for months the worldwide credit crunch has made them tortuous.

Article

More good news for Liverpool off the pitch. First Steven Gerrard was cleared of all charges and now Liverpool has re-finance their bank loan/debt. Hopefully for Liverpool fans good news on the pitch is soon to follow.

Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner says he is completely committed to the Gunners after rumours of a possible move to AC Milan. (Arsenal TV)

With Emmanuel Adebayor gone to Manchester City Arsenal fans can now focus their disdain solely on Nicklas Bendtner in this upcoming season.

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is beginning to run out of patience in his attempt to sign striker Darren Bent.
Full story: sportinglife.com

Bent should see the writing on the wall. Tottenham would be more than happy to see him go and usually if the player doesn’t pick up on that hint he is in for a long season coming off the bench.

Manchester City, turned down by Chelsea captain John Terry, will now turn their attentions to a £12m bid for Arsenal defender Kolo Toure. City are also looking at Everton centre-half Joleon Lescott and are prepared to up their bid to £20m. The Independent

It’s going to take some resolve for Everton to turn down £20m for Joleon Lescott despite how important he is to their team.

Fulham striker Bobby Zamora has rejected a £5m move to Hull, becoming the fourth forward to turn down Tigers boss Phil Brown after Michael Owen, Fraizer Campbell, and Marc-Antoine Fortune all said no to a switch. Daily Mirror

Fulham must of been upset when hearing this news. Without the Zamora money coming in, it prevented them from bidding on Peter Crouch.

Sam Allardyce is trying to land Zenit St Petersburg striker Pavel Pogrebnyak for Blackburn as a replacement for Roque Santa Cruz, who joined Manchester City in June. (Daily Mail)

Allardyce pulled a rabbit out of his hat when he signed Nicolas Anelka from Fenerbahçe a couple of season ago. Maybe he can do it again with Pogrebnyak. My main concern is that Russian players haven’t exactly settled in well recently and those players were living in London.

Notts County’s players say they have no idea what Sven-Goran Eriksson’s precise role will be at the club. The new director of football watched Ian McParland’s side beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday but keeper Russell Hoult said: “What Sven does, we don’t know.” Daily Mail

Sven should simply reply back with the fact in a couple of months most of these players will be playing for other teams anyway as I’m sure a shakeup is in store.