There Is Only One Sinnacle

Man United cancel Jakarta game after bombings

The squad arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Friday morning to news of the explosions over in Indonesia, one of which hit the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Jakarta where the Red Devils were due to stay for four nights from Saturday.

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This site purposely avoids such heavy subjects so I will side step the tragic bombing which occurred yesterday. Manchester United have been kicking off their season in Asia for many years now maybe this will serve as a wake up call and have United switch it up and focus on expanding their North American interests by playing a few games over here next season. Nemanja Vidić looks like a wise man now for skipping this Asian tour. I know United weren’t at the hotel the day of this bombing but it must be a shock to the senses for these United players upon hearing the news.

Barcelona Sign Ibrahimovic From Inter For €40m Plus Eto’o – Spanish Press

The transfer will see the Blaugrana part with €40 million plus Samuel Eto’o and Aliaksandr Hleb, with the Belarussian joining the Nerazzurri on a loan spell.

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From an Inter point of view I’d be loving this deal if it becomes a reality. Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been a great player for Inter but you start to sense he is losing his motivation playing in Italy going into the season. You simply can not tell me that Eto’o plus 40 million is equal value for Ibrahimovic. It’s clear Inter would be getting the best of this deal adding a world class striker in Eto’o and an extra 40 million in the bank.

From a Barcelona point of view I also understand it. There comes a point where it’s just not worth it anymore dealing with a player. Barcelona has tried everything possible to keep Eto’o happy but with only 12 months remaining on his deal, Eto’o hasn’t seem too keen on extending it. With the David Villa rumours stalling it appears Barcelona turned to plan B.

Flamengo Star Adriano: I Would Have No Problems Joining Milan

“Yes, it could be Milan because I would have no qualms accepting a deal from such a big club like the Rossoneri.”

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This would almost seem like the perfect marriage. A flake of a player playing for a flake of a team. Could not possibly see why A.C Milan would want Adriano expect for rubbing it in the nose of Inter Milan. Adriano was given everything possible at Inter Milan who were more than patience with the player and it still wasn’t good enough.

Argentine Midfielder Diego Valeri Set For Porto Move

It has been reported that Valeri will arrive in Portugal on Thursday to sign for Porto.

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Let the South American make over of Porto continue. Really excited to see how new comers Valeri, Falcao, and Fernando Belluschi fair this coming season.

Manchester United’s interest in Gremio’s Douglas Costa is cooling after the Brazilian club demanded £20m for the teenage forward. The Times

This is what happens when you are sitting on 80 million pounds. United doesn’t think Costa is worth 20 million and Gremio knowing the pile of money United are sitting on don’t think they should sell him for less than that.

Manchester City have tested Everton’s determination to hang on to defender Joleon Lescott by submitting a £15m bid to Goodison Park. (Various)

Hopefully Lescott doesn’t pout and stops talking to the media like John Terry if Everton turns down this bid.

City will make a £30m move for Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan if they fail to agree personal terms with Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor. Daily Mail

32 goals in La Liga should mean that another club becomes interested. Great career turnaround for Forlan after leaving Manchester United.

Rangers midfielder and former captain Barry Ferguson has passed a medical at Birmingham City. Daily Record

Ferguson was always on borrowed time up in Scotland after getting kicked out of the National team for a drinking session with teammate Allan McGregor then showing up the coach by making a V sign in protest while on the bench.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson has entered the £12m race for Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch. The Sun

Not the biggest Andrew Johnson fan but do think a partnership between him and Peter Crouch can flourish.

Hodgson is also considering a move for Columbia international forward Fredy Montero who plays for Major League Soccer side Seattle Sounders. (Daily Star)

Don’t see how Montero would get a work permit having only 3 international caps to his name but he is one of a handful of MLS players who can make the grade in Europe.

Tottenham are poised to add to their forward line with the signing of Real Madrid’s Alvaro Negredo. The Sun

Never got a chance to prove himself with Real Madrid but Negredo has scored just about everywhere they have shipped him off too during his young career.

Arsenal will attempt to lure defender Brede Hangeland from Fulham with the offer of Philippe Senderos as part of a deal worth around £10m. (Daily Star)

In this transfer market Hangeland is worth more than £10m. Considering Arsenal weakness defending set pieces last year always maintained that Hangeland would be a perfect fit for the Gunners.

Chelsea have told Portugal international defender Ricardo Carvalho that he will be staying at Stamford Bridge after a possible move to Inter Milan fell through. The Sun

I’d be sad if Carvalho spent the season on the bench with Chelsea. Hopefully he is able to crack the starting lineup again this year.

Valencia targetman Nikola Zigic is also in Blackburn’s sights, but there are 15 clubs in the hunt for the Serbia striker according to his agent. The Independent

Of course an agent is going to say that.

Oasis’s Noel Gallagher does not want Chelsea captain John Terry at his beloved Manchester City. “He’s got funny eyes and he’s a cry baby,” he said. Daily Mirror

With that have a good weekend everyone.

The Houston Dynamo’s leading scorer Brian Ching was fined $500 (U.S.) today by Major League Soccer for criticizing the officiating on the social networking site Twitter for a game last week he didn’t play in or even watch live.

Ching, a 31-year-old striker, said in his tweet that the “ref in Seattle just cheated the dynamo. What a joke. Not even close. Ref is a cheat.”

Thestar.ca Link

Heaven forbid a league wishes to encourage players getting closer to their fans. This would of been dealt with just as well with MLS giving a warning to Ching that the same rules apply on twitter as they would when talking to the media. It bugs me when league fine players and coaches for speaking out against the ref instead of tackling the issue of the officials themselves. MLS may be a 2nd rate league but most of the referees are 3rd rate or worse which sets the league even further back.

As I’m sure most of you have heard by now brand Beckham returns to the Los Angeles Galaxy tonight facing the New York Red Bulls. Only one problem, me being Canadian there is no way I’m able to catch it on TV. Sure I can catch it online via Justin.tv or another streaming website but that option places 3rd behind enjoying a beautiful summers night or catching another sport such as Baseball or the CFL both I can watch in HD. After three seasons in which the MLS knows it has a passionate fan base the league still doesn’t see to it to broadcast more than just Toronto FC games in Canada. It really does boggle my mind. In another classic MLS move you can in theory order the games through their website but national broadcast games are not included only local games. This means games on ESPN2/Fox Soccer Channel I’m still not able to get. Is it really so hard to get the MLS Extra Time package on Canadian cable/satellite providers considering the success of the league itself in Canada? I know the chances are slim anyone from MLS will read this but I’m hoping someone stops dropping the ball here and realizes that it may be a good idea to make for games available in this country before people who are not Toronto FC fans lose interest in your league entirely.

Estudiantes capture fourth Libertadores Cup

The Argentine club, who had lifted the trophy three times in a row from 1968, triumphed 2-1 on aggregate after a 0-0 draw at home in La Plata last week.

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A couple of months ago I wrote about Juan Sebastian Veron so it made me happy to see him achieve a childhood dream of doing what his father did and lead Estudiantes to the Copa Libertadores. Winning it in Brazil no less. It really is refreshing to see a player forgo millions of dollars during the end of ones career to go back home and pursue a dream. For Veron that dream must of been to lead his tiny club to the pinnacle of South American football. Just a great story and I’m sure will be a highlight of Veron’s career.

Bayern Munich Defender Lucio Joins Inter – OFFICIAL

“The 31-year-old, who will sign a three-year deal with the north Italian club coached by Jose Mourinho, moves for an undisclosed fee.

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Talk about a transfer that went under the radar as I’ve heard no rumbling of a Lucio to Inter Milan transfer this entire summer. At 31 it’s safe to say that Lucio wanted another challenge in another country before his playing career ended which Inter were happy to offer him. With Inter signing the Brazilian national team captain it pretty much closes the book on any Ricardo Carvalho transfer.

Inter & Barcelona Agree Aliaksandr Hleb Loan Deal – Italian Media

Inter and Barcelona have agreed a deal for Belarus midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb and he will join the Italians on a one-year loan with the option to make the move permanent next year.

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With Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma not getting the job done last year playing out wide Inter are hoping landing Hleb will do two things. One, is Hleb adding a touch of class out wide which was one of the few things missing from Inter last year. Two, is trying to start jump the flat lining careers on Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma with some more competition.

Chelsea are set to step up their efforts to sign Ashley Young but will have to bid £25m to prise the winger from Aston Villa.
Full story: standard.co.uk

Maybe this is way Aston Villa went out and signed Stewart Downing? Chelsea have yet to make any impact in this transfer market and pre season is only a few days away.

Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has asked for more time before he makes a final decision on a transfer to Manchester City – the Togo international is possibly holding out for AC Milan to make a last-minute move. The Sun

Somebody from A.C Milan should just save Adebayor the time and say no way where they going to pay him the rumoured 170k a week Manchester City is.

The Gunners have had a £7m bid for Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh rejected, with the French club asking for defender Mikael Silvestre to be added to the offer. The Sun

Borbeaux must not of seen many Arsenal games last season which Mikael Silvestre featured in.

Manchester City have made a surprise move for Tottenham winger David Bentley, who is valued at about £12m by the north London club. Daily Mirror

Have a feeling Harry Redknapp would do a fist pump over this news. Would also reunite David Bentley and Mark Hughes who were together previously at Blackburn.

Tottenham could beat Stuttgart to the signing of Real Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who is stalling on a £15.5m move to Germany in the hope of joining the Premier League side. Daily Mirror

Someone should change the last part to a top Premier League side.

Manchester United chief executive David Gill says the club may still add to their squad, despite boss Sir Alex Ferguson’s insistence that no new players will join this summer. Daily Mirror

Gotta keep the fans hopes alive. The transfer window does close on August 31st. Who knows by then another player just might fall in United’s lap.

Manchester City’s new signing Carlos Tevez is said to be “very interested” in buying the £5m mansion that his former team-mate at Manchester United Cristiano Ronaldo is selling following his switch to Real Madrid. (Various)

Was curious to see who was going to take Ronaldo’s house off his hands.

The mega-rich owner of Manchester City, Sheikh Mansour, met the club’s players at his palace in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and presented each of them with a watch worth £168,000. The Sun

If you are a player like Ched Evans who many not even make that in a year wouldn’t the first thing you do is sell the thing? Who under the age of 30 wears watches anymore anyway?

OFFICIAL: Porto Sign River Plate Striker Radamel Falcao

However, Porto issued a statement to the Portuguese stock market this morning explaining they had reached agreement with River Plate to buy 60 per cent of Falcao’s playing rights for €3.9 million.

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This is why I’m a huge fan of the way Porto does Business in the transfer market. They have replaced a player who bought in 24 million with a player with equal talent for 3.9 million. Falcao is an exciting young striker who once he is suited to life in Europe should make up the goals lost with Lisandro Lopez’s transfer to Lyon.

Report: Genoa Sign Rodrigo Palacio From Boca Juniors

Rodrigo Palacio will have the daunting task of filling compatriot Diego Milito’s boots at the Stadio Marassi next season as Genoa have struck a deal with Boca Juniors, according to Argentine newspaper Clarin.

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Another team who has done well for itself in the transfer market these last 12 months have been Genoa. The Italian club is hoping Palacio can replace the wildly popular Diego Milito up front and for a player like Palacio there comes a point where you want to see how you can do in European football. It was simply the right time for him to make this jump.

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes believes his side can offer John Terry a new lease of life and said the Chelsea and England captain needs a fresh challenge. Various

Realize I could be one of the few but I actually feel sorry for Chelsea fans during this John Terry tug of war. Here you had a player who you can hang your hat on if you were a fan. Up until two weeks ago Terry was Mr Chelsea and now is just another footballer ready to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. Could also understand the other side of the coin where non Chelsea fans see this as a delicious irony after all the years of trying to buy other clubs top stars.

Hughes is also on the verge of signing Emmanuel Adebayor for £25m after the player underwent a medical in Manchester. Various

Provided Arsenal spend the money on another quality striker such as Klass jan Huntelaar who is out there for the taking don’t imagine many Arsenal fans will be upset the moody Adebayor has been moved on.

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira could join Tottenham after indicating to manager Harry Redknapp that he would be willing to leave Inter Milan. Various

Everyone knows Vieira would be willing to leave Inter Milan but if he does just see Vieira going back to France and not Tottenham.

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce will give veteran striker Christian Vieri, 36, all the time he needs to prove his fitness after spending some time with the Rovers squad at a training camp. The Sun

Hard pressed to think of a player who is more ill suited to life in English football than Vieri. He can hold the ball up for other players but at this point that is about all he can do. My favorite Vieri story is how he would go on an Italian football show in England and insist on talking in Italian to prank the host who knew Vieri could speak perfect English.

Fulham will launch an £11m bid for Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch – but only if Bobby Zamora leaves to join Hull City. The Sun

Fulham wisely decided to accept Hull City Zamora bid. Roy Hodson must love Hull City. First they take Jimmy Bullard off his hands for 5 million and now have made a bid for Bobby Zamora.

West Brom midfielder Jonathan Greening has stunned the club by handing in a transfer request after they rejected a £2.5m bid from Fulham. Various

Don’t see how West Brom could be stunned. Once you’ve had a taste of the Premier League it’s pretty hard to get pumped for life playing Championship football.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says if he had not become a footballer he may have become a priest. Asked what he would have done if he could not play football, the 23-year-old said: “I haven’t a clue what else I could have done, I wasn’t really the best in school. I always enjoyed religious studies – so maybe a priest.” The Sun

Good way to end off today’s post I feel.