EPL Gossip Thursday March 18th
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has sanctioned a £50m bid for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Not going to happen.
Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has been assured that he will keep his job, despite a clear-out of the playing staff that will result in midfielders Joe Cole and Deco heading through the Stamford Bridge exit.
Full story: Daily Mirror
Deco is never fit but he hasn’t been half bad this year. At the very least you can’t say Michael Ballack has been head and shoulders better than Deco.
Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas could be one of the new arrivals at Chelsea having fallen out of favour with the Bernabeu hierarchy. imscouting.com
More crazy talk.
Celtic’s hopes of hanging on to on-loan striker Robbie Keane may be over, with Aston Villa targeting a £9m summer move for the Tottenham player. Daily Mirror
Celtic was never going to come up with the money Tottenham would want for Keane and even if they did Keane would have to bite a big bullet in accepting a much lower salary.
Alternatively, Villa could make a move for Wigan’s £15m-rated forward Hugo Rodallega. Daily Mail
I like Rodallega but he isn’t a £15 million pound striker.
Juventus president Jean Claude Blanc has quashed Arsenal’s hopes of reviving a bid for midfield anchorman Felipe Melo. (The Sun)
Don’t picture Arsenal losing too much sleep over this news.
Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko wants to help Spurs secure a Champions League place but admits he may not be at the club next season. Daily Mail
Keep scoring and he will be.
Liverpool winger Albert Riera has hit out at manager Rafael Benitez and said: “His dialogue with the players is practically zero.” Riera also branded the Reds a “sinking ship”. Marca (in Spanish)
Benitez he a master at x’s and o’s, no denying that but a coach needs to inspire his players to go through a wall for him. You can tell these Liverpool players don’t like Benitez enough to do that.
The Glazer family are weighing up another round of refinancing to stave off the challenge to their ownership of Manchester United posed by a group of businessmen dubbed the Red Knights.
Full story: The Times
Liverpool’s American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks have been given three weeks to decide whether to accept an investment offer of £100m from the New York-based Rhone Group.
Full story: The Independent
Prospective Portsmouth owner Rob Lloyd remains optimistic he can clinch a deal for the troubled club, despite administrator Andrew Andronikou’s doubts over the group he fronts.
Full story: The Telegraph
Shrugs shoulders, same old, same old.
Rap star P Diddy is considering a bid to buy struggling Championship club Crystal Palace. The American musician and business mogul is in the market for an English football team and has set his sights on the Eagles after running the rule over cash-strapped Portsmouth. The Sun
This news would make me throw up. What is Ma$e going to be the half time performer/ticket taker?