There Is Only One Sinnacle

Looking back the prior report way back in November seems to be pretty bang on. Can Understand why Chslea makes this move, they need to get younger if they are to complete at the top of Europe again but Sergio Aguero is going to take a prouding not seen during his time at Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea close to £100m deal to sign Aguero

I can understand why Chelsea are interested in Sergio Aguero as he is the best player out there not attached to an elite club but have no idea how he fits into the Chelsea lineup for English game for that matter. Then again that is for the coach to worry about, not me. It wouldn’t shock me however if Sergio Aguero had the same impact with Chelsea as Juan Sebastián Verón did.

Tottenham are set to offer Manchester City £9m for defender Micah Richards. Footylatest.com

Two years ago you would of penciled Micah Richards as a lock for the World Cup. Fast forward and he can’t even crack the Manchester City lineup. A lot of upside but maybe a change would do him some good.

Edin Dzeko, one of the Bundesliga’s top scorers over the past two years, says he is considering leaving Wolfsburg at the end of the season. Wolfsburger Allgemeine (in German)

Dzeko wanted to leave for A.C Milan last year even after Wolfsburg won the Bundesliga. With them being out of Europe next year it wouldn’t shock me if Edin Dzeko finds himself a new club.

Arsenal are to open talks with left-back Gael Clichy, who is being tracked by Barcelona and Real Madrid. Goal.com

Does it matter if your Gael Clichy at this point? Clichy and Sol Campbell are the only two to know what it’s like to win anything at Arsenal. After awhile you must be tired of it and if a team like Barcelona comes calling, your going to listen.

Real Madrid are set to drop their interest in Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney with Valencia forward David Villa their preferred target. imscouting.com

Barcelona have reached a verbal agreement to sign Valencia’s Spanish international striker David Villa in a cash-plus-players deal worth approximately £40m. Marca

Could of used Villa on Wednesday and again what is the difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid?

Manchester United are tracking Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra, but Liverpool, who are also interested, could be put off by the Spanish team’s £17m price tag. Daily Mail

Diarra must have a quest to play for England top four clubs if this goes forward. Even with a backlog of defensive midfielders don’t see why Real Madrid would sell Diarra. Then again he isn’t a Florentino Pérez buy.

Manchester City are said to be one of four clubs fighting it out to sign Schalke striker Kevin Kuranyi. imscouting.com

Nothing says exiciting for Manchester City then signing a free transfer even if Kuranyi isn’t your run of the mill free transfer.

Meanwhile, City boss Roberto Mancini has told Carlos Tevez he can leave if the Argentine striker is not happy at Eastlands. the Guardian

Not that this would ever happen but it would be nice to see Tevez in a West Ham shirt again.

Benitez has said that Liverpool need five new players if they are to be competitive next season. (the Guardian)

Diego Forlan just kills Liverpool time and time again. Even with Manchester United Forland scored against Liverpool, one of a handful of goals he had during his time in England.

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan is planning on introducing a wage cap at Upton Park for next season as he attempts to cull the club’s £60m wage bill by a third. Daily Express

I wonder how much the 17th place clubs in Italy and Spain are paying their players? Surely not anywhere close to 60 million.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce said he used to call Sir Alex Ferguson “the Ayatollah” during his playing days at Old Trafford – but not to the Scot’s face. Daily Mirror

Nice little story to end this post.

Prime example of how A.C Milan are a mess at the top which prevents them from being at the top of the today took place today. Hours after Silvio Berlusconi confirms coach Leonardo will leave the club at the end of the season Adriano Galliani then moved to deny quotes attributed to Silvio Berlusconi.

Well, is Leonardo in or out? At the end of the day it doesn’t matter who is coaching this A.C Milan side, there is only so much you can do when the top people in the organization are not on the same page. A.C Milan bought Leonardo in hoping he could have the same success Pep Guardiola did at Barcelona. A tall order indeed and one not surprisely Leonardo in or out could not live up too.

A day after I said there is no way Charlton would sell Jonjo Shelvey for 4 million considering the money Leeds got for Fabian Delph they go and sell him to Liverpool for an initial £1.7 million and depending on who you believe could wise up to £3 million depending on performances. Which goes to show you why Charlton are currently in League One.

This really is a no risk deal here for Liverpool with a lot of upside if Shelvey is able to make a mark in the top flight. Considering the fee Liverpool paid for him they won’t have to rush Shelvey into the lineup right away, instead he can get his feet wet next year and hopefully improve as the year goes on.

All and all a great pick up by Liverpool and very smart of them to wrap this transfer up before the end of the season.

I’m still walking on a cloud right now. I have an extra spring in my step. To see Jose Mourinho and his Inter team beat the best team of the last decade is an amazing achievement. In a one game elimination anything can happen but over a series of two legs just didn’t see a way for Inter or any club for that matter to beat Barcelona, especially with the second leg at the Camp Nou.

With that I want to get some things off my chest. The next time I hear about Inter playing “anti-football” my eyes may pop out of my head in anger. You know what is anti-football? Doing what Sergio Busquets did to get Thiago Motta sent off. That is anti-football. What Inter did was a tactic, one Barcelona could not break through.

Everyone knows how Zlatan Ibrahimović rarely shows up in big games, just look at the fact he’ll be watching the World Cup this summer. This is nothing new but after the World was calling on Messi to have a new chapter in the bible solely devoted to him, Mourinho, Dejan Stanković, Javier Zanetti, and Esteban Cambiasso did a pretty good job in making him human.

Happy as I am about Inter winning I’m equally as angry over the way Barcelona have acted during the last 48 hours. For a team that prides itself in class they sure looked like a bunch of hypocrites lately. From the club on down to it’s fans this is what Inter had to deal with.

- Bus being attacked on way to hotel
- Fireworks being set off until the middle of the night
- Luis Figo being given a “warm welcome.” It’s been 10 years now, let it go. Figo helped put Barcelona back on the map in the mid 90′s. Move on.
- Spanish tax police wanting to question Samuel Eto’o if all days.
- Victor Valdes racing over to Jose Mourinho and grabbing him.
- The kicker being the person who turned on the sprinklers at the end. Talk about sore losers but there is no rain on Inter’s parade.

What bugs me most about Barcelona is how they pride themselves on being the oppsite of Real Madrid yet they are a lot like them. At least Real Madrid knows they are the bad guy, buying up some of the World’s greatest players. They don’t make excuses for how they operate.

Barcelona on the other hands keeps pointing fingers at Real Madrid and shaking there head over the money spent buying Kaka and Ronaldo. Yet Barcelona are not signing free transfers with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimović (The Marian Hossa of Football) and Dmytro Chygrynskiy. I’m sure a lot of clubs would love to be able to spend 60 million plus Samuel Eto’o on two players. Barcelona goes on about Cesc Fabregas the same way Real Madrid went on about Cristiano Ronaldo. Yet Real Madrid are the evil empire and Barcelona are everyone’s second favorite team?

Manchester United have made Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric their number one target this summer and are preparing a £25m bid for the Croatian 24-year-old. The Sun

No denying Modric’s skill but I’d be worried about him being able to handle the physical nature of English football. His body has already taken quite a beating.

The Red Devils are said to be interested in signing Borussia Dortmund’s Serbia centre-back Neven Subotic. imscouting.com

Hindsight is always 20/20 but you know Sir Alex Ferguson regrets selling Gerald Pique two years ago. At that time you figured Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić would carrying on for the better part of five years. Even if age caught up with Ferdinad before then you still had Johnny Evans waiting in the wing. Fergie didn’t expect Ferdinand to be banged up this year and Vidic form to slip.

Former United winger Cristiano Ronaldo has urged current club Real Madrid to sign Old Trafford left-back Patrice Evra. imscouting.com

United are reportedly interested in bringing Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra to the club next season.
Full story imscouting.com

Shrugs shoulders, Manchester United players going to Real Madrid and vice versa bore me by now.

The Gunners are leading the chase to sign Roma’s £10m-rated centre-back Philippe Mexes. caughtoffside.com

Despite the French connection with Wenger, Mexes is very much an established defender which means Arsenal won’t sign him nor do I think Roma would sell him for anything less than above market value.

Tottenham are battling it out with Arsenal to sign Fulham centre-back Brede Hangeland.
Full story: caughtoffside.com

Hangeland could of jumped ship last year but didn’t. Unless Fulham wants to sell him which is doubtful considering they already sold Chris Smalling to Manchester United.

Liverpool have emerged as favourites to sign Rangers highly-rated 18-year-old defender Danny Wilson. imscouting.com

Liverpool have been linked with Danny Wilson for months.

Benfica’s £25m-rated defender David Luiz has issued a come-and-get-me plea to Premier League suitors Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City. goal.com

Benfica wouldn’t mind saying come and give us 25 million either.

West Ham are plotting a cut-price summer move for Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, while the Hammers are also on the trail of Cardiff winger Peter Whittingham and Burnley winger Chris Eagles.
Full story: Daily Mail

Even I think of West Ham type playerS Kevin-Prince Boateng doesn’t come to mind but he is talented and available.

Meanwhile the Hammers, along with Blackburn, have been priced out of the market for former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse. The Panathinaikos striker is currently valued at around £12m. Daily Mail

Djibril Cisse reminds me of a slighty more talented Mido which isn’t saying much.

Cristiano Ronaldo says he does not expect to be at Real Madrid for the rest of his playing career. “I spent several years wanting to play in Madrid but I don’t see myself here at 40. Football is all about cycles – if you have already won everything with a team you have to change.” The Sun

Unless you are born into the Real Madrid system there is little chance you will finish your career there. This will go the way Luis Figo’s Real Madrid career did where he got paid very nicely during the prime years of his career then went to another club to finish up his career.

Benitez has admitted that with his future at Liverpool in doubt and claims no-one has asked him to stay at the club. the Times

Considering new owners may be in play soon everyone’s future is in doubt.

Picture just about says it all as Busquets looks out from one eye to see if Motta got a red card.

People pay attention to the Fifa rankings like people in Europe pay attention to MLS but since Portugal is now ranked 3rd behind Brazil and Spain i’m going to post about it. Atleast the Fifa rankings no longer have the US in the top five anymore.

Below are the top ten.

1 Brazil
2 Spain
3 Portugal
4 Netherlands
5 Italy
6 Germany
7 Argentina
8 England
9 Croatia
10 France

63rd Canada

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is ready to offload Emmanuel Adebayor, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge and Stephen Ireland and will make a £50m bid for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. The Sun

Yesterday Roberto Mancini wasn’t even going to be the coach of Manchester City and now plans are being made to which players he will get rid of? Unless Stephen Ireland is a bad seed in the dressing room don’t see why Manchester City would want to get rid of him.

Real Madrid are preparing to launch a £20m move for Manchester United’s France defender Patrice Evra, with Arsenal’s Gael Clichy, Chelsea’s Ashley Cole and Fiorentina’s Juan Manuel Vargas the other left-backs on the Spanish side’s summer shortlist. Daily Mail

With Fiorentina unlikely to make it to European football next season it’s much easier for them to sign Juan Manuel Vargas. Out of the four players mentioned I’d lay a dollar or two on Vargas being the one Real Madrid makes a bid for.

Barcelona are ready to make a summer bid for Newcastle defender Steven Taylor, who is valued at about £8m. Daily Mirror

How do you react to this if your Steven Taylor who has spent the last year playing against the likes of Plymouth and Blackpool?

Manchester City could make a move for Bayern Munich’s 32-year-old striker Luca Toni, who is currently on loan at Italian side Roma. imscouting.com

Talk about a player ill fitting for life in English football. I’d love to count how many times Toni will be called for offside in English football.

Argentina striker Carlos Tevez is on the verge of demanding a transfer from Manchester City, with Liverpool ready to pay £18m. footylatest.com

First Manchester City, then Liverpool will Tevez’s next stop be Leeds United in clubs who have a bitter rivalry with Manchester United?

Birmingham will make a £5m bid for Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster if Manchester City’s Joe Hart does not return to them on loan next season. (The Sun)

Foster didn’t exactly grab the bull by the horns during his early season run at Manchester United but he would make a good plan B for Birmingham when Joe Hart leaves.

Manchester United have made a move for Estudiantes striker Mauro Boselli, whose arrival will be made possible by the sale of Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov in the summer. footylatest.com

If Berbatov leaves the Manchester United strike force will be Rooney, the ghost of Michael Owen and a bunch of strikers few in Europe have heard of.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy is considering a loan bid for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, who is having a temporary spell at Celtic. However, Spurs would prefer a permanent £8m deal. Daily Mail

No way Tottenham will lose any more value on Robbie Keane by sending him out on loan for another year.

Liverpool will not stand in the way of manager Rafael Benitez if he wishes to join Italian side Juventus in the summer. The Independent

They would have a big Texas BBQ if they are freed from having to pay Benitez the rest of his contract.

Manchester City are set to rival Juventus for the services of Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez for next season. According to Italian newspaper La Stampa, City are apparently willing to offer the Spaniard a huge transfer kitty and long term contract to leave Anfield and replace current City boss Roberto Mancini Eastlands.
Full story: footylatest.com

I’m not the biggest Robero Mancini fan but there is only so much you can do when you take over a club mid season. I don’t think many Liverpool fans will cry in their beer if Benitez leaves for Juventus as an example but leaving for Manchester City would be like a slap in the face.

Tuttosport, the Turin based newspaper, has revealed that Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has verbally agreed to take over as Juventus coach. imscouting.com

Benitez has a good PR team or at least something behind the scenes going for him. After a season where many coaches would get the sack Benitez’s name still gets linked to other clubs.

According to Italian website Tutto Mercato, Arsenal are in pole position to sign Fiorentina’s highly rated goalkeeper Sebastien Frey. imscouting.com

I should like this match but I don’t. I’d rather roll the dice with Joe Hart, after so many years in Italian it’s not going to be easy for Frey to adapt.

German media outlet Sportbild are convinced that Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will make a concerted effort to sign Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Rene Adler this summer. footylatest.com

Wenger had a good run with Jens Lehmann in goal so it doesn’t shock me to see Arsenal linked with another German goalie.

Chelsea are set to launch their summer spending spree with a move for Valencia striker David Villa, who is also a target for Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid. goal.com

Roman Abramovich pockets aren’t as deep as it once was. After two summers of average spending compared to prior years it will be interesting to see if Abramovich opens up the vault for next season.

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan is planning a radical shake-up at Upton Park after conceding the club will listen to offers for any player except Scott Parker. “Other than Parker, there is not a player we wouldn’t sell if it was the right bid,” confirmed Sullivan. Daily Mirror

As it should be with a club like West Ham but the money they get in transfers they better spend most of it on bringing in new players.

Aston Villa will be the first to test out West Ham’s willingness to sell with a £10m bid for England striker Carlton Cole. Daily Mail

West Ham should at least listen to this offer. Considering the success or lack thereof Marlon Harewood had with Aston Villa if I was Martin O’Neill I wouldn’t been to keen on signing another West Ham striker.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has decided to switch attention from one Aston Villa winger to another by aiming to snap up England international Ashley Young instead of his Villa Park team-mate James Milner. caughtoffside.com

Just wanted to take the time to mention Nani’s beautiful goal on the weekend against Tottenham.

Bolton boss Owen Coyle is ready to let up to 10 of his players go as he makes way for a new wave of signings at Wanderers. Record buy Johan Elmander is likely to be among those who squeezed out by fresh faces. Daily Mirror

This was going to happen the second Coyle took over at Bolton anyway. A new coach is always going to put a stamp on his team A.S.A.P.

According to Spanish newspaper Sport, Barcelona are lining up a shock bid for Newcastle defender Stephen Taylor, with Carles Puyol heading to St James’ Park in return. imscouting.com

If your Puyol wouldn’t you just decide to retire instead?

Real Madrid’s veteran midfielder Guti has reportedly signed a deal to play in Dubai, ending rumours that he could join Tottenham this summer. imscouting.com

A player like Guti does not want to spend the final years of his career taking the beating he would take in English football.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is apparently considering a move for Manchester City forward Roque Santa Cruz. caughtoffside.com

Arsenal have no problem scoring but I can see Wenger make a call to see if he can get Santa Cruz on the cheap.

Wenger has also placed Borussia Dortmund’s Serbian international centre back Neven Subotic at the top of his summer spending plans as he looks to freshen up his defensive options. caughtoffside.com

Now this makes more sense.

Portsmouth manager Avram Grant has emerged as a leading contender to replace Gianfranco Zola at West Ham. The Israeli heads a shortlist, which also includes Ajax manager Martin Jol, FC Twente’s former England boss Steve McClaren and ex-Hammers defender Slaven Bilic, now in charge of Croatia. Daily Mirror

No one can blame Avram Grant if he choses to leave and no one can blame West Ham if they wisely try to hire him.

Manchester City are to launch an audacious bid to end Joe Hart’s loan spell at Birmingham City and take the goalkeeper back to Eastlands in a move that will enrage their Premier League rivals. Guardian

C.R.E.A.M is what Birmingham should say. Slip some cash over Birmingham’s way and give Hart back.

Hull chairman Adam Pearson has revealed that the Tiger’s goal-shy strikers have cost the club a whopping £901,875 a goal this season. Pearson admitted the club are spending £195,000 a week on strikers, which in total this campaign has cost them £7.215m for a return of eight goals. The Sun

Hull is a mess. Too many players of lesser talent, all making Preimer League spells doom when you are sent down.