There Is Only One Sinnacle

Striker Diego Forlan could make a sensational return to Manchester United after signalling his desire to leave Atletico Madrid. The 31-year-old striker has been involved in a bust-up with his manager, Quique Sanchez Flores, and the Spanish club are prepared to entertain offers of about £9m for the player, who left Old Trafford for Villarreal in 2004. Daily Mail

Tottenham should pick up the phone at that price not Manchester United. They have enough strikers who don’t get enough playing time on the roster.

Manchester United are edging closer to sealing a deal to sign Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Douglas Costa after the player’s agent confirmed his client’s interest in a possible move to Old Trafford.
Full story: caughtoffside.com

This is more like the kind of deal Manchester United will look to make. Was rumour to be going to the top clubs in football before signing with Shakhtar Donestsk. Don’t see him selling Costa on the cheap however.

Everton boss David Moyes wants Wigan hitman Hugo Rodallega to solve his club’s goalscoring problems. The Latics are likely to want £10m for the striker, who has a year to run on his contract.
Full story: Daily Mirror

In other words David Moyes wants Wigan regulated. Watched the Wigan-Blackpool game on Saturday. If there is a worse defender in the EPL than Craig Cathcart I haven’t seen him. It seems like every mistake Cathcart makes ends up in the back of the net.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will conduct a drastic clear-out of players this summer as he looks to make way for new additions. The likes of midfielders Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky and Denilson, plus strikers Carlos Vela and Nicklas Bendtner are all at risk of being sold. caughtoffside.com

I’ll believe it when I see it but I would be pleased to see this happen.

Chelsea are lining up former Netherlands and Ajax boss Marco van Basten as Carlo Ancelotti’s replacement, with Turkey manager Guus Hiddink – who was caretaker coach at Stamford Bridge for three months in 2009 – taking on the role of director of football. Daily Express

It will only work if Marco van Basten is Guus Hiddink puppet. Unless Hiddink is feeding tactis in van Basten ear don’t see it working.

Defender Jamie Carragher has praised Liverpool’s youngsters John Flanagan and Jack Robinson for the maturity they have shown since coming into the side. talkSPORT

Glad to see Carragher come out ok. Never like to see a player go off like that.

Jose Mourinho’s relationship with the Spanish media has soured further as Real Madrid prepare for the next Clásico confrontation. Mourinho was unhappy with reporters for refusing to talk to his assistant Aitor Karanka, who the Portuguese put up to deliver the pre-match briefing before Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Barcelona. Daily Telegraph

Mourinho likes to pick fights, good o bad that’s the way it is. To deflect from these series of games with Barcelona Mourinho decided to change the conversation by getting into it with the press. I did love how he wouldn’t take questions from the people who walked out in protest on Friday.

Manchester United have agreed a £17.8m deal for Atletico Madrid’s 20-year-old goalkeeper David de Gea as the replacement for Edwin van der Sar, who is due to retire at the end of this season. Daily Mail

You never know with goalies they run hot and cold at times but looking at the market David de Gea really is the best replacement Manchester United could find for van der Sar.

The Red Devils are also preparing a summer move for Celtic’s Biram Kayal, 22, as manager Sir Alex Ferguson looks for a youthful, box-to-box midfielder. CaughtOffside

Kayal goal in Celtic’s last match didn’t hurt his stock any. I’m sure Celtic isn’t going to mind turning a nice profit on Kayal.

Tottenham are leading Arsenal and Chelsea in the race to sign Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic, who will cost about £15m after an impressive season in the Bundesliga. talkSPORT

Why would Subotic leave Dortmund for Tottenham? I really do hope Dortmund can keep it’s core group of players around for awhile.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will seek a guarantee from new majority shareholder Stan Kroenke that he will not cash in on captain Cesc Fabregas this summer. Daily Mail

I don’t think Stan Kroenke knows who Cesc Fabregas is anyway.

Liverpool are considering making a bid for Ipswich’s £15m-rated forward Connor Wickham this summer.
Full story: the Times (subscription required)

Can’t see this happening but a front line of Wickham and Carroll wouldn’t be fun for defenders to push around in the box.

The Anfield club are also planning a swoop for former Liverpool striker Michael Owen, who is out of contract in the summer and is unlikely to be given a new deal at Manchester United. CaughtOffside

Would love to see how King Kenny would smooth this one over. Go to MLS Michael Owen.

And Reds boss Kenny Dalglish is looking at bringing in Paris St Germain defender Mamadou Sakho if his bid for Bolton centre-back Gary Cahill fails. Daily Mirror

Sakho has twice the upside of Gary Hill at about half the cost.

West Ham are watching Sporting Lisbon’s £8m-rated Portuguese international forward Yannick Djalo.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Loads of speed, doesn’t make the most of his scoring chances. There is your scouting report.

Carlo Ancelotti will see out the remainder of the season as Chelsea manager but is expected to leave in the summer as the club come to terms with what will be only the third season of the Roman Abramovich era to fail to yield a trophy.
Full story: the Guardian

Ancelotti has admitted that he expects to be sacked and has told friends he believes he has only seven matches left in charge at Stamford Bridge. the Times (subscription required)

There are going to be coaches lining up for the Chelsea but it’s turning into Real Madrid north where the second a coach fails he is shown the door. Rafa should be excited about this news. I kind of enjoying seeing his PR team pawn him off on TV stations as a warm and friendly pundit type. He has to keep his name out there.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has insisted there is no deal in place to sell Spanish full-back Jose Enrique to Liverpool. Evening Chronicle

Like Alan Pardew has any say in the matter. If Liverpool want him it’s been proven already that Newcastle will cash the cheque.

Aston Villa, Fulham and Sunderland could all be in the hunt for Tottenham defender Alan Hutton, who is set for a summer exit after a bust-up with manager Harry Redknapp. Goal.com

Hutton would fit in nicely with any of the three teams. It’s players like Hutton who can be had at fair market prices that teams in the middle of the pack should be going for.

Manchester United have agreed to sign Atletico Madrid goalkeeper David de Gea for 20m euros (£17.8m) on a five-year contract, according to Spanish radio station Onda Cero. AS (Spanish)

Best replacement Manchester United could find for van der Sar if this becomes a reality. David de Gea would be a number 1 goalie in any country in the world except from the country he is from sadly. It’s silly the depth Spain has in goal….and just about everywhere else.

Inter Milan will step aside and allow Manchester City to buy Udinese star Alexis Sanchez, provided City accept Inter’s offer of £25m for striker Carlos Tevez. Talksport

I realize Tevez is moody and all that but if there was one player I’d want to keep a hold onto if I was Manchester City it would be Carlos Tevez.

Stoke boss Tony Pulis is planning a bid for tough-tackling Galatasaray defender Servet Cetin, whose Ayibogan nickname translates as “a man who could choke a bear”. Daily Mirror

That is a great tag line to have.

Porto coach Andre Villas Boas is reported to have signed a pre-contract agreement to become Liverpool manager next season. caughtoffside.com

Heard about this on the weekend (thank you Harpoon on Twitter….hope you are working less this week.) Everyone knows my opinion of Villas Boas is through the roof and he would be a perfect fit for Liverpool but why would he lock himself into something at this point. Besides does Villas Boas really want to be the guy who kicked King Kenny to the retirement home? I still believe Villas Boas will be coaching Porto next year before deciding on which club he will make the jump too.

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has dismissed reports of a £40m move to Manchester City by tweeting a picture of himself kissing the Gunners badge and stating: “This club is in my heart.” Jack Wilshere on Twitter

I like Jack Wilshere on twitter….his first tweet once I started following him was about how much he enjoyed Jose Mourinho. From then on I knew Arsenal should sell Cesc to Manchester City for 40 million and build around Wilshere.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti admits his future is out of his hands after the team’s exit from the Champions League on Tuesday. Daily Telegraph

If Ancelotti leaves it’s going to take a strong man having to deal with a bunch of suits all having the knife aimed at your back that is upper management at Chelsea.

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has not given up hope of making the last four of the Champions League despite heading into Wednesday’s quarter-final second leg trailing Real Madrid 4-0. (Press Association)

Bale can’t say Tottenham have no shot at beating Real Madrid. On the plus side it should be a good game with Tottenham having little pressure on them.

Manchester City have held preliminary talks to sign veteran Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf when his contract with AC Milan expires at the end of the season. Daily Mail

I know they have Patrick Vieira but anytime you can adda winner like Clarence Seedorf you should at least look into it.

And City are set to offer more than 40m euros (£35m) for Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez, who is being courted by a number of Europe’s leading clubs. Daily Telegraph

Makes the report of United spending 45 for Sanchez and Marek Hamšík look even more foolish now.

Liverpool have already agreed a deal to sign Newcastle’s £15m-rated left-back Jose Enrique at the end of the season. The news was revealed by former Reds assistant boss Phil Thompson during an appearance as a pundit on Norwegian television. Daily Mail

You know if there was one club I’d want to pick off their best players from it’s Newcastle. Enrique is a good player but at that price Liverpool will never be able to re-coup their investment if he falters. Basically I’m Switzerland to this one. Also how much does a pundit gig on Norwegian television make?

Arsenal are planning to make a bid for £15m-rated Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila at the end of the season. TalkSPORT

Michael Essien light and that isn’t a bad thing. M’Vila would be a great fit for Arsenal if they ever did decide to dump the dead weight on the team.

Rangers’ manager in waiting Ally McCoist has demanded showdown talks with Madjid Bougherra after the Algerian defender announced his intention to quit Ibrox this summer. (Daily Record)

What is there to talk about? Bougherra wants to leave when his contract is over. Either they sell him in the summer or lose him for free the year after.

American businessman Stan Kroenke hopes to complete his £500m takeover at Arsenal and then urge Gunners manager Arsene Wenger to increase his transfer spending by using the £40m available for new signings. the Sun

Kroenke is bidding for full control of the Gunners in a deal valuing Arsenal at £731m but there is nothing in the agreement to prevent him using the club’s own cash to pay for it. Meanwhile, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who has a 27% stake in Arsenal, made a last-ditch approach to Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith for her shares on Sunday night. However, she rejected the offer after giving an irrevocable agreement to sell her 15.9% stake to Kroenke. the Guardian

This Arsenal tug of war has been long, drawn out and boring. The whoring of English football contiunes.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is in the race to sign Bolton’s England defender Gary Cahill – and will be the major player in a £20m auction. Daily Mirror

Bolton secretly must love reading about Manchester City being interested in Gary Cahill. I’m sure Gary Cahill is quite happy at the news also.

Manchester United are planning a £45m double raid on Serie A, with bids for Udinese winger Alexis Sanchez and Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik. caughtoffside.com

Maybe if they are planning to buy Alexis Sanchez and half of Marek Hamsik. 45 won’t be enough to get both of them.

Inter Milan boss Leonardo is hoping to lure Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri to the San Siro and will try to tempt Gunners boss Arsene Wenger with a bid of £31m. caughtoffside.com

Wnger should tell Inter that for an extra 14 million they can get Cesc instead.

Manchester United are planning a move to sign Real Madrid’s 16-year-old midfielder Enzo Zidane, son of the legendary Zinedine. caughtoffside.com

Unless Manchester United tries to sign him on a pre contract being he turns pro how does Real Madrid tell Zidane hey we are selling your son to Manchester. Something tells me that Enzo Zidane is juiced in at Real Madrid for the next couple of years.

John O’Shea cannot believe Manchester United team-mate Nani has not been nominated for the PFA player of the year award. O’Shea says: “Maybe because he is still eligible for the young player, people didn’t vote for him for the senior player. He is a constant threat.” Press Association

In other words people don’t like Nani. Doesn’t deserve to win the award but he should be up there.

This is Porto winning the 2003 UEFA Cup….after whipping Spartak Moscow 5-1 they are one step closer to doing it again. Great job by Benfica beating PSV 4-1 (revenge for the 1988 Champions League final…ok not really) Braga draw 1-1 against Dynamo Kyiv in another great result for the little team that could.

Bayern Munich have lined up Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan as their number one target during the summer and are willing to pay £12m for his signature. talksport

I’m sure Sunderland wuld love to sell their best striker by a country mile for the exact price they paid for him.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has opened the door for striker Emmanuel Adebayor to make his loan move to Real Madrid permanent. the Sun

Adebayor does offer something different and while it’s weird to say he’ll most likely have to take a pay cut in order to stay with Real Madrid.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has ruled out a £10m summer move for Ipswich striker Connor Wickham. the Sun

I realize Wickham signed a new deal but if I was Tottenham I’d still be making phone calls.

Lille are ready to sell winger Eden Hazard to Arsenal or Chelsea but want the 20-year-old Belgian star to be loaned straight back to them. talksport

Take about having your cake and eating it too. I could understand if Hazard was a year or two away from being a top player but he could start right now for either Arsenal or Chelsea.

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson admits the club face a battle hanging on to star striker Peter ­Odemwingie this summer. Daily Mirror

Peter ­Odemwingie has ben a great buy for the club but why talk about him leaving? It’s not like their has been massive amount of rumours on him.

Arsenal Supporters’ Trust have expressed their “considerable disappointment” over the Gunners’ recent results, but will reserve final judgement on the squad until the end of the season.
Full story: Daily Mail

Like every season no titles.

Sunderland have revealed they are being sued by one of their own fans who was knocked unconscious by a wayward strike from forward Djibril Cisse while watching the Black Cats train. Metro

This fan should be mocked on the streets.

Joey Barton has savaged his England rivals in a withering attacking, claiming he is the best midfielder in the country. Barton dismissed Frank Lampard as past it, Steven Gerrard as injury prone and Gareth Barry as “teacher’s pet”. Daily Mirror

He isn’t exactly wrong about Lampard, Gerrard and Barry.

Tottenham are in pole position to sign Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku for £17.5m in the summer.
Full story: Daily Mail

Pretty sure Tottenham was going to blow up their strikers but after Peter Crouch’s red card there is no doubt Tottenham will be signing one or two new strikers this off season.

The agent of Galatasaray playmaker Arda Turan has confirmed he is in talks with a top European side over a move for his client. Although the unnamed team are not English, his availability may revive interest from previous suitors Tottenham and Liverpool. Sport.co.uk

Of course agents would say this.

Real Madrid held back Tottenham supporters in the Bernabeu at the end of Tuesday’s meeting between the two sides but kept the visiting fans entertained with highlights of Spurs’ 3-2 win over north London rivals Arsenal last year. Metro

Sorry not a lot of note today but I just love this story. Barcelona would of turned off the lights.

Good luck to Porto, Benfica and Braga in the Europa League today.

Chelsea target Neymar has opened the door for a £30m move from Santos to Barcelona by saying he wants to play alongside Lionel Messi in the Catalan club’s attack. the Sun

Barcelona is like New York, if you can make it there you can make it anyway. If Barcelona only keep winning these games 1-0 then I can see them looking at Neymar.

Benfica midfielder Nicolas Gaitan has caught the eye of Liverpool scouts, who are now monitoring the 23-year-old Argentine international. Daily Mirror

Gaitan was brought in to replace Angel Di Maria. While he isn’t in his league Gaitan has come on nicely for Benfica, getting better each and every month.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will sign Charlton’s young left-back Carl Jenkinson. Arsenal will pay a fee that will rise to over £1m for the teenager, who has played a handful of first team games for the Addicks but is out of contract at the end of the season. Daily Mirror

Have to love that Arsenal transfer policy.

Chelsea are considering a move to re-sign Arjen Robben, who may be seeking a move in the summer if current club Bayern Munich do not qualify for the Champions League. Bayern currently occupy the final automatic spot for qualification to Europe’s premier club competition but are only a point ahead of Hannover 96. Full story: caughtoffside.com

I know things are different but why would Chelsea do this? Robben could leave Chelsea fast enough last time plus you know he will miss a one or two every season.

Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann has filed a lawsuit demanding compensation from Werder Bremen keeper Tim Wiese for claiming the 41-year-old belonged in the Muppet Show and suggesting he had mental health problems. Metro

I think it will be easy to prove that the mental health problems suffered along time ago.

Benfica’s Portugal international defender Fabio Coentrao has given up on Premier League clubs following up their interest in him and is on the verge of joining German side Bayern Munich.
Full story: Daily Mail

Would of been perfect for Liverpool. Will be interesting to see how Coentrao does in Germany. It’s not a long list of Portuguese players who have gone over to the Bundesliga. Paulo Sousa and Hugo Almeida are the only two which come to mind right away.

Valencia midfielder Juan Mata could still make a summer move to Manchester United or Manchester City, despite the striker’s agent previously denying any talks have taken place. The Spanish international, who is valued at about £25m, has been linked with City ever since his former team-mate David Silva moved to Eastlands. Metro

Valencia sold David Silva to pay off their debt. It make sense they will also sell Mata at some point to lower it further.

Arsenal are to offer full-back Gael Clichy to Everton in exchange for England star Leighton Baines.
Full story: Metro

I’m sure Clichy would love to trade Arsenal for Everton.

United are also considering joining the chase for Brazil’s new strike sensation Neymar, who scored twice for his country against Scotland in a recent friendly at the Emirates. Chelsea have been heavily linked with the Santos player. caughtoffside.com

It would shut people up about not spending the Ronaldo money on players. Neymar on one side and Nani on the other would be scary.

Gunners utility player Emmanuel Eboue may follow William Gallas from Arsenal to arch rivals Tottenham. Daily Mirror

My feelings on Eboue are quite clear. He is not a player who should play for a top team.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is planning to swing the axe to trim his White Hart Lane squad and help fund new additions this summer. Forwards Robbie Keane, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Giovani dos Santos and midfielders David Bentley and Niko Kranjcar could be among those sold. caughtoffside.com

Yep, that list sounds about right. You would think Tottenham could get between 20-30 million for those players. Plus don’t forget about Jamie O’Hara who is another good player Tottenham can cash in on.

Porto president Pinto Da Costa has made it clear that if any English clubs are interested in either of the Portuguese club’s strikers, Hulk or Falcao, they will have to meet his demands. The pair have scored 32 league goals between them this season and have reportedly been monitored by a host of Premier League clubs. talkSPORT

Both players would kill it in the EPL. Each of team would score between 15-20 goals in the league.

Arsenal are reportedly weighing up FC Porto manager Andre Villas Boas as a future replacement for Arsene Wenger. caughtoffside.com

Oh how I loved reading this. Villas Boas has already said he wants to coach this Porto team in the Champions League next seaosn so safe to say he is sticking around for another year but if I was Arsenal and I’ve finally decided to stop drinking Wenger Kool-Aid a winner like Villas Boas who is young and speaks perfect English would be my first choice.