Schuster Wants Eto’o - Report

El Mundo Deportivo states that Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster is eager to bring Samuel Eto’o from Barcelona to the capital, although he’ll face some oppositionin order to do so…

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Don’t know which transfer would be harder. Madrid quest for Ronaldo or signing a player from Barcelona. Why Barcelona would sell anyone to Madrid who they are trying to catch is beyond me.

Messi sulks over Barcelona’s Olympics snub

Lionel Messi is upset that Barcelona are fighting FIFA over his release for Argentina’s Beijing Olympics campaign.

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While I could understand Barcelona wanting to prevent Messi from playing in the Olympics it’s just not worth it if the player is going to be unhappy. Playing for ones country should always come first.

Ferguson: Ferdinand best defender in Europe

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has lauded Rio Ferdinand as arguably the best defender in Europe.

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Ferdinand isn’t even the best defender on his own team.

Inter To Sign Muntari Today

According to reports in Italy, Inter will officially complete the signing of Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari before the end of today.

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When Harry Redknapp says: “I don’t know anything about it. It’s a new one to me.” that means something is up. Find is hard to believe that Redknapp isn’t clued in on any major decisions involving his players.

Don’t exactly consider £25m a cut rate price. Makes sense that Tottenham would love to give Manchester United the finger after signing Michael Carrick and now unsettling Dimitar Berbatov.

Blackburn goalkeeper Brad Friedel is in limbo over his £2.5m switch to Aston Villa. The American’s transfer hinges on Rovers getting the green light to sign Spurs’ Paul Robinson. (The Sun)

Robinson has some big holes to fill. Yes he is younger and a former England number 1 but made too many mistakes both at Tottenham and for England. Mistakes that Friedel has rarely made playing for Blackburn.

Emmanuel Adebayor fears he has blown his move to Barcelona as the Spanish club are unimpressed by the Arsenal striker’s attitude and will not pay the £37.5m asking price. (The Sun)

Wouldn’t you also be unimpressed with his attitude? He has strung Arsenal along all summer flip flopping on almost a daily basis.

Furious Everton boss David Moyes will delay Andy Johnson’s £10m move to Fulham until he finds a replacement after the striker pulled out of a pre-season friendly at the last minute. (Daily Star)

But Moyes is already planning to spend the money from the Johnson sale on £20m-rated CSKA striker Wagner Love. (The Sun)

Would love to see Wagner Love play in the EPL just to be able to say Wagner Love more often. Just a great name.

Liverpool and Aston Villa remain at loggerheads over the transfer of Gareth Barry, with Villa boss Martin O’Neill maintaining that he still wants £18m straight cash for the England midfielder. (Daily Express)

Neither side appears to be blinking anytime soon. Martin O’Neill can’t back down in this spot. He’ll need to get every last penny wanted for Barry or else it will set the example in the dress room that Aston Villa is a stepping stone to a top four team and not a team that itself can become a top four team.

Sunderland boss Roy Keane is making a £6m move for Celtic’s Ireland winger Aidan McGeady. (Daily Mirror)

About two weeks to late. Stiliyan Petrov cost Villa £6m and that was two years ago. You can easily make the case that McGeady is worth double then what they received for Petrov.

West Ham plan to offer teenage striker Freddie Sears a long-term deal in a bid to stave off interest from Arsenal and Tottenham. (The Sun)

West Ham produces some of the best young British players. Too bad most of them end up playing for other teams.

TORONTO, July 23 (Reuters) - Almost a year after his aborted Major League Soccer (MLS) debut in Toronto, David Beckham returns to BMO Field on Thursday still the undisputed number one attraction as the league prepares for its annual All-Star clash against West Ham United.

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Quite looking forward to this all star game. The MLS best against a decent team in West Ham. You know the MLS starting 11 will want to show that the league isn’t second rate or comical as is the viewpoint of the British press. West Ham are very much in preseason but it will still be a good test for them heading into the EPL season. Should be an interesting game that hopefully will draw a decent rating on ESPN.

MLS fans had better brush up on their French. They also might want to learn a few bars of “O Canada” for good measure.

That’s because Montreal and Vancouver look certain to be candidates for the next two expansion teams added to the league, with a formal announcement coming around the MLS Cup this November.

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Currently their are 14 teams in MLS with Seattle and Philadelphia on the way. MLS has stated that they wish to have 18 teams by 2012 but as expansion fees get higher I’m sure that by 2016 the MLS will top off at 20 teams.

The four cities that should be awarded an MLS franchise.

17. Montreal - New soccer stadium, great city, with Toronto being a success the MLS will look to expand further into Canada and Montreal makes a logical choice. The strong Canadian dollar coupled with future rivalries with the likes of Toronto, New York and New England, all three cities close enough to traveling support to watch a game makes Montreal a logical choice.

18. Vancouver - A perfect choice to compliment the new Seattle franchise. Toronto before being awarded an MLS franchise has failed to support a soccer team since the Toronto Blizzard days in the NASL, Vancouver has always been able to maintain a strong local fan base for the Whitecaps.

19. St Louis - Strong history with the game as the 1950 U.S World Cup squad was mostly made up of players from St Louis. The NASL was started by a St Louis resident. Fast forward to modern days St Louis is a hot bed for soccer plus it would strengthen the mid west region of MLS.

20. Portland - College Sports aside they is only one game in town with the Trailblazers who has always had strong local support in good times and bad. Key theme with most of the expansion choices adding Portland will create a strong northwest base with Seattle and hopefully Vancouver.

Teams that should never get an MLS team.

1. Las Vegas - How many teams have to fold before the message is sent. a) Vegas is a shift work town. It’s isn’t a 9-5 job environment thus many people are either sleeping or working when the games start. Plus playing in the summer is bad enough in most cities. Playing in the heat of Las Vegas would almost be too much.

2. Any Florida city - They had their chance and failed with Miami and Tampa Bay folding. College/NFL aside people just don’t support pro teams when they not winning. Miami heat can’t draw fans when they not winning and the Florida Marlins have one of the worst attendance in Major League Baseball.

3. Ottawa - Government town with no real history with the game. That being the case many of the local residents come from other parts of the country thus making it tough for the team to build a relationship with the citizens.

The Italian press are unanimous in agreeing that Adrian Mutu will almost certainly leave Fiorentina in order to join Roma.

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20 million euro’s for a 29 year old can change a lot of minds it appears. A Mutu-Totti partnership could be the type of tandem that Cassano-Totti was suppose to be.

Giovinco agent ready for Juventus contract talks

The agent of Sebastian Giovinco says the attacker is happy at Juventus and keen to sign a new contract.

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Why Juventus haven’t locked Giovinco up is beyond me. They should do everything possible to sign him up and keep him happy long term.

Meira Completes Galatasaray Switch

Portuguese defender Fernando Meira has completed his move to Turkish side Galatasaray from Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart.

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Nice signing by Galatasaray. Meira won’t win any player of the game awards but he is a fine centre back. Captaining Stuttgart to the Bundesliga title in 2007 will be the crowning moment in his career.

Inter Land Brazilian Wunderkind

Vasco da Gama prodigy Philippe Coutinho Correia has been landed by Internazionale, according to the Brazilian club’s president…

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Will always think it’s bad for the game to see these kids leaving home so soon. At least Correia gets to develop more in Brazil before moving on to the pressure cooker that is Serie A in 2009.

Makes sense, new signing Jo is off to play in the Olympics for Brazil and Benjani is an injury doubt. Mark Hughes is going to want depth at the striker position to ensure he gets City off to the best start possible.

However, others say Hughes will make a £15m move for Blackburn striker Roque Santa Cruz. (Various)

Blackburn should sell Santa Cruz. The is a nice return for a striker that cost 3 million last year. Last year Blackburn kept Benni McCarthy despite Chelsea snooping around, a year later Blackburn has to have some regret not cashing in on McCarthy. The same could easily apply 12 months from now with Santa Cruz.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is set to shatter his signing record with a £10.75m bid for Everton striker Andrew Johnson. (Various)

Andrew Johnson will be no better than Brian McBride. That is a lot of money for a very average striker.

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has offered £5m plus Charles N’Zogbia for Celtic winger Aiden McGeady. (The Sun)

For which Celtic will say no too. N’Zogbia attitude won’t fly with the Celtic faithful and McGeady has committed himself to Celtic.

Wigan boss Steve Bruce is to offer Fulham £3m to bring back old favourite Jimmy Bullard to the JJB Stadium. (Daily Mirror)

Fulham can’t lose Bullard. It could of been easy for Bullard to be resigned to his faith at Fulham, not only coming back from a horrible injury but kept fighting until the last game to keep Fulham up. Teams such as Fulham need players like Bullard.

Sunderland goalkeeper Marton Fulop is the subject of a £6m bid by Stoke City. (Daily Express)

I find it hard to believe that Marton Fulop could cost almost double what West Brom paid to sign Scott Carson.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has taunted new Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari by telling him he has no chance of matching Jose Mourinho’s efforts at the Stamford Bridge helm. (Daily Mirror)

I’m sure Mourinho has sent Ferguson a thank you card for that. Scolari needless to say has some big shoes to fill.

Roma Close In On Malouda

Roma have edged closer to signing Chelsea winger Florent Malouda, according to the Corriere dello Sport.

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If Roma can manage to sign Malouda and Real Madrid’s Julio Baptista, Serie A will be an interesting league to watch with Roma, Juventus, Inter Milan, A.C Milan to go along with Fiorentina and Napoli all interesting teams to watch.

Essien inks new five-year Chelsea contract

Michael Essien has signed a new five-year contract at Chelsea.

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Great player, total team player and well deserving of that contract. When needed Essien has been willingly to play centre back and right back for the good of the team.

Madrid Have Asked About Kaká - Galliani

Real Madrid have reignited their interest in signing Kaká and have asked AC Milan about his availability which could indicate that the quest for Cristiano Ronaldo is stumbling.

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Galliani is a piece of work. It’s like he is trying to unsettled Kaka. A cynic would say he is trying to drum up interesting to drive his price even higher.

Monaco Complete Adu Signing

Freddy Adu has completed his switch to Monaco on a season-long move.

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The Olympics were going to seal Adu’s seat on the bench with Benfica this season so this move should be for the best. All for playing for one’s country just bad timing when it comes to Adu. Benfica however would be foolishly giving up on Adu without giving him a fair look.

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New coach = new ideas and Xavier wasn’t a part of Gullit plans going forward. To be honest Xavier never seemed to find his footing playing for the Galaxy after a decent run at Middlesbrough in 2007 so him being released can’t come as a shock. With that said a coach shouldn’t throw a player under the bus after he is released. It isn’t like Xavier was accused of not trying out on the pitch.

On a personal front never could quite forgive Xavier hand ball call against France in the semi finals of Euro 2000 that is until he was in the stands with the fans during the semi finals of the 2006 World Cup. You could tell that he wanted Portugal to win and it’s rare to find non big name players watching the National team live.

Blackburn are willing to sell Bentley - but only if an offer of more than £18m comes in. (Times)

£18m million seems to be the magic number. First with Villa and Berry, now with Bentley. Could only imagine a foreign club calling about Bentley and laughing once that 18 million number is thrown. Not because Bentley is a bad player, just because with so much money pouring into the EPL British players become inflated.

Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho has given up hope of signing Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard. (The Sun)

Somehow I don’t think this story is over yet. It would be foolish to let Lampard rot on the last year of his deal. Chelsea should either find a way to sign him or send him on his way.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich invited AC Milan representatives on to his personal yacht - but the Italian club still refused to sell Brazilian playmaker Kaka. (Sun)

Maybe those AC Milan representatives just finished watching the Sopranos episode where Tony and crew took Big Puss out on a boat cruise.

Aston Villa are after 6ft 7in Valencia striker Nicola Zigic. He is available for £5m. (Sun)

No clue why Villa need another striker with Carew, Gabriel Agbonlahor, and Marlon Harewood but I do like Zigic. He had a great season two years ago in La Liga playing at Racing but never seem to fit in at Valencia last year.

Villa will sign Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel for £2m as a short-term solution before snapping up Wayne Hennessey from Wolves in a year’s time. (Daily Mirror)

Top Five Goalies in the EPL

1. Petr Cech
2. Edwin van der Sar
3. David James
4. Pepe Reina
5. Brad Friedel

Sorry Chris Kirkland (Hurt too much) Joe Hart (give it another year) Craig Gordon (see Joe Hart) Shay Given (toughest choice to leave out)

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos has been told to increase his £16m offer for Zenit St Petersburg forward Andrei Arshavin. Zenit want £21.5m. (Sun)

The market for Arshavin has been drying up. Barcelona have gone with Hleb and haven’t gone all out to sign Arshavin. Chelsea hasn’t made a move either. Quite frankly Arshavin is just too old for that kind of transfer fee. There is no re-sell value there like signing a 23-24 year old.

Defender Lucas Neill says he is not leaving West Ham, despite being linked with a move to Galatasaray. (Sun)

That isn’t welcomed news to West Ham who want to dump his large contract. Could of gone to Liverpool in the January 2007 transfer window but signed with West Ham who doubled what Liverpool was willingly to pay so they have no one to blame but themselves.

Kevin Keegan is at loggerheads with the Newcastle board, who are ready to sell James Milner for more than £10m. (Daily Star)

King Kev appears to have his hands tied so far in the transfer market.

Newcastle boss Keegan is confident Charles N’Zogbia will stay at St James’ Park. (Daily Mirror)

But will N’Zogbia be happy at Newcastle?

Keegan is thought to be pondering a bid for former Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes, who has fallen out of favour at Atletico Madrid. (Guardian)

Mentioned this many months ago but if Reyes hated life in London he’ll loath living in Newcastle. Worth taking a gamble on however if Reyes is willing to come back to England.

Former Colombia keeper Rene Higuita’s ’scorpion kick’ has been voted football’s greatest trick in an online poll. His audacious effort in a friendly against England at Wembley beat Ronaldinho’s ‘elastic dribble’ into second place. Cristiano Ronaldo’s step-overs tied for third. (Daily Mirror)

Forgot about this. Gotta love the Rick James haircut.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has backed Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson’s stance against Real Madrid over winger Cristiano Ronaldo, accusing the Spanish club of being “irresponsible”. (Daily Mirror)

Don’t agree with Wenger on a lot of fronts (not that he is losing sleep over this fact) but I do agree with him here. Teams should work the phones when trying to sign a player instead of trying to work the press.

Makelele Bids Blues Adieu

Claude Makelele is a Chelsea player no longer after Paris St Germain announced that they have reached a deal with the veteran French midfielder.

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35 year old players are generally not in a new coach’s plans and that appears to be the case here. Gave Chelsea five great years and has to be considered one of the best holding midfielders of his era.

Boss Mancini not heading to Moscow, says agent

MILAN, July 20 (Premier League) - Roberto Mancini’s agent has poured cold water on the idea that the former Internazionale boss will take over the reigns at CSKA Moscow.

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CSKA Moscow could offer Mancini a lot of money but it would still be considered a step down. Mancini is another coach who would be better off waiting a year to see which coaching jobs open up next summer.