Off season rumours and transfers

[devilsadvocate]

Here you go boys...Stevie Bywater in action

FORTUNATELY for Spurs and UNFORTUNATELY for your Rams, Bywater is back at the farm, after Ramos came to his senses and realised what he was doing was madness. Apparently we are looking at Real Zaragoza's Ceasar Sanchez?

Spurs are on the verge of signing CB Vedran Corluka from Citeh. Also made a monster offer for David Villa. Can say I'm at both of these prospects.

Smo more transfer/football news courtesy of the BBC:

Manchester United will try to convince Cristiano Ronaldo to stay one more season by promising to then let him go for £65m. (The Sun)
But sources close to Ronaldo say he is refusing to return to Manchester United to discuss his future with Sir Alex Ferguson. (The Mirror)
Tottenham are ready to smash the British transfer record in a £32m swoop for Valencia's David Villa - and will sell Dimitar Berbatov to Manchester United to fund the move. (The Sun)
Liverpool are expected to raise £18m to buy Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry by the end of the week. (The Mirror) - 'bout bloody time!
Sunderland manager Roy Keane is on the verge of completing an £8.5m swoop for Manchester United striker Louis Saha. (Various) - could really work out for the Black Cats if he stays fitNewly-promoted West Brom will try and land midfielder Michael Tonge from Sheffield United with a £2m offer. (The Sun)
Everton are sizing up a cut-price £1.5m deal for Newcastle midfielder Alan Smith. (Daily Star)
Portsmouth plan to sign Nicky Shorey from Reading and Tottenham's Younes Kaboul. (The Mirror)
Tottenham look set to splash more cash as they are on the verge of a shock £9.5m move for Manchester City defender Vedran Corluka. (Various) - £9.5m? try £7 stoopid
Hull are set to make a bid for Benfica's Portuguese striker Ariza Makukula. (The Mirror)
Everton are ready to agree a compromise deal to ease through Andy Johnson's move to Fulham after the London club refused to meet the £13m asking price. (The Mirror) £13m for Andy Johnson. Sheesh, what does everyone see in this guy? Am I missing something?
Aston Villa are targeting Middlesbrough defender Luke Young. (The Guardian)
Arsenal are set to increase their interest in Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red. (Telegraph)
Ipswich and Hull are both chasing the signature of former Bolton midfielder Ivan Campo. (The Mirror)
Tottenham set their sights on Real Zaragoza keeper Cesar Sanchez, who is available for a nominal fee. (Daily Mail)
Robinho, the Real Madrid and Brazil forward, says he is mulling over offers from several clubs, including Chelsea. (The Times)
Zenit St Petersburg will open talks with Andrei Arshavin's agent to try and resolve the striker's proposed move to Tottenham. (Various) - my news says this is off
Eduardo hopes to play for Arsenal before Christmas as he continues his recovery from a horror leg break last February. (The Sun) - Amazing. Hope he's not coming back too soon. I've had the same injury and only now - 2 years on does mine feel back to 95%. That was an ugly day of football last season
FA chiefs are set for another showdown with the Premier League over plans for an international round of matches during a winter break starting in January 2011. (The Mirror) - Let it die it's natural death
West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace has cooled speculation that the club could be sold after revealing he has received no firm offers. (Daily Express)
Indian mobile phone company Reliance Communications denied claims that owner Anil Ambani was planning to buy Newcastle. (The Guardian)
But experts on the sub-continent say Ambani could make an investment using his personal wealth. (Daily Telegraph)
QPR chairman says he will use his links at Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and "other top clubs" to bring the best players to the London club. (Various) - Any names?
The FA will crack down on player misbehaviour launching its campaign of 'Respect' for officials. (The Independent) - Could be the end of Wayne Rooney and John Terry - thank the Lord

[JK]

Reckon Benitez would privately be spewing if the sale of Keane helped Spurs buy Villa, surely the Valencia frontman would have been his ideal choice had the Yanks provided any kind of funding for him.

[devilsadvocate]

Reckon Benitez would privately be spewing if the sale of Keane helped Spurs buy Villa, surely the Valencia frontman would have been his ideal choice had the Yanks provided any kind of funding for him.

That's what I'm thinking. Although Rafa's had a long time admiration for Keano apparently.
If we get Villa in for Keane and hang onto Berbatov, as much as it sucks to see the back of Keano, we will have upgraded our strike force for a nil net investment.

IMO, Spurs greatest asset is our chairman Daniel Levy - one of the shrewdest operators in the business.

Everton seem to be really in the pooh, with their Chairman quitting and a temporary freeze being imposed on player purchases due to ailing finances. Spurs will hapilly accept Arteta and Cahill in a fire-sale!

[mighty hounds]

Reckon Benitez would privately be spewing if the sale of Keane helped Spurs buy Villa, surely the Valencia frontman would have been his ideal choice had the Yanks provided any kind of funding for him.

That's what I'm thinking. Although Rafa's had a long time admiration for Keano apparently.
If we get Villa in for Keane and hang onto Berbatov, as much as it sucks to see the back of Keano, we will have upgraded our strike force for a nil net investment.

IMO, Spurs greatest asset is our chairman Daniel Levy - one of the shrewdest operators in the business.

Everton seem to be really in the pooh, with their Chairman quitting and a temporary freeze being imposed on player purchases due to ailing finances. Spurs will hapilly accept Arteta and Cahill in a fire-sale![/quote]

tottenham still wouldnt make the top 4 with those two....and villa to spurs u kididng me

[devilsadvocate]

tottenham still wouldnt make the top 4 with those two....and villa to spurs u kididng me

Rather than fire back with a smartass comment, which I would have done in years past, I'll sit back and see what happens on the pitch. You'll probably be right though - years of supporting Spurs has turned me into a cynic!

Don't be surprised if Villa is in Lillywhite by 31 August though - Valencia are in the pooh financially and Villa wants a move to a bigger club.

Who do you support?

[JK]

Last I heard was that Villa was happy at Valencia and the Valencia gaffer wouldn't let him go, however given their financial issues he might not have any say in that matter.

[mighty hounds]

tottenham still wouldnt make the top 4 with those two....and villa to spurs u kididng me

Rather than fire back with a smartass comment, which I would have done in years past, I'll sit back and see what happens on the pitch. You'll probably be right though - years of supporting Spurs has turned me into a cynic!

Don't be surprised if Villa is in Lillywhite by 31 August though - Valencia are in the pooh financially and Villa wants a move to a bigger club.

Who do you support?

Arsenal

[devilsadvocate]

Who do you support?

Arsenal

Bloody Gooners!

You should get on the SA Footy fantasy league.

[devilsadvocate]

West Ham have just sacked Freddie Ljungberg:

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3941298,00.html

They must be really in the crap financially. Their wage bill would be monsterous. Freddie obviously didn't sell as many strips as the club were banking on after his £3m transfer from the scum.

[JK]

Reports now suggest that Spurs are lining up a bid for Diego Forlan ... Fair drop in class between he and Villa (although still quality)

[devilsadvocate]

Reports now suggest that Spurs are lining up a bid for Diego Forlan ... Fair drop in class between he and Villa (although still quality)

I think that one's a smoke and mirrors bluff, but who bloody knows - so much shit flying around at the moment. Atletico aren't generally a selling club unless they have an upgrade on the go, which isn't rumored to be the case. I think he scored 10 from 23 starts least season, so reasonable, but no Villa.

Spurs ITK say Villa is on, then off, then on, then off and nobody knows what the heck's happening with Arshaven. Corluka will be a Yid tomorrow though .

Ronnie is staying with Man Yoo and Fergie the Red Nosed Reigndeer says he doesn't need any new signings because "after all the current squad didn't do too badly last season". Arrogant bastard, but he's right!

Bolton have signed Danny Shittu from Watford.

Fulham have signed Swiss keeper Pascal Zuberbuhler as cover to Schwartzer - lets hope it stays that way!

Bit slower on the Transfer news at the moment, presumably as managers are trying to work with what they've got.

[devilsadvocate]

OK scrap that last sentence.

Fulham have completed the deal for Andy Johnson, paying an initial £10.5m for the OVERRATED striker.

Luke Young has moved to Villa from Boro for around £5m, which I think is a great bit of business by Martin O'Neil.

And Arshavin has gone on strike at Zenit St Petersburg, refusing to play in the Russian Cup over his transfer. He wants to move to Spurs, but Zenit want £27m for him and Spurs are only willing to for out £20m odd. Great - another dummy spitting forward.

[mighty hounds]

OK scrap that last sentence.

Fulham have completed the deal for Andy Johnson, paying an initial £10.5m for the OVERRATED striker.

Luke Young has moved to Villa from Boro for around £5m, which I think is a great bit of business by Martin O'Neil.

And Arshavin has gone on strike at Zenit St Petersburg, refusing to play in the Russian Cup over his transfer. He wants to move to Spurs, but Zenit want £27m for him and Spurs are only willing to for out £20m odd. Great - another dummy spitting forward.

the guy has one good tournment and now he thinks hes the shit. the manager should let him rot in the reserves...............zenit would prob be a better club then spurs anyway just joking DA

[JK]

Fulham have completed the deal for Andy Johnson, paying an initial £10.5m

WTF!

Surely that's a mis-print???

[devilsadvocate]

Fulham have completed the deal for Andy Johnson, paying an initial £10.5m

WTF!

Surely that's a mis-print???

Unbelievable isn't it. I think I posted a few pages back about how Johnson was rated at £12m!!!

Pretty sure the total package including match based add ons etc is in the vacinity of that amount. Al Fayed should just pay me £100k to be crap and save his money.

[devilsadvocate]

And Arshavin has gone on strike at Zenit St Petersburg, refusing to play in the Russian Cup over his transfer. He wants to move to Spurs, but Zenit want £27m for him and Spurs are only willing to for out £20m odd. Great - another dummy spitting forward.

the guy has one good tournment and now he thinks hes the s***t. the manager should let him rot in the reserves...............zenit would prob be a better club then spurs anyway just joking DA

That's how I feel TBH. I was chatting about Arshavin (Butt Man I'm calling him from now on!) with a gooner mate from home and he rates Buttman highly, but I was arguing that he's overrated, unproven in a big league, inconsistent and that Villa would be a far better buy.

[mighty hounds]

And Arshavin has gone on strike at Zenit St Petersburg, refusing to play in the Russian Cup over his transfer. He wants to move to Spurs, but Zenit want £27m for him and Spurs are only willing to for out £20m odd. Great - another dummy spitting forward.

the guy has one good tournment and now he thinks hes the s***t. the manager should let him rot in the reserves...............zenit would prob be a better club then spurs anyway just joking DA

That's how I feel TBH. I was chatting about Arshavin (Butt Man I'm calling him from now on!) with a gooner mate from home and he rates Buttman highly, but I was arguing that he's overrated, unproven in a big league, inconsistent and that Villa would be a far better buy.

to be honest, ive been following soccer for a very long time and this guy is 27 or somehting i beleive, the first time i heard about him was wen i watched the russia - netherlands quarter final and he sent my team out with a bang

[RoosterMarty]

AJ is a very handy player, I don't mind the way he goes about his football as he can be a nuisance at times and does score some important goals but 10.5 mill, **** that is a bit over the top, he's hardly a young lad either.

[mighty hounds]

AJ is a very handy player, I don't mind the way he goes about his football as he can be a nuisance at times and does score some important goals but 10.5 mill, f*** that is a bit over the top, he's hardly a young lad either.

to be honest i reckon he was in his prime with palace, he hasnt seemed to capture it since he'd left there in 06.

[devilsadvocate]

AJ is a very handy player, I don't mind the way he goes about his football as he can be a nuisance at times and does score some important goals but 10.5 mill, f*** that is a bit over the top, he's hardly a young lad either.

to be honest i reckon he was in his prime with palace, he hasnt seemed to capture it since he'd left there in 06.

Agree with both of those points. He's a great championship player, but not a player you want if you're trying to break into the top 4. Will probably be good for Fulham against the lawer placed sides. Better not bloody score against Spurs again!!!!

At Palace he banged them in at better than a goal every other week, so I guess my criticism is a bit harse, but RM you're right - £10.5m is silly money. No doubt the Cottage faithfull will be all over him if he has a barren patch.