Close Season News Updates

[johntheclaret]

With the CCC playoff over today, I thought I would start a new topic to keep you fella's updated with any news, transfers and gossip I can find.

[johntheclaret]

Arsenal:
Polish keeper Fabianski has joined the club on a long term contract for an undisclosed fee.
Keeper Mart Poom has joined relegated Watford for an undisclosed fee.
Aston Villa:
Berger agreed a new 1 year contract
JLloyd Samual leaves to join bolton on a free
b4stards:
Reject £350k offer from Ipswich for Jeffers. rovers will let him leave for the right money??
Charlton:
Kishishev considers offer to join Leciseter. Is out of contract at Charlton so can leave on a free
Chris Iwulemo has joined on a free from Colchester
Chelski:
Ordered to release Nigerian Mikel Obi for next weeks Nations Cup
Steve Sidwell agrees terms with blues and will join on a free after contract expires July 1st.
In battle with Italian giants Juventus as Lampard delays over contract talks.
Everton:
Carsley agrees 1 year extension to stay at Toffees
Fulham:
Midfielder Matty Collins will complete move to Swansea on July 1st
Liverpool:
Crouch told by Benitez he has a future at Liverpool.
CEO Parry deies Benitez is unhappy with progress made over new signings. Parry says American owners Gillett and Hicks will provide cash for Benitez targets.
Have signed Hungarian forwards Nemeth (18) and Andra Simon(17) from MTK Hungary. after the pair excelled in Uefa U17 Championships 2006
Along with Chelski in battle for WHU striker Carlos Tevez. Craig Bellamy has no plans to quit Reds even if Benitez plans to use him as bait to land Tevez.
In talks with Marseille for the sale of Cisse
Man City:
Ex England coach Eriksson issues City with an invitation to contact him over the managerial vacancy.
Man U:
Defender Gabriel Heinze is close to a £5m switch to Real Madrid.
Middlesbrough:
Manager angry over time Viduka taking to decide if his future lies with the club.
Portsmouth:
Have signed Charlton defender Hriedarsson on a free. Hriedarsson invokes clause in contract allowing him to leave if they were relegated.
Sheffield U
New boss Bryan robson isists Hulse will stay at the club next season.
Spurs:
Keane signs new 5 year deal keeping him at the club till 2012.
Gareth Bales, Welsh International defender has signed from Southampton for £5m up front with a further £5m in installments.
Poised to make £12m swoop for Portuguese wonder kid Nani from Sporting Lisbon.
Watford:
Loanee keeper Foster returns to Man U
Wigan caption Matt Jackson has signed on a free after rejecting new offer from JJB
West Ham:
Reo-Coker handed in transfer request. Hammers will listen to offers of around £8m
Benayoun signs new 5 year contract, commiting himself to WHU until 2012
Birmingham:
Announce profit warning, despite postinig £3.4m profit for the 1st six months, Chairman David Sullivan warned the club is likely to make an overall loss for the season.
Cardiff:
Close to signing Hibs out of contract striker Chriss Killen.
Tony Capaldi, out of contract midfielder has signed from Plymouth
Colchester:
Forward Richard Garcia delays over decision to sign new deal, citing family illness as reason. Garcia returned to Australia after news that his father was ill.
Coventry:
Have signed Hartlepool keeper Konstantopoulos on a free transfer
In return Hartlepool sign Covertry keeper Lee-Barrett as replacement
Derby:
Set to get a cash windfall after winning promotion to the EPL, which is worth in excess £60m next year.
Leeds U
Duncan Revie, son of formaer manager Don, has provided the £10m proof of funds required to authenticate a bid for the club. (Think you may have read something about Leeds on a previous post). Revie meeting with club addministrators KPMG to discuss figures prior to proceeding. The club, in administration, has debts of £35m. Revie claims he has a middle eastern backer.
Leicester:
Appointed Martin Allen as new manager. Former MK Dons boss signs 3 year deal.
Plymouth
Announce 5 young players have been given professional contracts. Kendall, Smith, Watts, Mason and ex Port Vale apprentice Moult.
Preston:
Star striker Nugent will make decision of his future after playing for England in U21 champoinships to be played in Holland. Nugent linked with move to Everton
QPR:
Striker Nygaard keen to resolve his future when current contract expires in the summer. Will be offered a new 1 year deal.
****:
Appointed veteran ex-keeper Kevin Pressman as new goalkeeping coach
Southampton:
Release Algerian midfielder Belmadi.
Wolves:
Steve Morgan is set to take over after buying 100% of club president Jack Haywards shares. Haywood will sell all the shares for one £10 (ten) paymeny on the condition Morgan invests £30m into the club. Morgan, founder and owner of house building giant Redrow, twice tried to purchase Liverpool.

Other News:
Former England star Paul Gasgoigne has undergone emergency surgery for a perforated ulcer wilst celebrating his 40th birthday
John McBeth to face FIFA investigation days before he is due to be made Britain's new FIFA Vice-President after accusations of racism. McBeth suggested African and Carribean associations were corrupt. The scot also claimed he won the vote because other countries hate England.

[JK]

Cheers for that JTC, greatly appreciated as always.

On the Liverpool front, Eto'o has been spruiking a bit lately so sounds like there's some activity behind the scenes there ... Also O'Neill is reportedly keen to get Bellamy across to Villa if he can.

Any news on Berbatov (last I heard Man U were leading chase to sign him ahead of Chelsea and Liverpool)?

[RoosterMarty]

I believe Berbatov plans to stay loyal to Spurs.

[JK]

Chelsea apparently pushing for Tevez now too

[johntheclaret]

RM is right C_P. Berbatov reported to commit to Spurs.

[johntheclaret]

Man U expected to complete the signing of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern for £17m this week.
Defender Gabrial Heinze, who is wanted by Villareal, Juventus and Real Madrid, could buy out the remainder of his contract, in a bid to move away from Old Trafford.

Derby chairman Peter Gadsby set to have urgent talks with boss Billy Davies to clarify the scots future at Pride Park. This is after Davies refused to guarantee he would be at Derby next year after a rift with the board over the failure to appoint David Kelly as his assistant.

Everton hope to seal deal to sign Sheff Utd's Phil Jagielka after the blade utility man told boss Brian Robson he wants to leave. Jagielka has a release clause that will be triggered if Everton meet the valuation. Everton have offered £4m
Also offered £3m for Sheffield Weds defender Frankie Simek.

Fulham have targeted Leeds striker David Healy.
Chaiman A Fayed has promised manager Sanchez "significant" funds, reputed to be arouond £10m, will be available for players this summer. It is expected that Healy will join the London outfit for around £1m. QPR's Lee Cook and Aston Villa's Steve Davis also on the shopping list.

Leeds chairman believes the club will not survive creditors vote to reject his buy back bid. Administrators KPMG agreed to sell the club back to Bates but the deal has not yet been finalised.

Man City's hope of luring ex Chelski and current Parma coach Claudio Ranieri to Eastlands has been dealt a blow after Italian club has insisted they want him to stay.
Ex Chelski manager Ruud Gullit also wants to become the next City manager

Spurs striker, Dimitar Berbetov, linked with Man U, Chelski and Liverpool, will sign a new deal with the White Hart Lane club within the next two weeks.

West Brom await player exodus after failing to reach the EPL in last weeks play off finals. Jason Kouumas, Curtis Davies and Diomansey Kamara have already been linked with moves away.

Portsmouth still waiting to agree personal terms with Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari over his £7m move.
Also launched a £10.5m swoop for Lyon's Alou Diarra and Rennes striker John Utaka.

Norwich have made a bid for **** and League 1 top scorer Billy Sharpe.

West Ham midfielder Reo-Cocker wants a transfer to either Arsenal or Man U.

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has urged the club to re-sign Newcastle striker Michael Owen.
Centre-back Sami Hyypia have the attentions of Newcastle, Fulham, Reading and Wigan, all bidding for his signature.

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce will raid former club Bolton to make Tal Ben Haim his 1st signing.

Middlesbro' will move for Fulhams Michael Brown, if they fail to get Joey Barton

[McAlmanac]

West Ham midfielder Reo-Cocker wants a transfer to either Arsenal or Man U.

Strange that a Premier League captain would want to play reserves....

[Blue Boy]

Great work JC

Beats googlin and yahooin - for all that info

[redden whites]

Agreed Thanks a million JohnTC

[Start]

Manchester United have announced that they have agreed to buy exciting Brazilian youngster Anderson from Porto and Nani from Sporting Lisbon. Terms have been agreed 'in principle' with the club for the young midfielders, who can also play wide or up front.


A United statement said: 'Personal terms have been agreed and a formal announcement will take place once the necessary administrative procedures, including a medical have been completed.'

[johntheclaret]

I tend to keep an eye in the top two divisions, but if there are any fans of other clubs out there who would like to hear of any news, just let me know

JTC.

Man U
Agree deal to sign Brazilian Anderson from Porto (19 y/o attacking midfielder) for £17m
Enquire about availabliity of Berbatov from Spurs but have baulked at £40m price tag.
Also signed winger Nani from Sporting Lisbon for also £17m
This is the third signing by Man U after securing the services of Owen Hargreaves from Bayern for £17.5m
Reports that Fegie is also in the hunt for Barca's Eto'o and Ajax's Klass Jan Huntelaar.
Giggs quits international stage. will retire after Saturday's game against Czech Republic. Career spans 16 years and 64 caps.

Man C
Claudio Ranieri agrees terms to become next City mangager if ex Thai president Thaksin Shinawatra takes over after former player Ray Ranson has withdrawn his interest in buying the club..

Chelski
Crespo to stay at Inter on loan for another season. Reported that he will join Milan on a free at the end of next year. Chelski paid £18.5m for him.
Milan also enquire over Shevchenko return for season loan.

Arsenal
Theirry Henry admitted about being annoyed at lack of success and called for Wenger to bring in some experienced players in the summer so the Gunners can mount a serios challenge next year.
Targetting WBA captain Curtis Davies.

Aston Villa
Lee Hendrie has hinted he would like to join new boys Derby County in the summer. Is a free agent after serving 13 years at Villa.

Bolton
Will play in the Peace Cup tournament in South Korea. In same groups as Chivas (Mexico), Udinese (Italy) and Sungnam Ilhwa (Korea)

West Ham
Have bid £8.5m for Newcastle midfielder Scott Parker

Portsmouth
Have signed centre backs Herman Hreidarsson and Sylvan Distin.
Linvoy Primus also set to sign new deal with the club

Reading to join Bolton in the Peace Cup tournament in South Korea. Reading in group with S-Pulse (Japan), River Plate (Argentina) and Lyon (France)
Keen on signing Luton's Leon Barratt but not at £3m asking price.

Spurs
Aaron Lennon undergoes surgery on knee ligaments.

Burnley
Hungarian keeper Kiraly signs two year deal on a free from Crystal Palace.

Coventry
Will go the the Football League tribunal after failing to agree terms with Cambridge U over transfer fee for striker Bobby Simpson.
Interested in signing Ipswich striker (ex Claret) Alan Lee for £400k
Aslo lining up deals for Southend pair Jamal Campbell-Ryce and Luke Gutteridge

Leeds U
KPMG delay over deal to sell club to former Chairman Ken Bates awaiting for creditors to agree a CVA. And guess what, the Bates deal will wipe out a substantial chunk of the £35m debt. (Told you so ).
For those not accountancy minded a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is an agreement between the buyers and the creditors where the creditors accept a much smaller amount than they are owed based on a p/£. Example they might get 10 pence for every pound £ they are owed. Bates has told the creditors that unless thay agree, the deal is off and the club will fold.

Oldham Athletic
Agree deal to sign Lee Hughes when he is released from prison. Hughes is currently serving a 6 year sentence after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving in 2004 and due for release in the summer. (Tough call by Oldham)

Liverpool
Boss Benitez targets £12m Valencia winger David Silva
Another target is Benfica winger Simao Sabrosa and is prepared to offer Djibril Cisse in part exchange.
Also expected to sign Lyon midfielder Florent Malouda.

Newcastle
Chasing out of favour City midfielder Joey Barton and may let Scott Parker go to WHU for £8.5m

Cardiff
Skipper Darren Purse now set to agrre new deal with Bluebirds.

Wolves
McCarthy lining up £400k move for out of contract Nottm Forest winger Kris Commons.

Leicester
to sign Arjan de Zeeuw after being released by Wigan

Derby
More turmoil between coach Davies and the board, this time Davies said to be very unhappy because of a dispute over bonus payments to players for gaining promotion. Mc A, not the start Derby wanted to their EPL campaign.

Everton
Public consultation to be caried out on plans to move club out of Liverpool. Clud set to build new 55,000 seater staduim in Kirkby, to include shops, supermarket and hotel.

[JK]

I reckon Liverpool need to look at upping the ante in terms of the $$ they spend, they have failed to unearth any "special" players over the last 6 or 7 years when their top spend on an individual has been around 14mil.

They have a very good workmanlike squad, but other than Stevie G there is no player of the highest quality and I think that showed at times in all comps this year.

Sure they can still make their bargin buys, but you generally get what you pay for, and they need to target 2 "top shelf" types imho.

[MST]

I reckon Liverpool need to look at upping the ante in terms of the $$ they spend, they have failed to unearth any "special" players over the last 6 or 7 years when their top spend on an individual has been around 14mil.

They have a very good workmanlike squad, but other than Stevie G there is no player of the highest quality and I think that showed at times in all comps this year.

Sure they can still make their bargin buys, but you generally get what you pay for, and they need to target 2 "top shelf" types imho.

Sit tight CP. My mail from family and friends on Merseyside is Rafa will be spending some big coin. The following have all been linked to LFC;

Tevez
Simao Sabrosa
David Villa
Fernando Torres
Florent Malouda
David Silva
Daniel Alves
Samuel E'to
Michael Owen
Mancini
Darren Bent

[RoosterMarty]

The first signing Liverpool need to look for is a gun striker who can finish, that is their one major weakness at the moment. They dominated a lot of games this season yet couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and that cost them plenty of times.

Great to see United have signed Anderson and Nani, I don't know much about them but from all reports they are quality.

[JK]

I reckon Liverpool need to look at upping the ante in terms of the $$ they spend, they have failed to unearth any "special" players over the last 6 or 7 years when their top spend on an individual has been around 14mil.

They have a very good workmanlike squad, but other than Stevie G there is no player of the highest quality and I think that showed at times in all comps this year.

Sure they can still make their bargin buys, but you generally get what you pay for, and they need to target 2 "top shelf" types imho.

Sit tight CP. My mail from family and friends on Merseyside is Rafa will be spending some big coin. The following have all been linked to LFC;

Tevez
Simao Sabrosa
David Villa
Fernando Torres
Florent Malouda
David Silva
Daniel Alves
Samuel E'to
Michael Owen
Mancini
Darren Bent

Yeah I have heard of all of those links aswell mate, and hope that some of them come off.

From that I would probably target Tevez as a priority ... Malouda will sign I reckon and I think Simao is agood chance aswell.

Will lose any of Bellamy, Cisse (both guaranteed), Crouch, Alonso, Kewell, Gonazalez, Aurelio, Carson, Hyppia, Paletti.

Agree with RM, need a top shelf finisher up front and another top class defender imho.

[heater31]

Everton
Public consultation to be caried out on plans to move club out of Liverpool. Clud set to build new 55,000 seater staduim in Kirkby, to include shops, supermarket and hotel.

What is the fans reaction to this JTC? I think I have read somewhere that the last time they tried this the fans shot them down in flames.

Any news of the Player movements

[MST]

I reckon Liverpool need to look at upping the ante in terms of the $$ they spend, they have failed to unearth any "special" players over the last 6 or 7 years when their top spend on an individual has been around 14mil.

They have a very good workmanlike squad, but other than Stevie G there is no player of the highest quality and I think that showed at times in all comps this year.

Sure they can still make their bargin buys, but you generally get what you pay for, and they need to target 2 "top shelf" types imho.

Sit tight CP. My mail from family and friends on Merseyside is Rafa will be spending some big coin. The following have all been linked to LFC;

Tevez
Simao Sabrosa
David Villa
Fernando Torres
Florent Malouda
David Silva
Daniel Alves
Samuel E'to
Michael Owen
Mancini
Darren Bent

Yeah I have heard of all of those links aswell mate, and hope that some of them come off.

From that I would probably target Tevez as a priority ... Malouda will sign I reckon and I think Simao is agood chance aswell.

Will lose any of Bellamy, Cisse (both guaranteed), Crouch, Alonso, Kewell, Gonazalez, Aurelio, Carson, Hyppia, Paletti.

Agree with RM, need a top shelf finisher up front and another top class defender imho.

Yes CP, I share those sentiments regarding a striker but I feel wide players are more important than defenders. As RM said we have dominated plenty of games but quite often did not have the quality on the flanks to deliver nor the 25 goal a season striker to finish.

I would think the blokes I highlighted in bold will stay in all probability.

[JK]

Yeah they would be the safest bets ... Could only see Xabi going if it was in a deal with Barca for Eto'o ... Crouchy, who knows, his stock value would be pretty good, but I think he's one ofthose rare unbeatable types when he has a moment.

Rafa working hard on underage deals and the wraps on the young Brazilian lad we've just signed are pretty huge

[The Real Number 3]

Ive been looking Skysports.com for info on Birmingham, but the only news I can get is that Hassailbank (former Chelsea @ Charlton) maybe signing on a free. I hope this isnt the case.

Johntheclaret if there is any more news on the Brummies could you please post it.