The Non-Milan Transfer Market

drucurl said:

MONEY DOES BUY success....the Galacticos era was EXTREMELY successful...and only bottomed out when the purchases became overly attacking (purchasing Beckham and kicking out Del Bosque, Hierro and Makalele) They won the CL twice and the league a bunch of times. Chelsea was also very successful domestically.

Abramovic does it the best way though....buy the best players in every position and then hire a super-manager. It's almost fool proof

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Temporary Succes It Is!

drucurl said:

MONEY DOES BUY success....the Galacticos era was EXTREMELY successful...and only bottomed out when the purchases became overly attacking (purchasing Beckham and kicking out Del Bosque, Hierro and Makalele) They won the CL twice and the league a bunch of times. Chelsea was also very successful domestically.

Abramovic does it the best way though....buy the best players in every position and then hire a super-manager. It's almost fool proof

Click to expand...

Galacticos era is known from 2000-2006.And during all this years,we didnt spent even the half of the amount spent by madrid.and we pretty much are equall with SUCSESS during this period.
I think investemnts are very nesscesary in football and should be done.lets not forget we have one of the best LABS in the world.

I really didnt want to mess milan is this topic but it is good example that big moneys are not the most important thing in football

I think UEFA needs to intervene. Before ANY company/person can buy a club, they need to be approved by UEFA first, and it MUST be a minimum ownership period of say 15 years or something, unless bankruptcy shortens that time. Thats going to stop all this bollocks. The UEFA approval process should be a terribly strict format, to ensure that the people doing it are interested in the good of football, and not just commercial benefits.

This is a major problem, and i really hope Platini addresses it. He is a little crazy, but he does realise what the major problems are, and im sure hes going to realise that this is a major one.

peters said:

it is destroying football for all those that could not afford that much. But in the same time, it makes league stronger (many great players will come to EPL) and it makes it far more interesting. If city gets 'tough' there's no more big4 in EPL and CL... more tense matches every season (manutd/liver/arsenal-chelsea match 5 years ago and now!)

and btw, money does buy success. You think manchester won EPL last season because they have HISTORY? Ha... in 50 years Chelsea might have great 'history' if abramovich keeps it up. Where was milan when Berlu took over? Its all about money, no point denying it.

When it comes to this i always say salary cap might be a really good thing.

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i didn't write that United won EPL because of their HISTORY, my point was...is it normal to spend $ 240 milion on a player or even think about that? If you think that's not destroying football let be it so some rich Arab guy comes who's bored and buys football club, wants to make some best football team in whole universe, yea right..i will wait to see that, bringing Ronaldo for $ 240 milion, bringing Fabregas, Torres etc. Why Ronaldinho joined Milan instead of City? Don't write about Milan because Milan had history before Berlu era and even when Berlu took the club there were some hard times + he didn't throw so much money like Moratti did, Ambramovic is doing or some other Arabs, Americans will do. Why super Chelsea failed to win CL titles? Why super Chelsea failed to win last 2 league titles? Success is temporary, class is permanent and i really don't belive that Chelsea or City will build some great history..money is important factor but can't guarantee you success, can't guarantee you to bring every single player you want..

Milano84 said:

manutd fa, u think cambell will do anything there? He was kind of a surprise going to tottenham... figured they'd request some1 a little more 'proven'

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I think he could do well there. I think it depends on what formation Spurs play.

If its 4-5-1 then he will struggle to get games as he is 3rd choice, but if they play 4-4-2 then he is the immediate back-up so he will get quite a bit of playing time.

I think he'ss be a brilliant impact player for them because of his blistering pace.

The fact that he's only going on loan really pleases me though as he will get games, get better and then return to us.

dev1L said:

i didn't write that United won EPL because of their HISTORY, my point was...is it normal to spend $ 240 milion on a player or even think about that? If you think that's not destroying football let be it so some rich Arab guy comes who's bored and buys football club, wants to make some best football team in whole universe, yea right..i will wait to see that, bringing Ronaldo for $ 240 milion, bringing Fabregas, Torres etc. Why Ronaldinho joined Milan instead of City? Don't write about Milan because Milan had history before Berlu era and even when Berlu took the club there were some hard times + he didn't throw so much money like Moratti did, Ambramovic is doing or some other Arabs, Americans will do. Why super Chelsea failed to win CL titles? Why super Chelsea failed to win last 2 league titles? Success is temporary, class is permanent and i really don't belive that Chelsea or City will build some great history..money is important factor but can't guarantee you success, can't guarantee you to bring every single player you want..

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I agree. For what its worth Berbatov said he had offers from Both Man City and Chelsea, and the money he would have gotten with them would have dwarfed what he is earning at Manutd.

In his own words, he said he chose Manutd as "The red shirt is far more important than Chelsea's or Man City's, and from a footballing sense we are the biggest" - Thats good I think, he may have acted like a total prat with Spurs but atleast he chose prestige over money.

Random point but Berbatov actually supported Milan as a child - his idol was Van Basten.

^^^dont they have an option to buy? I thought Setanta Sports News reported that Spurs have an option to buy, so there is a good chance that you wont ever see him again.

manutd fan said:

I agree. For what its worth Berbatov said he had offers from Both Man City and Chelsea, and the money he would have gotten with them would have dwarfed what he is earning at Manutd.

In his own words, he said he chose Manutd as "The red shirt is far more important than Chelsea's or Man City's, and from a footballing sense we are the biggest" - Thats good I think, he may have acted like a total prat with Spurs but atleast he chose prestige over money.

Random point but Berbatov actually supported Milan as a child - his idol was Van Basten.

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that's it..

btw,

Spanish Debate: Calderón - Lucky Or Genius?

Ramón Calderón of Real Madrid may have had the luckiest escape of his life last night with Robinho - or he may have proved to be one of the shrewdest operators in the transfer window. Ewan Macdonald looks closer...

From "he's going nowhere" to "we're selling him to Manchester City" in the space of a week. That's the kind of flip-flopping even a politician would blush at, yet Ramón Calderón seems to have gotten away with it.

The Madrid press rose as one to salute their 'presi' on Monday morning as Robinho prepared for his new life in 'Granadaland.' Marca reported in largely sympathetic terms Calderón's reasoning for the sale; As, not one to sit on the fence, went for a rather less subtle "Robinho: You Lose."

If Robinho lost, then that implies that there was a winner. Calderón, it was made clear, was that victor. But why?

Brinksmanship

The consensus is that Calderón and his merry men - led by arch-merryman Pedja 'The Enforcer' Mijatovic - played a dangerous game of transfer Russian roulette, and won.

The other actors - Chelsea, Manchester City, and the player himself - then, must contain among them some losers. It appears that Chelsea and Robinho, hitherto thought to be a match made in heaven, are now the defeated pair.

The Blues of London, having publicly spoken of their desire to bring Robinho to the English capital, tabled a decent bid to the Bernabéu. This, though, was rejected, with Calderón saying that the only way the Brazilian could leave is if he paid up his contract and let a tribunal decide any further fee.

Nonetheless Chelseas continued to waffle on about Robinho in a way reminiscent of Calderón's very own blatherings about Cristiano Ronaldo. Peter Kenyon spoke in glowing terms of the forward; Frank Lampard salivated at the prospect of a link-up; and the official online Chelsea store briefly had for sale replica kits with Robinho's name at the back. The Brazilian was coming.

Suddenly the shirts disappeared from the site, and seemingly with this the transfer saga ended for Chelsea. Madrid, in a display of rank hypocrisy, slammed the London side for going after one of their treasures in an improper manner; the Blues responded that they were well within their rights to comment on a transfer target, and the whole thing about the shirts was a misunderstanding brought about by a mysterious third party.

Speaking of mysterious, something special was about to happen in Manchester. Robinho, indeed, was not about to be allowed to leave for Chelsea, but rather Manchester City.

On His Way

Thaksin Shinawatra, emasculated by the freezing of his assets back home, suddenly found himself in a weak position at Eastlands, and there were some richer men yet ready to strike. Abu Dhabi's untold oil and financial services riches were brought to bear as the Emirate conducted a rapid and quite astonishing takeover; one that, while not yet signed and sealed, is real enough to bring millions to the Citizens' transfer coffers.

The new order promised signings, lots of them. David Villa? Sure, why not. Mario Gómez? Throw him in, too. And Robinho? Well, in for a penny, in for a pound.

Or £32.5m of them, to be precise - well in excess of what Chelsea had offered, and something that had Calderón and Mijatovic sitting up and taking notice. Robinho, by this time, was in coach Bernd Schuster's bad books, and a sale of this magnitude suddenly wasn't looking so dire after all.

What's more, this would be the perfect chance to get one over on Robinho, who had been, depending on your point of view, jaw-droppingly disrespectful or supremely brave in publicly stating that he wished to leave Madrid. Rumours abounded that this was no idle threat: he had, according to some sources, pledged to spend his days in Brazil if the blancos didn't let him leave. So, Madrid would indeed cut their losses and let him leave: but not to the club he wanted to go to.

Had City not surfaced with the top bid what would have happened to Robinho is quite unknown, but as it stood he had a choice: sit in the stands (or in Brazil, depending on how you look at it) or go to City, a club who currently occupy the second tier, and take the exit offer he was so magmanimously given. He picked the latter.

Thus Calderón went back on his word and lost a great player, but he also shed himself of a trouble-maker, gained a huge transfer fee, and taught any other potential rebels that the grass may not always be greener, nor even the same colour that one expects. Calderón 2, Robinho 1.

Calderón's Lucky Break?

But even if everything did go his way on the last day, that doesn't mean that he was the evil genius masterminding it all from behind the scenes. Indeed, some have said that Calderón and Madrid's victory was just one massive stroke of luck.

The logic is compelling. After all, most observers had no idea about the incoming bid from Abu Dhabi to take over city, nor the frantic trolley-dash for galacticos that followed. If Calderón didn't know then certainly all his Christmases came at once as the call came in from Manchester.

If he did know, though, and kept a patient outlook amidst all the Chelsea posturing, then he took a calculated risk, and one that paid off in spades.

Furthermore there is the role of Robinho to consider. The chairman and his minions would surely have tracked his every move; would he really have gone to Brazil, never to return to Madrid, had he been kept on? Or would he have been coaxed back to the club, not least due to his contractual obligations? Certainly there was evidence that he was serious in his threat, but Calderón seemed to regard this as a risk worth taking.

In the end, it was, and now his flip-flopping appears increasingly shrewd, or at least charmed.

As for the truth, we may never know.


goal.com

radioactivenerd said:

^^^dont they have an option to buy? I thought Setanta Sports News reported that Spurs have an option to buy, so there is a good chance that you wont ever see him again.

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Nope. David Gill (Chief exec.) said that he "will gain experience at Spurs and then return and hopefully be reagy for our 1st team".

Spurs would have said if there was an option to buy aswell.

^^^well so much for setanta sports news then! im sticking to sky sports from now onwards

dev1L said:

i didn't write that United won EPL because of their HISTORY, my point was...is it normal to spend $ 240 milion on a player or even think about that? If you think that's not destroying football let be it so some rich Arab guy comes who's bored and buys football club, wants to make some best football team in whole universe, yea right..i will wait to see that, bringing Ronaldo for $ 240 milion, bringing Fabregas, Torres etc. Why Ronaldinho joined Milan instead of City? Don't write about Milan because Milan had history before Berlu era and even when Berlu took the club there were some hard times + he didn't throw so much money like Moratti did, Ambramovic is doing or some other Arabs, Americans will do. Why super Chelsea failed to win CL titles? Why super Chelsea failed to win last 2 league titles? Success is temporary, class is permanent and i really don't belive that Chelsea or City will build some great history..money is important factor but can't guarantee you success, can't guarantee you to bring every single player you want..

Click to expand...

no its not normal to spend 240M on any player and who says anyone will do that in near future? Dont jump on everything you read. Btw, i wonder how your dad who lived in time of under 1M transfers thinks of todays football and +20M transfers flying around? He thinks Milan is destroying football because of buying under-aged brazil kid for whooping 20M?

February 1979 Trevor Francis Birmingham V Nottingham Forest 1,180,000

July 1989 Chris Waddle- Tottenham Marseille 4,250,000
July 1991 David Platt- Aston Villa Bari 5,500,000
June 1992 Paul Gascoigne- Tottenham Lazio 5,500,000
Jan 1995 Andy Cole- Newcastle United Manchester Utd 7,000,000
June 1995 Dennis Bergkamp- Internazionale Arsenal 7,500,000
June 1995 Stan Collymore- Nottingham Forest Liverpool 8,500,000
July 1996 Alan Shearer- Blackburn Newcastle United 15,000,000
Aug 1999 Nicolas Anelka- Arsenal Real Madrid 22,500,000
July 2001 Juan-Sebastián Verón- Lazio Manchester United 28,100,000
July 2002 Rio Ferdinand- Leeds United Manchester Utd 29,100,000
July 2006 Andriy Shevchenko- A.C. Milan Chelsea 30,800,000
Sept 2008 Robinho- Real Madrid Manchester City 32,500,000

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Here you have a list of record breaking transfers in EPL. From first transfer over 1M onwards. As you can see, in only 28 years the amount is multiplied by 30 and with exponential growth we could talk about 100M transfers soon. So looking at this chart i assume when manutd or madrid pays shitloads of money its down to tradition and history, but when City or Chelsea does the same people are jumping around scared for their beloved game?

Another table, just to add to my point, 'prize money' (based on finishing in PL) of EPL teams last season (in brackets the number is for one season before, source Times)

Manchester United 49.3m (32m)
Chelsea 45.6m (30.9m)
Arsenal 47m (29m)
Liverpool 45.4m (28.4m)
Everton 42.1m (25.3m)
Aston Villa 42.3m (22m)
Blackburn Rovers 40.2m (22m)
Portsmouth 40.4m (23m)
Manchester City 39.7m (21m)
West Ham United 36.8m (21.1m)
Tottenham Hotspur 36m (27.3m)
Newcastle United 39.2m (21.2m)
Middlesbrough 34.2m (20.5m)
Wigan Athletic 33.4m (18.4m)
Sunderland 33.6m (6.5m*)
Bolton Wanderers 32m (24.6m)
Fulham 31.3m (20.4m)
Reading 30.6m (23.6m)
Birmingham City 29.8m (6.5m*)
Derby County 29.1m (n/a)

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20M more in one single year?

Saying that arab guy comes because he is bored is not working for me. They are all here for money, commercial, entertainment... be it arabs, russians or americans. Why ronaldinho joined us? Becaus city as of now is not as famous as milan. Because EPL football sucks in technical view. Because they didnt have someone in late 80s to buy it and bring dutch trio there. But in 10 years things might change and players might opt for City, where people breath football and pack stadiums every week, instead of playing for milan under half empty seats in a corrupted league... try to look at it from another direction.

Why chelsea didnt win CL? Because you need great amount of luck for that too. And loosing finals on penalties and going out to non existent liverpool goal is what i'm talking about. But this year they just might do it. Or maybe next year... i didnt say you can buy CL (or other titles) with money, but you can buy success overall. Try comparing chelsea before abramovich and after. In only 4 years it became a real powerhorse in EPL.

I can understand that you hate the fact that some clubs are getting richer, can get the players your team cannot... i hate it too. But its kind of normal way of development in this world as we know it. As you said even money wont get you every wanted player and every title so there's always a hope your team with tr00 devoted players will win. And thats the way it always was for numerous fans of midtable teams all over the world.

football is moving forward and that's true...i took that sum for example, if not $240 then $160 and that's also not normal. There are still some limits and definetivily it's not time to brake them. I don't mind if he wants to upgrade that club but imo he acts too cocky. He should take it easy.

Zidane still owns it.

Devil, i know, it gets scary when people come and talk about large amount of money... and i kind of understand they are cocky, 600 billion makes you like that.

I guess when I think about it i feel just like some Lazio supporter that cheers for a team with cca 5M summer budget, when he hears that manutd just spent around 40M for two youngsters in one day. Shit's happening

I think its best to wait now what hughes can do with the team, maybe he can create a good team with fluid football that will be nice to watch. Its still a long way till next transfer window opens so things might get a better shape by then.


Question i ask myself is, would it be good for italian football to get owners like that? To raise midtable serieA teams into heights again? I know people are scared because these people are not connected to club like berlu, moratti and others are in italy but on the other hand, italy is slowly loosing its appeal to spain and mostly england football. Not to us football fans ofcourse, but to advertising and tv coverage.

Thinking about it, the simple solution are homegrown players. That way you really cannot buy success, you can only invest in future and help national football to develop.

I said foreign investors are good for EPL because of the money they bring but on the other hand they hurt english national team with all those foreign players...

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has been accused of hypocrisy over his reaction to the Dimitar Berbatov transfer.

The Bulgarian striker sealed a £30.75million move to Manchester United on deadline day after being picked up by Sir Alex Ferguson at the airport.

Levy was unhappy with the manner of United's pursuit all summer and also reported Liverpool to the Premier League over their approach for Robbie Keane.

Spurs eventually dropped their complaints as both players moved on, but Levy voiced his feelings again on Tuesday as he called for a review of the transfer system.

However, Sevilla president Jose Maria del Nido has now criticised Levy for his conduct.

Disrupted
Del Nido is still angry about the way Tottenham landed coach Juande Ramos last October and believes justice has been done.

"The way that Ramos flew the coop and abandoned his team en route to London last year totally disrupted our season and now I'm pleased that Spurs are being paid back in kind over the Berbatov transfer. Their complaints are hypocrisy personified," Del Nido said in the Evening Standard.

Del Nido also hit out at Levy over his attempts to sign Spain international Diego Capel from Sevilla.

"For months now they've [Spurs] been trying to sign Capel and sending emissaries to try and persuade us to sell," explained Del Nido.

"We told them what our understanding of the player's worth was and therefore what the minimum we would demand in order to let Capel go.

"But it appears they couldn't pay that price so they didn't get him. I must admit that if it had been any other team (than Spurs) the price I'd have quoted to sign Capel would have been lower.

"In fact there is no point in telling a lie the price would have been considerably lower. Now they've missed out on him and we won't sell Capel to Spurs."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_4090243,00.html

peters said:

Devil, i know, it gets scary when people come and talk about large amount of money... and i kind of understand they are cocky, 600 billion makes you like that.

I guess when I think about it i feel just like some Lazio supporter that cheers for a team with cca 5M summer budget, when he hears that manutd just spent around 40M for two youngsters in one day. Shit's happening

I think its best to wait now what hughes can do with the team, maybe he can create a good team with fluid football that will be nice to watch. Its still a long way till next transfer window opens so things might get a better shape by then.


Question i ask myself is, would it be good for italian football to get owners like that? To raise midtable serieA teams into heights again? I know people are scared because these people are not connected to club like berlu, moratti and others are in italy but on the other hand, italy is slowly loosing its appeal to spain and mostly england football. Not to us football fans ofcourse, but to advertising and tv coverage.

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Italian teams have spent their most money since 2001 this year & are far ahead of Spain this year.

drucurl said:

I think the Glazers have been great for ManU......Fergie asks for who he NEEDS and they buy those players and Fergie repays with trophies, jersey/merchandise sales etc because these players do well. There are MANY players ManUtd could nhave bought this term but they only NEEDED a STRIKER so they $plashed the ca$h there....not on a superstar playmaker (CR7, Nani, Scholes, Giggs, Anderson), not on a world class CDM (Carrick, Hargreaves) not on a CB etc etc.....How I yearn for the day when our mercato becomes that streamlined...and we actually buy who we need and not on some bargain names to fool the fans

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You're right. ManU wasn't the most active club during the summer transfer season but then again they didn't have to be after winning the EPL and CL. The one signing they made was a top-notch striker, probably the only thing they were lacking. I have to tip my cap to them as much as it hurts my pride...

Man City on the other hand just made the most overpriced transfer ever (I like Robinho but he didn't even "dominate" La Liga, which is more suited for his style, and now he's earned the largest transfer fee in Premier League history???) and that was with the new ownership group being in charge for only one day. God knows what they'll do in January with a whole month to go shopping...

The Italian Game is Far More Superior Than the Spanish one in My Opinion.
Last year the Spanish Teams Really Didn't Perform. Even-though Barcelona Went to the Semis In the Cl, but they didnt Impress at all in the Tournament.
In La Liga the Season was More of a Joke.
Italian Teams Perform Good Constantly And It doesnt happen everyday that One of the Big 5 Get Beaten Easily.
While in la Liga the Top 2 found it hard last season to manage such stuff.
No This Doesnt Mean that there is more Competition In La Liga, but less Quality.

peters said:

no its not normal to spend 240M on any player and who says anyone will do that in near future? Dont jump on everything you read. Btw, i wonder how your dad who lived in time of under 1M transfers thinks of todays football and +20M transfers flying around? He thinks Milan is destroying football because of buying under-aged brazil kid for whooping 20M?

Here you have a list of record breaking transfers in EPL. From first transfer over 1M onwards. As you can see, in only 28 years the amount is multiplied by 30 and with exponential growth we could talk about 100M transfers soon. So looking at this chart i assume when manutd or madrid pays shitloads of money its down to tradition and history, but when City or Chelsea does the same people are jumping around scared for their beloved game?

Another table, just to add to my point, 'prize money' (based on finishing in PL) of EPL teams last season (in brackets the number is for one season before, source Times)

20M more in one single year?

Saying that arab guy comes because he is bored is not working for me. They are all here for money, commercial, entertainment... be it arabs, russians or americans. Why ronaldinho joined us? Becaus city as of now is not as famous as milan. Because EPL football sucks in technical view. Because they didnt have someone in late 80s to buy it and bring dutch trio there. But in 10 years things might change and players might opt for City, where people breath football and pack stadiums every week, instead of playing for milan under half empty seats in a corrupted league... try to look at it from another direction.

Why chelsea didnt win CL? Because you need great amount of luck for that too. And loosing finals on penalties and going out to non existent liverpool goal is what i'm talking about. But this year they just might do it. Or maybe next year... i didnt say you can buy CL (or other titles) with money, but you can buy success overall. Try comparing chelsea before abramovich and after. In only 4 years it became a real powerhorse in EPL.

I can understand that you hate the fact that some clubs are getting richer, can get the players your team cannot... i hate it too. But its kind of normal way of development in this world as we know it. As you said even money wont get you every wanted player and every title so there's always a hope your team with tr00 devoted players will win. And thats the way it always was for numerous fans of midtable teams all over the world.

Click to expand...

Yes but don't you realise we're talking about an investment group that eclipses the spending power of Real Madrid, Abramovich and Moratti COMBINED. You can only put 11 players on a field. This investment group is rich enough to buy the complete first teams of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool just to make sure they don't play against them. I understand how you feel about it but I think it is worrisome.

Soldier said:

The Italian Game is Far More Superior Than the Spanish one in My Opinion.
Last year the Spanish Teams Really Didn't Perform. Even-though Barcelona Went to the Semis In the Cl, but they didnt Impress at all in the Tournament.
In La Liga the Season was More of a Joke.
Italian Teams Perform Good Constantly And It doesnt happen everyday that One of the Big 5 Get Beaten Easily.
While in la Liga the Top 2 found it hard last season to manage such stuff.
No This Doesnt Mean that there is more Competition In La Liga, but less Quality.

Click to expand...

we are the only team from italy who saw semis for last5-6 years

We Got the Trophy Twice , Right?
Reaching the Semis Doesnt Always Depend on What the Quality you Have, but the Road You Go through.(Some teams Have it Very Easy, EH?)
Eventhoug italians team Smetimes Have the Easy Road, but Not Always.
Roma Had To Face Man utd that's A Big One, Eh? We Faced Many Big teams And Managed to knock most of them
Inter COuld be Compared to Arsenal , Great In the League, Always Short In the Cl, Eh?
The Past Few Years, English teams Dominated the CL if I put it in the right Terms, But didn't always Get the Cl Championship.
It was Mostly Us Stopping Most of the EPl Teams, Right?

This Explain Alot, Serie might not be the best On that stage, but surely dont come second to La Liga, but second to EPL.

MilanMarkus said:

This investment group is rich enough to buy the complete first teams of Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool just to make sure they don't play against them. I understand how you feel about it but I think it is worrisome.

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They are. But i'll be worried about that when i see the 12th player to sign the contract for that team, if you get me...

I think arabs will hire appropriate technical director and other staff that know a lot about football and then they will buy players to make the team as strong as they could, not just by names. If not, we'll have coach leaving, players leaving... second inter, so there's nothing to worry about

You have to remember that it will be harder for City than it was for Chelsea though. When Abramovich came along both Manutd and Arsenal were in a transition period, buying players like Bellion, Djemba-Djemba ect. So they had no real competition.

Now we're both much stronger.

yes, manutd is much stronger but i have yet to see the 'strongness' of arsenal and even liverpool. I think their place might be up for grabs.

Peters, With Cesc Back, And When ROsicky comes back, Arsenal will be hard to beat.
You watched them in the last Match? They Played One Hell of a One.

Soldier said:

Peters, With Cesc Back, And When ROsicky comes back, Arsenal will be hard to beat.
You watched them in the last Match? They Played One Hell of a One.

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you type so weird >.<

Manchester City To Bid €70m For Buffon

Juventus could lose Gianluigi Buffon to Manchester City as the Premier League side are ready to bid €70m for the Italian goalkeeper, according to Leggo.

The Citizens' new Arab owners are looking to take football to the next level as they attempt to bring in a host of the world’s greatest players thanks to their mega spending powers.

Doctor Sulaim al-Fahim knows money talks and Buffon is next on his trasfer wishlist.

“If we can buy the greatest players in the world then we will; we only want the strongest,” said the chief.

Leggo claims that the English club are ready to tempt the Old Lady with a mega €70m bid for the experienced shot-stopper.

Juventus are not likely to sell, however, given their Champions League ambitions, but such a massive offer is likely to raise some eyebrows in Turin.

Buffon holds the record for being the most expensive goalkeeper in the world after Juve splashed out £32m in 2001 to sign him from Parma.

Manchester City’s owners are clearly not afraid to splash the cash and any serious offers may be considered. Juve, though, will be concerned by the threat of losing a key man.

goal.com

'Ok so ... which other names are well known in football that I can insert to ManCity wishlist?' - goal.com reporter.

tlético Madrid sporting director, Jesús García Pitarch has revealed that as of yesterday, star player Sergio Agüero’s buy-out clause has been increased to €60 million.

hmmm