Liverpool v Sunderland
English Premier League
Anfield Stadium – Liverpool, England
28 March 2010 – 16:00 GMT

Liverpool looks for a win on Sunday as their Champions League hopes for next season are slowly slipping away.

Liverpool v Sunderland Preview

Liverpool is four points back of 4th place Tottenham but has played one more game than Spurs. They have only two wins in their last six matches and currently in the last Europa League spot.

Sunderland are 11 points clear of relegation and one more win could guarantee their survival. They are undefeated in their last four matches but have a 0-3-3 record in their last six away matches. The Black Cats have had an up and down season but ultimately should stay up in the Premier League. The club has been two different teams this season with a +11 goal difference at home but a -17 goal difference on the road.

Liverpool have a similar issue with strong performances at home and disappointing results on the road. Fortunately for the Reds, Sunday’s match will be at Anfield where they have a 11-2-2 record. There a few injury concerns for Liverpool but Fabio Aurelio and Martin Skrtel will both be unavailable. Sunderland could be without striker Kenwyne Jones, defender John Mensah, and winger Andy Reid.

This is a match that Liverpool needs to win to keep pace with Manchester City and Sunderland for 4th place. They already have played one more match and trail both teams on points. Steven Gerrard has not had a great season and needs to step up on Sunday. The Englishman will need to link up with striker Fernando Torres, who is finally healthy and has five goals in his last three matches.

The Reds will be the favorites in the match and will want to avenge the “beach ball” match that took place at Sunderland in the fall. If Torres and Gerrard play to their potential then it will be an easy win at Anfield for the home side but with Liverpool it could also be a nail biting 1-0 match.

Last 6 EPL Matches

Liverpool – L D W L W L

Sunderland – L D W D W D

Liverpool v Sunderland Prediction

Liverpool will win the match 1-0.

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“Liverpool v Sunderland – Preview – 28 March 2010” was originally published at Soccerlens.com – Football News.

In a summer bereft of football, the release of fixture lists this week provide some form of respite for fans starved of action. Away trips are plotted, long weekends at some of the more far-flung fixtures are planned, and best mates are pleaded with not to hold their wedding on a certain date as it clashes with “the big one”.

But among all this, select fans from League One teams will also be studying the Conference fixture list, specifically AFC Wimbledon’s home games. This isn’t to do with loyalty to the London team, per se, but there are plenty of supporters who will object to visiting the MK Dons and will choose to visit Kingsmeadow when their team is away at the Stadium M:K.

Even though it’s now been seven years since the FA gave permission for Wimbledon FC to be moved to Milton Keynes, many fans still remain angry at the so-called franchising of the Dons and have never accepted the Pete Winkleman-owned vehicle.

But to observers from countries such as USA and Austrlia, where franchising is the norm, the fuss over one team (and not even a large team at that) relocating must seem somewhat confusing.

Not the first, maybe not the last

The MK Dons aren’t the first team to have upped sticks and moved in search of more money. The majority of teams who do this are often at non-league level, usually merging two teams to create an artificial club, as opposed to moving the club elsewhere. Rushden and Diamonds, Hayes and Yeading, and Dagenham and Redbridge (who themselves came from Redbridge Forest, another merged side) have all done this in the past.

But the actual uprooting of a club from one part of the country to another is still rare and, before the Dons, the most high profile move came back in 1913. Woolwich Arsenal from Plumstead were moved from south east London up north to Highbury, right by the tube station, and simply renamed The Arsenal.

At the heart of all this was, even back then, money. The club’s chairman, Henry Norris, also owned Fulham and had originally attempted to merge the two clubs. When that failed, Norris identified prime space in the capital in which to establish a football club and, despite protests from fans at the time, Arsenal moved north. The rest, as they say, is history.

Given that Arsenal were so successful in their relocation, it is fair enough to ask why more clubs didn’t simply move to a more profitable and accepting area if they were struggling for money.

The importance of community

First of all, it’s worth noting that Arsenal’s success didn’t just come about because of the relocation, although this did play a large part in their subsequent growth. Arguably, Norris’ feat of talking Arsenal into the First Division in 1915 had as much to do with fast-tracking them on the way to where they are today.

That year, Arsenal had finished 5th but, for no good reason and with more than a suggestion of dodgy dealing, were promoted at the expense of Wolves and Barnsley, both of whom finished above the Gunners. Norris, somehow, talked Arsenal into the top division.

But the idea that teams can be traded between cities, like players move between clubs, is one completely alien to the English game. Franchising just doesn’t enter the English mentality of football.

Many teams were started as works teams. Woolwich Arsenal was formed by workers at the munitions factory. Newton Heath (later to become Manchester United) was formed by workers on Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. It doesn’t take a genius to guess at the origin of Horwich Railway Mechanics Institute, another team who relocated (to Leigh) in the belief it would help the club.

If it wasn’t workers looking for a kickabout, then often the church played a large part in forming teams. Aston Villa, Everton, Manchester City and Bolton, among others, were all formed around or by local churches. You wonder what the founders would have made of what the clubs have become today.

The majority of the clubs, then, were so rooted in their communities that it seemed inexpedient to move them to elsewhere. Even with some of the smaller league (and indeed non-league clubs) football was inextricably linked with the community. When the team was doing well, it often coincided with an upturn in the fortunes of the rest of the area.

Even in a short time the history and identity of the football club became interwoven with the history of the area. Rivalries were established, and football teams became badges of regionalistic pride. Liverpool v Manchester United, Swansea v Cardiff, Newcastle v Sunderland, even Exeter v Plymouth were all caught up in something that went beyond football. Franchising these teams and taking away the cultural identity would be unthinkable.

MK Dons mark 2

This may be a slightly simplistic way of explaining why franchising is so contrary to the principles of English football. The length of history and community roots means it would be seen as an abomination if somebody tried to uproot, say, Southampton to a place without a league club such as Cornwall.

It’s also why the football community reacted so strong to Wimbledon’s relocation. The Dons may not have been pulling in the same sort of crowds as other London Premier League clubs, but they had plenty of history, including their rise from non-league to FA Cup winners.

Moving the club to Milton Keynes left 3,000 displaced fans and, ever since the formation of AFC Wimbledon, both teams have argued that they have the rightful claim to the old Wimbledon’s history and trophies (although both, strictly speaking, are new teams).

There’s also a feeling that teams who are ‘franchised’ and take over a team’s league position are interlopers who haven’t earned the right to play at such a level.

It’s why the spectre of Methyr Tydfil moving to Bridgend was met with horror from both Methyr’s fans and the wider footballing community.

Owner Wyn Holloway, who’d taken the club to the brink of liquidation, raised the spectre of the club moving from the valleys to the Welsh town as he looked to offload the club. It wasn’t just the club that was for sale – it was the Martyrs entire place in the football pyramid.

Although Bridgend were in the League of Wales, Methyr, in the Southern Premier, would have been an interesting and attractive proposition for any side looking to break into the Conference or the League. Thankfully, the scheme came to nothing and the authorities appeared lukewarm at best to the idea.

Holloway and Bridgend are unlikely to be the last to try and relocate a club away from its spiritual home, as owners or ambitious businessmen look to do a quick one. Thankfully, the footballing authorities seem reluctant to view the Wimbledon situation as anything other than a one-off at this current point in time, although that’s no guarantee it won’t happen again.

Made in America

This all may come across as a criticism of the current American model of football. It isn’t meant to be. Indeed, if the MLS had tried to replicate the way English football was born, it would have probably died an unlamanted death a long time ago.

If you’re looking to establish a major football league in a country that hasn’t previously been known for its love of the game the franchise method is, at the moment, quite possibly the best way to go about it, as both the States and Australia’s A League are currently showing. It also makes more sense to implement a system that’s closer to what the public are used to with other sports.

And as the game grows and the clubs develop their own history, rivalries and even places in the community then that attachment to an area grows – just look at the current situation with DC United.

The MLS side are having issues over their stadium, raising the spectre that one of the MLS’ best-known teams could be forced to move, or franchised to another city. DC United fans, along with bloggers, are campaigning to keep the club in the capital.

There’s nothing wrong with franchising done in the right time and place. But that time and place isn’t the English game. Moving a club from its roots still feels wrong, and no matter how many years pass, AFC Wimbledon will no doubt continue to get “away” fans partaking in their own small ongoing personal protest against the creation of the MK Dons.

“Football “Franchises” – Right or Wrong?” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

We’re already in the middle of June, and though the signings haven’t been coming hard and fast just yet, that doesn’t mean that there’s a shortage of action thus far in the summer transfer window.

In this morning’s transfer news and rumors roundup, we’ve got tidbits from England, Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and Greece, with many big names and big clubs looking to spend, spend, spend. Some of the rumors are pretty concrete, while there is at least one in the bunch that, like Manchester United being linked with a move for Fernando Torres, are a little head-scratching, to say the least.

There are also a couple of signings to report, and remember, to keep up with all of the latest confirmed signings, check out our summer 2009 transfer lists.

England

Manchester United After Valencia Stars

There has been a great deal of speculation over the last few days about what Manchester United are going to do with the money they get from selling Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, and it could be that a sizable chunk of those funds go towards signing Valencia stars David Villa and David Silva.

United are reportedly set to make a £45m bid for Villa (The Mirror). The competition could wide open between United, Barcelona (Sky Sports), and Chelsea for Villa, as his potential move to Real Madrid appears to have broken down (Daily Mail).

Meanwhile. Rafa Benitez might not like hearing about United making a concerted effort to land Silva, as the winger has been a target for Benitez for a while now but could be the subject of a £25m bid from United. (The Mirror)

Analysis: £25m looks to certainly be enough to land Silva, but even though they could outbid Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Chelsea for Villa, they could be out of luck if Villa prefers the chance to stay in Spain. Of course, if Barcelona land Villa, that’d all but free up the opportunity for a United move for Samuel Eto’o.

United and Boro In Downing Swap Deal?

Middlesbrough are heavily interested in Manchester United duo Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, and there are reports that they could offer Stewart Downing to United to try to make a deal happen. (The Mirror)

Analysis: Both Scholes and Neville could be reluctant for such a move, but even so, it’d seem like United would come out a lot better in this deal, especially if they didn’t have to spend much of that sizable transfer kitty on purchasing Downing.

Costa On Shortlist To Replace Ronaldo?

Along with the moves mentioned above, United could be set to swoop for Gremio starlet Douglas Costa. (Sky Sports)

Analysis: Brazil’s becoming more and more of a hotspot for United, and signing a prospect of Costa’s ability and potential would be worth the fee United may have to stump up. He’s only 18, so he’s more one for the future and wouldn’t be expected to step in and star right away. But as Ronaldo did when he arrived at United, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him earn first-team opportunities immediately.

Bolton Lead Race For Veloso?

Bolton are back in for Sporting Lisbon midfielder Miguel Veloso, and after refusing to overbid for Veloso in January, could be in with a £10.2m offer for the 23-year-old, who’s also been linked with Arsenal. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: £10.2m is still a little lower than Sporting might like to get for Veloso, but it could be a sign that Bolton are willing to fork out a little more in order to land him.

Bentley And Huddlestone To Sign For Villa?

It could only be a matter of time before Aston Villa seal the deal on a couple of new signings, as there are reports that they are close on Tottenham pair David Bentley (Goal.com) and Tom Huddlestone (Birmingham Mail).

Analysis: Considering their interest in Bentley, Huddlestone, and Jermaine Jenas, I’m surprised they haven’t been strongly linked with Darren Bent or Roman Pavlyuchenko, considering a forward should also be on their summer wishlist.

Several Sides Interested In Newcastle’s Martins

Arsenal, Aston Villa, and Everton are all interested in Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins (Tribal Football), but they could face competition from a mystery Bundesliga club (Tribal Football).

Analysis: Everton would be a great fit, considering the familiar faces that would await, but wages would likely be a stumbling block, and that could also be the case with Aston Villa. No telling what the situation could be with the Bundesliga club, but Arsenal may well be the best match financially – but that could all hinge on whether or not they sell Emmanuel Adebayor.

Fulham And West Ham Interested In Acquafresca

It’s a London battle for young Italian striker Robert Acquafresca, as Fulham and West Ham are both interested in the 21-year-old. Acquafresca was supposed to go to Genoa as part of the deal that brought Diego Milito and Thiago Motta to Inter, but he could yet move elsewhere, with even Juventus being linked with a move. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: I don’t have any doubts that Acquafresca could succeed in the Premier League, but if Juventus come in for him, that might be an opportunity that’s too hard to pass up.

Sunderland Bid For Cattermole

Sunderland have made a £7m bid for Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Well they sure aren’t sitting on their money, are they? That’s certainly a tempting offer for Wigan, considering it’s double what they paid for Cattermole just last summer. I don’t know if Wigan will offload him right now though, unless he’s just that eager to be reunited with Steve Bruce. If someone’s willing to pay 7m for him right now, they could be in line to get a lot more if he continues to develop well over the next season or two. Besides, the sale of Antonio Valencia will net a nice amount of transfer funds for Roberto Martinez.

Wolves Sign Milijas

Wolves have completed the signing of Red Star Belgrade midfielder Nenad Milijas. (The Guardian)

Analysis: For a little while, the deal looked to be in some doubt, but in the end, Wolves fought off some pretty good competition to land the free-scoring midfielder.

Birmingham Bid For Gomez

Birmingham have made a £1.5m offer to Espanyol for midfielder Jordi Gomez, who starred on loan for Swansea last season. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: With Roberto Martinez set to complete his move from Swansea to Wigan anytime now, Birmingham could face some competition from Wigan for Gomez, so it might be in Birmingham’s best interests to try to get him signed, sealed, and delivered as soon as possible.

Spain

Real Madrid Offer Sneijder For Inter’s Maicon

Real Madrid could be set to offer Inter Milan €20m plus attacker Wesley Sneijder in a bid for right back Maicon. (Goal.com)

Analysis: Sounds like a reasonable deal. Sneijder’s someone that has been linked with Inter, and €20m + Sneijder would meet the €40m asking price that Inter have for Maicon.

Italy

AC Milan Sign Cissokho

AC Milan have completed the signing of Porto defender Aly Cissokho for €15m. (Sky Sports)

Analysis: This time last summer, Cissokho had just made the jump from France’s Ligue 2 to Portugal, joining Vitoria du Setubal, and now, he’s signed for AC Milan. Talk about a quick rise!

Inter Closing In On Double Swoop

Jose Mourinho could be close to being reunited with Deco and Ricardo Carvalho, as Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti spoke hopefully about being able to agree a deal with Chelsea for the duo. (Daily Mail)

Analysis: Seems to be only a formality, really.

Juventus To Swap Trezeguet For Rossi?

Juventus are prepared to offer striker David Trezeguet as part of a swap deal for Villarreal star Giuseppe Rossi. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: £15m + Trezeguet would fall a little short of Rossi’s buyout clause of £40m, but it could get Villarreal to bite, or at least think seriously about the offer. Trezeguet might turn down the chance though, considering the interest that he’s had from the likes of Inter, Real Madrid, and others.

Lazio In Talks For Barnetta

Lazio are in talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a move for Swiss midfielder Tranquillo Barnetta. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Barnetta’s valuation is reportedly €10m, but even though Lazio don’t exactly have the room to break the bank on summer purchases, it shouldn’t be a problem to spend the right amount on a player who’s certainly worth it.

Germany

Wolfsburg Want Berbatov?

In one of the more interesting transfer rumors of the day, Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov is being linked with a loan move to VfL Wolfsburg. (Sofia Echo)

Analysis: Though things didn’t exactly go completely swimmingly at United last season, Berbatov’s not going anywhere.

Stuttgart Interested In Tottenham Striker

VfB Stuttgart could be targeting Tottenham striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. According to Stuttgart general manager Horst Heldt, the Russian striker has come up in discussions within the club. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: After selling Mario Gomez to Bayern Munich for €30m, Stuttgart have money to spend and a big void to fill up front. Replicating Gomez’s 33-goal output from this past season might be a little much to ask, but Pavlyuchenko does have the quality to succeed in the Bundesliga, even though his struggles at Tottenham last season might convince some otherwise.

France

Shevchenko Offered To French Trio

Chelsea have offered striker Andriy Shevchenko to Lyon, Marseille, and Monaco. Lyon have turned down the opportunity to sign the Ukrainian, but Marseille and Monaco are still considering the chance to snap him up. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: Safe to say then that Sheva doesn’t have a future at Chelsea, eh?

Coupet To Sign For PSG

Former Lyon goalkeeper Gregory Coupet could be set for a quick return to Ligue 1, as he has agreed personal terms over a move to Paris Saint-Germain. Coupet moved from Lyon to Atletico Madrid last summer, but after seeing little time last season, will be back on familiar soil if a fee can be agreed. (Goal.com)

Analysis: With current #1 Mickael Landreau looking to leave, PSG needed to swoop for a quality replacement, and Coupet, with his long history of success with Lyon, certainly fits the bill.

Greece

Panathinaikos Close On Drenthe?

Panathinaikos are going all out in their efforts to sign Real Madrid’s Royston Drenthe, as they could offer £11m in order to land the versatile Dutchman. (Tribal Football)

Analysis: That’s about the same amount Real spent to sign Drenthe from Feyenoord in the summer of 2007, so I don’t see them turning down an offer of that amount. Drenthe hasn’t exactly blossomed at Real, and he wouldn’t appear to have much of a future there, so the only holdup might be whether or not he wants to move to Greece or to a more elite league.

“Transfer Rumors (15 June 09): Man United after Valencia stars Villa and Silva, Aston Villa close on Tottenham duo, Berbatov and Pavlyuchenko linked with Bundesliga moves, and more” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

They echo throughout fields all over the UK during the football season, and on many occasions have been known to give players a lift. I’m talking about football chants.  From Fernando Torres’ “Liverpool’s Number Nine” to “Glory Glory Man United,” songs and chants are a massive part of what makes football such a unique sport.

Some of the best chants out there rarely get the credit they deserve. And for those rare few who can come up with a proper chant, it’s time you stepped into the spotlight. In other words: it’s time to give credit where credit is due for those who come up with unique chants about their favourite club or player.

Directgov’s ‘Get On’ program decided to take matters into their own hands this year with the introduction of a ‘Chant Challenge’ that allowed supporters from all over the country to try their luck at coming up with the most unique chant possible.

Football legend, John Barnes, along with Barnsley FC’s resident poet, Ian McMillan, took on the task of going through over 300 entries to find nine finalists. The finalists, who represented such clubs as Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland AFC, will be going to London in August prior to the beginning on the season to face-off for the chance to be crowned the chant-off champion.

“Chants are a great way of getting behind your team and can make a real difference to players on the pitch. I was really impressed by the level of skill and imagination that came through in the entries,” Barnes said.

The competition has been a huge success in its inaugural year, and has even garnered support from Liverpool’s Fernando Torres (Liverpool supporters sent in the highest number of entries), and Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs.

Here are just a couple of the chants that were entered into the competition this year:

Don’t wave at us David Jamo
Just try to catch this corner
All through your mishaps
And crazy haircuts
We still support you
Just hoof your clearance

[to the tune of ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’]
Entered by Richie Turrell, Portsmouth supporter

I believe in a man of steel
His name is Lucas Neill
If you think he can score a goal
He’ll put you in hospital
I believe in a man of steeeee-eee-eeel
Our boy, Lucas Neill!

[to the tune of ‘I believe in a thing called love’ by The Darkness]
Entered by Jordi Greig, West Ham supporter

FA Cup Opposition Taunt

Oh when we get to Wembley in May
We’ll think of teams we thrashed along the way
And you’ll be watching when we win the cup
You’ll be so gutted when we lift it up
We’re going through to the next round baby
You know whose winning and it isn’t you
We’ll think of you in the next round baby
All of your hopes and dreams are blown away
What a magic day.

[to the tune of ‘Warwick Avenue’ by Duffy]
Entered by Lee Dooley, Manchester United supporter

So there you go! If you think you’ve got a chant better than some of the above, then I’d suggest you throw your hat into the ring next season to see if you’re good enough to be one of the nine finalists.  Make sure you take a look at Get On’s chant competition page in August to see who wins the right to record their chant in the studio with John Barnes.

“Football chant challenge gives fans something to sing about” was originally published at footballlens.com – football news.

Carlos Tevez is out, Dimitar Berbatov is out, Park Ji-Sung and Ryan Giggs are in. The paper claims it’s a real ”insult” to Tevez to be left out, but we’re not sure why as no-one has expected him to play from the start with all the focus on his future.

John O’Shea keeps his place at right-back and Cristiano Ronaldo continues his not-going-to-give-the-ball-away-as-much effort as a lone striker. So it’s pretty much exactly the same team as against Arsenal in the semi. Except Darren Fletcher of course.

Transfer gossip now, and there are some pretty interesting deals going on if you believe the media. Chelsea, for some reason, are being linked with a new right-back. We all thought Jose Bosingwa had done rather well this season, but the Blues are apparently tracking Inter Milan’s Brazilian defender Maicon for £22m.

The Daily Star reckon that when Carlo Ancelotti takes over in the summer, he’d just love to take him along for the ride. Probably wouldn’t please Jose much, but he has given his backing to the Italian for the Stamford Bridge post.

Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, is looking to Fulham for his defensive stability next season. Brede Hangeland has done a good job at the heart of the Cottagers defence, and his extra height and power has caught the eye of the Frenchman, according to the Sun. But would he really spend £15m on him?

The Sun also have the news that ‘Arry Redknapp is keen to raid his old club once again for full-back Glen Johnson. Liverpool are believed to be in the prime position to sign the England defender as they need a player to shout back at Jamie Carragher when he gets in a mood; but Tottenham may swoop for their fourth right-back in the past year.

Once an England player, Dean Ashton gets the treatment (and he’s used to that) in the Daily Mirror. The paper thinks he’d be offloaded to Newcastle or Aston Villa in the summer, but someone would have to take a big chance to take the injury-prone striker anywhere.

However, Newcastle won’t be signing anyone decent if they go down and Sebastian Bassong could be the first to leave, says the Times.

Another team struggling for top flight status, Sunderland, could turn to Hamburg manager Martin Jol next season, according to the Daily Star. Quite why the Dutchman would want to trade a chance at the Bundesliga title and possible qualification for Europe for the drudgery of another relegation battle is beyond understanding. So he’ll probably just stay put.

And finally, Chelsea have cancelled their plans for an FA Cup parade. Not because they haven’t won it yet. Not because it’s a mere consolation prize given they really wanted to claim the Champions League. But because of the CREDIT CRUNCH! We know Roman Abramovich has been cutting costs, but if one of the world’s richest men can’t even get a open bus tour together, we know it’s bad.

Today’s tittle-tattle is off to live in a floating duck house – because we deserve to be safe from foxes too

Forget Manchester United v Barcelona, The New Harry Potter Movie v The New Terminator Movie or Peter Andre and Katie Price v The Possibility That Newspapers Might Stop Writing About Them Soon, the real heavyweight clash of the summer is going to be an all-out three-way tussle between Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Glen Johnson for the title of Interminable Transfer Story of the Year 2009.

Today’s updates in brief, because if we’re not sick of these yarns already we certainly will be soon:

1) Cristiano Ronaldo isn’t going anywhere – “at the moment I’m at United and I don’t care what happens in Madrid”.

2) Nobody could be arsed making up anything new about Carlos Tevez yesterday, except for the not entirely surprising revelation that he’s going to start next week’s Champions League final on the bench.

3) Harry Redknapp and Rafa Benítez are giving Glen Johnson a clear choice between cockerel and liver bird. Either way it looks like he’ll have some kind of avian lifeform on his chest next season.

Now, on with the other stuff.

Firstly, an excuse to point you in the direction of the undisputed goal of the season (alright, you can dispute it if you like, but it’s pretty popular here at the Mill): Swindon goal machine Simon Cox is favouring a £1.2m switch to Celtic over rival offers from West Brom, Bolton and Leicester.

Because a couple of them happen to be quite tall, today’s defensive rumours will be brought to you in order of the players’ height: Birmingham City want 6ft 6in Zat Knight to make the long trudge from Villa Park in order to create a dream defensive partnership with coming-on-a-free veteran Bobo Balde. Arsenal – for whom Emmanuel Adebayor looks to have played his last game – are ready to test Fulham’s resolve with a £15m bid for 6ft 5in Brede Hangeland (for that money, the only thing they’ll be testing is Mohamed Al Fayed’s resolve to agree gracefully, rather than dropping to his knees, drooling and crying “yes, yes, yes” repeatedly).

And Chelsea are lining up a sensational £22m swoop for Internazionale’s 6ft 1in Douglas Maicon, although Real Madrid are also interested. If this is true and the deal indeed goes through at this price, it would take Roman Abramovich’s spending on first-team right-backs alone to £57.5m, following the purchases of Jose Bosingwa (£16.3m), Paulo Ferreira (£13.2m) and our good friend, the Rumour Mill veteran Glen Johnson (£6m).

Back to Birmingham, who are vying with Villa for £8m-rated Argentinian midfield starlet Lucas Biglia, currently wowing Belgians with Anderlecht, and plotting a £6m double raid on Derby County for Kris Commons and Giles Barnes.

While Blues are planning for promotion, Newcastle are making contingency plans for relegation. If they do go down, Sébastien Bassong will be off sharpish. “You have to plan for your career and playing in the second division would be a step backwards,” he says in one paper. “I’m an ambitious boy and playing Championship football never crossed my mind – it would be a step backwards,” he adds in another. It’s all in the translation, you see. They would also be happy to loan Alan Smith for the season if they go down – perfect for any club that needs a £60,000-a-week adornment to their treatment room.

Talking of which, West Ham are open to offers for Dean Ashton – perfect for any club that meeds a £7m adornment to their treatment room.

And Sunderland want Hamburg’s former Tottenham manager Martin Jol to replace Ricky Sbragia. “He wants another chance in the Premier League, where he feels he has unfinished business,” says “a source”.

]]> http://www.latestfootballnews.net/football-transfer-rumours-brede-hangeland-to-arsenal/feed/ 0 http://www.latestfootballnews.net/robbin-a-van-persie/ http://www.latestfootballnews.net/robbin-a-van-persie/#comments Mon, 18 May 2009 09:22:53 +0000 admin http://www.latestfootballnews.net/robbin-a-van-persie/ Plenty of Tevez talk doing the rounds on Sunday, but we’ll get round to that!

The more interesting story concerns Arsenal, with the News of the World claiming that the Gunners are considering cashing in on their niggle-friendly forward. He’s yet to sign a new £70,000-a-week contract at the Emirates and Monsieur Wenger could use that money to strengthen elsewhere – notably at the back!

The Sunday Mirror suggests Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen is top of the hitlist.

And if you choose to believe the Mail on Sunday, then he’ll need to raise some cash as that paper claims Arsenal’s transfer kitty for the summer is just £13m.

There could be more offloading if you believe the Observer, as plans are afoot to limit Premier League squad sizes to 25.

So, I guess we’d better talk about Carlos Tevez. Well, over at the News of the World the paper is claiming that Manchester United fans are so angry about his apparent exit that they hurled bottles and sprayed beer (what a waste!) at the entrance to Old Trafford.

And the Sunday Express rehashes the predictable story that Rafa Benitez will come in to nab the striker, making him his top summer target. And the News of the World also says the Reds are set for a £350m financing deal.

The Sunday Mirror reveals that six Premier League clubs are chasing Tevez.

More from the Red Devils, and CR7 who is surely only a matter of hours away from “signing for Real Madrid”. He’s told the News of the World that he loves it in rain-filled Manchester.

On a lighter – and quite frankly more interesting – note, Federico Macheda was thrown out of United’s title party at the Living Room nightspot…. not for pulling his trousers down or anything stupid like that but because he’s only 17! And not old enough to be in such a sordid establishment… It’s in the News of the World.

Down the league now and with Ricky Sbragia likely to step down at Sunderland following next season’s finale the News of the World reckons Slaven Bilic will swap Croatia for the north east.

Let’s round up the News of the World’s transfer titbits:
Aston Villa want Stewart Downing
Bolton will pay £2m for Joey Barton
Fulham could pay £6m for Wigan’s Paul Scharner (£6m?!)
Mark Hughes targets two from Benfica
Lucas Neill could move to Olympiakos
Liverpool want Javi Martinez
The race is on to sign Joe Ledley
Sunderland target Stockport goalkeeper
Keane to take Healy to Ipswich

Today’s tell-all want to be buried in the unmarked grave beside Arch Stanton

Marriages of convenience fractured beyond repair feature prominently in today’s super soaraway Sun, with Katie Price taking up the front page to announce how “devastated” she is at being dumped by Peter Andre, while Carlos Tevez features on the back announcing that he wants to leave Sir Alex Ferguson and move to Liverpool. Except on closer inspection he doesn’t – the story that appears under the headline “Tevez: I’ll play for Kop” and claims “Liverpool have contacted Tevez’s owner Kia Joorabchian to register their interest and the Argentine is keen on the move,” is entirely devoid of quotes from anyone and would be a bit more convincing if it featured input from somebody … anybody connected to either Liverpool or Tevez to take the bare look off it. Yes, even if it was only from one of our old friends “sources close to the the Argentinian forward” or “Anfield insiders”.

Elsewhere in the Currant Bun, in a story that’s equally light on any kind of evidence to back it up, it is revealed that Jose Mourinho is ready to make a £15m bid for Chelsea’s Jon Obi Mikel. Despite having two years left on his contract and looking like a middle-aged woman who’s had a little too much plastic surgery, the young Nigerian will be offered a five-year deal by the manager who poached him from under Manchester United’s noses in 2006.

In common with most other newspapers, today’s Daily Mail grumbles about shameless Tory MPs claiming “expenses for swimming pools, helipad, chandelier … and even a moat”, no doubt feeling aggrieved that the money being lavished on such excesses (if you consider them excesses – what kind of slovenly creature wants to live in a house with no helipad or chandelier, surrounded by a dirty moat?) could be better spent on ridiculously expensive PR campaigns, completely unnecessary public information bulletins about Swine Flu or helping Manchester United replace Cristiano Ronaldo with Wigan’s Antonio Valencia. According to the Mail a £20m deal has already been agreed in principle for when Cristiano Ronaldo gets his move to the Bernabéu. Meanwhile at Anfield, Liverpool are preparing a £12m bid for Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing, which seems like an awful lot of money to pay for a winger who isn’t very good at crossing the ball.

Today’s Mail also reveals that “Bolton have slapped a £20m price tag on defender Gary Cahill” to put off interest from Arsenal. If the Mail’s story is correct, we can only assume they didn’t use a Motex MX-5500 pricing gun, as it only has six digits and is limited to printing tags for items priced no higher than £99.99. Items like former Ipswich and Sunderland striker Marcus Stewart, for example, who has just signed a one-year deal to play for Exeter City.

Heard any transfer speculation of your own? Come now, out with it …

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