Transfer Rumour Mill 2010/11

[johntheclaret]

Bolton to tie-up £2.2m deal for Real Madrid defender Marcos Alonso

Real Madrid's teenage full-back Marcos Alonso has confirmed he is ready to join Bolton Wanderers in a £2.2m deal this week.
The 19-year-old Spanish defender, who can also play in midfield, says he turned down the chance to sign for Portuguese giants Benfica in order to play at the Reebok Stadium this season.
Alonso was wooed by Bolton's long-standing attention and the lure of first team football in the Premier League proved the clincher.


New Real manger Jose Mourinho was prepared to release Alonso, who has been frustrated by his inability to break through from the youth ranks and reserves to the first team at the Bernabeu.
'It's hard for a young player at Real Madrid as they always buy players,' said Alonso.

'There's a lot of pressure to win trophies, so they don't give youngsters or reserves a chance.
'If I stayed I could have been in the reserves for years, but I knew I had to go to play football at the best level possible.
'I was impressed that Bolton watched me in the reserves and wanted me for a long time.
'I could have gone to Benfica, but felt they only wanted me as part of the deal for Angel Di Maria.'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0upZmZrph

[johntheclaret]

SUNDERLAND NEAR MENSAH SWOOP

Sunderland have denied reports they have already signed John Mensah, but believe the season-long loan deal will go through next week.
Steve Bruce is eager to tie up a deal for the Ghana World Cup captain, who was on loan from Lyon at the Stadium of Light last term and made 18 appearances.

Speculation has recently suggested the Black Cats have been successful in their bid to secure a return for the defender, but the club insist it is not a done deal just yet.
"A number of reports have been published suggesting Mensah has already signed, but officials have revealed the deal has not yet been completed," said a report on the club's official website.

[mickey]

West Bromwich Albion manager Roberto Di Matteo has confirmed he is still trying to sign Liverpool striker David Ngog.

Di Matteo has spent the past few weeks pursuing a deal for the Frenchman as he continues his quest to add to his squad following promotion back to the Premier League.

And, ahead of the Baggies' opening match of the season against Chelsea on Saturday, Di Matteo is not giving up on a move for Ngog.

[mighty hounds]

was having a look on the goal website and they got an article which said schwarzer has put in a transfer request which came form the mirror papper in the UK. Hopefully he's on his way to arsenal

[johntheclaret]

Manchester City's £20m misfit Robinho set to be offloaded to Turkey

Manchester City will meet officials from Fenerbahce this week to try to push through a £20million deal which would see record-signing Robinho move to Turkey.
City are keen to offload the Brazilian who arrived in a blaze of glory in 2008 but failed to settle in the Premier League and spent the second half of last season on loan in his homeland with Santos.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0xHXSOrmM

[johntheclaret]

Liverpool striker Kuyt ponders £15m move to Inter despite Hodgson's plea to Italian club

Rafa Benitez is ready to make a £15million bid to wrest Holland striker Dirk Kuyt from his former club Liverpool.
Benitez, now at Inter Milan, sees Kuyt as just one of the Anfield charges who he wants to join him in his new job.

Liverpool remain firm that Kuyt is not for sale. Their new manager Roy Hodgson, also a former Inter boss, is satisfied after a conversation with the Italian club's owner, Massimo Moratti, that the European champions will not attempt to take either Kuyt or Javier Mascherano from Anfield.
But Kuyt says he has been told that Inter faxed an offer to Liverpool and he now believes he has the luxury of choosing between two of Europe's top clubs.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0xHXzVWy4

[johntheclaret]

West Ham make £2.5m move for Villa defender Luke Young

West Ham are ready to bid £2.5m for Aston Villa right back Luke Young.
Manager Avram Grant hopes to convince the defender to join the Hammers.

Young, 31, should have moved to Liverpool last month but it fell through despite a fee being agreed. He is keen on a return to London.

Grant has also explored the possibility of signing Genoa's Anthony Vanden Borre, who he had at Portsmouth last season, on loan.
But a permanent deal would allow West Ham the option of bringing in a striker on loan, with Felipe Caicedo from Manchester City still a possibility.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... z0xHYL2Rby

[devilsadvocate]

Deadline day today at midnight GMT.

Who do we think will end up moving?

I think Man Citeh, Chelski and Utd have all done their business and will sit tight until Jan.

I reckon Arsenal and Liverpool may dip in for a GK and defender respectively.

Spurs need a striker (rumored to be trying hard for Ronaldinho now, which I don't believe at all!) and also need to offload about 5 surplus players.

Sunderland seem cashed up, so could make a late buy.

We all know what West Ham are like.

Internationally, Barca I'd say are done now they have Masch and have offloaded Ibra, Real could still buy anyone, while Seville have extended Fabiano's contract.

Inter look set to stick with what they have and AC Milan will be chuffed to have Ibra for the season, but I think they'll still be looking to bolster a thin, old squad.

The players I'd expect to move are:

Klaas Jan Huntelaar
Loric Remy
Schwartzer
Adebayor
Both Youngs from Villa

Final point - I think Arsenal really missed the bot by not signing Yoann Gourcuff. He's purs class and Arsenal was the logical destination.

[mickey]

Tottenham have made a swoop for Ryan Babel after moves for four big-name strikers have fallen through over the last 48 hours, Goal.com UK have revealed.

Spurs have turned to the Liverpool forward after their attempts to capture Luis Fabiano, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Emmanuel Adebayor and Guiseppe Rossi all hit dead ends.

[devilsadvocate]

Looks like Spurs have signed Rafael Van Der Vaart for an absolute bargain price of 8m quid.

Now, this is good enough news in itself for the quality of the footballer, but I'm equally (Ok maybe a little bit more) excited about seeing his missus at the Lane!!!



That's it...I'm off to the toilets

[smithy]

Looks like Spurs have signed Rafael Van Der Vaart for an absolute bargain price of 8m quid.

Now, this is good enough news in itself for the quality of the footballer, but I'm equally (Ok maybe a little bit more) excited about seeing his missus at the Lane!!!



That's it...I'm off to the toilets

No doubt that RVDV is a brilliant player, but he has a history of performing really well in his 1st season at a club then it goes downhill very rapidly each season after that.

[LMA]

Wouldn't mind going downhill very rapidly on that

[devilsadvocate]

Looks like Spurs have signed Rafael Van Der Vaart for an absolute bargain price of 8m quid.

Now, this is good enough news in itself for the quality of the footballer, but I'm equally (Ok maybe a little bit more) excited about seeing his missus at the Lane!!!



That's it...I'm off to the toilets

No doubt that RVDV is a brilliant player, but he has a history of performing really well in his 1st season at a club then it goes downhill very rapidly each season after that.

Not sure about that mate. Last season at real he finished super strong in place of Kaka. Many real fans were calling VDV their player of the season.
The spannish press is running with lots of stories of the bargain spurs have managed here.
I reckon he's going to be the shizzle.

Bottom line - who would you rather: VDV for 8m or silva/toure at 24m a piece?

[smithy]

VDV - No doubt about it.

We'll store this one away and see how his 2nd season at spurs goes.

[devilsadvocate]

VDV - No doubt about it.

We'll store this one away and see how his 2nd season at spurs goes.

As always, the proof will be in the pudding.

His 2nd season at Hamburg was cut short by an ankle injury, but it was shaping as significantly better than his first.

At Madrid, he started on fire scoring goals left right and centre. Then when my mate Juande Ramos took over, VDV was out of the frame for whatever reason (probably that Ramos is a ******* nutter). In 2009/2010 VDV fought his way back into the side with Kaka's injury and as I said above, he was probably their best, most influential player.

I reckon if he stays injury free, he'll dominate the prem by year 2 when he gets used to it.

The question is, what sort of formation will Spurs play?

4-6-0
4-2-3-1
4-3-3-0

Not sure how the heck ole twitch is gonna fit Modric, VDV, Bale, Huddlestone, Sandro, Lennon, Palacios, Krajcar, Bentley, and Jenas into his plans. (OK I can see where Jenas fits - on the 'bugger off' list)

[cossi11]

Bolton's Gary Cahill has been cleared to join Arsenal after the Trotters signed Middlesbrough's David Wheater as his replacement.
Full story: metro.co.uk

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has ruled out a move for Tottenham striker Robbie Keane, saying he "doesn't quite suit us now."
Full story: talkSPORT

Celtic and Burnley are both interested in signing Everton's James Vaughan following the end of his loan spell at Crystal Palace.
Full story: talkSPORT

Chelsea's Gael Kakuta could be sent out on loan to Fulham to get more first-team action.
Full story: Daily Mail

Zenit St Petersburg are interested in taking striker Andrey Arshavin back from Arsenal.
Full story: Daily Mirror

Aston Villa striker John Carew will become the highest-paid player in Stoke history when he signs a £52,000-a-week loan deal, with Ricardo Fuller being sold to Sunderland to make room for him.
Full story: Daily Mirror

QPR and Ipswich are interested in Pascal Chimbonda after he was released by Blackburn.
Full story: Daily Mail


OTHER GOSSIP
Manchester City's Mario Balotelli is seeing a knee specialist in America in an effort to avoid the need for surgery.
Full story: Daily Telegraph

Manchester United's Owen Hargreaves could miss out on a place in their Champions League squad despite making progress in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
Full story: Daily Telegraph

David Beckham was prevented from playing for a behind-closed-doors friendly for Tottenham against QPR this week because of an insurance query.
Full story: Guardian