What’s this s*** about us trying to by a player?

This video gave me a few chuckles and should amuse most football fans. Enjoy!

Blue moon fading

Man City’s outlay on players since the start of the 08/09 season = £460m

Amount spent on strikers alone = £221.5m

The look Mancini got from a bitter City executive after losing the Community Shield = priceless!

Mexico continue to impress at the Gold Cup

Guardado’s goal:

Guardado also scored the third goal in their Gold Cup match against Costa Rica. Check it out in the highlights clip below.

Highlights Mexico 4 – 1 Costa Rica

No more draws or extra time during group stages

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is considering eliminating draws, as well as extra time  from the group stage of future World Cups.

“If there is no winner after 90 minutes, then it will go straight to penalties. The Golden Goal which had been used until 2002 could also be reintroduced. The first to score a goal determines the winner, so both teams must attack.”. Blatter explained in an interview with Germany weekly, Focus.

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Palermo defender joins Steve McClaren’s wolves

Rumoured Manchester United target Simon Kjaer has signed for Bundesliga club Wolfsburg.

“Simon is not only a very good, aggressive defender, but also despite his young age, a strong personality on the field. He already has leadership qualities” said club chairman Dieter Hoeneß.

Kjaer was visibly happy with the transfer and added: “The transfer is a chance for me to play with a top club. I believe that this is the right step for me. We have a strong team, which can mix it up with the ebst in the Bundesliga. I want to fight for a regular place here.”

The fact that the highly-regarded Kjaer has moved for a paltry transfer fee of €10m would indicate that there might be a lack of big spenders this summer with the obvious exception of Man City, Madrid and Chelsea. Even Barcelona might have to ease their pursuit of Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas after it was revealed yesterday that the Spanish giants would be taking a loan of €150m to pay their staff and players.

I would personally welcome some sanity flowing back into the transfer market after escalating prices and salaries have put most clubs in Spain, as well as England under enormous financial pressure.

Another day, another rumour quashed

Wigan Athletic have signed Argentinian striker Mauro Boselli from Estudiantes for an undisclosed fee.

Boselli was recently linked to Manchester United and Bolton, but has put pen to paper on a four-year deal after passing a medical at the DW stadium earlier today. The 25-year-old joins the Latics with an impressive record of having scored 32 goals in 57 appearances for Estudiantes.

Wigan’s manager, Roberto Martínez,  said he is looking forward to working with Boselli.

“Mauro is a goalscorer, who lives to put the ball in the back of the net and he is somebody we have been looking at for a long time,” he told the club’s official website. “At 25-years-old he is at a perfect moment in his career to come and play in the Premier League, and he has all the right qualities to make his mark at this level.

“He is a clever player, a natural finisher who can cause havoc in the penalty area, and he gives the team some great new options with the variety of roles he can play. We want him to reach his full potential here and bring plenty of smiles to the fans.”

Boselli joins a growing list of player who had been linked to United, but have been snapped up by other clubs. According to United’s official website, 70 players have been linked with the club this summer costing a estimated total of £1.269billion.

Transfer targets no longer available:

Mauro Boselli
Angel Di Maria
Simon Kjaer
Edinson Cavani
Jack Rodwell
Michael Ballack
David Villa
Sofiane Feghouli

Danish defender set to move to Spurs

Palermo President Maurizio Zamparini has confirmed that the club has accepted a bid for both Simon Kjaer and Edinson Cavani. Danish defender Kjaer had been linked regularly with a move to Old Trafford and United scouts have attended Palermo games to assess one of Europe’s hottest talents, but did not choose to follow up on their interest.

“Tottenham have bid €35m, an offer we cannot refuse, seeing as the two players have both said they want to leave,” Zamparini told Sky Italia television.

Danish international defender Kjaer is hot property and was also linked with Juventus, Inter, Barcelona and Manchester United.

Uruguayan striker Cavani had been close to Inter, who seem to have toned down their interest, while Manchester City made an offer.

“We will reinvest the money for these players,” assured Zamparini. “The midfield is my biggest concern, whereas in defence and attack we are fairly covered.”

Kjaer has had a World Cup of mixed fortunes. A precise raking cross eventually led to a Denmark goal, which highlighted the fact that a centre back, who doesn’t just hoof the ball up-field, is a rare and useful commodity, but he was found wanting defensively on several occasions.

He tended to be on the wrong side of the player he was marking and wasn’t as determined to win duels as you would hope from a central defender. He’s a strong, pacy lad who can read the game well, but is prone to concentration lapses and just doesn’t look like he could reach the levels of Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic.

To be fair, he has other attributes that make him a very good prospect, so it will be interesting to see how he developes and whether our scouts got it right by advising Sir Alex to move for Chris Smalling instead.

Probably more entertaining than England

England’s performances in the group stages have been anything but exciting with many of the EPL stars failing to shine. Some of the games have been very difficult to watch and have frustrated fans and staff alike. In fact the performances have been so dire that the usually stoic Fabio Capello has been very animated during the World Cup. Quite frankly, Capello has been more entertaining than any of England’s performances.

Here’s a great clip of Capello during the match versus Slovenia with subtitles. Nice to see him being so “in to it” and his exchange with Stuart Pearce.

Danish defender identified as possible replacement for Vidic

Following yesterday’s news that Nemanja Vidic is considering a move away from Old Trafford, Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has confirmed that they have received a formal query from Manchester United for the services of Simon Kjaer.

Zamparini said: “I have had requests for Kjaer from Manchester City and United, but there are still differences between what we want and what they are offering.”

“I have two or three requests for Kjaer. Logically if the offer is €10m then I’ll ask for €12m, if the bid is €20m then I will push for €22m.

“We’d have to see where we end up. There are clubs like Manchester City, Manchester United and Wolfsburg weighing in.”

Kjaer is widely regarded as one of Europe’s top defensive talents and has had another solid season with Palermo, cementing his reputation of being a strong, pacey defender with the ability to read the game well and an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time.

Agent Benitez on the verge of Anfailed exit

Since helping Liverpool achieve one of the greatest comebacks in football by overturning a 3-0 deficit against Milan to win the Champions League final in 2005, Rafael Benitez has single-handedly prevented Liverpool from achieving anything worth shouting about.

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