Spurs boss suffers wheel/deal fail…

Harry Redknapp, never one to miss an opportunity to mine some glory out of the most desperate of situations, has brushed off Spurs’ 3-0 humping at the Emirates on Saturday by revealing he knew about one of Arsenal’s best performers this season, Thomas Vermaelen, before Arsene Wenger did:

“I was recommended him as a left-back but we were strong in that position. People who recommended him didn’t speak of him as a central defender.”

‘Arry can’t have done too much research - Vermaelen filled in at centre-back for Ajax for over a third of last season, winning eight of the 12 games he played in the role. If the Spurs boss wants to get a more well-rounded view of Europe’s finest footballers, perhaps he should actually start playing Football Manager, rather than just pocketing the coin from shamelessly hawking it.

The ones you haven’t seen yet.

Cagliari’s Daniele Dessena, on loan from Sampdoria, shows once more why he is one of the brightest young things in Italian football right now, with this overhead kick against Catania.

John Goosens started his professional career with Ajax, where the famous academy obviously taught him to do things like this.

We here at thespoiler can never get enough of goalkeepers scoring goals, so we loved this one from the Portugese Cup.

Inter’s splattering of Genoa on Saturday night was unquestionably the performance of the weekend in Europe, and Dejan Stankovic’s long-range effort, probably the goal of the weekend in Europe.

Remember when the Dutch legend used to do this at Highbury?

He may be forty years old, but Dennis Bergkamp’s breathtaking technique showed no signs of fading in a recent match for former Ajax players.

[101GG]

Also appearing on a computer near you…

Sport get an excuse to extol the virtues of Barcelona by considering which of the Champions League have produced the most home grown talent [click image to enlarge]

How to avoid a transfer to Stoke by Christian Lell
[OTP]

Follow us on Twitter
[Twitter]

Interestment give us an update on the world of football
[Interestment]

How the crappy Newcastle away kit came to pass
[ChannelBee]

Hertha Berlin refuse to comment on Roman Pavlyuchenko loan deal
[Goal.com]

Ryan Babel could be off to Ajax
[Caught Offside]

Yeah, that was a pretty crappy transfer deadline day
[The Telegraph]

Spoiler promotion: Fancy a free punt? Of course you do, silly billy! Check out hundreds of pounds worth of free football bets at
OLBG Sports

A team of fresh faces who represent excellent value for money

Although the transfer window isn’t locked shut until the end of the month, the brand new Premier League season is but a few hours away. With this in mind, Spoiler correspondent Ben Baker has considered the best buys of the summer so far, compiling a team of his favourites…

Joe Hart
(Manchester City to Birmingham, Season Long Loan)
A transfer that suits both parties. Joe wants to win more senior England caps, and since he has been edged out of the number one spot at Manchester City by a certain Mr. Given, first team opportunities have been lacking. His search for regular football has led him to the Midlands and Birmingham are surely delighted that this promising young English goalkeeper will be between the sticks for the season. Also, you just have to love him for his mental attitude and abrasive shouting when facing a penalty - he’s like a loopier version of Bruce Grobbelaar.

Glen Johnson
(Portsmouth to Liverpool, £17.5m)
Beating off Chelsea and Manchester City and getting one over his rivals would have made this deal extra sweet for the ever-irritated Rafa. Johnson had a superb season last year, both with club and country, epitomised by his man of the match performance against an (albeit woeful) Andorra side that saw him notch up four assists from full back, and will add a whole new dimension to Liverpool’s right side. A high price to pay, but as Rafa said, “Sometimes you have to spend a little bit more.”A sentiment that is particularly true for English players.

Yuri Zhirkov
(CSKA Moscow to Chelsea, £18m)
A Russian at Chelsea? How did that happen? This versatile

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies…

Samuel Eto’o to Manchester City
The Daily Mail believe Barcelona are close to accepting a £30m bid for the Barcelona striker, even though he will demand a ridonculous £320,000-a-week in wages. That’s twice as much as the likes of Lampsie and Stevie G, and more than twice as much as he deserves.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: The Cameroonian’s incredulous wage demands were a stumbling block in a touted move to Liverpool - surely even City aren’t prepared to pay those kind of wages.

Pepe Reina to Barcelona
Should the Catalan side be unable to secure a contract extension for Victor Valdes, they may put in a €20m bid for Spain’s number two, say El Mundo Deportivo.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Reina is under contract

The latest transfer news, gossip and damned lies



Thomas Vermaelen to Arsenal
Yesterday reports were circulating that Professor Wenger had splashed £10m on the Ajax defender, something The Daily Mail confirm this morning. Now it’s reportedly just a case of agreeing personal terms.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Scout Tony Adams has said he is ‘not ready to be an Arsenal player’ and is not a transfer target, so on that basis, we can almost certainly say that Vermaelen has become a Gunner.

Ashley Young to Tottenham
David Bentley has never held much influence in the court of Harry Redknapp, and as such will be offered to Aston Villa for Ashley Young, with £8m thrown in

Swede turned down Premiership glory for, er, Eredivisie glory

Today, Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic finds himself with one of the biggest salaries in professional football, paid by the leaders of Serie A.

However, as a humble nineteen year old at Malmo (the football team, not the range of low cost flat pack furniture), the striker came very close to joining Professor Wenger at Arsenal. Back then, of course, The Gunners were busy winning league trophies, rather than “aiming for third place” (Anelka’s words, not ours).

Ibrahimovic told Eurosport why he chose Ajax instead:

“When I was in Malmo there was someone who invited me to Arsenal to see Mr Wenger.

“And I went there, I saw Patrick Vieira and the other big players who were there and when I met Wenger we spoke a little bit.

“Then I also had Monaco, Ajax and Roma who contacted me. But in the end Ajax were keener. I think it was a better solution for me even if Wenger is doing fantastic job with the young guys.”

Most budding strikers would have found Arsenal to be the better option, but we’re inclined to agree that he made the wise choice in going Dutch. In matches against English opposition, Ibrahimovic is almost always ineffective, perhaps suggesting an incompatibility with Premier League football.