A further helping of transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Carlos Tevez to Manchester City Goal claim to have heard from an unnamed source that Tevez has chosen Man City over Chelsea and that the deal will be finalised next Monday, which is when Cristiano Ronaldo is scheduled to be officially unveiled at Real Madrid.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Confirming the capture of Tevez on the same day that Ronaldo is presented at the Bernabeu would be City’s way of firing out a warning to their neighbours that the tide is turning.
Luis Fabiano to AC Milan
Emmanuel Adebayor is no longer even a secondary target for AC Milan, who have chosen to chase Confederations Cup top-scorer Luis Fabiano after being
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Karim Benzema to Real Madrid
This whole Benzema thing is getting messy. His Lyon team-mate Miralem Pjanic claims he will join Manchester Utd, and Arsene Wenger is said to have expressed an interest, but according to this morning’s Marca, the young Frenchman will be anounced as a Real Madrid player in a matter of hours.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Madrid’s chief director Jorge Valdano has just ramped up the speculation by saying:
“We do not discard the possibility that in the next few hours, something could happen.”
If Lyon accept Los Blancos’ €35m-ish bid, this one is on.
Alexandre Pato to Chelsea
The Milan party line is that The Duck ain’t going nowhere, but according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, one of Roman Abramovich’s henchmen was spotted at Milan HQ yesterday. An improved bid of €60m could be on the cards.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: It’s quite possible that the
Gica Popescu accused of helping brutal Commie regime
Gica Popescu is a bit of a legend in his native Romania. The former defender was never outside the top 4 in the Romanian Footballer of the Year awards for 13 years from 1989 until 2001, thanks in part to the European Cup Winners’ Cup medal he earned in 1997 as captain of Barcelona, and also a season in the Premiership with Tottenham.
Popescu is currently campaigning to become head of the Romanian Soccer Federation, but his bid has been hampered by allegations that he supplied to the Securitate (Romania’s rather nasty communist secret service) with information from 1986 until the regime was toppled in 1989. The Canadian Press (huh?) reports:
The 41-year-old Popescu said he once signed a document promising to “defend the national interests” during the regime of the late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
“I signed a very general thing. My conscience isn’t clear, it’s very clear,” he said at a news conference. “I didn’t inform on anyone.”
In the late eighties, the Securitate kept tabs on all Romania’s athletes, and those competing in international tournaments were allegedly made to share the details of their conversations with foreigners.
Although the regime employed half a million informants out of a population of just 22 million, Popescu has dismissed the claims as a “big lie” designed to derail his current ambitions within Romanian football’s governing body.
A further helping of transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Samuel Eto’o is going to snub Manchester City
Today’s papers are filled with talk of Eto’o moving to Eastlands for a pay packet ranging between £180,000-a-week and £250,000 depending on which tabloid, if any, you choose to believe. However, the striker’s agent has said: ”If there is not a 180-degree turnaround then he will stay with Barcelona.”
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: It looks like the 28-year-old isn’t interested in missing out on Champions League football in favour of more money, which is impressive considering he was linked with a move to Uzbekistan last summer.
Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid
The Liverpool midfielder is keeping his cards close to his chest regarding his future. The Spaniard told Don Balon magazine that he is happy to stay at
The Barcelona star never wanted C-Ron at the Nou Camp, honest
The Barcelona party line is that they’re not ruffled by Real Madrid’s ridiculous summer spending spree. After all, it allows them to claim the moral high ground for “doing things the right way.”
However, Xavi broke rank today by launching a scathing attack on Cristiano Ronaldo, claiming that he wouldn’t have been welcome at the Nou Camp:
“I wouldn’t want him here. At Barca, we do not have room for players who fill gossip magazines.
“We are hard workers and sportsmen but he, on the other hand, is uncontrollable.
“We have a lot of desire to continue winning. The best player in the world is Lionel Messi and there’s no chance he will switch allegiance.”
The Spoiler found those unsporting comments very interesting, especially as Xavi had this to say about the world’s most expensive player last April:
“He could be a much better player if he was here, playing with us. I have a soft spot for him. I would love him to join us.
“Along with Lionel Messi, Ronaldo is the best player in the world. In fact he is in front of Leo in terms of influence in a game. The kid has everything.”
While the change in outlook might not be very subtle, The Spoiler almost admires the fact Xavi is so blinded by loyalty to Barcelona that someone he had “a soft spot for” became a lost cause the second he joined Real Madrid.
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies…
Michael Owen to Olympiakos
The Greek side have reportedly offered the charismatic striker a way of escaping from all the poeple pointing and laughing at him in England with a three-year-deal worth £50k-a-week in Athens
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Before tax, it’s not as much as the £60k-a-week Hull are offering, but the Government’s brilliant new 50 per cent tax laws will make the money go a lot further in Greece.
Samuel Eto’o and Carlos Tevez to Manchester City The Daily Star believe the Citizens will bolster their attacking lineup with a £50m MEGABID for the man who plays for Barca and the man who plays for Kia Joorabchian.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: It is believed the Catalan giants have already accepted
Will Tevez shock the world again or is Kia just being clever?
Nothing is ever simple where Kia Joorabchian is concerned so it wasn’t a huge surprise when he declared yesterday that there is a mystery club battling it out with Manchester City and Chelsea for Carlos Tevez.
The Telegraph claim that Barcelona are the team in question but Joorabchian stated last week that Tevez would “definitely” join a Premier League club.
The Argentine’s agent said he wouldn’t swap Man United for Liverpool, which would leave just Arsenal and potentially Aston Villa, Spurs, Everton and West Ham as even mildly viable options. It’s very unlikely that any of those clubs could afford to break their transfer record to buy him let alone pay his wages.
So do we therefore assume that the mystery team are based abroad after all, or has Joorabchian just invented this third party (ha!) in an attempt to pressure Chelsea and City into offering better terms. The Spoiler is leaning towards the latter but let us know what you think with a vote and comment below:
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