A further helping of transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Ricardo Carvalho and Deco to Inter Milan
The biggest transfer news of a very slow day comes from Italy’s Sky Sport 24, who claim that Chelsea do not want Nicolas Burdisso or Maicon in exchange for Jose Mourinho’s good friends Deco and Ricardo Carvalho and are instead holding out for around £12 million for the pair.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Maicon’s agent Antonio Caliendo says that he expects his client to stay put this summer so it would make sense for Chelsea to take as much money as they can and shop elsewhere.
Felipe Melo is staying with Fiorentina
Just a day after being urged by international teammate Gilberto Silva to sign
With the 2008/09 campaign finally over, The Spoiler continues to take a look back (part 1 is over here in case you missed it) at the season’s finest goals and our nominations for the ten greatest efforts. Surprisingly, only two strikers make the list…
#10: Fernando Torres - Liverpool 4-0 Blackburn, 11/04/09
Would Liverpool’s season have ended in league glory had Fernando Torres managed to avoid injury? We’ll never know - but surely fans would’ve been treated to more gems like this. Nonchalantly foregoing the traditional practice of actually checking where the net is before hitting the ball, the number 9 scores a spectacular striker’s goal.
The world of football is plagued by slightly odd pre-match rituals: Fernando Torres likes to have three sets of kit ready for each game, while Deco insists on performing an a capella version of Celine Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ in front of a picture of Luiz Felipe Scolari before stepping out on to the pitch.
Ok, so the Deco one isn’t strictly true (he actually sings Tears for Fears’ ‘Head Over Heels’), but news of an equally bizarre ritual reaches us from the pages of The Sun. Apparently, Huddersfield’s Malvin Kamara watches Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory before every game. Not the crappy Johnny Depp one mind, the proper one:
“The Depp one just offends me. I have to watch Wonka before every game. It gets me in the right mood.”It’s been my favourite film since I was little.”
Kamara claims to have viewed it over 150 times, claiming it “calms his nerves and brings him luck”. It’s the exact same reason The Spoiler watches A Night at the Roxbury at least once a night.
Do you know of any stranger pre-match rituals than this? Let us know below…
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
The Spoiler would like to thank The Times, who made us feel very smug this morning when their back page carried unsubstantiated details of a potential Carlos Tevez move to Liverpool; the same unsubstantiated details we brought to the interweb’s attention yesterday morning. Anyway, here’s the latest transfer gossip to hit the rumour vine…
Deco to Inter Milan
Since his boyfriend Phil Scolari left West London, Deco has been out of sorts at Chelsea. The Mirror claim Jose Mourinho will rescue the Portugal star with an £8m summer bid.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Mourinho was a big fan of the large-eyebrowed star when he managed him at Porto, and a move could be on the cards if Chelsea can negotiate a deal that minimises their losses. Obviously, it also depends on Mourinho still being in Milan next season.
Sami Hyypia to Stoke, Blackburn or Sunderland
According to The Sun, Blackburn are chasing the Finnish defender, and Tony
Reports claim Milan boss has already named his transfer targets
AC Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti has agreed to take charge of Chelsea in the summer, on the condition that he is given £50 million to revamp the squad, according to the Daily Telegraph:
An agreement has now been reached with the AC Milan coach, who is understood to have finally made a commitment to leave the San Siro and join Chelsea on a three-year contract.
As part of the negotiations the Italian has been promised the funds to land four high-profile players. The significant spending spree will, also, reaffirm owner Roman Abramovich’s commitment after another season of upheaval.
The newspaper claims that Emmanuel Adebayor, who AC Milan tried to sign last summer, Yuri Zhirkov and
See the Blues’ world famous “stretching in front of giant golden statues” routine and so much more
Ever wondered what Chelsea get up to at their super futuristic Cobham training facility? Us neither, but we have unearthed an insight into the daily routine of Guss Hiddink’s men…
Deco gives himself a thorough eyebrow workout on the pool table.
JT dresses Franco Di Santo every day. Here, the young Argentinean is concerned that El Capitan has messed up the tie and shirt order, but is thankful that he managed to put his pants on before his trousers this time.