The players who won’t make the grade at their new clubs

In the spirit of writing people off at an unreasonably early stage of the season, we asked Spoiler correspondent Joe Thompson to list the top ten newbies who are likely to struggle in 2009/10. Thankfully, he obliged…

Alberto Aquilani
(Roma to Liverpool, £20m)
‘What?! I’ve seen him on YouTube, he’s a maestro! Great vision, long range shooting! Like Gerrard with nice hair!’ True, but he’s also crocked enough to make Darren Anderton look like The Terminator. In all competitions, he’s made 90 starts in five seasons. Look at the YouTube compilations again, he’s got a different haircut in every clip. OK, he’s Italian - it proves nothing- but he doesn’t play much. At £20m, Benitez has taken a massive gamble. By the time he plays it’ll be nearly Christmas, and a crunching (or even soft) tackle away at Stoke or Bolton might mean he’s glad to get back to the comfort of the treatment room.

Ronald Zubar
(Marseille to Wolves, undisclosed)
Very few players are immortalised in a football expression– The ‘Cruyff’ Turn, The ‘Blanco’ Bounce and ‘Zubrelances’. The latter is a term the Marseille faithful coined to describe Zubar’s regular defensive howlers. He’s played for France U-21’s, but then Titus Bramble also played U-21 football when he was clowning around at Newcastle. Mick McCarthy is already ‘pleading for patience’ with his new signing - Wolves fans are going to need it.

Roque Santa Cruz
(Blackburn Rovers to Man City, £17m)
Initially, this looked like a great match. Hughes had long been giving him the eye after re-launching his career

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Kaka to Manchester Utd
If Cristiano Ronaldo makes his much-discussed escape to Real Madrid this summer, Manchester Utd will launch a bid for Kaka, say the Daily Mail. The Reds will offer only half of the £100m that Manchester City dangled in front of AC Milan, but they will almost certainly hold twice the appeal.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: This is a tough one to read. The Brazilian has been setting himself up for a summer move, but has recently re-declared his love for the Rossoneri.

Fabian Delph to Aston Villa
Leeds Utd have already rejected a bid from Newcastle, and have received interest from Manchester Utd and Arsenal for their talented midfielder. Aston Villa are the latest Premier League

The latest gossip, rumours and damned lies

Tired of reading about how much Harry Redknapp adores Jermain Defoe? While the Spurs gaffer struggles to be reunited with his former love, here’s the most important transfer news being spread on the rumour vine…

Yuri Zhirkov to Chelsea
According to The Daily Mail, Big Phil has agreed to sell Wayne Bridge to Manchester City for £12m, and will spend the funds bringing CSKA Moscow’s Yuri Zhirkov to the Bridge. He can play left back or left wing, and is known in his home country as “the Russian Ronaldinho” (presumably for his dribbling skills, rather than weight problems and nightclub addictions).

Spoiler truth-o-meter: If Bridge goes, then there’s no reason why Scolari won’t “bring something different” to his squad. There will be competition, however, as Barcelona, Juventus and two other Premiership sides are interested in his signature, according to his agent.

Fabian Delph to Manchester Utd
The young Leeds Utd midfielder has attracted £6m bids from Arsenal and Fulham (and a rejected bid from Newcastle), but Sir Alex has stepped in with a deal that could be worth up to £10m based on appearances and trophies. Manchester Utd have also promised Leeds two of their youngsters on loan as part of the deal.

Spoiler truth-o-meter: The 19-year-old is destined for top flight football, and provided The Sun didn’t completely fabrictae this story, Manchester Utd will be the best option for him and Leeds.

David Villa to Manchester City
The Euro 2008 star has been linked

Following the news that Leeds Utd refused a recent Newcastle bid for rising star Fabian Delph, we compared Dennis Wise’s scouting network to that of one of his contemporaries