Is the Swede about to get involved in the relegation dogfight?

Yesterday Sven-Goran Eriksson was one of the favourites for the Chelsea job but this morning he has leapfrogged Avram Grant and Alan Curbishley to emerge as the frontrunner to succeed Tony Adams at Portsmouth.

The former England boss is currently in charge of Mexico, who face the USA in a World Cup qualifier tomorrow night, and while you would expect him to walk if Chelsea came calling, the Portsmouth link remains unconvincing.

The most regrettable transfers in Premier League history

It’s the January window, which means plenty of players are going to trade hands. Some clubs will end up paying far too much money for their new blood (Manchester City have already got the ball rolling on that one), while others will land a player who proves to be a bargain and a regrettable loss for their former employer. A classic example of the latter is Denis Law: Manchester United decided to let their second highest goal scorer of all time leave on a free to rivals City. Law only spent one year at City in his second spell before retiring, but his last goal came in the last game of the 1973-74 season against United. The red side of Manchester needed a win to stay up, but a Law back heel in a 1-0 win confirmed their place in the Second Division for the next season.

With this case study in mind, here’s the Premier League ‘Shouldn’t have let him go XI’…

Brad Friedel (Liverpool to Blackburn, 2000, free)
Friedel only managed 30 starts for Liverpool in three years before he was allowed to move on a free to Blackburn, after failing to displace Sander Westerveld. Since leaving Merseyside, Friedel has been one of the most consistent keepers in the league, while Liverpool have been through Westerveld, Dudek, Chris Kirkland, Pegguy Arphexad and Scott Carson, before settling with current shot stopper Pepe Reina.

Steve Finnan (Fulham to Liverpool, 2003, £3.5m)
Finnan was a key figure in the Cottagers side that won the Second Division and First Division and was a member of the PFA Team of the Year in his first season in the Premiership with them. He managed over 200 appearances for Fulham before moving to Liverpool and winning the League Cup, FA Cup and Champions League in his 5 years on Merseyside.

Jonathan Woodgate (Leeds to Newcastle, 2003, £9m)
In January 2001, Leeds were top of the Premiership. Two years later, they found themselves fighting a relegation battle. Then came the sales of Lee Bowyer, Robbie Fowler and their best defender, Woodgate - unsurprisingly their poor form continued. The following season Woodgate’s value to the team was all too evident when Roque Junior was brought in to fill the gap. Junior looked like he had money on a Leeds relegation as the club conceded 25 goals in the 7 games he played in.

Matthew Upson (Arsenal to Birmingham, 2003, £1m)
Upson only managed 20 league starts in nearly six years at Arsenal before he was sold for half the price they had previously paid for him. He excelled at Birmingam before a £6 million switch to West Ham, where his performances have been rewarded by a call up to the England team. Recent reports have suggested that following the uncertainty of the future of ex-captain William Gallas, Professor Wenger is keen to spend over £10m on bringing him back to Arsenal. If he does rejoin the club, maybe he’d have more luck starting if he changed his name to Mathieu Upsoné.

David Unsworth (Sheffield United to Wigan, 2007, free)
Mr Unsworth wasn’t the biggest success at Wigan - he only managed 10 games for the club. He did, however, manage to score the winning goal with a penalty in Wigan’s last game of the season to keep them in the Premier League. And the side who went down at Wigan’s expense? Sheffield United.

Look what they’re putting on the back of his shirt

The picture may look like a bad photoshop (the name isn’t even in the middle!), but  Lassana Diarra genuinely paraded his new shirt at a Bernabeu press conference today. To avoid confusion with Real Madrid namesake Mahamadou, the French midfielder will wear the name ‘Lass’ on his back.

It’s quite common for players to put their first name on their shirt in Spain, but something tells us he wouldn’t get away with “Lass” in the Premier League…

Reserve right-back decides to unsettle his teammates and fans

In case you weren’t aware, former Arsenal defender Lauren is still at Portsmouth and while he hasn’t started a league game since April, he is still available to perform the service of destablising everybody at the club.

Lauren was randomly selected by Spanish sports paper AS to give his opinion on Lassana Diarra’s proposed transfer to Real Madrid and the Cameroonian revealed that Diarra won’t be the only player leaving Fratton Park next month.

“The team is dismantling itself and big sides are coming. Diarra is not the only one

Just two weeks remain before the transfer window is opened again

January 1 is looming large on the horizon and after the return of the Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid saga yesterday, the Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City rumour got jealous and has now made a comeback in an attempt to steal back the spotlight. Here all The Spoiler’s favourite pieces of transfer guesswork from today’s papers:

Roque Santa Cruz to Manchester City
While some newspapers are reporting that Sam Allardyce only agreed to take the Blackburn job if he could keep the Paraguay striker, The Times go against the grain and say Big Sam wants to sell him for £20 million to raise transfer funds. They also claim that Manchester City’s highest bid in the summer was £14 million so why the logic in them offering an extra £6 million for someone who has scored less than Roman Bednar this season is flawed.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: If they sell, they probably won’t make as much money they could have in the summer

Gary O’Neil to Portsmouth

16 days until the window is flung open

At approximately twelve feet tall, Nikola Zigic is Valencia’s answer to Peter Crouch. According to the latest whispers on the rumour mill, he could be on the way to the Premier League. With little chance of getting the real thing, is Harry looking to bring a Crouch-alike to the Lane?

Nikola Zigic to England
Valencia forward Nikola Zigic is poised for a move to England. Espanyol had been linked with the gigantic hit-man but their transfer chief German de la Cruz has revealed “Zigic has a 99.9% chance of playing in England.” Stoke and Blackburn are reportedly leading the chase but if he is available others might soon join the chase.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: According to ‘German de la Cruz’, it’s quite certain. However, if like us you’ve never heard of Cruz you might not reluctant to take his word on it.

Karim Benzema to Madrid
20-year-old Karim Benzema has

23 days until the window is flung open

It’s not long until Manchester City’s bottomless coffer is unleashed, and the press are having a fantastic time linking everyone under the sun to them. Here’s the latest happenings in gossipland…

David Villa to Manchester City
The Sun has revealed Man City are in talks to sign Euro 2008 star David Villa after Mark Hughes insisted there would be big name signings in January.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Cash-strapped Valencia would surely accept £60 million and City wouldn’t think twice about breaking the world transfer record. And for around £150,000 a week you’d think the man himself might be quite interested too.

Thierry Henry to Manchester City
Manchester City are keen to bring Thierry Henry back to England after his turbulent time in Spain according to the Daily Mail. Barcelona might be interested if the right money is offered although a sale would most likely follow a guaranteed replacement with Lyon striker Karim Benzema consistently linked with the Catalan giants.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: City and Barcelona might both be interested in a deal, but Thierry Henry remains determined to prove his time in Spain has been a success. Following a hat-trick at the weekend he looks keen to win over his detractors in Spain.

Milan to extend loan for Beckham?
AC Milan chief executive Adriano Galliani has revealed he hopes to keep David Beckham for as long as possible. LA Galaxy have already agreed to loan out Beckham in January for the close season of the MLS. Despite competition for places in Milan’s midfield - Kaka, Andrea Pirlo and Ronaldinho to name just a few, Beckham’s England career prospects would be enhanced by proving his quality in Serie A as opposed to in USA. Milan might struggle to match the Galaxy’s asking price or Beckham’s weekly half a million dollar wages but would enjoy significant commercial success if a permanent deal could be agreed with the Galaxy.

The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Posh might like life in Italy better than LA where she is far less popular than her hubby and might want to stay for Milan Fashion Week in September.

A Manager to Sunderland
Rumoured replacements for Roy Keane include Peter Reid

But he won’t tell the midfielder who made the offer

Harry Redknapp has admitted that he turned down a £15 million bid for midfielder Lassana Diarra on transfer deadline day but refused to reveal who made the offer…because the Frenchman might want to leave!

The Portsmouth boss said: “I turned down a £15 million bid for Diarra on transfer deadline day. I’m not saying who from - he might want to go. But he is worth more.”

Whether Redknapp was speaking with his tongue lodged firmly in his cheek when he said Diarra might have fancied a third transfer in a year is uncertain but if the former Chelsea and Arsenal man didn’t know about the offer before, he definitely does now!