José María del Nido is high on something confidence

Since Sevilla’s surprise defeat of a Ronaldo-less Real Madrid at the weekend, many have suggested that the traditional Spanish two-horse title race will have an extra runner this year. Among those backing Los palanganas as genuine contenders is club presdient José María del Nido, who believes the squad is superior to that of the current champions. Marca reports:

The Sevilla president said “Barcelona are a great team,” although he added, he was not sure if the club “has the same quality of squad” that is currently at Sevilla.

Granted, the likes of Luis Fabiano and Didier Zokora are working wonders in Seville right now, but we think it a bit of a stretch to consider their squad stronger than Barcelona’s. Equally, we can’t see Manolo Jiménez’s side breaking the dominance of La Liga’s big boys this season. Would anyone (whose name isn’t José María del Nido) care to disagree? Let us know below…

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Douglas Costa to Manchester Utd
The Times claim the Red Devils are moving closer to securing the services of Gremio’s highly-rated midfielder Douglas Costa. Despite being just 18, the Brazilian club are trying to get £20m for their free kick specialist.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: That’s a helluva lot of cash for a teenager with twelve senior club appearances to his name. Surely this will only happen if Gremio lower their asking price.

Mirko Vucinic to Tottenham
‘Arry has been linked to the Roma forward for a few weeks, and Italian daily Il Tempo believe a €20m bid is on the immediate horizon. Roma are said to be in desperate need of cash, and the man who has perfected the stripping goal celebration may become a high profile sacrifice.

The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies

Luis Fabiano to Manchester United
While Michael Owen stories have dominated today’s back pages, The Daily Mirror claim that Manchester United are offering Sevilla £16 million to try to beat AC Milan to the signing of Brazil striker Fabiano.

The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Fans probably wouldn’t be too happy to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez replaced solely by Antonio Valencia and Owen so it is plausible, especially considering the latter’s injury record, that Sir Alex Ferguson will want another attacking option.

Yuri Zhirkov to Chelsea
Chelsea completed their first summer signing last night, bringing in Middlesbrough’s reserve keeper Ross Turnbull - who conceded seven goals

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

With so much going on, it’s difficult not to contradict ones self

As you are well aware, it’s the transfer silly season, and the newspapers are all going to town to find the latest Premier League scoop. We don’t profess to be the Patron Saints of transfer prediction accuracy, but sometimes one can’t help but marvel at the ways they fill the column inches. Observe:

A headline from The Guardian, Dec 31: “Hughes says City will not pay inflated prices for players”

A headline from The Guardian, January 2: “City start spree with £10m Bridge deal”

Ok, so that contradiction isn’t really The Guardian’s fault, but here’s another one we spotted at The Daily Mail. This morning they ran with the headline:

Bridge goes so Chelsea boss Scolari moves for “Russian Ronaldinho”

That’s fine in it’s own right, but later they bumped that story down for the following:

Chelsea boss to target Fabiano using the cash from Bridge’s move to City

So, Chelsea are using the Wayne Bridge £10-12m transfer cash to buy the “Russian Ronaldinho”, and the £15m-rated Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano? They better be hoping for some hefty discounts.

(The Daily Mail’s contradiction might not have been so bad if they didn’t choose to run the two headlines next to each other)

There’s just thirteen days to go before the window is opened

In the summer everyone was expecting Xabi Alonso to move to Juventus only for coach Claudio Ranieri to eventually decide that he was too slow. The Daily Telegraph today claim that Ranieri is planning another Anfield raid, with underused duo Daniel Agger and Ryan Babel, who have eight league starts between them this season, top of his wishlist. The former Chelsea coach is poised to offer £19 million to persuade Rafael Benitez to part with his favourite substitutes. Here are today’s other major rumours:

Slaven Bilic to Sunderland
Former West Ham and Everton defender Super Slav has been backed down from 12/1 to 6/4 favourite for the Sunderland job but don’t be fooled into wasting money backing him because The Times say he is still not a leading contender.

The Red Devils may have an extra £80m to play with

After exposing the gaps the five London clubs and the Prem newbies need to fill, we have now condiered the manner in which Manchester Utd and Liverpool should redistribute their cash this summer…

Manchester Utd

Top priority:
The best deal for Ronaldo - If he wants out, get shot of him. If United demand big money, Real Madrid are likely to agree and if not, they keep him.
Fergie should demand Wesley Sneijder, who has outperformed Ronaldo at the Euros, in exchange and then use the remaining money to buy another striker.

Fitting the bill: Wesley Sneijder, Dani Guiza, Luis Fabiano, Dimitar Berbatov

Liverpool

Top priority:
A quality winger - Liverpool already boast Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Lucas and Plessis in central midfield so it’s confusing that they make Barry the main priority. Babel is quality, but Kuyt’s a striker and Benayoun and Pennant aren’t good enough.

Fitting the bill: Aiden McGeady, Franck Ribery, Robinho, David Bentley

Spoiler bonus: Here’s who should be on the shopping lists of the other two Merseyside and Manchester clubs…

Everton

Top priority:
A new Lee Carsley -