The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Robbie Keane to Aston Villa
With the arrival of Peter Crouch and the ongoing pursuit of Klaas Jan Huntelaar at Spurs, the Daily Mail are speculating that Robbie Keane may pack up his bindle for the second consecutive summer. The team they have plucked from the air is Villa, who would have to match his £70,000-a-week wages.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Keane may not get on the team sheet every single week, but we can’t see him moving anywhere before the season starts.
Elano to Galatasaray
Despite being chased by both Milan clubs, the unwanted Citizen has moved to Turkey for a fee of around £8m.
As his place in the Inter Milan first team becomes increasingly uncertain, Patrick Vieira has been linked with a move back to the Premier League. After dismissing the advances of Birmingham, the 33-year-old Frenchman is said to be entertaining the prospect of joining Tottenham on a one year pay-as-you-play contract.
The Daily Mail believe he is so keen to work with ‘Arry that he is willing to accept around £35,000-a-week, a huge drop from his Internazionale wages. The Mail also took a leaf out of the Sun’s book by completely fabricating a source reporting the words of a trusted friend:
‘This is not about money, this is about a chance to play.
‘He has great memories of his time in London at Arsenal but that is in the past. The deal is not completed but he has an open mind. He is not afraid of the challenge from Spurs.’
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: In a disappointing week for transfer news, we would normally take this rumour as a speculative attempt to fill column inches. However, The Spoiler’s mole at Tottenham told us this transfer would happen two days ago, so we are fairly confident that the White Hart Lane faithful will be welcoming a Gunners hero at the start of the new season.
Franck Ribery to Liverpool
Shortly before Michael Owen’s meal ticket came in, the folks at Skybet dramatically slashed his odds of joining the Red Devils. Exactly the same thing has happened in the case of Franck Ribery and Liverpool - the Frenchman is currently 8/13 on to end up at Anfield next season, suggesting a transfer is imminent. Skybet’s Dale Tempest said:
“Every price we have put up has been taken on Ribéry moving to Liverpool, which has left us stumped as in recent weeks he has been liked with every other club but the Reds! After seeing money for him to join Man United and Real Madrid at the same time that Bayern Munich say he’s going nowhere, we’ve now seen a flood of bets on him to join Liverpool. 8/13 may seem a very short price but after the losses we made last week on Michael Owen, who was gambled down from 20/1 to move to Manchester United, we are taking no chances.”
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Much like the animals before inclement weather, the bookies are always the first to know…
Darren Bent to Sunderland The Mirror believe the Black Cats have made a £12m bid for the unwanted striker, but the north Londoners are said to be holding out to recoup a little bit more of his £16.5m transfer fee.
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Stewart Downing to Aston Villa The Spoiler assumed that replacing Martin Laursen and Gareth Barry would be Aston Villa’s priority right now but apparently not. The Daily Mail claim that Martin O’Neill is looking to thwart Spurs (and they sure will be heartbroken!) by signing Downing on a loan deal with an option to make the move permanent.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: This has to be nonsense. Villa have a lot of work to do this summer and bringing in someone who plays in the same position as their star player Ashley Young is surely not top of the agenda.
Joleon Lescott staying with Everton
The Daily Star report that Manchester City have been priced out of a move for
Patrick Vieira will line up against Manchester United again tonight
Jose Mourinho has decided to start Patrick Vieira and Mario Balotelli against Manchester United tonight while Walter Samuel returns to the Inter Milan defence. Carlos Tevez’ reward for scoring twice against Fulham is a place on the bench while Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes both start in midfield.
Arsene Wenger has named the same eleven players for Arsenal that started the 1-0 win over Roma a fortnight ago. As well as indicating that the Frenchman doesn’t intend to adopt a safety-first approach, it means he has Theo Walcott and Eduardo waiting in the wings to make an impact of the bench.
Patrick Vieira spotted snooping round the capital today
News just in from a friend of TheSpoiler in North London:
While driving this morning I saw Patrick Vieira roaming the streets of Hampstead. It was definitely him, I pulled over to get a closer look, called out “Patrick!” and he coyly raised a hand.
Vieira lived in a huge house in Hampstead during his Arsenal days - could the Internazionale midfielder be considering a return to London?
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