The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies…
Samuel Eto’o to Manchester City The Daily Mail believe Barcelona are close to accepting a £30m bid for the Barcelona striker, even though he will demand a ridonculous £320,000-a-week in wages. That’s twice as much as the likes of Lampsie and Stevie G, and more than twice as much as he deserves.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: The Cameroonian’s incredulous wage demands were a stumbling block in a touted move to Liverpool - surely even City aren’t prepared to pay those kind of wages.
Pepe Reina to Barcelona
Should the Catalan side be unable to secure a contract extension for Victor Valdes, they may put in a €20m bid for Spain’s number two, say El Mundo Deportivo.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Reina is under contract
A certain German sportswear manufacturer is promoting its new kit designs with a series of viral videos from various Premier League training grounds: last week we saw Michael Ballack wearing Chelsea’s new Robocop-themed home shirt, and now we see Xabi Alonso sporting Liverpool’s new away strip.
We’re not too keen on the Chelsea kit, but do like the Liverpool one - particularly how the shoulder stripes go right up to the neckline. It’s a definite improvement on the prototype we showed you in March.
Liverpool and Tottenham are enjoying very different predicaments this season: one is savouring the prospect of a Premier League trophy, while the other is relishing the propsect of a Championship trophy next season.
Perhaps the reasons for these mixed fortunes are the manner in which the players spend their free time. While Jermain Defoe spends all his time away from the pitch making love to glamour models and David Bentley racks up six hours a day gushing compliments into a full size mirror, Liverpool’s spaniards are using their time constructively. Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Albert Riera have taken up Japanese cooking lessons:
“Most people expect footballers to relax playing golf or going to the races, but the boys love Japanese cooking. They find it very therapeutic.”
The friends are often joined by countryman Mikel Arteta, of the Reds’ arch rivals Everton.
They’ve learned to cook noodle dishes, sweet soy sauce marinades for meat, and sushi with raw fish and rice.
It’s pretty shocking to learn that some of the Premier League’s most pampered stars are actually willing to cook for themselves. Next they’ll be telling us that they book their own holidays or brush their own teeth…
The scenario: You’re the manager of a Premier League team, and you’re allowed to strengthen your squad by signing just one player in the January transfer window. But you can only choose someone from Liverpool’s squad - so who do you pick?
Your options: Stevie G, Carra, Nando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Pepe Reina… there’s no shortage of talent in the ‘Pool’s class of 08/09.
Brazilian’s possessions purloined while on Champions League duty
Last December, Alex Curran had a terrifying encounter with armed robbers who broke into her home while her husband was diving playing away in Marseille, marking the sixth occasion in eighteen months that a Liverpool star’s home security had been breached. The Spoiler’s crack team of sleuths predicted that John Arne Riise would be the next man in a red shirt to suffer a break in (his rogue payslip, bankruptcy and apparent willingness to part with his Champions League medal to show casual attitude to materialism), yet he managed to escape to Rome unburglarised.
In place of the ginger Norwegian, young Brazilian Lucas Leiva has had his home ransacked, with thieves making off with an Olympic bronze medal, some Brazil shirts and a huge “swag” bag full of “treasured memories”.
Ahead of tonight’s match at Vicente Calderón Stadium, Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen has been encouraged by UEFA to call the game to a halt if the racist abuse that blighted Atletico Madrid’s last European home game against Marseilles reoccurs.
This morning on talkSPORT, fellow Dane Peter Schmeichel hinted that Larsen is the type of rule-abiding official who would have the nerve to call off proceedings if the fans misbehave. However, a little research on the table tennis-loving customs clearance ref suggests he is happy to steer clear of controversy and the spotlight: in the last ten years he has issued just 99 yellow cards and has failed to pull out a single red.
Also, it’s not quite clear what would happen if the game is called off - would Liverpool be awarded automatic victory? If so, the temptation
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