Reports claim Milan boss has already named his transfer targets
AC Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti has agreed to take charge of Chelsea in the summer, on the condition that he is given £50 million to revamp the squad, according to the Daily Telegraph:
An agreement has now been reached with the AC Milan coach, who is understood to have finally made a commitment to leave the San Siro and join Chelsea on a three-year contract.
As part of the negotiations the Italian has been promised the funds to land four high-profile players. The significant spending spree will, also, reaffirm owner Roman Abramovich’s commitment after another season of upheaval.
The newspaper claims that Emmanuel Adebayor, who AC Milan tried to sign last summer, Yuri Zhirkov and
Spanish striker says the atmosphere won’t affect Real Madrid
When Juande Ramos claimed that the massively overhyped “famous Anfield roar” would have no effect on Real Madrid, it was widely considered to be a petty mind-game but his opinion has been backed up by Fernando Torres.
The Real Madrid boss said that visiting Liverpool would be no more special than experiencing the Bernabeu, Nou Camp or San Siro and his compatriot Torres has agreed that the home crowd won’t have much of an impact. He said:
“Anfield is special, but they won’t fear the scenery. The players of Madrid have played in the better stadiums, in the better competitions and it’s not going to impress them.”
He better have something bloody interesting to say
David Beckham should start his first game for the Rossoneri later today, as they face Martin Jol’s Hamburg in a winter friendly.
Italian broadcaster RAI tv were hoping to catch up with the headline-grabbing star, but were shocked to find out they had to pay for the privilege. They were even more shocked when they were told the amount being requested was €500,000 (that’s £500,000 currently, or about £800,000 in a few days time).
The Beckham loan deal was designed purely to put bums on seats in the San Siro and cash in the club shop tills, so in this respect there’s little surprise that an interview is so costly.
Understandably, RAI tv will not be taking up the offer, probably because Mr B is notoriously dull during interviews, and coughing up €10,000 every time he mumbles “you know” is not a particularly prudent investment at a time of recession.
Read all about the outrage here, but be warned: it’s in some crazy language.
Outspoken Inter boss unhappy with Muntari sending off
Jose Mourinho won his home league debut at the San Siro this weekend, yet the match with lowly Catania was marred by the dismissal of Sulley Ali Muntari for ’striking’ Giacomo Tedesco. As you can see from the video above, the Catania midfielder may have ever-so-slightly exaggerated the impact.
Demonstrating that he can communicate in more ways than English and nonchalant shrugging, Mourinho told the Italian press that Tedesco was a diver. Here are some of his comments, translated for your convenience:
”I saw many DVDs from last season and understood in England Tedesco would be called someone who lacks fair play, whereas in Italy he might be considered ‘intelligent.’
“I thought Tedesco was dead with all that rolling around, but he managed to recover and play in the second half.”
Sorry Jose, looks like it’s the other San Siro team’s turn
Predicting the outcome of Serie A presents one of life’s more difficult challenges: the success/failure of teams must always factor in the degree of cheating/bribery/corruption in which they will partake. Though the league table may well be turned on its head come June because a player/manager/official/entire team has tried to fix matches, here’s what will happen…probably.
» Inter Milan secured their third successive Serie A title last season. Should they triumph this season, they will become the first team since Torino FC in 1945-49 to win the Italian league four years in a row.
» AC Milan have now gone four years without securing the Serie A title. They have not experienced a winless run of five or more seasons since before 1988.
» Chievo finished seventh in the pre-corruption standings in 2005/06 and finished 18th the following season. Empoli ended the 2006/07 season in seventh and were also relegated in 18th place the very next campaign. Udinese finished seventh last season - could they fall through the trapdoor this year?
According to the Daily Mirror, Inter Milan have agreed a fee of £7 million to finally separate Lamps’ lips from his beloved Chelsea badge and bring him to the San Siro. For those of you wondering, that’s approximately 39 per cent of a Gareth Barry at today’s market value…
The Gareth Barry saga latest
Martin O’Neill has asked for a whopping £18 million, but Liverpool insist they won’t go beyond a pathetic £17 million. (That would be the same Liverpool who reportedly rejected a £9 million offer for Peter Crouch from Portsmouth as it was a million short of their demand.)
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: If you’re willing to pay 17, why not go one more? It’s not like there’s a recession at the moment or anything…
Ronaldinho to Chelsea
If Lampard leaves then Chelsea will have to move quickly to fill their tubby quota. They will be delighted to hear that podgy Barca man Ronaldinho wants to work with Scolari again.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: He wants to go, but do Chelsea want him?
Robert Green to Aston Villa
Villa are moving lower down the
Is 2008 the year for The Gunner’s first European Cup?
As I predicted yesterday, Manchester United’s odds on winning the Champions League shortened this morning (from 9/2 to 7/2). If you didn’t get on yesterday’s price, then it’s well worth considering a punt on Arsenal to take the trophy - they are currently third favourites at 11/2.
My money is on Manchester United to take the title, but after seeing Fabregas ‘out-Kaka’ Kaka and Flamini ‘out-Gattuso’ Gattuso, I’m not so sure. What do you think?
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