Albanian oil baron alleged to have ordered journo beating…
Last month, rumours were swirling of a bid to wrest AC Milan from the wandering hands of everyone’s favourite political liability, Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. Albanian oligarch Rezart Taci was ready to lump €700m on the Rossoneri, claiming he’d been given first refusal by Berlusconi after putting the kibosh on a mysteriously failed takeover of Serie A side Bologna.
Fans may think Milan have it bad enough with Berlusconi - whose ‘Controversies’ section in Wikipedia is the longer than most people’s entire profiles - at the helm, but according to Spanish sports paper AS (one of the less mental ones), Taci could give him a run in the ’shady’ stakes.
Italian PM forgets about all the teams that are better than his
Currently sitting in the bottom half of Serie A with two league wins to their name, AC Milan are struggling to find form under Leonardo. Well aware of this fact, owner Silvio Berlusconi yesterday described the start to the season as “a disaster” while visiting the earthquake-hit region of Abruzzo. However, when he realised a reporter from La Gazzetta dello Sport heard his comment, he changed his mind quicker than a former Tottenham defender at a League Two club:
“Ah, you work for Gazzetta?”"Well, when I said ‘disaster’ I was just saying it for the sake of it.
“It is a difficult moment, but that’s football. It will pass. We’ll see where things stand in the end.”
The Italian ladies’ man - who has suspiciously black hair and perfect teeth for a man who turned 73 yesterday - continued
Rossoneri is “no longer a worthwhile investment” for Italian PM
Since their two countries made peace with one another, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister/AC Milan owner/caricature sex pest Silvio Berlusconi have bee getting on like a house on fire.
Such is the strength of their relationship that Italian newspaper la Repubblica are today reporting that Berlusconi wants to sell his beloved AC Milan to the man who recently made his people take part in a compulsary celebration of the 40th anniversary of his military coup d’état.
On Sunday, the day after the Rossoneri were pummeled by their fierce Milan rivals, Berlusconi flew to Tripoli to attend a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the 2008 cooperation treaty between the two nations. While there, la Repubblica say the Italian offered the Libyan leader the chance to buy his club, and also requested references from the Libyan Central Bank, Foreign Bank of Libya and Libyan Investment Authority. Incidentally, these institutions have also been linked with Juventus and Roma in the past.
Berlusconi no longer views the club as a “strategic asset”,
Russian PM helps out his oligarch mate at the Bridge
The one who belongs to the lead character from The Passion of the Christ is on the cusp of signing his fate away to Florentino Perez’s Real Madrid.
Sky Sport Italia believe the deal will be formally struck at midnight tonight, at which point Kaka will give a press conference in Brazil. Madrid-based newspaper Marca say Madrid have sent Dr Juan Carlos Hernandez to South America, where he will carry out a medical today. At first, The Spoiler questioned whether Marca had made up a name as stereotypically Spanish as Juan Carlos Hernandez, but he is indeed Los Blancos’ head of medical services.
The most intriguing Kaka-related story in Marca, however, is the one in the purple banner in the picture above. Apparently, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has phoned Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi to persuade him to sell Kaka to Roman Abramovich’s Chelsea.
Quite why Putin would feel the need to involve himself in such affairs is anyone’s guess, but in light of the imminent deal with Real Madrid, it would seem the man from behind the Iron Curtain doesn’t hold as much influence as he may like in the higher echelons of Italian government.
Thomas Vermaelen to Arsenal
Yesterday reports were circulating that Professor Wenger had splashed £10m on the Ajax defender, something The Daily Mail confirm this morning. Now it’s reportedly just a case of agreeing personal terms.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Scout Tony Adams has said he is ‘not ready to be an Arsenal player’ and is not a transfer target, so on that basis, we can almost certainly say that Vermaelen has become a Gunner.
Ashley Young to Tottenham
David Bentley has never held much influence in the court of Harry Redknapp, and as such will be offered to Aston Villa for Ashley Young, with £8m thrown in
The Rossoneri plan to spend all their Kaka money in one go
AC Milan are on the verge of earning more than £60m from the sale of Kaka, and are planning to spend it on another FIFA World Player of the Year, according to The Sun.
Unless you haven’t been paying attention for the past year or so, you will know Cristiano Ronaldo is on course for a transfer to Real Madrid, and has fawned over their advances accordingly.
“I told Cristiano Ronaldo that I would like to see him as a Rossonero.
“He looked at me, and said ‘Who doesn’t like Milan? All players would like to come to Milan’.”
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: Such a move would make sense, as Milan need a star player to fill the Brazilian-shaped void in their midfield. Plus, Madrid are already spending big on other players, and if they land Zidane’s best mate Franck Ribery, they will have a player who pretty much performs the same function as C-Ron. That said, we still think the Portuguese will end up in Spain. Call it a hunch.
Milanese newspaperLa Gazzetta dello Sport and Spanish daily Marca are reporting that Brazilian World Cup winner Leonardo will be officially unveiled as the new manager of AC Milan on Monday.
The 39-year-old - who played for Milan for four seasons and is currently a Technical Director at the club - will take charge from next week, as owner Silvio Berlusconi wants a manager who “knows the Rossoneri”.
If Leonardo is indeed announced as Milan boss on Monday (the day after the Serie A season ends) it can be safely assumed that Carlo Ancelotti will simultaneously be unveiled at Chelsea.
Congratulations to the former Match of the Day World Cup pundit for elbowing his way into such a high profile role, despite not having any previous experience or coaching badges. By means of a tribute, we present his finest moment after the jump…
Last summer, Emmanuel Adebayor nearly made an escape to his beloved AC Milan, but was thwarted by that pesky Silvio Berlusconi, who insisted the Rossoneri sign Ronaldinho instead (what a great move that turned out to be).
It was Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti who wanted to bring the Togolese striker to Italy, and since he is expected to announce a union with Chelsea in the next few days, Adebayor has been strongly linked with a move across London. Speaking in this morning’s Guardian, Arsene Wenger revealed that he has no qualms about selling his hitman to Chelsea:
“I don’t want to go especially into any individual assessment of who we want to keep and who not, at the moment, and normally Adebayor is part of our plans for the future,” he said. “If I feel that a player should go, or could go, why not sell him to one of the other top four?”
Selling a player to a rival club is something that Alex Ferguson generally tries to avoid (particularly the ‘L’ word), but the prospect of Manu banging in 30 goals for Chelsea next season apparently does not trouble the Gunners manager. Most Arsenal fans agree it’s time for the inconsistent striker to move on, but will selling him to a domestic rival come back to haunt them? Let us know your thoughts below…
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