Samba star admits his dissatisfaction to friends and journalists
Barcelona-based newspaperSporttoday reveal Robinho’s unhappiness at Manchester City.
During his recent trip to Brazil, it is claimed that the player admitted to friends and journalists in confidence that he is deeply dissatisfied with the time he is currently having with the Premier League and the Brazil squad. (Presumably, he now realises that football journalists aren’t the best people to privately confide in.)
Apparently, Robinho has not found a favourable environment in which his skills and dribbling talent can thrive. Aditionally, he is said to be concerned by the competition from Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor at City, and his fight to win a place in the national squad is being hampered by strong criticisms from certain sectors fo the Brazilian press.
Naturally, Sport bring up the possibility of a January transfer window departure:
“As Chelsea face a long transfer ban for being naughty when buying young players, and other top clubs prepare to endure similar sanctions, let’s look back 10 years to a simpler time.
“We’re told that Jermain Defoe decided to leave Charlton to sign for West Ham aged 16… because West Ham promised to buy his mum a fridge.”
We say that this disgusting cooling appliance-related behaviour calls for an immediate transfer ban. Then again, that’s probably exactly what West Ham’s owners want right now…
Is a two-window transfer ban disproportionate to the Blues’ crime?
Chelsea have said that they will “mount the strongest appeal possible” against FIFA’s decision to ban the club from transfer activity until January 2011. Evidently, they feel that the punishment does not fit the crime of coercing French teenager Gael Kakuta into breaching his contract.
Most newspapers seem to be revelling in the ruling (”JUSTICE AT LAST”, declare The Sun) reasoning that Chelsea are finally receiving comeuppance for years of tapping up and dodgy transfer dealings.
On the other hand, it can also be argued that they are being made an example of by football’s governing body. Much like Eduardo, they find themselves singled out for a problem that is apparently rife in the beautiful game.
We won’t be surprised in the least if Chelsea have their punishment reduced (Roma and Swiss side Sion have had similar transfer bans imposed on them in recent years, and had them reduced and frozen respectively), but as things stand, is the punishment too harsh? Let us know your thoughts below…
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Catalan giants get a twelfth man in tonight’s UEFA Super Cup
The annual UEFA Super Cup usually serves as little more than an excuse to use Monaco’s exquisite Stade Louis II stadium, and tonight sees Champions League winners Barcelona distract themselves from the start of the domestic season by taking on UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk. The game - on ITV1 tonight from 7.45 - may not be a classic, but it will be made a little more interesting by the imminent transfer of Dmytro Chygrynskiy.
The defender and kit man’s nightmare has announced that the game against Barcelona will be his last for the Ukrainian side, as he will sign for a new club on Monday. That new club just so happens to be Barcelona.
Everton manager in “does thing he said he wouldn’t do” shocker
David Moyes, April 25th:
“We want to keep the base we have, some of the players we have now, to replace them would cost £15-£20million, and so why would we do that, with no guarantee that we could find better?”
David Moyes, April 25th:
“We want to add to this squad and I can assure you that no one we want to keep will leave.”
David Moyes, August 8th:
“The crowd know and understand that what we are doing here is right and we have been very consistent and we have said that Joleon Lescott won’t be sold. There’s not much point me elaborating on that because I have been consistent - he’s not for sale.”
David Moyes, August 15th:
“I have said often enough that Everton are not selling”
Everton FC official website, August 23rd:
“Everton has agreed an undisclosed fee with Manchester City for the transfer of defender Joleon Lescott.”
Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeneß has today told Bild that he would sell Franck Ribery to Real Madrid only if an offer of €100m was made.
We’re not ones to start conspiracy theories, but it is possible that the Germans have already done a deal with the La Liga side, replacing him with a tiny replica in the hope that no one would notice?
The latest transfer gossip, rumours and damned lies
Fernando Amorebieta to Liverpool
Rafa’s men are very popular in the Basque region, but this might change if Bilbao’s prized defender heads to England. Marca believe he would cost €12m (£10m).
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: That’s a lot of money for a 24-year-old who has yet to represent his country at the top level. Perhaps Hull’s Michael Turner would be a better option.
Sol Campbell to Newcastle
At the end of his Portsmouth contract, Big Sol said he would like to go somewhere with some stability, so naturally, he has been linked with one of the few clubs that are less stable than his current one.