Transfer news...

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[h=1]Chelsea remain keen to land Anderlecht star[/h] Published 23:02 02/07/11 By Bill Mills

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...manager-Andre-Villas-Boas-article755691.html#

Chelsea will step up their bid to sign Anderlecht striker Romelu Lukaku despite their change of manager.
The £20m-rated Belgium star, a target since Carlo Ancelotti's time in charge, is also wanted by new boss Andre Villas-Boas.
The clubs have held talks and the 18-year-old has visited Stamford Bridge.
Anderlecht's director of football Herman van Holsbeeck said: "People say the new Chelsea manager doesn't want Lukaku – but they have different information to me.

 

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[h=1]Porto striker denies move to Chelsea[/h] Published 23:00 02/07/11 By Mirror Football

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A full version of this story appears in today's People. Read it online at People.co.uk
Porto striker Hulk is hoping Andre Villas-Boas has a successful stay at Chelsea but says he is unlikely to follow him to Stamford Bridge.
The Brazilian forward has been linked with a move to the west London club following the appointment of Villa-Boas last week.
Read the full version of this story at People.co.uk

 

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[h=1]Hiddink was confident of securing Chelsea job[/h] Published 23:02 02/07/11 By Paul Smith

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...embled-his-coaching-staff-article755756.html#

Guus Hiddink was so convinced he was going to land the Chelsea manager's job he had already lined up his new backroom staff.
Bookies were so certain that the wily Dutchman would return for a second spell in charge of the Blues that they were refusing to take bets on the next Stamford Bridge boss.
And Hiddink had lined up a Swiss coach called Darije Kalezic to be part of his backroom staff, as well as Dutch fitness coach Raymond Verheijen, who had also been with Hiddink at Chelsea last time around.
Kalezic turned down a string of job offers in Switzerland because he was so convinced he would be working with Hiddink at Chelsea.

But the Turkish FA wrecked the Hiddink masterplan by refusing to release their coach.
So Chelsea switched their attention to Porto's Andre Villas-Boas – and there was a danger that Kalezic could be left in limbo.
But Belgian club Zulte Waregem spotted their opportunity and moved in to persuade Kalezic to join them as head coach.
Zulte president Will Naessens revealed: "We are so lucky to have this talented coach as our new man. We only just got him. Guus Hiddink was going to take him with him to Chelsea as his No.2.''
Naessens insists his club had spotted Kalezic as a bright young boss and made an initial move.
The president added: "Then we found out he was moving to Chelsea. Somebody told us and when we checked it, we were told it was true.
"But the next thing we heard was that the Turks refused to release Hiddink from his national team duties and Villas-Boas became the Chelsea manager. That was our luck.''
Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers expects Villas-Boas to ignite the Premier League with his drive, attention to detail and enthusiasm.
Rodgers worked with Villas-Boas at Chelsea when he was brought in to run Chelsea's youth team by Jose Mourinho in 2004.
Rodgers puts at least some of his managerial success down to working closely with the Real Madrid boss and expects Villas-Boas to be no different.
"You take away so much from working with Jose Mourinho, particularly his attention to detail and preparation.
"Managing Chelsea is difficult because the expectations – just as they are at Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool – are enormous.
"But Villas-Boas is a really nice guy and I have no doubts he will bring a great deal of excitement to the Premier League.
"He is driven, always wanted to manage and he has an abundance of enthusiasm.
"His attention to detail is second to none, so you can rest assured he will leave nothing to chance when preparing for games.
"He has his own ideas on how he wants to work and his success, particularly at Porto, has been nothing short of phenomenal.
"I'm not surprised by his appointment, despite his age. Having previously worked at Chelsea he already has a very good feel for the club.
"He will go into the job with his eyes wide open. He will be well aware of the challenge he faces at Stamford Bridge.
"But it says something about his character and self-belief that he is willing to take that on."
Another man linked to a move back to Stamford Bridge in recent weeks was their former coach Steve Clarke.
He was mooted as making a return during the final days of Carlo Ancelotti's reign but chose instead to accept the offer of a long-term deal with Liverpool.
He had initially teamed up with Kenny Dalglish just until the end of last season.
But he finally accepted a three-year contract to help continue King Kenny's Anfield revolution.

 

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[h=1]Villas-Boas believed no club would pay his release fee[/h] Published 23:05 02/07/11 By Paul Smith

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/new...d-pay-Porto-s-release-fee-article755727.html#

Andre Villas-Boas has confessed to friends that he could never see any club paying the £13.2million compensation needed to prise him away from Porto.
It was a world record payment and, given the 33-year-old coach had only been at the top level of European football for one season, could be seen as a major gamble by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
Mickey Walsh, the former Porto and Republic of Ireland striker who lives in Portugal, is a firm admirer of the young Portuguese boss. And he believes AVB will be a success at Stamford Bridge to justify that colossal pay-out.
Walsh said: "He did a great job at Porto last season by winning a treble – the Portuguese title and Cup as well as the Europa League.

"He thought Porto might have priced him out of the market and he was prepared to stay at Porto. There's no doubt about that. That was clear in his mind.
"But all that changed when Pinto da Costa, the Porto president, revealed publicly the exact details of Andre's contract.
"Pinto da Costa's a very shrewd guy. Remember, this is the guy who spotted Jose Mourinho's potential, recruited Andre from a small club called Academica Coimbra and has now put in a new coach with an £18m get-out clause!
"It was actually 15 million euros as compensation for Andre, an incredible amount. That's why he thought no one would pay it. In fact, only one team in the world would do it and it was Roman Abramovich and Chelsea."
AVB has been pilloried in his homeland for grabbing the Chelsea gold after initially assuring concerned Porto fans that he was not ready to move abroad. He's a local boy who appeared to have landed his dream job, so why quit Porto after just one season?
Walsh has seen the debate raging in Portugal and knows AVB is sensitive to being branded a money-grabber.
The ex-Blackpool striker insisted: "You can't blame Andre for taking the Chelsea job – it might only have come to him once in his career.
"The media in Portugal may be on his case but the circumstances around his career changed dramatically.
"I'm sure deep down there's a tinge of sadness within Andre at leaving his hometown club."
Oporto, home of FC Porto, has an abundance of links with British immigrants. Most arrived to work in the wine or port businesses and AVB's grandmother emigrated from Cheshire to Portugal to start up a wine company.
Walsh added: "We keep in touch. We're both members of the British Club near Boavista. I've seen him there. His family are well-regarded and admired members of the Portuguese-British community."
Walsh arranged for two well-known English coaches to meet Villa-Boas during his formative days as boss of Academica. Steve Harrison, the Coventry coach, and Paul Hart, now director of the Charlton academy, were looking for an overseas study visit as part of their UEFA Pro Licences.
Hart recalled: "Andre was working on a tight budget at Academica, where his challenge was to keep them in the Portuguese top flight. His team just escaped relegation, which was a success.

"We had some good chats. He came over as a very sound, honest manager. He is a man of great humility and I sensed that this, along with his talent, will take him a long way in the game.

"He's taken on a big job at Chelsea but I would not be surprised if he makes a success of it."

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Arsène Wenger the preacher must play the big spender[/h] The Arsenal manager has to purge a failing culture and begin afresh with hardened winners

• Comments (195)

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• • Paul Hayward
  • guardian.co.uk, Saturday 2 July 2011 22.55 BST Article history
  
  The Arsenal captain Cesc Fábregas has been the subject of intense speculation over an imminent transfer to Barcelona. Photograph: Achmad Ibrahim/AP
  
  At most aristocratic football clubs, breaking up a side that had not won a bean for six years would feel like a moral duty. The problem starts when the best players break it up themselves without waiting for the manager to announce who should stay or go.
  The deepest motivations of Samir Nasri are impossible to know but we can be sure they correspond in part to the size of his weekly wage packet. Cesc Fábregas is a little more obvious; he pines for home and a chance to play in the world's best team with the pals he left behind to join a Barcelona cloning operation in London. But in both cases you detect a collapse of faith that could soon become infectious across Arsène Wenger's fragile squad.
  Without control, a manager is no longer the author of his own story. This summer Wenger is being dictated to by events for which he is to blame. A grand idea taken to an unworkable extreme is the way many of us regard the great Arsenal project to impose flowing one-touch football on the Premier League. Those of us who want him to prosper with a team built in his own creative image despair when fundamental prerequisites for success are wilfully omitted, such as a properly organised and resolute back five.
  The fear seizing all Arsenal supporters is that any windfall from the sale of Fábregas, Nasri and Gaël Clichy would disappear into the vortex of the club's finances: a confusing swirl of takeover ambitions, stadium costs and Wenger's own refusal to play the mad transfer market game. In a good year this can seem heroic, in a bad one – when they lose a Carling Cup final to relegated Birmingham City, say – it strikes the fans more as a deluded obsession with unproven youngsters from small French clubs.
  Fernando Torres performed a service to football by demanding to leave Liverpool for Chelsea. He reminded the whole game that clubs with heritage and tradition should always expel players who no longer want to be there. The life of the club must always be asserted over the whims of the individual. To sell a persistently restless player is a restatement of strength.
  For Wenger, though, the picture is more complex. The disaffection in his ranks is more ominous. His players are starting to look like parishioners tiring of their messianic preacher and filing out of the church in mid-sermon. A ¤40m (£36m) offer for Fábregas last summer was resisted only after Wenger had promised his captain the jam promised for tomorrow was finally coming up the drive. The top Arsenal players have probably ceased to believe that message and no longer want to face a grumpy Emirates crowd while being pushed around by Manchester United and Chelsea. Already there are suggestions that Robin van Persie is growing twitchy about the potential for an exodus and the possibility that Fábregas and Nasri would not be replaced by players of similar calibre.
  This is where Wenger has to act. A desire not to be ripped off in the transfer market is no longer an adequate excuse when so many of the young players he has educated and supported keep letting him down. Why should he sacrifice his own career to people who go missing in the biggest games? The complication is Wenger's fixation with finding raw talent and feeding it through the London Colney university in line with the Arsenal way.
  Well, the Arsenal way is not working, and the fans know it, which is why they resent the constant calls for patience while ticket prices shoot up. They want less Abou Diaby and more Yaya Touré. They want the spirit of Patrick Vieira in midfield and the dog-bite of Adams, Keown and Bould in defence.
  Arsenal were never effete. The current generation of followers grew up watching George Graham's teams, admired the solidity as well as the skill of Wenger's first Double-winning side and adored The Invincibles. All they ask is that beauty is realigned with more of the old belligerence. They crave toughness and a winning spirit.
  Building a new side around Jack Wilshere, Wenger could use the coming windfall to declare a six-year period of dreaming officially over, and head out into the market to find the kind of players Arsenal used to employ before frailty became the norm. The hard part for the manager will be an admission that he took a wrong turn with his Sorbonne of all the talents. The next job may be rebuilding from the back, where United and Chelsea build better barricades.
  This could be the best chance – the last chance – for Wenger to purge a failing culture and begin afresh with hardened winners. Ideally he would want to shed the passengers rather than the officer class but that luxury is denied to him by his own error in over‑investing in potential. It may sound shallow to say £70m-£80m of incoming wealth should be spent straight away but this is where Arsenal happen to stand: at the end of something, with a better path ahead.
  [h=2]Wanted: a cure for Murray's meltdown[/h]Watching Andy Murray's semi-final defeat with a German commentary accentuated his agony as a first-set lead turned to implosion. There was no soothing BBC voice to conceal the trauma that strikes him in the most high-pressure matches.
  In the second and third sets you almost hoped someone kind would appear on court and usher him away. The looks he fired up to his camp and the anguish on the face of his mother spoke of an inability to cope not only with Rafael Nadal's recovered brilliance but his own failure to execute straightforward chances.
  
  An unforced error count of 39-7 in Nadal's favour is the stat that casts most doubt on Murray's potential to win a grand slam title.
  The line between buckling and choking is hard to find but it seems pointless to deny any longer that Murray's game deserts him when he needs it most. No one is congenitally destined to fold under pressure. There must be a cure.
  
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

Wenger needs to swallow his huge ego and accept that soccer demands top end talent to excel anywhere and forgets his dreams of nurturing rookies to glory.....................

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Arsenal expect Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri back – but not for long[/h] • Fábregas likely to rejoin Barcelona soon for £35m
• Nasri unlikely to sign Arsenal's £90,000-per-week deal

• Dominic Fifield
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 3 July 2011 15.24 BST Article history
  
  
  Cesc Fábregas is privately expecting to leave Arsenal for his former club Barcelona soon. Photograph: Achmad Ibrahim/AP
  
  Arsenal expect Cesc Fábregas and Samir Nasri to return for pre-season training at London Colney this week despite the likelihood that neither will be at the club by the time the Premier League season starts next month.
  Fábregas, who has been on holiday in Spain, will return with the bulk of the senior squad on Tuesday, with Barcelona still attempting to complete what they hope will be a £35m transfer back to the club. A bid of around £27m was rejected earlier in the summer but having received an improved offer last week, there is an acceptance at Arsenal that the long-running saga of their captain's future is nearing a conclusion.
  The player himself was quoted last week as being "calm and optimistic" about his future. While the 24-year-old privately anticipates that he will be granted his wish to join the Catalan club where he started his career, he is not expected to risk his reputation at Arsenal by refusing to report back for training and will instead hope resolution is reached in negotiations before the Gunners depart for a mini-tour of Malaysia and China a week on Sunday.
  Nasri's situation is arguably more complicated, with Arsenal yet to receive a concrete offer for the France international who has entered the final 12 months of his contract and has indicated he will not sign a new five-year deal worth around £90,000 a week.
  The 24-year-old is aware that Manchester United are expected to formalise their interest in him, while both Manchester City and Chelsea are monitoring the situation in the event that their pursuits of priority targets do not come to fruition.
  Nasri, a £15.8m signing from Marseille in 2008, is not due to return to London Colney until Thursday having been granted a few extra days' holiday, as have those other Arsenal players who were involved in international duty at the start of the summer. The midfielder, who has not won anything since moving to the club, was quoted over the weekend claiming his motivation is far from financial and, instead, centres upon a desire to win things.
  "I don't want to sign for a club where I wouldn't be playing the football that I like, where I wouldn't feel happy, just for the money," he said. "We already earn huge wages. The priority is to make a big career and to win titles. This is more important than everything else."
  That has merely served to fuel suggestions that Nasri is keen to move to pastures new. His compatriot Gaël Clichy, another to have entered the final year of his contract at Arsenal, should complete a £7m move to Manchester City following his medical today.
  Yet Arsène Wenger will hope to counter the apparent exodus of senior players from his first-team squad by completing the protracted £11m transfer of Lille's Ivory Coast forward Gervinho in the next 48 hours. Gervinho had been the subject of interest from several Premier League clubs after scoring 15 goals for the French champions last season, but has opted for a move to the Emirates.
  "I chose Arsenal because it's a young group within which I will be able to integrate easily," Gervinho told France Football magazine. "I could develop more over there.
  
  "[Is it] a risk? Not at all. I'm going to Arsenal to play. The best risk to take is to look to score goals and to play a lot. In football you have to take risks if you want to win. I'm going to Arsenal to win. I'm going there to play, not to be on the bench. Arsenal love the game and I love teams that love the game. The Premier League is a notch above."
  
  The attacker may yet be followed to Arsenal by the highly rated Velez Sarsfield midfielder Ricky Alvarez, despite Internazionale having emerged as rivals for the 23-year-old Argentine's signature.
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Kevin Keen leaves West Ham to become Liverpool's first-team coach[/h] • Kevin Keen will renew his Upton Park work with Steve Clarke
• Kenny Dalglish welcomes 'great addition to our technical staff'

• Press Association
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 3 July 2011 21.12 BST Article history
  
  
  Kevin Keen, who spent nine years on the West Ham coaching staff, will now work with Liverpool's first team. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto
  
  Liverpool have appointed Kevin Keen as first-team coach following the departure of Sammy Lee. Keen spent nine years on the coaching staff at West Ham United and was named caretaker manager on three occasions, most recently for the final game of last season, a 3-0 defeat at home to Sunderland.
  He will work alongside Steve Clarke at Anfield having signed a three-year deal, and will report with his new colleagues for the first day of pre-season training on Monday.
  
  "I'm delighted that Kevin is joining us to work alongside Steve Clarke coaching the first team," Kenny Dalglish, the Liverpool manager, said. "He has previously worked with Steve at West Ham and has a good reputation and a good manner about him. He is highly respected in the game and will be a great addition to our staff."
  
  Keen made more than 600 appearances in spells with West Ham, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City, Macclesfield and Wycombe.
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Nikola Zigic 'sure' to leave Birmingham, says agent[/h] • Serbia striker joined in 2010 on four-year deal
• 'Zigic is going to leave Birmingham this summer'

• Press Association
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011 11.22 BST Article history
  
  
  Nikola Zigic helped Birmingham to win the Carling Cup but, after the club's relegation, is now seeking a transfer. Photograph: Simon Dawson/AP
  
  Nikola Zigic looks set to become the latest high-profile player to leave Birmingham City following their relegation from the Premier League.
  Zigic signed a four-year contract when he moved to St Andrew's from Valencia last summer, in a £6m transfer, but the Serbia international striker is now poised to cut short his stay, according to his agent, Milan Calasan. "The only thing that is sure is that Zigic is going to leave Birmingham this summer," he said.
  
  Zigic struggled initially to adapt to the Premier League but gradually made an impact and scored in the Carling Cup final win over Arsenal. He suffered groin and hip problems which ruled him out of the final third of the season although he still finished as the club's second-highest goalscorer with eight.
  Blues have already lost the services of the midfielder Craig Gardner to Sunderland for an initial £4.5m, while Sebastian Larsson has also moved to Wearside after his Birmingham contract expired.
  Stoke City want to sign the defender Scott Dann and the striker Cameron Jerome and have made a joint £16m bid. The goalkeeper Ben Foster is also being linked with a move to Aston Villa, where he would be reunited with former Blues manager Alex McLeish.
  
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Nikola Zigic 'sure' to leave Birmingham, says agent[/h] • Serbia striker joined in 2010 on four-year deal
• 'Zigic is going to leave Birmingham this summer'

• Press Association
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011 11.22 BST Article history
  
  
  Nikola Zigic helped Birmingham to win the Carling Cup but, after the club's relegation, is now seeking a transfer. Photograph: Simon Dawson/AP
  
  Nikola Zigic looks set to become the latest high-profile player to leave Birmingham City following their relegation from the Premier League.
  Zigic signed a four-year contract when he moved to St Andrew's from Valencia last summer, in a £6m transfer, but the Serbia international striker is now poised to cut short his stay, according to his agent, Milan Calasan. "The only thing that is sure is that Zigic is going to leave Birmingham this summer," he said.
  
  Zigic struggled initially to adapt to the Premier League but gradually made an impact and scored in the Carling Cup final win over Arsenal. He suffered groin and hip problems which ruled him out of the final third of the season although he still finished as the club's second-highest goalscorer with eight.
  Blues have already lost the services of the midfielder Craig Gardner to Sunderland for an initial £4.5m, while Sebastian Larsson has also moved to Wearside after his Birmingham contract expired.
  Stoke City want to sign the defender Scott Dann and the striker Cameron Jerome and have made a joint £16m bid. The goalkeeper Ben Foster is also being linked with a move to Aston Villa, where he would be reunited with former Blues manager Alex McLeish.
  
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Football transfer rumours: Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy set for City?[/h] Today's rumours don't appear in the adverts for next season's kit

• 
• • Barney Ronay
  • guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011 09.40 BST Article history
  
  Robin van Persie celebrates with soon to be ex-teammates Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
  
  According to the Daily Mail, Manchester City are all set to vomit out £27m like an endlessly chugging fruit machine coughing up greasy little casino tokens that will vanish through your fingers back into its horrible robot face as quickly as they are excreted out through its grinning little slot. In return they want Samir Nasri and Gaël Clichy from Arsenal. Manchester United are also still interested in Nasri.
  Benfica want to sign Nicklas Bendtner. The Portuguese giants, who presumably don't have Sky Sports, could nip in ahead of Fulham, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, all of whom are unwilling to cough up the £12m asking price for the lumbering Dane.
  Celtic will this week tell Manchester City to 'name their price' for scurrying goal-goblin Craig Bellamy. The Mill imagines that price will be 'Eh?'. Followed by 'does he?... Is he? ... do we still?... Oh.' And then some talk of maybe just paying for the taxi.
  Harry Redknapp wants to sign the only homegrown Barcelona skill-midget who isn't actually that good: the Spurs manager will offer £14m for Bojan Krkic. Liverpool and Roma are said to be 'monitoring the situation closely', perhaps from inside a disused East Baltimore office building staffed by disaffected maverick cops who spend a lot of time staring at a pinboard covered with photos of people called things like 'Fat Man' and 'Tiny Legs' and 'Bojan'.
  Blackburn are launching an 'audacious' bid for Luís Fabiano, who plays for São Paulo and is now 30. It isn't immediately clear why this is considered 'audacious'. Alan Pardew is trying to lure Sergio Canales away from Real Madrid on loan. Villa, Everton and QPR are also forming an orderly queue for a player who presumably thought it wasn't all going to end up like this when he moved to Real from Racing Santander last year.
  Tony Pulis is standing in a country club carpark shouting 'Dann ... Dann ... Dann! DANN!' as he makes a further attempt to sign the Birmingham defender Scott Dann for upwards of £8m. And Swansea City are on the verge of signing the Barcelona B striker Jonathan Soriano, who is 25 years old and scored 26 goals in the Spanish second vision last year.
  According to the Sun, Stewart Downing is 'desperate' to move to Liverpool for £20m and is planning to tell Alex McLeish it's not him (McLeish) it's him (Downing) this week - even though it actually kind of is him (McLeish) and he (McLeish) will suspect as much deep down even while he's nodding and saying he's fine about it and looking out of the window bravely choking back a swell of lip-quivering man-tears. The Sun reports: 'A close pal said: "Stewy has made up his mind – he wants to go to Liverpool and hopes Villa will agree to let him leave."'
  Thomas 'the Hammer' Hitzlsperger wants to take his baggy harem-pant trousers oversized spectacles and early 1990s rap dance braggadocio back to Aston Villa. Stoke, Fulham and Blackburn are also keen. Sunderland are in talks to sign the Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak who is 27 and plays for Stuttgart. Beguiling QPR jink-frustration Adel Taarabt could be off to Atlético Madrid for £11m.
  In the Daily Mirror, Manchester United are still hopeful of 'snatching' Udinese hotshot Alexis Sánchez after putting in an improved bid. It all seems to hinge on Cesc Fábregas finally getting his way and going back to Barcelona. Arsène Wenger is all set to seal Arsenal's return to Europe's trophy-winning elite by signing goal-shy Irish long-distance runner Kevin Doyle from Wolves for £12m. According to the Mail, 'Wenger wants him to spearhead a new-look Gunners team that will have a British spine'. Bravely glossing over 90 years of troubled and politically divisive semi-independence there, the Mail.
  Stoke have 'entered the race' for Manchester United discards John O'Shea and Wes Brown who are available for £8m the pair. Also in the race are Everton, Villa and chief Fergie suck-up Steve Bruce. Shay Given could be off to Sampdoria, who now play in Serie B. Roy Hodgson wants to bring ace midfield fouler Nigel Reo-Coker to West Brom. Sam Allardyce is after free agent Jlloyd Samuel, and will presumably now also turn his attentions to Gudni Bergsson, Alan Stubbs, Jay-Jay Okocha and Youri Djorkaeff. And Sven-Goran Eriksson has got a banana in his pocket and a pair of fishnets over his head and is 'ready to hijack' QPR's attempt to sign Wayne Routledge.
  
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Peter Ridsdale set to become Plymouth Argyle's new owner[/h] • Former Leeds chairman has 'eminently sensible' business plan
• Deal will not include Plymouth's ground and property assets

• Matt Scott
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011 16.57 BST Article history
  
  
  Peter Ridsdale is to become the new owner of Plymouth Argyle. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
  
  A new name will join those of Sheikh Mansour, Lakshmi Mittal and Roman Abramovich in the ranks of English football club owners this week: that of Peter Ridsdale. For the first time in his chequered football career Ridsdale will be working for himself when he takes control of Plymouth Argyle in a deal that will take only a few more days to complete.
  The 59-year-old, who has had controversial tenures as the chief executive of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City, will pay £1 to take over Argyle, where he has been serving as a consultant since last December. The deal will permit the club to leave administration, which it filed for four months ago. Nevertheless it will come as a major blow to Argyle's future prospects that the entity Ridsdale is taking over will already have been stripped of its property assets as a result of the deal.
  Ridsdale will hold his equity through a newly incorporated company called Plymouth Argyle Football Club (125) Limited, of which he is the sole shareholder, whose incorporation documents were published at Companies House on Monday. "I am a reluctant acquirer of these shares," Ridsdale confirmed. He is sure the takeover will work, claiming he has forecast an "eminently sensible", self-sustaining business plan for the club for the next two years that would have League Two rivals "casting envious glances".
  The property assets, which include a substantial parcel of potential development land abutting the south stand, will be held by Kevin Heaney, a Cornwall-based property developer. Heaney, whose supposed partners in the Gibraltar-registered Bishop International shell company being used to purchase Home Park have not been revealed, is also the owner of Truro City and is not permitted under Football Association rules to hold a role in the playing side of the club's business. This has led to the separation of the football operation from its property.
  It is common practice in football to hold the football and property businesses in separate vehicles, since it permits clubs to exploit their fixed assets as security for borrowing from lenders who are concerned about the risks involved in making loans to clubs. However, there will be an important and difficult difference in Argyle's case: the two entities have separate shareholders. This means the relationship is effectively a tenancy agreement between Ridsdale's Argyle as tenant and Heaney's Bishop International as landlord.
  The purchase price for the land and the value of the rent are not yet known, although Ridsdale claims it will be on an "affordable" sliding scale according to what is the club's league position. It is believed that Bishop International will provide working capital for 12 months from the date of the deal, allowing Ridsdale a little breathing space as he attempts to rationalise the club.
  However, the League One club are expected to make a loss next season and there could be future financial difficulties under the terms of the purchase agreement. The football creditors, including playing staff, club employees and other Football League clubs, were owed £3.7m of Argyle's £17.5m debts when they filed for administration in March. That number has since risen after wages went unpaid in March and April, and the players received only 50% of their June salaries.
  Under Football League rules, all football creditors must be paid in full in order for Ridsdale's new company to receive the competition share that will permit Argyle to begin next season. But the takeover proposal provides insufficient cash for that regulation to be satisfied up front, meaning as soon as the bid is processed Ridsdale must hold an urgent series of discussions with creditors over what are acceptable payment schedules.
  Although this will probably satisfy the League to hand over the competition share, it may cause future financial headaches since the deferred debts to football creditors, along with the rental obligations to Bishop International, may in future pile up.
  Ridsdale is clearly no Mansour, Mittal or Abramovich when it comes to funding but his current financial circumstances are unknown. It is known that the company that previously received his football club wages collapsed into liquidation in 2009 owing about £350,000 to HM Revenue & Customs. In April the liquidator stated in documents at Companies House that he could not wind up the company due to an investigation being under way; Ridsdale says he believes a settlement has already been struck and will be legally ratified "in days".
  He said on Monday that the value of his own future wages at Argyle had not yet been set. "Whatever I am paid in fees won't be arranged by me," Ridsdale said. "At no time at all, irrespective of my shareholding, will I determine what fees can be paid to me; that will be the role of the other directors."
  Another potential curveball is the court action brought by Cardiff council's trading-standards department against Ridsdale, which is due to return to Cardiff magistrates court on 22 July after a prior adjournment. Ridsdale, who strenuously denies all charges, has been accused of three counts of unfair trading and fraud relating to a promotional offer the Welsh club ran while he was chief executive. If convicted, Ridsdale would fall foul of the League's owners and directors test and would be forced to relinquish his ownership and directorship of Argyle.
  
  Working alongside Ridsdale in the takeover bid is David Jones, the former chief financial officer of Southampton, who has been working as de facto financial director of Argyle since it filed for administration. Jones is the only other director of Ridsdale's Plymouth Argyle (125) company.
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Peter Ridsdale set to become Plymouth Argyle's new owner[/h] • Former Leeds chairman has 'eminently sensible' business plan
• Deal will not include Plymouth's ground and property assets

• Matt Scott
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 4 July 2011 16.57 BST Article history
  
  
  Peter Ridsdale is to become the new owner of Plymouth Argyle. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
  
  A new name will join those of Sheikh Mansour, Lakshmi Mittal and Roman Abramovich in the ranks of English football club owners this week: that of Peter Ridsdale. For the first time in his chequered football career Ridsdale will be working for himself when he takes control of Plymouth Argyle in a deal that will take only a few more days to complete.
  The 59-year-old, who has had controversial tenures as the chief executive of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City, will pay £1 to take over Argyle, where he has been serving as a consultant since last December. The deal will permit the club to leave administration, which it filed for four months ago. Nevertheless it will come as a major blow to Argyle's future prospects that the entity Ridsdale is taking over will already have been stripped of its property assets as a result of the deal.
  Ridsdale will hold his equity through a newly incorporated company called Plymouth Argyle Football Club (125) Limited, of which he is the sole shareholder, whose incorporation documents were published at Companies House on Monday. "I am a reluctant acquirer of these shares," Ridsdale confirmed. He is sure the takeover will work, claiming he has forecast an "eminently sensible", self-sustaining business plan for the club for the next two years that would have League Two rivals "casting envious glances".
  The property assets, which include a substantial parcel of potential development land abutting the south stand, will be held by Kevin Heaney, a Cornwall-based property developer. Heaney, whose supposed partners in the Gibraltar-registered Bishop International shell company being used to purchase Home Park have not been revealed, is also the owner of Truro City and is not permitted under Football Association rules to hold a role in the playing side of the club's business. This has led to the separation of the football operation from its property.
  It is common practice in football to hold the football and property businesses in separate vehicles, since it permits clubs to exploit their fixed assets as security for borrowing from lenders who are concerned about the risks involved in making loans to clubs. However, there will be an important and difficult difference in Argyle's case: the two entities have separate shareholders. This means the relationship is effectively a tenancy agreement between Ridsdale's Argyle as tenant and Heaney's Bishop International as landlord.
  The purchase price for the land and the value of the rent are not yet known, although Ridsdale claims it will be on an "affordable" sliding scale according to what is the club's league position. It is believed that Bishop International will provide working capital for 12 months from the date of the deal, allowing Ridsdale a little breathing space as he attempts to rationalise the club.
  However, the League One club are expected to make a loss next season and there could be future financial difficulties under the terms of the purchase agreement. The football creditors, including playing staff, club employees and other Football League clubs, were owed £3.7m of Argyle's £17.5m debts when they filed for administration in March. That number has since risen after wages went unpaid in March and April, and the players received only 50% of their June salaries.
  Under Football League rules, all football creditors must be paid in full in order for Ridsdale's new company to receive the competition share that will permit Argyle to begin next season. But the takeover proposal provides insufficient cash for that regulation to be satisfied up front, meaning as soon as the bid is processed Ridsdale must hold an urgent series of discussions with creditors over what are acceptable payment schedules.
  Although this will probably satisfy the League to hand over the competition share, it may cause future financial headaches since the deferred debts to football creditors, along with the rental obligations to Bishop International, may in future pile up.
  Ridsdale is clearly no Mansour, Mittal or Abramovich when it comes to funding but his current financial circumstances are unknown. It is known that the company that previously received his football club wages collapsed into liquidation in 2009 owing about £350,000 to HM Revenue & Customs. In April the liquidator stated in documents at Companies House that he could not wind up the company due to an investigation being under way; Ridsdale says he believes a settlement has already been struck and will be legally ratified "in days".
  He said on Monday that the value of his own future wages at Argyle had not yet been set. "Whatever I am paid in fees won't be arranged by me," Ridsdale said. "At no time at all, irrespective of my shareholding, will I determine what fees can be paid to me; that will be the role of the other directors."
  Another potential curveball is the court action brought by Cardiff council's trading-standards department against Ridsdale, which is due to return to Cardiff magistrates court on 22 July after a prior adjournment. Ridsdale, who strenuously denies all charges, has been accused of three counts of unfair trading and fraud relating to a promotional offer the Welsh club ran while he was chief executive. If convicted, Ridsdale would fall foul of the League's owners and directors test and would be forced to relinquish his ownership and directorship of Argyle.
  
  Working alongside Ridsdale in the takeover bid is David Jones, the former chief financial officer of Southampton, who has been working as de facto financial director of Argyle since it filed for administration. Jones is the only other director of Ridsdale's Plymouth Argyle (125) company.
  
  

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Man United still hopeful of snatching Sanchez [/h] Published 23:05 03/07/11 By Alan Nixon

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...celona-land-Cesc-Fabregas-article755938.html#

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson hopes to sign top target Alexis Sanchez – if rivals Barcelona grab Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal.
Ferguson and the United money men have refused to budge on a £28million offer to Udinese for Chilean star Sanchez – but their dream of signing the South American could get a double boost this week.
Barca's "final" bid for Sanchez is £24m plus an extra £10m in appearances, a package that has yet to be accepted by the Italian club – with United's offer a greater amount in guaranteed cash.
And amazingly the £10m add-ons are based on Sanchez playing in 50 per cent of games in the next four seasons – money that may never come.

 

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The Champions League winners are at full stretch financially and that offer will not be increased, and could even be withdrawn, if they land Gunners skipper Fabregas in the next few days.

Ferguson and supremo David Gill are playing a canny waiting game. It is now three weeks since Gill met Udinese and the Sanchez camp to make their pitch.
United know Sanchez is keen to play for them and their argument that he would be a starter at Old Trafford rather than a squad man at the Camp Nou would also be boosted by Fabregas's switch.
However Ferguson and Gill will not up their bid as they think Udinese will come back to them.

United have looked at options like Arsenal's Samir Nasri, Inter Milan's Wesley Sneijder and Tottenham's Luka Modric. But all are expensive and difficult to push through.
Nasri's wage demands and fee put them off. Sneijder would have no re-sale value, while Modric's fee would also be too big although there are swap possibilities.

 

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[h=1]City clinch Clichy signing[/h] Published 17:28 04/07/11 By MirrorFootball

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Gael Clichy has completed his move to Manchester City.
Clichy completed his medical earlier today and spent this afternoon meeting with club officials to seal his move north from Arsenal.
It has been suggested City would be paying £7million for the full-back, who is Roberto Mancini's first summer signing.
Clichy has signed a four-year contract and becomes the latest in a succession of former Arsenal players to join the City revolution, although as that number includes Emmanuel Adebayor and the currently suspended Kolo Toure, the Blues have not had unqualified success with their raids on London.
"I am really happy to be joining such a great club," Clichy told Official Manchester City Website | News | Fixtures | Player and latest Transfer Profiles - Manchester City FC.
"I hope I can add to the quality we already have here because we have a fantastic squad who I believe will continue to get better.
"I can't wait to get started and I think anything is possible with this team."
Attention will immediately turn to whether he will be swiftly followed north by Samir Nasri, who has been attracting interest from both Manchester clubs.
Mancini appears to be favourite to flex his powerful financial muscle, yet the City boss has been forced to accept bringing new players to the club is not going to be as easy as he wished due to UEFA's new Financial Fair Play rules, which have now taken effect.
Although that in itself will not curtail the Blues' spending power, there is a problem with the number of highly-paid players on their books that Mancini has no obvious use for.
Wayne Bridge for instance spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham and, once Clichy arrives, will be shunted even further down the pecking order.
Craig Bellamy is another, whilst Shay Given and Shaun Wright-Phillips have been attracting attention from Aston Villa and Bolton respectively, even though both clubs may be reluctant to match their present terms.
Jo and Felipe Caicedo do not have a role to play either, whilst Nedum Onuoha is waiting to discover whether he impressed enough on loan at Sunderland last year to attract attention from elsewhere.
Adebayor has already declared an intention to remain at City until the last day of the transfer window in August if necessary as he tries to secure a 'dream' move to Real Madrid.
The first real indication of Mancini's thinking may come on Friday when his squad head to the USA for a training camp ahead of a three-match tour.
It is hard to see any senior player left behind forcing his way into the Italian's plans, which next term will surely involve a concerted tilt at the Premier League title.

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Man City send misfit stars into exile[/h] Published 23:05 03/07/11 By Alan Nixon

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Manchester City are sending their unwanted players into exile - by telling them to stay away when training starts tomorrow.
Roberto Mancini wants rid of a group who do not figure in his plans and orders are going out to half-a-dozen of the City misfits that they are not invited until next weekend.
Big-earning stars like Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy are being frozen out after returning from loans, while Nedum Onuoha and Roque Santa Cruz among others who are expected to suffer the same fate.
Bridge, Bellamy, Onuoha and Santa Cruz alone earn more than £300,000-a-week between them, draining City's budget. This latest step may be designed to let them know they will not be part of the first-team picture.
Mancini does not want his squad to have any of those players around when they gather together at their Carrington training HQ tomorrow while he hopes the club's negotiators can find them new homes in a hurry.
It is a drastic step but the trouble is unlikely to go away. Despite efforts to shift fringe players City have not been successful and are stuck with an out-of-control number.
However the likes of Bridge and Bellamy are also entitled to training facilities as part of their contracts, a situation which could mean doing their pre-season with the kids.
The next embarrassment will come when City launch their pre-season tours, leaving some big names in their squad for lesser fixtures - or put in total isolation.
Mancini wants to focus on the players who won the FA Cup and reached the Champions League, with the coldest of cold shoulders given to some of the rest.
Meanwhile City's new ‘Mister Fixit' John Williams is trying to shift many of the players. However there are few takers if fees are involved - and some may have to be paid off.
City wanted to get money for Bridge and Bellamy and do not want to allow Onuoha or Santa Cruz to go out on loan again. Shaun Wright-Phillips is another who they want to sell rather than give away.
Onuoha is valued at £8million although that valuation is sure to drop.
Winger Wright-Phillips could move for as little as £2million. But Bridge, Bellamy and Santa Cruz may have to be freed eventually.

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Sunderland boss to step up pursuit of Man United trio[/h] Published 14:54 04/07/11 By MirrorFootball

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...Wes-Brown-and-John-O-Shea-article756404.html#

Steve Bruce will this week step up his efforts to persuade a trio of Manchester United players to swap Old Trafford for Sunderland.
The Black Cats had a joint bid amounting to more than £12million accepted for Darron Gibson, Wes Brown and John O'Shea several weeks ago, but have not yet managed to push through a move for any of them.
Now with competitors lining up to challenge Bruce in the race to capture the three, he is hoping to make a breakthrough after a whirlwind of transfer activity on Wearside last week.
Republic of Ireland international O'Shea seemed the most unlikely of the trio to end up at the Stadium of Light, and although there have been positive noises on that front in recent days, Arsenal and Stoke have also been linked with him.




The Potters, as well as Everton, have been touted as possible purchasers for fellow defender Brown, while midfielder Gibson's name is also on Newcastle boss Alan Pardew's list.
Sunderland are due to start pre-season training on Wednesday, and there will already be a series of new faces in attendance with Connor Wickham, Ji Dong-won, Craig Gardner, Keiren Westwood and Sebastian Larsson having joined the club, while Ahmed Elmohamady's loan move has become permanent.
But Bruce is determined to make a big push this season and his shopping mission is not yet over.
He could yet be in the market for another striker - he currently only has Asamoah Gyan, Wickham and Ji on the books - although sources on Wearside today played down reports linking the club with Stuttgart's Russian frontman Pavel Pogrebnyak.
But following the return of loan signings Nedum Onuoha and John Mensah to their respective clubs, defence is now a priority, and that is why he is hoping to make progress on O'Shea and Brown.

 

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[h=1]Chelsea plot move for Real Madrid defender - report[/h] Published 12:59 04/07/11 By Euro Spy

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...drid-defender-Pepe-report-article756365.html#

Chelsea are set to make a £4.5m bid for Real Madrid centre-back Pepe, according to reports in Spain.
The Portuguese international had agreed a new four-year contract with Real at the end of the season, but the deal was not finalised before the player departed for his summer holidays.
Andre Villas-Boas is keen to boost his defensive ranks and would be prepared to hand Pepe a five-year deal at Stamford Bridge, according to Spanish newspaper Marca .

 

[Rutashubanyuma]

[h=1]Chelsea eye player swap deal for Coentrao - report[/h] Published 13:12 04/07/11 By Euro Spy

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http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/tra...-Slobodan-Rajkovic-report-article756379.html#

Chelsea are to offer exiled defender Slobodan Rajkovic to Benfica in an attempt to force through a deal for Fabio Coentrao.
The Blues agreed a £4m deal for Rajkovic in 2005 - when the centre-back was only 16 - but he has spent the last four years on loan in Holland and has never appeared in a Chelsea shirt.
New boss Andre Villas-Boas is keen to agree a deal for Portuguese international left-back Coentrao as soon as possible to fend off interest from Real Madrid

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