The Rumour Mill Version 2

A Bit High

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Thread starter #1
BREAKING GOSSIP
1334 BST: Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is lining up Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani as a possible replacement for Xabi Alonso, who is reportedly keen on a move to Real Madrid.
Full story: Daily Mail

1328 BST: Sunderland manager Steve Bruce will launch a bid for Manchester City striker Craig Bellamy.
Full story: Daily Mail

1030 BST: Newcastle have confirmed former caretaker Joe Kinnear will not be returning to the club next season as manager, and midfielder Nicky Butt has called on the club to clarify the situation as soon as possible so they can plan ahead for the new season (Press Association).


TRANSFER GOSSIP
Manchester City manager Mark Hughes believes his side can offer John Terry a new lease of life and said the Chelsea and England captain needs a fresh challenge.
Full story: Various

Hughes is also on the verge of signing Emmanuel Adebayor for £25m after the player underwent a medical in Manchester.
Full story: Various

Real Madrid could sign Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso by the end of the week as they are prepared to meet the club's asking price of more than £30m for the 27-year-old.
Full story: Daily Telegraph

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will do everything he can to keep Alonso at the club, along with Argentina midfielder Javier Mascherano, who has been linked with a move to Barcelona.
Full story: Daily Star

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira could join Tottenham after indicating to manager Harry Redknapp that he would be willing to leave Inter Milan.
Full story: Various

The Italian club are prepared to pay the 33-year-old Vieira £1m to make up a shortfall in wages if he was to join Spurs, while Birmingham, Sunderland, Fulham, Lyon and Paris St Germain have all made enquiries about the Frenchman.
Full story: Daily Express

Or, Vieira wants a pay-off from Inter Milan after Spurs offered him £60,000-a-week - £25,000 less than he currently earns at the San Siro.
Full story: The Times

Tottenham have held talks with Real Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but could miss out on signing the Dutch international after Stuttgart had an offer accepted for the 25-year-old.
Full story: The Times

Spurs full-back Gareth Bale, 19, is wanted on loan by Italian side Roma to provide competition for John Arne Riise.
Full story: The Sun

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce will give veteran striker Christian Vieri, 36, all the time he needs to prove his fitness after spending some time with the Rovers squad at a training camp.
Full story: The Sun

Fulham will launch an £11m bid for Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch - but only if Bobby Zamora leaves to join Hull City.
Full story: The Sun

Sunderland have had a £14m bid for Darren Bent rejected by Tottenham as the north London club want to recoup the £16.7m they paid Charlton for the 25-year-old striker two years ago.
Full story: The Sun

Tottenham have made a late bid to sign Sheffield United full-back Kyle Naughton after Everton had a £6m offer for the 20-year-old accepted.
Full story: Daily Star

Wigan have entered the race to sign Rangers centre-back Madjid Bougherra.
Full story: The Times

Hull are confident of signing Sunderland striker Daryl Murphy after the clubs agreed an initial fee of £1.5m, rising to £2.5m.
Full story: Various

West Brom midfielder Jonathan Greening has stunned the club by handing in a transfer request after they rejected a £2.5m bid from Fulham.
Full story: Various

Rangers midfielder Barry Ferguson, 31, could join former manager Alex McLeish at Birmingham after the Blues agreed a £1.3m fee with the Scottish club. (Daily Mirror)

Bolton manager Gary Megson will attempt to finalise a £3.5m deal for Swansea midfielder Ferrie Bodde in an attempt to fight off interest from Wigan. (Daily Mirror)


OTHER GOSSIP
Joe Kinnear is set to return as Newcastle manager on Wednesday, with Mike Ashley overlooking fans' favourite Alan Shearer for the role as the owner struggles to find a buyer for the club.
Full story: Daily Mail

However, sources at the club have denied reports linking Kinnear with a return to St James' Park and any new manager will be appointed when a takeover of the club is completed. (The Press Association)

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is considering quitting the club after securing a new five-year shirt sponsorship deal.
Full story: The Times

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Ray Parlour has accused striker Emmanuel Adebayor of being "lazy" and lacking fight during his Gunners career and believes manager Arsene Wenger has done brilliantly by getting £25m from Manchester City for the Togo striker.
Full story: Daily Star

Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson believes Michael Owen can reignite his England career at Old Trafford following the striker's summer switch after his Newcastle contract ended.
Full story: The Sun
 

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Godzke

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#2
Sky Italia and Goal.com reporting Maxwell -> Barca for 4.5m euros (possible to rise to 5m) with Barca's website confirming initial agreements have been reached.

I've seen a bit of him, but not enough to formulate an opinion. Thoughts?

28 y.o. LB for those who don't know
 

TorresIsGod

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#5
Yeah he's pretty good and very quick. Will be a good signing since Abidal needs a wheelchair half to time to get up and down the pitch.
Up and down the pitch? As if he's on the pitch long enough to make an impact. The wheel chair helps him from the pitch after he's been shown a red card.
 

Pie Legend

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#6
He's better than Nick Maxwell... so that's a start... or is it?
Captain Nick is going alright atm ;)

Maxwell is a decent signing, will get the job done offensively.

I think he will thrive in La Liga, and will benefit immensely from Barca's defensive quality (as in when they don't have the ball, they hunt like dogs to get it back)
 

Embers

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#7
Still think they should of chased Zhirkov alot harder then they did if they did but Maxwell for 5 mill is a bargain and will suit Barcas style of play

Barca need a backup plan in the situation Villa doesnt come. At this stage they dont appear to have one and if they do it must be well hidden
 

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Kompany

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#15
forlan is a quality finisher, surrounded by the best players in the world he will thrive.

his time at utd is irrelivant, he was awesome last season, his goal to game ratio was super impressive.
Yeah it's not that, he has moved on indeed (he would've failed at Real as much as he failed at Utd back in the day imo) and has had a few very good seasons at Villareal and Atletico, but apparently we'd need to pay a lot of money for him while he's 30 already. And all that because Valencia reportedly wants 5-6m more for Villa than we are willing to pay - I'd just give in, Villa's 3 years younger and is considerably better (even though apparently Forlan is an absolute model professional who'll probably have a few good years in him).

bus24 said:
Now, Kompany, what do you know about a lad by the name of Ritchie Kitoko?
Not much really -> he plays in la segunda and got a cap for Belgium recently, but only because 20 (not kidding) other players didn't want to travel to Japan for the Kirin cup, and I don't think he played.

davey_magik said:
Surely they still won't loan out Bojan?
I don't know... If we don't get Villa, we're ****ed really. I'm all for loaning him out, but maybe we'll end up needing him. We're about to sign Keirrison but we're trying to loan him out in a deal for Villa.

Bojan's stagnated last season, it's a bit worrying. He's still got it in him to be a world class striker in a few years, but he'll be better off playing somewhere.
 

folester41

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#16
Yeah it's not that, he has moved on indeed (he would've failed at Real as much as he failed at Utd back in the day imo) and has had a few very good seasons at Villareal and Atletico, but apparently we'd need to pay a lot of money for him while he's 30 already. And all that because Valencia reportedly wants 5-6m more for Villa than we are willing to pay - I'd just give in, Villa's 3 years younger and is considerably better (even though apparently Forlan is an absolute model professional who'll probably have a few good years in him).
fair enough too, i wouldnt be paying that amount of money for a thirty year old. i thought you were talking about how he isnt quality, so my apologies.

there arent too many quality strikers that arent at top 4 clubs these days. can you imagine torres leading your line, that would be one scary unit for all teams to play against.
 

Godzke

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#17
worst comes to worst means barca fail to sign villa and eto'o stays ... i'm pretty sure barca would work hard to offer him a new deal but eto'o has proven to be a slimy bugger. very greedy for money. only man city and real madrid can satisfy his $$$ demands.
 

Kompany

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#18
No the board has been trying very hard to sell Eto'o. Not just this summer but last year as well. There must be a lot going on we don't know of, because you don't just get rid of your top scorer who's scored you 2 goals in CL finals. Probably everyone at the club is sick of his antics (I even read Messi hinting he wasn't exactly close with Eto'o off the field).

I read somewhere that Eto'o was told in person after the last training that he wasn't needed anymore, but then Eto'o pretended in the media he didn't know anything. It's his good right of course, he wants to determine his own future instead of us pushing him to City and I'd do out my final year as well.

Offering him that last minute contract extension on the same terms of his current deal was clearly nothing more than an attempt to either put Eto'o under pressure or make him look bad in front of the fans.
 

Godzke

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#19
No the board has been trying very hard to sell Eto'o. Not just this summer but last year as well. There must be a lot going on we don't know of, because you don't just get rid of your top scorer who's scored you 2 goals in CL finals. Probably everyone at the club is sick of his antics (I even read Messi hinting he wasn't exactly close with Eto'o off the field).

I read somewhere that Eto'o was told in person after the last training that he wasn't needed anymore, but then Eto'o pretended in the media he didn't know anything. It's his good right of course, he wants to determine his own future instead of us pushing him to City and I'd do out my final year as well.

Offering him that last minute contract extension on the same terms of his current deal was clearly nothing more than an attempt to either put Eto'o under pressure or make him look bad in front of the fans.
well that's the thing, the board has been trying very hard but with no success. What may see him stay at Barca even after his contract expires is that no other club (of Barca's stature) would pay his wage demands. United won't be held to ransom while Real Madrid already have an abundant choice of attacking options (not to mention he wouldn't want to return there).

goal.com have reported ibra-eto'o talks for a swap are underway again after the Villa saga. moratti came out admitting that they are in talks again.
 
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