Right, let’s have a little summary of what has happened today. Or not, as the case may be.
- Arsenal have completed the signing of Gabriel from Villarreal
- Going the other way on loan is Joel Campbell, who has also signed a new contract with the Gunners
- Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta’s agent claims the Spanish midfielder has signed a one-year extension to his contract at Arsenal
- Gareth Bale says he’s happy at Real Madrid and can’t picture joining Manchester United
- Crystal Palace look set to complete three signings, with Jordon Mutch and Pape Souare set to arrive, while negotiations also continue with Manchester United to bring Wilfried Zaha back permanently
- Newcastle look set to sign three teenagers, but are concerned that Moussa Sissoko may seek a move away this month
- West Brom have completed the signing of Callum McManaman from Wigan
- Ravel Morrison has been in Rome to complete the formalities ahead of a move to Lazio
- Jurgen Klopp is optimistic that Marco Reus will stay at Borussia Dortmund, despite their struggles this season
- AC Milan are working on the details to sign Matti Destro from Roma
And that’ll do for the day. Cheers for reading, and we shall see you again tomorrow.
Not transfer news, but that old rascal Diego Costa has been charged with violent conduct after the ankles of assorted Liverpool players got in the way of his descending studs last night. The sky blue half of Manchester is bogling.
Wigan, Wigan, Wigan. It’s where it’s at.
Hearing that Leeds and Wigan are close to a deal for Jason Pearce. Waiting for confirmation but sounds like that one is happening. #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHayYEP) January 28, 2015
It’s all starting to get slightly lively at the end of the day. Our own Dominic Fifield checks in with a Crystal Palace update, with the promise of more to come:
Crystal Palace’s busy squad strengthening ahead of next week’s transfer deadline is to continue with the imminent arrivals of Jordon Mutch from Queens Park Rangers and Pape Souare from Lille to bolster the club’s battle against relegation. Negotiations also continue with Manchester United to make Wilfried Zaha’s loan spell back at the club permanent.
Full story to follow...
And some more details on the Gabriel deal are here.
A wee addition to the Gabriel news is that not only has Joel Campbell joined Villarreal on loan for the rest of the season, which we knew about, he’s also signed a new ‘long-term’ Arsenal contract, which we did not.
Back firmly in the land of speculation, a land in which we are far more comfortable, reports on Argentinean radio suggest that AC Meeeeeeeeelan are sounding out Dungeon Master-a-like Alejandro Sabella for their manager’s gig, should it all go mammaries up (or more mammaries up, perhaps) for Pippo Inzaghi.
D-D-D-D-D-D-D-DONE DEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's official - @Arsenal have signed Gabriel from Villarreal! Full story here: http://t.co/PTmDsbDkvj #WelcomeGabriel pic.twitter.com/PgkgL21j6G
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) January 28, 2015
An actual DONE DEAL! I mean, it’s a deal we all basically knew had happened/was going to happen, but still, beggars, they cannot be choosers in this world of transfers.
Since there’s the square-root of eff-all else happening, have a look at this clip of a ‘104-year-old’ running 100m in just under 20 seconds, and wonder whether he really is that old. We may have found the exact opposite of Kanu.
White hot news from Guardian Scandinavian correspondent/football editor Marcus Christenson, and Mr Ola Kamara has signed for Molde after his contract with Austria Vienna was terminated recently. Oh yes. That’s right.
DONE DEAL!
Could be a busy few days at Crystal Palace with the likes of Papa Soare, Jordon Mutch and Wilf Zaha signing, but one man is heading out of Selhurst Park, and that man is Stuart O’Keefe. He’s done one to Cardiff for an undisclosed fee, and this is what he had to say about the whole affair:
“I’m really happy to be a Cardiff City player. I enjoyed my four years at Palace, but I wanted to come here now for a new challenge. I’m 23 and I felt it was the right time to take the next step in my career.”
That, and he hadn’t started a league game since August of course, but let’s not be churlish about this.
Another quick round of ‘football club names as films’? Glad you asked:
- “Stoke City - Like Sin City only full of blokes stripped to the waist shovelling coal into a furnace. Bath City - as above but with bubbles rather the shovelling, and not even trousers, and women ...” - Alec McAuley.
- “Aston Villa - a Fawlty Towers reboot set in the West Midlands” - Tom, Toronto
Plus...
@NickMiller79 The Columbus Crew, a Fast and Furious spinoff
— Antonio Duarte (@SkilldatKillz) January 28, 2015
And...
@NickMiller79 Abergavenny Thursdays. A gritty documentary about unemployment in South Wales in the Eighties
— Martin Alderton (@TheChesterfan2) January 28, 2015
Hhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyoooooooooo - here’s the Fiver, from your pal and mine Paul Doyle:
Throw a pig’s head at Sepp Blatter and he’d no doubt think it is the first course in another epic Fifa swankfest, one followed by swordfish fricassé, truffled wildebeest and sevruga caviar on a bed of handmade penne and lashed servants. Throw a swine’s bonce at Luis Figo, however, and he’d immediately recall the gruesome way that Barcelona greeted him when he returned to Camp Nou with Real Madrid back in the day. Figo, you see, used to be a gifted and enormously popular and unpopular footballer, and that is pretty much all the Fiver knows about him. Yet we still reckon he would have more legitimacy as Fifa boss than Herr Blatter.
Funny we should mention that actually, because since we wrote those opening lines over last night’s kebab this morning, Figo has only gone and declared his candidacy for the upcoming Fifa presidential elections!
Hello, Sky Sources. Our old friend. The trusty compadre. The one constant in this crazy, mixed-up muddled-up shook-up world. A warm blanket, a welcoming hug from a lifelong pal. A mug of soup, a roaring fire in winter.
Or, from where word reaches us that PSG fancy taking Emmanuel Adebayor on loan. Because another grumpy and half-arsed forward is the best way to turn their season around.
DONE DEAL!
And boy oh boy it’s a biggie of a whopper. Young Sunderland striker Mikael Manrdon has joined Shrewsbury on loan until the end of the season. Proof.
Jurgen Klopp is optimistic that Marco Reus will stay at Borussia Dortmund, despite them floundering at the ugly end of the Bundesliga this season. He said in Die Welt:
The boys are 100 percent here and I have a positive feeling that the player we are talking about (Reus) will stay a bit longer.
Confirmation of a whisper from earlier...
.@salvatorebocch has joined #ACMilan on loan until 30 June 2015! #weareacmilan pic.twitter.com/kwNqYOjVes
— AC Milan (@acmilan) January 28, 2015
Some transfer news from our correspondent in the North East, Louise Taylor, who reports:
Newcastle United are close to signing three highly rated teenagers but are concerned that Moussa Sissoko is seeking a move away from the club.
David Concha and Jorge Meré, two Spaniards, and the MK Dons midfielder Dele Alli look set for moves to Tyneside before next week’s transfer deadline – although they will almost certainly be loaned back to their current clubs for the remainder of the season.
While the 17-year-old Meré is a centre-half at Sporting Gijon, Concha, a year older, is a striker with Racing Santander. Alli, meanwhile, has impressed in League One and has been watched by a number of Premier League clubs, most notably Liverpool.
And as for Sissoko, here are the words that are causing concern:
Everybody knows my agent. So if there is something, they will call him directly.
I don’t tell myself that I absolutely want to leave or not. If it is going to happen, then it will. I am good at Newcastle. I continue to work hard so that I have the opportunity one day to play for a very big club. I want to stay in the Premier league and play for one of the big clubs in England. You never know what might happen tomorrow, but I would prefer to stay in the Premier League.
Will Newcastle be willing to let me leave? There are a lot of things that enter the equation. My aim is to play for the biggest clubs. After that, it doesn’t just depend on me. The interested club needs to speak to Newcastle, with my agent, so that everyone can reach an agreement.
Updated
Bournemouth are nothing if not persistent. In fact, if they were someone pursuing a target of their romantic affections rather than a football club keen on a football player, the police would probably be involved by now.
According to the Birmingham Mail, the Cherries have had a fourth - fourth! - bid for young winger Demarai Gray rejected, this one worth around £3.5million and change.
DONE MOTHEREFFING DEAL!
And it’s the big one we’ve all been expecting. Wigan the unlikely stars of today.
CONFIRMED: We are delighted to announce the signing of Callum McManaman. Full story here http://t.co/QAfK3rhNWD #wba pic.twitter.com/LQiN1Qcvv8
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBAFCofficial) January 28, 2015
Nice that they’ve taken him out to a field in the middle of nowhere to announce it.
Brace yourselves for a slew of ‘football club names as films’, you lucky punters.
- “What about the Eredivisie’s Go Ahead Eagles, AKA a movie tie-in for a minor line of 1980s action hero toys?” - Sam Walters.
- “Coronel Bolognese” (Translates as Colonel Bolognese) A feel good Maggie Smith vehicle about finding love later in life that audiences mainly watch for the beautiful, rolling Italian scenery” - Anonymous please, I’m at work.
- “Mighty Jets is a shoestring budget arthouse film about an airplane engineer’s assistant “Popoy” (Gene Hackman), who is spending his days dreaming about being a violent NYC cop” - Mikko Samuli Tolsa.
- “Cowdenbeath sounds like it should be a film about an 18th/19th century Politician who fought for the greater good of the lower classes in the face of terrible living conditions. Starring a young Patrick Stewart in the eponymous role” - Sigs.
- “I was going to make a joke that “Hearts of Oak” should be a film about an ageing Southern drunkard, starring Billy Bob Thornton. But lo and behold, it’s a *real* film, about something else, but nobody knows what. Bah!” - Artie Prendergast-Smith.
Doesn’t sound like Everton is going to be a particularly busy place these next few days. Roberto Martinez told the club’s website:
January is not the place to find solutions (in the transfer market). Our moment of form, we want to change, but the solutions are in the squad.
There are players coming back from injury to create the competition in the squad and I don’t feel it is the window to bring solutions for us...With Arouna Kone being fully fit, I see him as a replacement for Samuel’s position and it is more about trying to get the players back from injury...
We are always working and if we can do something to help the players we have got at the club then we will do something. But what’s clear is that January is not very straightforward.
You never get value for money (in January), first and foremost, and you will not get players you have been following for a long time. And if you want to rely on January to find solutions for your season then it is a big gamble. But we will carry on working.
Hot, hot, hot on the heels of Wigan agreeing a fee for Billy McKay, they’re shipping one out the door, now. Specifically Adam Forshaw, who’s on his way to Middlesbrough.
Malky Mackay texte...sorry, said: “A surprise bid came in for Adam, and it was a very good one that we felt was acceptable to us. He said he wanted to talk to them and that being the case, we gave him permission to talk to them.
“I can only say that in the short time we worked together I found him to be a terrific professional but for one reason or another it’s not worked out here and we wish him the very best of luck at Middlesbrough.”
More from the ‘football club names as films’ riff, now.
Craig Fawcett has three suggestions:
- Newell’s Old Boys – City of Men flick
- Young Boys – City of God
- Leigh RMI – gritty Ken Loach/Film4 collaboration
While Nick Pettigrew reckons: “Crystal Palace’ sounds like a Studio Ghibli cartoon.”
Then there’s this...
@fraz74 @NickMiller79 Between Chicago Fire, SJ Earthquakes, Colorado Rapids...lots of potential natural disasters in MLS.
— David Nelson (@ivanomartin) January 28, 2015
...and this...
@NickMiller79 Dulwich Hamlet could be quiet Hitchcock thriller
— Lazy Rhubarb (@lazyrhubarb2) January 28, 2015
...and this.
@NickMiller79 How about the cop buddy film - Hampton and Richmond
— Duncan Watkins (@duncanwatkins) January 28, 2015
Wigan have agreed a fee for Inverness Caledonian Thistle forward Billy McKay. You know how we know? Because Inverness Caledonian Thistle chairman Kenny Cameron has said so:
Following an approach from Wigan Athletic FC late yesterday afternoon and following discussions with the management team, the board of Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC agreed to allow Billy Mckay leave to travel to DW Stadium for discussion of personal terms with a view to an immediate transfer.
Billy has never hidden his ambition to compete at the highest possible level and has always conducted himself in a professional manner in this regard. We are grateful to Wigan Athletic FC for the courtesy shown in speaking to us before opening their discussions with the player.
We are forever mindful of the risk of losing players during any transfer window and, as always, have contingency plans in place should agreement on personal terms be reached with Billy.
“Queens Park Rangers sounds like an episode from The Blackadder I,” offers Ashwin Vishwanath. Not bad, not bad at all.
And Fraz gets the ball rolling by answering his own question...
@NickMiller79 The obvious one is Queen of the South A romantic western starring Howard Keel
— Fraz T (@fraz74) January 28, 2015
For lack of much else to talk about, here’s a new game:
@NickMiller79 There is an MLS team called Montreal Impact who sound like a 70s disaster movie The Montreal Impact starring Charlton Heston
— Fraz T (@fraz74) January 28, 2015
@NickMiller79 what other obscure football teams sound like 70s films
— Fraz T (@fraz74) January 28, 2015
“Please tell me that café in Thailand had Anfield wraps on the menu?” guffaws Mark Jelbert.
One hopes. Tom?
Looks like AC Meeeeelan are set for another signing, with Mattia Destro heading that way from Roma. Adriano Galliani is quoted in Gazzetta dello Sport as rather coyly declaring that the deal is not yet done, but don’t you worry about it son, it will be.
Apparently the initial deal will be a loan for around €700,000, then will be made permanent with a fee of around €16million being paid in instalments. But they’re still haggling over that. Fun!
Preach
@NickMiller79 There's so little going on, soon you'll be forced to write about proposed "swapsies" between Pannini Sticker afficionados,
— Derek Pearson (@RiksRedGuard) January 28, 2015
DONE/EXTENDED DEAL!
Big striker Matt Smith has extended his loan deal at Bristol City from Fulham until the end of February. Look, it’s what we’ve got, OK?
Tom Watts has word of another football-themed eatery: “I hung out daily at the Anfield cafe in Phuket Town, Thailand back in Dec 2012. Had great food, aged locals and an absolute storm of scarves from across the world hanging from the ceiling, Gerrard pictures everywhere as well as a sign that looked like it had been scalped from the stadium itself.
“Run by a really nice Thai family who despite their devotion have never actually been to Liverpool. Almost broke their hearts when I told them I support Arsenal. A few more details here.”
Interesting one from Le Progrès in France, who report that Manchester City and St Étienne over a ‘youth academy partnership agreement’, whatever that might mean. Well, actually, it probably means City get the pick of the French club’s kids while they send their own purchased youngsters out to Ligue 1 on loan. But we shall see.
And almost as soon as my rump hits the chair, we have our first nomination. Oh yes they do sir, yes they do.
@NickMiller79 Do restaurants count? http://t.co/bpUo26xoqJ
— Mike Meehall Wood (@MillbankBhoy) January 28, 2015
I once went to a Figo-themed bar in Portugal, which was full of photos of the great man and burnt English people enjoying that classic Portuguese dish: a full English. Been to a footballer-themed restaurant? A Peter Reid-themed pop-up? A Barry Venison bar? Do let Nick know, via email or on the Twitter. He’s back from lunch. Save him. Bye!
Updated
Aaaaaand, it turns out Figo is completely and utterly legit (I think):
- He’s worked for ‘Uefa’s football committee’ (as opposed to Uefa’s non-football committee?), Internazionale and in the Portugal national team set-up in the last five years so upholds the stipulation that you must have had an active role in the game for two of the last five years.
- He says he’s already secured backing from five Fifa member associations, although he’s keeping schtum as to who exactly they are. Wise.
- He’s not part of an elaborate publicity stunt by a betting company. Hooray!
Here’s our news story on the Portuguese. Have a look, even if it’s just to swoon at that jawline.
Updated
So it turns out that the whole Luís Figo-wanting-to-become-Fifa-president thing is true! Here is what he’s told CNN.
I care about football, so what I’m seeing regarding the image of FIFA - not only now but in the past years - I don’t like it.
I’ve been talking with so many important people in football - players, managers, president of federations - and they all think that something has to be done.
Last year was the World Cup, I was in Brazil and I saw the reaction of all the fans regarding the image of FIFA and I think something has to be changed.
Change in leadership, governance, transparency and solidarity, so I think it’s the moment for that.
I think no one is untouchable in this life. If you think like that you are wrong. Of course [Blatter] is a person that is running the organisation for so long, since 1998, and a lot of people can be the favourite but I can say for me it is a fantastic challenge to try and convince the people to follow me and support me.
Hello world. Michael Butler here just jumping in for Nick Miller, who on his way to get some well-earned lunch. What better way to slip into a seamless transfer narrative than to remind Newcastle fans of Xisco: the Spanish striker signed on a £50,000-a-week contract by Dennis Wise and co back in 2008 for £5.75m.
Xisco only made 11 appearances for Newcastle over five-and-a-half years at the club, but did much better for Córdoba when he signed for them on a free transfer in 2013, and the now 28-year-old has just earned himself a loan deal to Real Mallorca! Congrats Xisco! The transfer window rolls on!
Updated
Forget the votes, it’s Ginola v Figo in a handsome-off for the Fifa presidency
Strong rumours that Luis Figo is about to declare for Fifa presidency. CNN may tell us more in 10 minutes...
— Richard Conway (@richard_conway) January 28, 2015
Hey, remember that Gareth Bale stuff we mentioned back in 1972, just after this transfer blog started? Well, here’s more of it.
Here’s Malaga’s Pepín, who is shortly to become Roma’s Pepín, rocking up at the airport in Italy today.
#Roma arriva Pepín, il '96 talento preso dal Malaga: qui per @DiMarzio, con l'amico #Bartra all'aeroporto in partenza pic.twitter.com/gDt7nbdU6M
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 28, 2015
DONE DEA...no, hang on, wait - NEARLY DONE DEAL AFTER THE COMPLETION OF ASSORTED ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
BREAKING: Just received word from #BHAFC delegation at FA that Beram Kayal granted work permit. More to follow at http://t.co/79awb2jl1R.
— BHAFC (@OfficialBHAFC) January 28, 2015
Kayal is, in case you weren’t aware, an Israeli midfielder currently doing his thing for Celtic. Or not, as the case may be - he’s being shoved out of Parkhead after starting just two games for them this season. He’s agreed a two-and-a-half year deal on the jolly old seaside, which he will presumably now sign, post-haste.
Taking a break from all this heady transfer news, here’s Brendan Rodgers talking about last night’s defeat to Chelsea. He doesn’t seem to be a big Diego Costa fan.
On the other hand, our very own Barney Ronay is a Diego Costa fan.
He is in every sense a wrestler: an opponent who looks constantly for a way to apply his strength to your weaknesses, mental and physical. With Liverpool pressing high up the pitch in one of those familiar fast starts, Chelsea were briefly rattled. Passes went astray. Nemanja Matic seemed to be the only player in possession of a defensive instruction manual and Liverpool were finding space on the flanks, with Raheem Sterling a menace cutting in from the left. At which point, enter Diego part one.
If anyone was worried about Villarreal’s defence after the departure of Gabriel to Arsenal, then worry no more. Looks like they are all set to announce the signing of a replacement, namely Espanyol’s Ivory Coast defender Eric Bailly. That’s according to AS, anyway.
Not technically transfer news, but it doesn’t look like things will be getting exciting at Aston Villa/Paul Lambert will be sacked soon.
Chief executive Tom Fox (great name, Tom), told the BBC:
When things aren’t going well, fans bay for that type of blood. That’s not the way that I or the owner are going to make a decision. It’s a false narrative.”
I think football’s a funny business and I think to put it all on the manager, again, that’s a bit of a false narrative. There’s a lot of things happening at this football club, and clearly what happens on the pitch is a focal point. Clearly the manager is the one person who can really influence that, so everyone focuses on it.
Our focus for the last couple of months has been on making sure we support Paul to make us as successful as possible, and I think we’re heading in the right direction.
...AKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKING NEWS! BREAKI....
According to Sky Sources, Juan Cuadrado will be moving to Chelsea this summer, but only if they stump up the full €35million (about £23.9million) release clause in his contract. Plot, thickening.
Garry Monk wants to get stuff done, it’s just he’s not quite sure what or when yet. The Premier League’s premier ‘he looks like he could be an estate agent’ manager told the South Wales Evening Post:
I am trying to push to see what we can do and the chairman is doing the same. But as usual we have to wait on other clubs and players to see if things are going to go through. We have identified targets and hopefully we can add some more quality.
Looks like Chelsea will add to their coterie of youngsters who can start checking out Air BnB in Arnhem, for 18-year-old Partizan Belgrade midfielder Danilo Pantic seems to be on his way. The child himself said:
In the situation we are now in, going to Chelsea would be the best solution for me and for Partizan. I am not sure when I will be back in Belgrade, I believe in the next day or two, and a transfer should be done this week.
Feedback.
@guardian_sport @NickMiller79 Stick this old story up you're jacksie
— Michael Cooper (@Coop2603) January 28, 2015
DONE DEAL! AC Meeeeeelan have completed the loan signing of defender Salvatore Bocchetti from Spartak Moscow, for the rest of the season. And yer man said:
“I haven’t spoken to Inzaghi yet, but I am happy they wanted me and very happy to be back in Italy, as it’s what I wanted. I hope to get back into the Nazionale too. Full-back or centre-back? I am ready to do anything for Milan.”
Anything? If I was Pippo, I’d take that as an invitation. Dance! Shine my shoes! Take messages, particularly if they’re bad news, upstairs to Silvio!
Mark Judd is, like Verbal Kint, the man with the plan: “Re: Gareth Bale dismissing a move to Old Trafford, perhaps if Man Utd offered to call their stadium ‘The Bale Old Trafford’ he might be tempted.”
Like it. Perhaps ‘The Cuadrado Bridge’ could be a goer, too. Or ‘The Messi Etihad.’ Or maybe ‘The Cristiano Ronaldo City Ground.’ Any other suggestions?
In lieu of any big breaking transfer news, sit back and have a read of Marcela Mora y Araujo’s paen to the retiring Juan Román Riquelme:
Players such as Riquelme embody the reason I love football. Romantic notions of the role of the No10 in Argentinian football say this is the position where the thinking takes place: the player who pauses. His critics often dwell on the fact that he did not run much (César Luis Menotti: “Since when do you need to run to play football?”) and in Argentina many of his opponents have labelled him pecho frío, literally cold-chested, apparently a phrase born among the gauchos to refer to a horse unwilling to pull a heavy cart and much used in football to describe players who go missing or fail to give the impression of making much of an effort.
In the tone of a professional obituary most of the Argentinian press have responded to his retirement by devoting ample column inches to Riquelme today,with La Nación offering a delectable infographic of his career in numbers whileOlé recall his first ever interview under the title “how the legend started” .
Perhaps the pinnacle of his career was in 2006, when his presence at Villarreal put the small club on the European map, and his steady, slow leadership of a complex orchestra was at the heart of some of the most wonderful World Cup football Argentina have ever performed.
Ameya Badwe is back, discussing something that has let him down in reality, as Camden Market did for me:
“R. Morrison’s Reservoir Dog-esque picture has reminded me that I signed him when I was boss of Swansea in Football Manager 2013. He was brilliant at the top of my midfield diamond, but in reality after his burst onto the scene with West Ham he has let me down...horribly. Not signed him since.”
And speaking of Ravel, here’s some exciting footage of him not only getting out of a car as he arrives to cross the Ts and dot the lower-case js of his move to Lazio, but also walking down a corridor. What a time to be alive.
Could San Iker Casillas play in the Major League Soccer? He doesn’t see why not:
I have no problem in saying that I would like to play in the United States. I would like the experience of a different kind of football and if that happened tomorrow it would it would allow me to remember and value the time I’ve spent at Madrid.
Updated
Did we have this yesterday? Good lord, it’s barely 10.30am and the bottom of that barrel is already in sight...
BREAKING: A loan deal has been agreed with @ManUtd for midfielder Joe Rothwell.
— Blackpool FC (@BlackpoolFC) January 27, 2015
In the world of transfer inactivity, the low-level DONE DEAL! is king...
Official: PAOK Salonica sign veteran Portugal centre-back Ricardo Costa. pic.twitter.com/iZPpPoi62T
— Tom Kundert (@Portu_Goal) January 28, 2015
While the picture is a little creepy, here’s Ravel Morrison in Rome for his medical with Lazio.
Ravel in Rome for a medical ahead of June move RT @Laziosiamonoi: Welcome #Morrison! http://t.co/h786ftRPIg #Lazio pic.twitter.com/JIm9VsRP6Z
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) January 28, 2015
Dearie me. Dearie, dearie me...
The Santiago Bernabéu stadium will be renamed the Abu Dhabi Bernabéu, according to the Spanish sports newspaper AS.
The report has not been confirmed by Real Madrid and indeed the club has not yet explicitly announced that the stadium will change its name at all, but the president Florentino Pérez was caught on camera admitting to a member of the regional government that the stadium will be called whatever the Abu Dhabi investment group IPIC want it to be called.
And something else from SportMediaSet.it, who reckon...well, I’m sure even if you’re not fluent in foreign you’ll get the gist of this one:
Il Manchester United ha rinnovato il contratto di De Gea fino al 2020 con ritocco dell'ingaggio
— SportMediaset.it (@Sport_Mediaset) January 27, 2015
Truth, from David Flynn: “Ah Select magazine, it was such a superior publication to the somehow still running Q. Q had been a disappointment every month for quite some time when about two years ago one of its main features was The Stereophonics interviewed by Wayne Rooney. I haven’t bought it since.”
Here’s an interesting one, from SportMediaSet.it, who have something for us on the future of Juan Cuadrado. BUT, in a twist to rival Citizen Kane, The Empire Strikes Back and the Sixth Sense (he’s dead, it’s a sledge, he’s his father, respectively), this update doesn’t involve Chelsea.
No no, for they reckon the latest club to show an interest in the Colombian flyer is Manchester United, who according to them will make an offer of €29million plus Adnan Januzaj for Cuadrado.
Sounds an awful lot like bullwhiff, but it would be a massive, fat, growling cat among some pretty jumpy pigeons if it turned out to be true.
Amusing news (assuming you don’t work in the accounts department at Old Trafford) from your super soaraway Guardian this morning, as it looks like Crystal Palace could be on the verge of signing Wilf Zaha back for a mere £3million.
David Hytner taps his nose and says:
Palace intend to pay £3m for Zaha, who is on a season-long loan back at Selhurst Park, with a further £3m in add-ons which would be paid if the winger meets performance-related targets.
But the deal stands to be some way short of the one that saw Zaha transfer from Palace to United in January 2013, although he was loaned straight back for the remainder of that season.
Zaha’s move was valued at £15m and although he has failed to meet the targets that would have triggered the add-ons, United parted with a downpayment of £10m and gave him a contract worth £35,000 a week.
Mikel Arteta has signed a new contract, according to his agent. And, let’s face it, he should probably know. Inaki Ibanez told Footmercato.net:
“Mikel is no longer free next June, because he now has an extra year on his contract.”
So there.
Our first fib of the morning, as Ameya Badwe emails in to try and grease the wheels:
“I have some hot gossip for you. I was on the bus this morning when who do I see in Camden Market? Sami Khedira! Potentially here for a medical with Arsenal????? Me thinks so. (This is totally untrue but maybe a terrible rumor will send this window into hyperdrive!)”
Was he buying a ropey knock-off t-shirt or a beaded bracelet? There used to be a section in much-missed music mag Select in which they would stop hipsters in the street and asked where they got their clobber from, and inevitably it would either be from a charity shop or Camden Market. And then, when I travelled down with knotted hankie on a stick from rural Nottinghamshire, just knowing that this bountiful utopia of cool swag would change my teenage life, it turned out to be rubbish.
What has let you down horribly when you discovered the reality of it? Email Nick.Miller@theguardian.com or tweet @NickMiller79
More bad news for adorably optimistic Manchester United fans, although this one isn’t quite as horses-mouthy as the Bale thing.
Andrea Pirlo has been discussing his teammate and possibly most exciting young player in the world at present, Paul Pogba. He said in Telefoot, with translation via Football Italia:
For whatever reason they chose not to give him a chance and that is a mistake they will have to live with now. I can’t see that he will ever return to Manchester United.
When he first joined us in training at Juventus we knew there was something about him, and in just two years he has become one of the best players in the world.
Of course he is going to have options, he knows that. You can’t play at the level he is and not attract attention. But he also knows that at Juventus he is already at one of the biggest clubs in Europe.
I have spoken with him, and told him if he carries on working hard and makes the right decisions there is no limit to what he can achieve.
“Rumour Mill, Rumour Mill, RUUUMOOOURRR MILLL! Rumour Mill, Rumour Mill, Rumour Mill...”
Yes friends, it’s here, and this morning your oracle of the half-truths, the whispers and the word on the street brings us ‘news’ that:
- Everton could take Alex Pato after the former Brazilian wunderkind was turned down by Hull and QPR(!)
- Manchester United seem intent on blowing far too-much money on Athletic Bilbao’s Aymeric Laporte
- Southampton will look to preemptively replace Morgan Schneiderlin with Feyenoord midfielder Jordy Clasie
- West Brom could recruit Demba Ba, which sounds like a belting deal to us
- Sunderland could be in for Emmanuel Eboué
An early break from the carefree joy of transfer nonsense, to bring you the reasonably demoralising but inevitable news that agents have been coining it in again.
Owen Gibson writes:
Payments to agents acting on international transfers for clubs rose to £155m ($236m) in 2014 according to Fifa figures, with a booming English transfer market accounting for by far the largest slice.
The study of the market in 2014 showed that despite the introduction of Uefa’s financial fair play rules, the booming broadcast market and growing commercial opportunities enabled English clubs to carry on spending.
One in four dollars spent globally on international transfers was allocated to English clubs and more than one in three dollars paid to agents originated from England.
Let us begin with Gareth Bale, who has been talking to Marca about Manchester United. Is it good news for United fans? Well, no, obviously not, but if you like and youi really try hard you can take solace in the fact he didn’t absolutely, 100%, for certain rule out a move to Old Trafford.
He said:
I can’t imagine myself at Manchester United. In a recent interview they asked me if I was unhappy at Real and I told them I’m really happy here. I’ve got several years left on my contract, I’m enjoying myself, we’re winning trophies and I want to keep doing that here at Real.
So then, here we are. This is the situation we’ve found ourselves in. All of us are gathered in this place, and we’ve got ourselves in the situation where we’re all talking about the movement of labour for cash, the trading of humans as if they’re stocks and shares and commodities to be shunted from Point A to Point B.
If you look to your left and right, the chances are some people are doing something to benefit the world, but...well, sod it. Let’s face it - you or I will never do that, so let’s just enjoy this frippery, this stuff and nonsense where we pick things from the ether and make mild diversion from them.
Let’s get started.
Nick will be here shortly.
