<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-311" style="margin-right: 25px;border: 0px initial initial" src="/files/2008/10/coffee_newspaper.gif" alt="coffee_newspaper" width="225" height="168"></figure></div>Just a few news stories that caught my interest over the last couple of days. Enjoy!
<ul>
<li>Karim Benzema <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/jul/10/karim-benzema-manchester-united-real-madrid" target="_blank">admits turning down Manchester United</a> and Barcelona</li>
<li>Jonathan Wilson’s article on <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/jul/08/romanian-football-gica-popescu-dinamo-bucharest" target="_blank">the ties that existed between Romanian secret police and&nbsp;Dinamo Bucharest 
</a></li>
<li>Ever think your video game managerial skills would make you a good boss of a real team? <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1198594/From-game-glory-real-life-Championship-Manager--mans-pathetic-day-Watford-dug-out.html" target="_blank">Think again</a>!</li>
<li>Tired of the same old names in the silly season rumours? Try these <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfers/5768367/Football-transfers-Top-50-alternative-European-transfer-targets.html" target="_blank">50 alternate transfer targets</a> (Thanks to <a href="http://my.thescore.com/footyblog/archive/2009/07/09/20978.aspx" target="_blank">The Footy Blog</a>‘s Joe Ross for that one.)</li>
</ul>

Friday Links: Benzema Admits Turning Down United

Friday Links: Benzema Admits Turning Down United - World Soccer Talk

It’s been a while since I wrote an update, largely because there has only been a few new moves to bring you up to speed on. Largely deals have been getting bogged down with work permit issues, medicals and arguments over terms and fees. The action has started to pick up in the last few days so let’s have at it.
Let’s start with Marlon King, who was to have joined Fulham at least a week ago but his move fell through after he had “failed a medical” though the player denies that happened. King was quoted by the BBC as saying: “I think the two clubs were trying to renegotiate the fee, it had nothing to do with me, but when I picked up the papers I see I had failed a medical! I know my body is 110%. I didn’t fail a medical. I’ve been playing for a season and a half now and scoring goals – nothing has changed. As far as I’m concerned and Wigan are concerned, I didn’t fail a medical. I had a medical at Wigan and everything went smoothly, so I decided to make the switch.”
In any event, King is a good signing for Wigan who are lacking in the striker department and he should bring them a few goals as the look to climb up out of the relegation fight. Wigan have also signed former Tottenham left-back Erik Edman from French club Rennes and done a loan deal for defender Maynor Figueroa from Honduran club Deportivo Olimpia.
One player leaving the JJB is Denny Landzaat who was sold to Feyenoord for £1m. The transfer ends an 18-month stay in Wigan for the Holland international, for whom Wigan paid AZ Alkmaar £2.3m in July 2006. It’s a bit of a surprising move as Landzaat had made 54 appearances for the Latics, including 48 starts in the Premier League. He scored five goals, three of which came this season.
Tottenham are making some moves to bolster their defence though one could wonder how good the moves will be. Middlesbrough centre-back Jonathan Woodgate is in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over a move according the BBC website. The 28-year-old has been linked with Newcastle in recent days but Spurs are now believed to be closing in on his signature. Sky Sports News is also running a story that Tottenham want to sign Barcelona defender Carlos Puyol. Personally, I find that one a little more far-fetched than the Woodgate story.
Spurs are also chasing Rangers left-back Alan Hutton though it is suggested that it may be to arrange a pre-contract agreement for a summer move to White Hart Lane rather than an immediate move.
In the on-again, off-again department, Derby County’s attempts to sign Northern Ireland international keeper Roy Carroll from Rangers have hit a snag as Rangers have not yet released the 30-year-old from his contract. Rangers want to be sure they have another backup in place before allowing Carroll to leave.
Derby also ran into problems when they tried to sign Australian midfielder Mile Sterjovski. They were forced to attend a Home Office hearing to plead their case after the 28-year-old fell short of the criteria to gain an automatic permit. The permit was ultimately granted and Sterjovski, who can play either as a right winger or as a striker, has signed an 18-month deal with the Rams.
As has been <a href="http://epltalk.com/arrivederci-rolando-bianchi/">written about on this site</a> in more detail, Rolando Bianchi has joined Lazio on loan from Manchester City until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move. Georgios Samaras is also been rumoured to be moving to Birmingham so City are going to be woefully short of options up front but there has been talk of them bringing Bayern Munich striker Lukas Podolski in on a short-term loan deal. Podolski has fallen down the pecking order at Bayern but is still seen as having a long-term future with the club.
Bolton have signed Portsmouth midfielder Matt Taylor on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee. Taylor, who is 26 years old and can play either left-midfield or at left-back, only started four league games this season as he fell behind Nico Kranjcar as first choice on the left side of midfield. I think he’ll prove to be a good signing for Bolton as he can whip in some good crosses as well as score a goal or two himself. Taylor was Bolton’s third January arrival after the signings of midfielder Tamir Cohen from Maccabi Netanya and right-back Gretar Steinsson from AZ Alkmaar.
Birmingham’s persistance resulted in them landing two new players — striker James McFadden from Everton (for a reported £4.75m with another £1m based on add-ons) and left-back David Murphy whom they coaxed away from Scottish club Hibernian for a £1.5m fee. It took multiple bids to get both players but Alex McLeish was determined to get those players and now has them. McFadden performed heroically for Scotland when McLeish was in charge and he’ll need to repeat some of those heroics to get Birmingham out of the drop zone. They are currently only out of the bottom three on goal difference and do not have any room for error down the stretch.
Fulham have had most of the complicated transfers this January. First, the Marlon King deal went south for whatever reason, then their transfer of Daniel Cousin was put on hold as Fifa regulations do not allow a player to turn out for three clubs in a season and the striker featured for Lens before his summer move to Rangers. Cousin appeared once for Lens for just 20 minutes and Rangers hope Fifa will be sympathetic and allow the move to go through.
Finally, the Cottager’s move for Eddie Johnson was held up over work permit issues but those have been resolved and Johnson now becomes the fifth U.S. player on Fulham’s roster. As is its policy, MLS did not disclose the amout, but it is reported that the transfer fee for Johnson is the largest MLS has ever received for a player. There are rumours that the fee was between $4 and 6 million US. It will be interesting to see if Johnson can hit one of his hot streaks that carried Kansas City for large parts of last season. Fulham are sitting 19th and in desperate need of some hope.
That’s it for this edition. I’ll do a complete recap once the transfer window closes on the 31st.

Transfer window update: Deals finally getting done

Transfer window update: Deals finally getting done - World Soccer Talk

The transfer window activity had been quite up to this point and the sacking of Sam Allardyce had been the big story. However, with the Anelka move to Chelsea that should kick off some action.
Liverpool midfielder Mohamed Sissoko has revealed he is close to securing a move to Italian giants Juventus. The Malian has fallen out of favour at Anfield and his reported £10m departure could enable the Reds to secure the permanent signing of Javier Mascherano.
Speaking of Liverpool, they have completed the £6.5million signing of Martin Skrtel from Zenit St Petersburg. The Slovakian international has penned a 4 1/2 year deal at Anfield after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms. The 23-year-old will provide much-needed competition for places in Liverpool’s defence and Reds boss Rafa Benitez has likened him to Jamie Carragher.
“I think he is a player maybe not many people know about but he played against Everton for Zenit St Petersberg, and he is a centre-half that knows the English style,” said Benitez. “He is aggressive, quick, is good in the air and I think he’s a very good player for the future and also for the present.
Skrtel has 22 international caps and helped Zenit to their first post-Soviet era league title this past season.
Arsenal’s disgruntled number two keeper Jens Lehmann has agreed terms with Borussia Dortmund. However, the deal is unlikely to be wrapped up for several days as the 38-year-old German international has other issues to resolve regarding a move. Dortmund spokesman Joseph Schneck said they had agreed terms but added it was “too early to confirm that he’ll come”.
“I have not agreed a move to BVB and at the moment it doesn’t look like I will,” Lehmann told Kicker. “If I can get my private matters satisfactorily resolved then I could come, otherwise I won’t. If I come to Dortmund then it would only be for six months. I want to have complete freedom to decide what I do next in the summer.” Lehmann enjoyed a three-year spell with Dortmund where he made 129 appearances before joining Arsenal in 2003.
Manuel Fernandes is set to rejoin Everton on loan for the rest of the season. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Goodison Park from Benfica, but left to join Spanish side Valencia in August. This week also saw Everton reject a £2.5m bid from Birmingham for striker James McFadden and manager Alex McLeish was unsure if he would push forward with another bid for McFadden, who was one of the stars of Scotland’s Euro 2008 qualifying campaign when McLeish was the manager of Scotland.
Finally, Derby County has been one of the busier clubs in January. In the past week they’ve shored up deals for Laurent Robert and Robbie Savage while bringing in Egyptian international midfielder Hossam Ghaly on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season. Manager Paul Jewell feels the likes of Savage, Ghaly, Robert – and a fourth new signing Argentine striker Emanuel Villa – will make a big difference to the club.
Derby have also signed former England defender Danny Mills on a loan deal from Manchester City. The 30-year-old right-back will stay with the Premier League’s bottom club until the end of the season.
The trouble I see is that three of the players Derby are bringing in have had well publicized run-ins with mangers in the past. Robert had a public falling out with both Bobby Robson and Graeme Souness during his time at Newcastle, Savage had a famous spat with Wales manager John Toshack and Ghaly has not played for Spurs since throwing his shirt at former coach Martin Jol in May 2007. Savage has revealed he rejected a move to Sunderland and took a pay cut to complete a £1.5m move from Blackburn to Derby County.
All I can estimate is that Jewell either must have a voracious appetite for antacids or that the mere challenge of getting Derby out of the relegation zone (currently on 7 points for the season and 11 from safety) wasn’t daunting enough. Shine on you crazy diamond, shine on.

Transfer window update: Shine on you crazy diamond

Transfer window update: Shine on you crazy diamond - World Soccer Talk

Before I get started, a quick correction on yesterday’s post – QPR’s deals for Connolly and Ephraim are permanent moves and not just loan deals. I also neglected to mention a couple of “future star” signings that were made by Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United as well as deals done by Tottenham and Bolton.
Manchester United have signed 24-year-old Angolan international Manucho Goncalves after he successfully come through a three-week trial. Goncalves has signed a three-year deal with United, although he needs to secure a work permit before being free to pursue his new career in England. Its likely he’ll end up on loan at Belgian club Royal Antwerp for a couple of seasons until he either earns EU citizenship or receives enough national team callups to qualify for a UK work permit. The same thing was done with Chinese striker Dong Fangzhuo.
Chelsea have agreed on a deal worth £3.4m for Argentine prospect Franco Di Santo. Chilean club Audax Italiano will also receive a fee should Di Santo be transferred again in the future. Chelsea are understood to have held off competition from nine rival Premier League clubs – including Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal – who all expressed an interest. Di Santo started his career in the youth side of Godoy Cruz de Mendoza but then opted to switch to Chile and he has since flourished with Audax. In 35 starts he has bagged 13 goals in less than two seasons while also starting for Argentina’s youth sides.
Tottenham have signed Cardiff and Wales full-back Chris Gunter for a fee thought to be worth £3m, made up of an up-front sum with add-ons for appearances and a sell-on clause. The 18-year-old broke into the Bluebirds first team last season and has won three full Wales caps in 2007. Gunter generally plays at right-back for the Bluebirds, but is also comfortable on the left. Spurs are short of options on the left with long-term injuries to Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Gareth Bale.
Liverpool have signed Ross County’s highly-rated teenager Alex Cooper in a £100,000 deal. The 16-year-old winger, who has won caps for Scotland at junior level and was a target for Chelsea, is the son of former Aberdeen star Neale Cooper.
Everton have agreed a deal to sign Plymouth Argyle prospect Dan Gosling. The 17-year-old, who can play either in defence or midfield, is a product of the Plymouth youth academy. Gosling has made 24 first team appearances for Plymouth after making his debut at the age of 16. Everton expect to complete the deal later this week for around £1.5m.
Sheffield United signed Bolton’s Gary Speed on loan with a view to securing a permanent move to Bramall Lane. The Blades looked to bag Speed on loan in November only to be rejected, however, manager Gary Megson has now allowed the 38-year-old to depart. Speed joined United on January 1st and made his debut in the 0-0 draw against Wolves.
Now onto the rumours!
1) Dimitar Berbatov will be moving to Manchester United or Chelsea. Verdict: Trash 
Despite the fact that he’d make an excellent addition to either squad, neither team are likely to be willing to pay the kind of cash that Spurs are reportedly looking for. I’d be really shocked if either of them went for Berbatov unless it was at a “bargain” price. The latest figure being circulated is £35m. Sir Alex Ferguson has been quite adamant that he was not going to be dipping into the transfer market in January to any great extent. Chelsea are likely to purchase a striker but seem to be leaning more toward Nicolas Anelka at the moment. Avram Grant confirmed on New Year’s Day he is a big admirer of Anelka and refused to rule out a move for him. Bolton chief Gary Megson has admitted that he faces a fight to keep hold of his star striker and Anelka has said that he hopes a deal can be struck to allow him to move to West London.
2) Inter Milan will make a name-your-price bid for Man City’s Elano. 
Verdict: Trash 
Internazionale president Massimo Moratti has come out and said that he is unfamiliar with the player and that “from an economical point of view, it doesn’t seem like a simple deal”. It’s likely that they could wait and move for him in the summer and with the way he has played so far for City, Elano looks like he could fit in anywhere.
3) Middlesbrough will sign Sheffield United’s Rob Hulse for around £2m 
Verdict: Fact 
Boro need some depth and experience at the striker position with Mido still injured and Sheffield United could be tempted to let Hulse for the right fee once James Beattie recovers from his injury.

Fact or Trash! Jan 2008 &#8211; Round 1

Fact or Trash! Jan 2008 - Round 1 - World Soccer Talk

Fact or Trash! Jan 2008 – Round 1

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