Category: Section 2 Around the Net

After Arsenal’s $9 million bid for Chelsea’s William Gallas was met with a swap proposal for the club’s $47 million-rated defender Ashley Cole, many wrote off the chances of either transfer going through. After all, offering a straight swap for a player rated nearly 4 times higher than Gallas is almost a slap in the […]

They’ve told him he can’t go, but according to reports in England, Owen Hargreaves doesn’t care. Later today, the England central midfielder is expected to announce his intention to leave Bayern Munich in a press conference called at his request. Not only is Hargreaves expected to demand a move away from the German club, but […]

Appeal-happy Juventus is beginning to anger FIFA with its latest antics, Reuters reports, by threatening to appeal to a regional Lazio civil court, which is out of FIFA’s jurisdiction. FIFA has responded to the move by applying pressure on the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to sort the matter out through further sanctions on the Turin […]

As expected, AC Milan President Adriano Galliani confirmed the club’s interest in Real Madrid striker Ronaldo almost immediately following the 2-1 victory that saw the Rossoneri through through to the Champions League group stages last night. “Ronaldo is available and now it’s a matter between Milan and Real Madrid,” Galliani said. “We will be pleased […]

Carlos Tevez, one of Argentina’s most coveted young players, declared his intention to leave for Europe after handing in a transfer request to Corinthians coach Emerson Leao. Tevez demanded to be let go after the new coach stripped him of the captain’s armband for not being able to speak Portuguese. The Corinthians striker is valued […]

Milan is set to tie up a series of late transfers following its 3-1 aggregate victory over Red Star of Serbia in Champions League qualifying. According to Football Italia, the club will re-open transfer talks with Real Madrid about Ronaldo. The Brazilian striker’s future at Real Madrid remains an open question after the arrival of […]

Chelsea’s lengthy pursuit of Ashley Cole continues after the Premiership champion offered a straight swap for France defender William Gallas. This latest offer is likely to anger Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who just saw his $9 million bid for Gallas rejected by Chelsea over the weekend. Says the Sunday Times: “Chelsea’s offer seems certain to […]

Bayern Munich warned Manchester United it will be reported to FIFA unless it end its pursuit of Canadian-born England international Owen Hargreaves, who only just signed a contract extension that would keep him at the German club until 2010. “A club may only contact a player when the club holding his contract agrees to it,” […]

It turns out the Glazers, the American family that owns the NFL’s Tampa Buccaneers and the EPL’s Manchester United, may need more than just bodyguards after supporters tried to confront them at a Manchester hotel on Sunday. Riot police were called to the scene five hours before United’s match against Fulham to disperse what officials […]

It looks as though Juventus isn’t done selling players after all. According to Football Italia, French Champion Lyon is readying a bid for Juve pair David Trezeguet and Mauro Camoranesi. Even though the disgraced former Italian champions have reiterated time and again that they will not be selling more players, Lyon is reportedly putting $40 […]

Spain’s La Liga kicks off this Sunday and while there are still 10 days open in the transfer window, most teams have their rosters set at this point. Make no mistake about it: the EPL may have Chelsea, but by and large, the world’s best players will be playing in La Liga this season. The […]

The Daily Telegraph asks Frank Lampard to be totally frank about rising expectations at Chelsea and the realization that his club is the new Real Madrid, continually filling its roster with ever-more galacticos. Galactico-culture, lest we forget, proved to be the undoing of Real Madrid in Spain, enabling the rise of Barcelona. Too many cooks […]

Chelsea’s defender situation is interesting: the club has just completed the signing of Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz from Hamburg, the signing of Ashley Cole hasn’t even been mentioned in several days, and France center back William Gallas isn’t even being mentioned by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho when discussing his options in defense with reporters. Mourinho […]

Chelsea might have looked convincing during its comprehensive 3-0 win against Manchester City yesterday, but Manchester United was firing from all cylinders as the Red Devils dismantled Fulham 5-1. In fact, the game was beyond doubt after 20 minutes, as United kicked it into overdrive to score four goals in 12 first-half minutes. ”It was […]

Steve Gerrard says he felt “liberated” playing for England on the right side of midfield during the 4-0 win against Greece a few nights ago, causing him to rediscover an enthusiasm for playing for his country that had been lost under Sven Goran Eriksson. The Independent wonders whether that casts a longer shadow over David […]

Juventus has failed to overturn a court decision relegating the club to Italy’s Serie B for the 2006/2007 season. Juve officials failed to convince a CONI (Italy’s Olympic committee) arbitration panel that the club deserved to be reinstated into the first division with a points deduction after debating the matter for several days. Now the […]

Bayern Munich today issued a statement forcing Owen Hargreaves to remain with the club, despite talk from both the player and Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson about a possible transfer. “Bayern has today officially told Manchester United that their pursuit of Owen Hargreaves must cease,” the German club said in its statement, denying the possibility […]

The English Premier League has asked players, managers, and referees to stop kicking the ball out of play when a player goes down injured. “There was a general feeling that this player-led convention had gone too far,” a Premier League spokesman told BBC Sport, adding that match officials should decide whether to break play. Because […]

Ashley Cole wants to leave Arsenal for Chelsea, Arsenal says they’re willing to let him go, and Chelsea desperately wants to sign him, yet after more than a month of negotiations, the teams still cannot agree to a fee. Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger says it’s not their fault if the deal fails to go through. […]

It was a good debut for Bruce Arena, whose NY Red Bulls handed the best team in MLS its first shutout of the season in an otherwise dull 0-0 draw. Not too bad, considering D.C. United leads the league in scoring with 38 goals in 22 games. It was Arena’s first MLS game since October […]

Dirk Kuyt is set to undergo a medical and agree to personal terms before settling what’s believed to be a move from Feyenoord to Liverpool for $19 million. “For me, Liverpool is sure to be the dream club I was looking for,” Kuyt told the Reds website. This marks the end of a summer-long chase […]

Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon says Arsenal is holding the Spanish club ransom over the transfer fee they want for Jose Antonio Reyes. Last week the Arsenal forward declared his intention to move to the Spanish club “as soon as possible.” He was recently left out of the Gunners squad during a third-round Champions League […]

There are now more than 10 Americans playing in the English Premier League for the first time in U.S. soccer history. Not only that, but there are now several U.S. veterans, like Manchester City’s Claudio Reyna, Everton’s Tim Howard, Brian McBride, Carlos Bocanegra and Blackburn captain Brad Friedel. These are vets who’ve made their mark […]

It could be curtains for Michael Owen this season, Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder admitted for the first time. “I don’t know and I couldn’t say whether he’ll play again this season, we’ll just have to wait and see,” Roeder said on a radio show yesterday. Owen, a Newcastle player for about a year, started just […]

New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman thinks he deserves a raise. The 26-year-old earns $120,000 per year. “When you see the players’ union numbers and I am not among the highest-paid, it’s frustrating,” Twellman told the Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa. In fact, Twellman leads the league in scoring over the last five seasons, having netted […]