Thursday, 05 July 07, 04:31 AM
Carlos Tevez has been confirmed as having agreed to join Manchester United. The transfer fee is rumoured to be £20 million and it is expected that he will be signed and
unveiled after Argentina's Copa America campaign is complete. West Ham are trying to do everything in their power to keep him, and will try to challenge this. Legally (technically, rather), they
still own the player, but as was exposed by the Premier's League's investigation a few months ago, they really don't own or control him. Tevez has previously been seen showing up at a news
conference in a Man United shirt, so it doesn't come as a huge surprise that if he had his choice of clubs, he picked United.
This leaves Manchester United with an army of attacking midfielders/strikers - Anderson, Tevez, Giggs, Scholes, Rooney, Saha, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo, and it's thought that the
last of those will finally be on his way to Real Madrid. All throughout last year Real kept chasing him and releasing statements about how they wanted him, and he in turn was
completely non-comittal towards United. But he signed a new 4 year deal, amidst much celebration from the club, fans and the media. However, those with elephant-like memories might remember both
his agent and Real Madrid making statements afterwards that went something like "one should never rule out a transfer". Well, this might still happened, or might have even already been agreed. It's
possible the new contract was signed because they wanted full focus and as much high morale as possible to maintain their title run. It's possible also that they made an agreement with Ronaldo that
he could leave (and maybe even with Real Madrid). Remember also, that Manchester United are financed completely by debt, and that they don't have Roman Abramovich to give them unlimited cash. The
Glazers are money-makers, and on Tevez, Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson, they have spent a massive £70 million. Fake Ronaldo going the other way for £30-40 million would make the deficit
more reasonable.
And lastly, Christian Chivu, who has been linked with both Barcelona and Real Madrid is quite possibly on his way. Real however are the more likely destination
since Barcelona signed powerhouse left-back Eric Abidal (who can also play in the centre when needed). The Madridistas are also more in need of a solid centre-back than any other club, and Chivu
would be perfect for them. Roma have spoken of late about how Chivu is not going anywhere, and how they don't want to sell him, but it's gone somewhat unnoticed that they've signed the excellent
Brazilian international centre-back Juan from Leverkusen. Juan is not the kind of player that you keep on the bench, so unless they plan to let Philippe Mexes go (unlikely), they have already
prepared for Chivu's departure.
Friday, 23 March 07, 02:36 AM
A roundup of some YouTube goodness concerning the "Fake Ronaldo", Cristiano. Nice light-hearted stuff inspired by his incessant step-overs and diving:
On Premier League approves 7 substitutes