And I thought SAF was the Michael Corleone of Summer 2007

Apparently the guys at Bayern Munich realized just how much money ManYoo had given them for Owen Hargreaves and decided to start spending it like there was no tomorrow. As OH (as in "Oh, is Hargreaves really worth THAT much?") walks out the door, in walk Frank Ribery, Luca Toni, and (according to the player himself) Miraslov Klose. Given what we know about the needs at Old Trafford wouldn't you rather have had the three guys that Bayern got with ManYoo's money than the one guy ManYoo actually got? Especially when the guy ManYoo got will be competing with another guy they overpaid for last year for a spot in central midfield?

Maybe I'm too dumb to see how it would work but I don't see Carrick/Hargreaves working any better at ManYoo than Gerrard/Lampard does for England. They're just too similar. Unless SAF is committed to a 5-man midfield with two of Ronaldo/Giggs/Nani wide and Hargreaves/Carrick/Anderson in the middle then I just don't see it.

If it were me, I'd rather go with a midfield of Carrick/Anderson/Nani/Ronaldo (with Ribery for depth) and Rooney/Klose/Toni as the strikeforce than any of the options in the previous paragraph. Just something for the people in Tampa to ponder as they evaluate what their expenditures have yielded this summer.

Ribery to join Bayern

Neal, perhaps this is why the "Ribery to Arsenal" rumors dried up:

Franck Ribery will join Bayern Munich on Thursday after having passed a medical, according to Marseille chairman Pape Diouf.

An agreement is expected to be reached on Wednesday and the France international will directly travel from Auxerre, were he will play in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Georgia, to Germany.

"The transaction will be concluded on Wednesday and Ribery will move to Munich in order to pass the medical and to sign his contract on Thursday," Diouf told L'Equipe.

I guess someone has to supply Toni.