After returning to this, our new old home, Neal and I are happy to announce that we're moving back to our old new home with of Yahoo! UK. Be sure to join us over there as we have lots of fun in store for the new season.
New Old Home
Man United suffer Park injury blow
SEOUL (Reuters) - Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung will miss the first half of next season following knee surgery, media reported on Monday.
Park, who underwent an operation in the United States in April, arrived on Sunday in his native South Korea and will join up with the United squad on their pre-season tour later this week.
"I will be able to be back playing in January of next year," Park was quoted saying in local sports daily Sports Seoul.
Nani moving up one spot in the pecking order.
Bridge Injury New Headache For Jose
Chelsea will be forced to start the new season without a recognised left-back after Wayne Bridge underwent surgery for a mystery pelvis injury.
In a worrying echo of the defensive crisis that undermined the Blues last season, Bridge has been ruled out for three months while Ashley Cole has not yet returned to training following an ankle operation.
According to The Daily Mail, Chelsea initially believed Bridge, who broke down in training last week, was suffering with a hip injury but he was sent to see a specialist when his condition did not improve.
Bridge will be unable to resume ball work for two months.
New signing Tal Ben Haim is poised to fill in until either Cole or Bridge return.
"Without Bridge and Cole for a few more weeks, I think Tal is my first option for left back," said boss Jose Mourinho. "I will play him in one of these matches at left back because I want to give him some routine, but I know he's a player I can trust."
Anyone remember how much Ben Haim was cost by the end of last season? Might be a bargain whatever the price.
And speaking of Chelsea fullbacks, everyone see Alves come in for Brazil yesterday and finish a textbook counter-attack? Just a thing of beauty, as was, to be honest, Baptista's opener.
Weekend round-up
A free-kick from David Bentley was swung into the penalty area where Ooijer arrived to head home.
Stephen Warnock limped off with an injury after 18 minutes and was replaced by Bruno Berner.
[John Terry] struck in the 84th minute when he collected a pass from new signing Malouda and beat America goalkeeper Armando Navarrete with a powerful strike.
It proved an eventful debut for the former Lyon winger, who also netted the equaliser to mark his Chelsea bow in impressive fashion.
Defender Sam Hutchinson found Malouda and the midfielder managed to sneak a shot past America goalkeeper Armando Navarrete to level the encounter before having a hand in Terry's late winner.
Tottenham's Egypt internationals Mido and Hossam Ghaly are being linked with transfers to Middlesbrough and Birmingham respectively.
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has confirmed that defender Fabio Aurelio will miss the start of the season after failing to recover in time from a ruptured Achilles tendon.
The Brazilian full-back sustained the knock during the Reds' Champions League tie against PSV Eindhoven back in April, but could be out for a further four weeks with the niggling injury.
Derby midfielder Giles Barnes is set to miss the start of the new season as he continues his rehabilitation from a broken foot.
Barnes, who suffered the injury during the play-off final victory over West Brom, has been ordered to rest until the end of the month, delaying his return to training.
Brazilian midfielder Denilson suffered an injury scare as Arsenal claimed a 2-0 friendly win at Barnet on Saturday.The Gunners' win over the League Two outfit came courtesy of goals from Emmanuel Adebayor and Nacer Bazarite.
The victory looked set to be overshadowed by Denilson's exit on a stretcher, but a statement on the club's official website said: "Later his injury was reported to be minor."
Healy in Fulham move
Northern Ireland striker David Healy has joined Fulham on a four-year deal from League One side Leeds United. The 27-year-old former Preston man is believed to have cost in the region of £2.5 million.
Healy, who learnt his trade at Manchester United, has the Northern Ireland goalscoring record of 29 goals in 56 games and nine so far in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, making him the top scorer in Europe.
He is reunited with his former national team manager Sanchez and joins compatriots Steven Davis, Aaron Hughes and Chris Baird at Craven Cottage.
At Leeds, Healy was an enigmatic figure, often criticised for inconsistency at club level and scoring many of his goals from the bench. He hit 29 in three seasons but could not help the Elland Road club avoid relegation to League One.
Eriksson ties up Bianchi transfer
"Let's hope he continues with it" indeed. Maybe come the end of the season we'll be talking about Ronaldo and Rolando as opposite sides of the Manchester coin. But I doubt it.Sven-Goran Eriksson has sealed his first signing as Manchester City manager by clinching the transfer of Reggina striker Rolando Bianchi.The Italian has moved to Eastlands for an undisclosed fee which the Serie A club had previously claimed to be £8.8million.
Bianchi, 24, was the fourth highest scorer in Serie A last season with 18 goals, helping to keep Reggina in the top flight.
Eriksson told the club's website: "He scored nearly 20 goals last season in Serie A, which is a lot of goals in such a difficult league.
"He's young, and I think it's a very important signing because he should have a great future. He's a good footballer as well as a good goalscorer, which is what we need.
"He's very hardworking, very strong and he can score - if you can score nearly 20 goals in Serie A and you are not with one of the top clubs like Milan or Juve then you must be talented. It's a good record, and let's hope he continues with it.
Sunderland sign ex-Magpie Chopra
Sunderland have signed Michael Chopra from Cardiff City on a four-year deal.
The former Newcastle striker joins the newly promoted Mackems for a fee believed to around £5 million, after scoring 22 league goals for Cardiff last season.
He becomes Roy Keane's third signing for Sunderland in the close-season, following the capture of defensive duo Russell Anderson from Aberdeen and Greg Halford from Reading.
"He's a natural goalscorer who will bring competition with our other quality strikers to the side," said Keane.
"I'm very confident he will score goals for this football club."
Keane doing a bit of squad building. I wouldn't expect Chopra to be a top of the line guy as he never showed that he has what it takes when he was at NUFC, and because I think Sunderland will be happy just to stay up this season. Regardless of whether or not Chopra is ready to make the leap, Keane showed last year that he likes to play a lot of players, keeping the fresh, and on their toes.
All that being said, let's not forget about Dean Whitehead. Great (relatively speaking) season in the Premiership when Sunderland were just HORRIBLE around him. And he didn't let up last year even though he was once again playing in the Championship. Depending on his price tag (and as he is a player with Premiership history, you never can tell how Yahoo! will value him) he could be a fantasy sleeper again this season.
Cottagers Snap Up Konchesky
Think Dailly is wishing him a happy birthday?
Paul Konchesky became new Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez's fifth signing of the summer after he penned a four-year contract and ended his anguish at West Ham.
Konchesky's future at Upton Park looked uncertain when his former Charlton boss Alan Curbishley arrived last season and he made just four appearances after Alan Pardew's exit in December.
Konch has always been a bit of a fantasy gamble. He's a good crosser of the ball, good at set pieces, and will (surprisingly unwillingly) play in midfield. However he has a horrible disciplinary record. At his best with Charlton he was good for an assist and a yellow per match. At West Ham it just got worse.
This move doesn't make much sense unless he's going to be asked to play in midfield. Fulham already have Bocanegra and Queudrue on the left side of defence. However they never replaced Boa Morte, who made that side of midfield his own since going to Fulham from Arsenal. And after releasing Jensen, Radzinski, and Pembridge, they may be looking to Konch for his attacking, not his defending, skills. If he does end up in midfield, and if he does end up taking dead balls for Fulham, and if he can stay out of the referee's notebook, he may be a real fantasy bargain.
Yossi joins Reds
Viva la Rafa-lution![Yossi Benayoun] completed his protracted transfer by committing himself to the club until 2011.
The two Premier League clubs spent several weeks haggling over the value of the 27-year-old, who had held off signing a new contract at Upton Park once he learned of Liverpool's interest.
However, a fee - believed to be �5million - was finally agreed on Wednesday and the formalities of the deal were completed with the player on Thursday.
Duscher Gets Magpies Chance
Wow. Duscher and Barton in the same midfield. Forget two referrees... these guys will need an on-pitch police escort!Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce is stepping up his summer rebuilding programme by handing Argentinian midfielder Aldo Duscher the chance to win a move to Tyneside.
The 28-year-old - out of contract with Deportivo La Coruna - has arrived at St James' Park for a trial as Allardyce considers another free transfer.
Duscher, who achieved notoriety for fracturing David Beckham's metatarsal ahead of the 2002 World Cup finals in a Champions League clash between Deportivo and Manchester United, has been dubbed "the butcher" by fans in Spain.
Babel signs for Liverpool
A 4-2-4? Or a 3-3-4? Either way, four stikers seems a novel formation.Ajax and Netherlands Under-21 star Ryan Babel joins Liverpool on a five-year deal in a £11.5 million transfer.
The Dutch Eredivisie runners-up announced the deal - which had been expected today - on their website.
"The striker, who had a contract until 2010 will sign a five-year deal with the Champions League finalists," Ajax declared.
"I've spoken to Rafa Benitez and that was when I knew everything would be signed," Babel told the Mail.
"He has a clear vision of what he wants and said I'd be competing with six others for four positions in the forward line."
Why do I get the feeling that Rafa's rotation policy is going to kill any chance of Liverpool providing quality fantasy options? They are going to field Torres, Voronin and Babel as new, cheap fantasy players, and we won't know when or if to pick them. What a despicable sitution!
Alves demands Chelsea move
This is the one I've been waiting for!Daniel Alves' agent has asked Sevilla to lower their valuation of the Brazilian full-back to pave the way for a dream move to Chelsea.
The highly-rated defender is keen on a switch to the Premiership next season and Chelsea have already reportedly tabled a £14 million bid.
But Sevilla are thought to be holding out for a fee closer to £20 million.
And agent Jose Rodriguez Baster has called on the UEFA Cup winners to lower their valuation of Alves in order to push through the 24-year-old's dream move.
Fulham Clinch Baird Deal
Fulham have completed the transfer of Chris Baird in a £3.025million deal from Southampton, beating Sunderland to the signature of the Northern Ireland defender.Passing this along more out of obligation than excitement.
Pompey finally get Nugent
Portsmouth have completed the signing of David Nugent from Preston North End for a fee of around £6 million.
The England striker has signed a four-year contract and will be officially presented at a Fratton Park press conference at 5pm.
At the same time, Pompey will announce the signing of a second, as yet unknown, player.
Leave it to 'arry to bring the drama. But the player we know, Nugent, is a good signing for them. Young, but lots of experience in the First Division, and even an England goal to his name. Should go right into the team and contribute. The only question is, is he +10 material?
UPDATE:The "player-to-be-named-later" was is John Chukwudi Utaka.
Utaka, an international team-mate of Pompey striker Kanu, made waves at Rennes with consecutive hat-tricks against Lens and Lyon last year. He ended his time in France with a tally of 22 goals in 62 appearances for Rennes and has netted four times in his 21 caps for Nigeria. Before Rennes he played for three seasons at Lens, who he joined following a season in Saudi Arabia after rising to prominence in Egypt with Ismailly.
The one-in-three goal ratio is encouraging. But probably another wait-and-see player. Will he be a starter? Will he be effective?
Week 1 Lineup
How quickly things change! 3-5-2:
Malouda's and Koumas' deals get finalized, so they come into the team. The potential reshuffle on the right side of Arsenal's squad lands Sagna and Eboue in the team. But as Eboue is a bit pricey, we're going from Cech down to VDS to save some cash.
Who's in your eleven?
Koumas Seals Wigan Switch
As we wrote back in May, "Jason Koumas is an old-school blog favorite from his earlier stint in the Premiership with West Brom. We would certainly look forward to his return, and would hope that he has improved his all-around game without sacrificing his wicked left foot and skill at set pieces."Jason Koumas has completed a £5.3million move to Wigan, the club have confirmed.
Koumas had already passed a medical, and the Wales international agreed terms on a four-year contract.
The deal represents a £3million profit for West Brom on a player who cost them £2.25million from Tranmere in 2002.
Koumas has since made 141 appearances for the Baggies, scoring 23 goals, while he netted a further 13 during a season-long loan with Cardiff in 2005-06.
All hail the new Jimmy Bullard.
Hammers Clinch Bellamy Deal
And the hits just keep on coming.West Ham have confirmed the signing of Liverpool striker Craig Bellamy for a club record fee of �7.5million.
Bellamy, 28 on Friday, agreed a five-year deal at Upton Park after it was made clear he had no future at Anfield following the arrival of Spain international Fernando Torres.
The transfer was agreed on Friday but was delayed over the weekend as Bellamy thrashed out contractual issues with Liverpool.
Malouda Completes Chelsea Move
Chelsea have confirmed their long-anticipated capture of France winger Florent Malouda.
The 27-year-old successfully completed a medical on Monday and has signed a four-year deal at Stamford Bridge after the Blues agreed an undisclosed fee with French champions Lyon.
+10.
Sagna Close To Arsenal Move?
Arsenal could complete the signing of Bakary Sagna from Auxerre today, according to reports in France.
French daily L'Equipe say the 24-year-old right-back is currently in London and is ready to complete a medical once the two clubs agree on a fee.
The highly-rated defender, who is expected to cost the Gunners around £7.5million, is tipped to become Willy Sagnol's long-term replacement at right-back in the France side.
Would this move Eboue up into the midfield? I've heard that possibility mooted before - that he's a better attacker than defender and his future lay further up the pitch. That would be interesting for fantasy managers because even with a 9 or 10 unit price tag, Eboue listed as a defender but playing in midfield would be a must have. And then you have a new starting right-back for Arsenal. A fantasy win-win!
(For arguements sake, say Hoyte now goes out on loan to another Premiership club. Then you could have all Arsenal right-back fantasy defenders.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)