footballspectator

Pablo Aimar has joined Real Zaragoza for €11 million. No disrespect to Zaragoza, but it’s a strange move for a player of “el payaso’s” quality. He might have been persuaded by the club’s burgeoning Argentinean community which includes “el cabezon“, aka Andres D’Alessandro, Ponzio and the Milito twins, Diego and Gabriel. With D’Alessandro and Aimar, one thing is guaranteed - Zaragoza will be an attractive team to watch next year.

Aimar is likely to be replaced at Valencia by Benfica’s Simao Sabrosa who is about to join in a €12m deal. Simao is not Valencia’s ultimate target however. They are apparently preparing to offer him and cash to Manchester United to secure Cristiano Ronaldo. This might explain why Man Utd are trying to sign Argentinean duo Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Corinthians.

Having signed Van Nistelrooy, Emerson and Cannavaro, Real Madrid continue to restructure thier squad. First out of the door is Roberto Carlos who is joining Zico’s Brazilian revolution at Fenerbahce. Meanwhile Capello is lining up moves for Cristiano Zanetti and Adriano.

Bayern have increased their bid to sign Ruud Van Nistelrooy. According to Franz Beckenbauer ther is now only a €5 million difference between Bayern and Manchester United, and the Bavarian giants would be prepared to include either Claudio Pizarro or Roy Makaay as part of the deal.

As they await the verdict of their appeal hearing, Juventus are struggling to hold on to players for their Serie B campaign. Patrick Vieira is moving ever closer to Inter and now doubts have emerged surrounding Pavel Nedved’s future with his agent Zdenek Nehoda announcing his client will decide very shortly. Nedved has offers from Tottenham and Monaco. Meanwhile David Trezeguet is being lined up by Lyon but club president Jean-Michel Aulas, said “it’s still too early to decide whether to make an offer - we have until the end of August“. Sounds like he’s waiting for the price to fall even more..

Rumours persist in the Spanish press (aka Marca) that Kaka wants to leave Italy, with, surprise, surprise Real Madrid his preferred destination. Apparently Kaka thinks Italian football is too tactical and does not allow him to express himself….hmmm. Real are also after Xabi Alonso, but the player quickly rebutted any interest saying he wanted to stay with the Reds. He is likely to be joined in England by Benni McCarthy who has flown in from Porto’s traning camp in Holland to discuss terms with Blackburn Rovers.

Following a successful World Cup there are plenty of Portuguese players in demand. Two have been linked with Valencia. It was reported yesterday that Los Ches had made a €15m bid for the Benfica winger which included Marco Di Vaio. However, Valencia chaiman Juan Soler denied that story today, saying instead that his main target was Cristiano Ronaldo and told Manchester United to name their price.

It’s been an active day for Chelsea. They have managed to offload defensive liability and all-round flop Asier Del Horno to Valencia. It seems strange to us that a team would actually pay for Del Horno - Valencia obviously see something we don’t! They have also agreed a fee with Newcastle for Damien Duff. Again, another strange one. Newcastle have players in wide positions but no centre forward following Shearer’s retirement and Owen’s injury. Does Glen Roeder think he can “do an Henry” with Duff and convert him into a scoring machine? Duff is not as good as Henry nor Roeder as good as Wenger…

The sales down at Juve continue. Gianluca Zambrotta and Lilian Thuram have joined Barcelona for €14m and €5m respectively. They are soon to followed out of the door by Patrick Vieira who is likely to join Inter in a €13m deal.

Villarreal have said that they are negotiating the sale of Juan Pablo Sorin although they have not said where he is going. Real Madrid are still in the hunt for Ruud Van Nistelrooy but have said that Manchester United’s valuation of him is unrealistic. Los Merengues are also interested in Lyon and France fullback Eric Abidal.

Ze Roberto might soon be joining Rivaldo at Olympiakos for his last season in European football after Bordeaux, Milan and Real Madrid have moved for other targets. Yaya Touré will not be staying for the farewell however with Monaco telling Olympiakos to name their price.

Barcelona are apparently trying to scupper Real Madrid’s transfer plans by launching a €19 million bid for Zambrotta (€14m) and Thuram (€5m). Real have already signed Fabio Cannavaro and Emerson for €20m and wanted the Zambrotta and Thuram to compliment them.

Thuram is also apparently wanted by Arsenal, to replace Ashley Cole who may be on his way to Chelsea for £25m. Two players who apparently won’t be joining Zambrotta and Thruam on the way out of Juventus are Gianluigi Buffon and Pavel Nedved. Buffon’s agent, Silvano Martina said the Buffon would stay and Juventus even in Serie B. “It is a championship he has not won and he wants to try to“, he joked.
Another player who may be on the move is Inter’s Argentinean striker Julio Cruz. Torino president Cairo is in hot pursuit and looking to add to the signing of Milan keeper Christian Abbiati to help the granata’s fight for survival in Serie A. Everton’s Andy van der Meyde is apparently also a Toro target.

In Germany Hamburg are desperate to sign a new striker to partner with Paulo Guerrero who has moved from Bayern. Aston Villa’s Milan Baros is one option, but another is Patrick Kluivert who has been he can leave by Valencia.

South America’s big two are searching for new coaches. Carlos Alberto Parreira has parted company with Brazil following a bad World Cup and Jose Pekerman has also confirmed that he will not be reconsidering his decision to resign.

David O’Leary has left Aston Villa following a turbulent period at the club. A group of senior players supposedly released a statement earlier this week asking for club chairman Doug Ellis to leave so that a new investor could give the club the spending power it needs to compete in the Premiership. O’Leary’s only previous success was when he had cash to burn, at Leeds United who he lead to the Champions League semi-finals.

Following, Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s announcement that he wants to leave Manchester United, speculation is mounting as to his next destination with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid leading the race for his signature. According to El Mundo, Real may offer partyman and part-time footballer Ronaldo in part-exchange for the prolific Dutch striker, as the Brazilian does not form part of Fabio Capello’s plans…

Rumour Rating: Unlikely! Ronnie is fat and injured. His knee operation will keep him out for at least a month, giving him plenty of time to work on his waistline by downing a few more burgers. The Premiership is fast and furious while Ronaldo is slow and immobile. The two don’t match! On top of this, we can’t really see Alex Ferguson, who sold David Beckham because he felt that his love of the celebrity lifestyle was getting in the way of his football, welcoming O Fenomeno, Brazil’s answer to Becks. Finally if it’s partying you’re after, you’d have to be crazy to swap Madrid for Manchester…