The Premier League season is approaching its final hurdle and the races for the title, European qualification and survival are as tight as ever. Most managers are already thinking about next season and have identified targets they believe will improve their playing staff.
Before they start splashing the cash, Arsene Wenger, Harry Redknapp, Ian Holloway and Co. should take a look at the summer bargains soon to be available when the transfer window reopens. A lot of teams are looking to offload their spare parts in an attempt to improve on disappointing campaigns and some exciting talent could be snapped up on the cheap. Here is a collection of the Premier League’s hottest property whose value represents good business for buying clubs…
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Click on Drogba below to see the Top 10 Summer Bargains
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Mirror Football is claiming today that Real Madrid may test Sir Alex Ferguson’s resolve with a bid for Nani. The Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport claims Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has his eye of the Portuguese wide player and will use his super agent Jorge Mendes to push through the deal.
Mendes has done many deals with Portuguese based players and with Manchester United; these include the deals that first brought Ronaldo, Nani and Anderson to Old Trafford. Mendes also engineered Ronaldo’s record £80m switch to Real from Manchester United in 2009 and Mourinho is now hoping he can capture Nani for him.
24 year old Nani arrived at Manchester United in 2007 for a fee of around £22m but struggled to establish himself in the United’s first-team in those early days. However, since Ronaldo has left Nani has blossomed and has been in superb form this season; contributing 9 goals and 18 assists in 30 Premier League games. His performances have led him to be nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award – that was won by Jack Wilshere and his was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the first time.
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There is no debate that QPR have been the best team in the Championship this season and rightfully finished up as champions. But it doesn’t always hold true that the team that wins the Championship performs best in the Premier League and I certainly think there is an argument that Norwich City are better prepared for the top flight.
Now people will rightfully look at the rich owners at QPR and suggest that they have greater resources. But I’m not convinced the manager will get backed and there can be no guarantees that Neil Warnock will even be QPR’s manager next season, and the man himself has admitted he can’t be sure of his job.
At Norwich there are no such uncertainties and it’s obvious the board will back Paul Lambert as much as they possibly can to ensure Norwich remains in the Premier League. And there are certainly no doubts on the credentials of Paul Lambert. After the job Lambert has done over the last two years he can expect to have a job at Norwich for life.
The QPR squad if full of players that have been around the Championship for many years, but never looked likely to perform in the Premier League; there is no doubt the squad will need a big overhaul next season and they will need to hope their stars like Taarabt can get them through. Now admittedly there isn’t a lot of Premier League experience in the Norwich squad either and players will need to come in. But you get a sense that the players that are there are hungry and ready to test themselves in the top league. QPR probably have a few players in their squad that feel they have some sort of divine right to play in the Premier League; most notably Taarabt but also Routledge (if he joins the club full time). Therefore, I can see QPR having more of a problem with egos.
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If Norwich is going to have a secret weapon in the Premier League next season it will be the fans. Thousands will go to away games and I would be surprised if every home game isn’t sold out. Carrow Road currently holds around 27,000 fans and the club will look to squeeze in any extra seats anyway they can. This season in the Championship the club has had the third best average attendance at 25,386. QPR’s stadium is somewhat restrictive and only currently has a capacity of 18,360 and future plans suggest it would be hard to expand significantly. Certainly too small if the club want to become a regular fixture in the Premier League.
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Finally I have to look at the style of play. Norwich have not only finished second but done it with a level of style with neat passing football – which will not look out of place in the Premier League. QPR like to get on the attack quickly and don’t play with the same level of patience. It has worked for them in the Championship but they may need to adjust their style a little bit for the Premier League because otherwise they will invite a lot of pressure. I also think that QPR will need a striker or two because teams that struggle typically don’t have one. Norwich have Grant Holt and Simeon Jackson however it remains to be seen if these players will make the step up to the Premier League, I do think Norwich are perhaps better prepared for it though.
Join the conversation on Twitter and tell me which team will perform better in the Premier League next season.
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Palermo have progressed to the final of the Coppa Italia by defeating AC Milan 2-1 in the second leg of their semi-final on Tuesday.Midfielder Giulio Migliaccio and defender Cesare Bovo scored the goals for Palermo, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s stoppage-time strike made little difference for Milan as both teams ended an exciting match with 10 men.
After a 2-2 draw in the opening leg at San Siro on April 20, Palermo started brightly as they looked to progress to their first Coppa Italia final since 1979.
Argentine Javier Pastore and midfielder Armin Bacinovic squandered first-half chances for the home side, while Brazilian Robinho wasted AC Milan’s best opportunity at the other end when he shot over with only the goalkeeper to beat.
The game came to life just after the hour mark, as Palermo’s pressure led to a corner and Migliaccio evaded the defence to score.
That advantage was doubled 10 minutes later when Bovo scored from the penalty spot after Milan’s Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel was adjudged to have brought down Slovenian Josip Ilicic in the box.
Van Bommel was shown a straight red card for the clumsy challenge, but Palermo’s numerical advantage did not last long as Bovo was given his marching orders on 75 minutes for a bad foul on young striker Alexandre Pato.
Ibrahimovic pulled a goal back for AC Milan deep into stoppage time, but it was too late for the newly crowned Serie A champions as Palermo clinched a 4-3 aggregate victory.
West Ham’s season has lurched to another low after reports of a brawl at the relegated club’s end-of-season gala awards on Monday.Police were called to Grosvenors House Hotel in Park Lane in London after tables were reportedly overturned, a vase smashed and chairs thrown, with security allegedly pursuing a group of fans as they fled the premises.
It has been suggested the trouble began when striker Demba Ba refused to sign an autograph for a fan.
West Ham are reporting that Ba was racially abused.
The brawl capped a dark few days for the Hammers, whose relegation from the English Premier League was confirmed on Sunday after a 3-2 loss at Wigan.
The result led to the immediately sacking of manager Avram Grant, with West Ham hosting Sunderland in their final game of the season on Sunday.
Captain Scott Parker followed his Football Writers’ Association footballer-of-the-year win with the player, supporters’ player and goal of the season awards at the Hammers’ gala event.
The race for second place in Euro 2012 qualifying Group E will be on in earnest on Tuesday, with Sweden, Finland and Hungary all in action.The Netherlands have a six-point lead in the group, with six wins from six matches, with Sweden the next best on 12 points.
Hungary are third with nine points ahead of their trip to minnows San Marino, and Finland are fourth with six, desperately in need of full points from their trip to Sweden to keep their hopes alive.
Sweden coach Erik Hamren certainly has no worries up front before the Finland match, even without suspended superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
In their last match the Swedes had no trouble accounting for Moldova 4-1, with Bolton striker Johan Elmander bagging a brace and PSV Eindhoven front man Ola Toivonen was also on the scoresheet.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Germany could increase their lead on top of Group A to 10 points with a win in Azerbaijan.
In Group C, Estonia will look to keep their slim chances of finishing second intact – and bounce back from their 3-0 loss in Italy on Friday – when they visit bottom side the Faroe Islands.
Second-placed Belarus will be trying to keep the pressure on Group D leaders France when they play host to cellar dwellers Luxembourg while Bosnia and Herzegovina can keep their push for second place going when they welcome Albania.
It looks increasingly likely that Wenger will make Gervinho his first major signing of the summer, and much has already been written about this Ivorian striker/winger.
Not wanting to cover the same ground necessarily, but wanting to add to the debate, I would like to add some musings and a question or two that I hope you Gooners out there will have a few answers to them.
Whilst I have made my own preference for a returning 4-4-2 system known in previous articles, it would appear that the signing of Gervinho makes this less likely.
He would appear to be a starter for the Ivory Coast, playing on the left of a three man attack with Drogba and Kalou, scoring twice in their most recent African Nations qualifier against Benin.
For Lille, he and Hazard have played either side of Sow in a genuine 4-3-3, which concerns me slightly. My concern stems from the fact that Lille have played with both Gervinho and Hazard as out and out wingers, with three more defensively minded midfielders behind them.
With Arsenal playing Cesc in a more advanced role in the three and expecting the two wide players to defend more, I have no knowledge of Gervinho’s capacity to get back and support the full back.
The question is therefore would be – will he play like Nasri, who tracks back, or will he play like Arshavin, who genuinely has attack on his mind?
If he can play the wide left role in big games, in what effectively becomes a five man midfield, it will be a real bonus for Arsenal – think of the work-rate of Walcott and Nasri in the Chelsea match as a perfect example. If he can do this then I believe he will be an amazing signing as his dribbling ability at speed, his assist ratio, and an obvious eye for goal, easily match that of the frustrating Russian.
The Gervinho signing therefore may suggest the exit door for Arshavin, and one would hope that we might still get enough of a fee to fund most if not all of the deal for the Ivorian.
So accepting I have a fairly warm feeling for this signing, it does still leave a few questions in my mind. If the new boy is a guaranteed starter in the left berth of the attacking three, will Walcott or Nasri play first choice on the right? This of course assuming that Fabregas will stay as our talisman and skipper next season, and that he will play at the fulcrum of the midfield, not Nasri.
Jack Wilshere will certainly play and Song/Frimpong or another signing will also play. Again, this is not what I would opt for, but this is highly likely if Wenger sticks with the formation of the past three years.
My other query will come from leftfield to some of you, but it has been troubling me for the past month since the link to Gervinho first was touted. It surrounds the complete silence of Emmanuel Eboue on the subject.
Now given that Eboue is hardly the shy, retiring type and is always ready with a quote of a supportive comment for team-mates, why has there been no word from him on the potential signing of his classy international team-mate?
They have played close to 30 games together for the Ivory Coast and spent the summer of 2010 at the World Cup in close company in South Africa, so why are the press fishing for the odd snippet from Djourou or Sagna, who saw him play in the French league three years ago? I am not sure if they overlapped, but Eboue and Gervinho were also both at Beveren in 2005.
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Maybe I am being a little paranoid and Eboue has probably taken a long summer break away from civilisation, but is it only me that thinks this is a bit odd, that the person within Arsenal best qualified to comment on this big potential signing has not uttered a word?
I am very hopeful that Wenger will make this signing a reality, and remain positive about the impact that the Ivorian could have on us next season.
Article courtesy of David Seager from Gunnersphere
AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliano has moved to quash speculation that owner Silvio Berlusconi is set to walk away from the club.Berlusconi’s company Fininvest was handed a fine of 560 million euros by a Milan court on July 9 after an investigation into the firm uncovered corrupt activities dating back to 1991.
The Italian prime minister is a major investor in Serie A club Milan and fans are now worried that his latest financial setback could affect the club’s transfer policy.
But Galliano has hosed down speculation that Berlusconi’s legal troubles could affect his role at the reigning Italian champions.
“I’d like to reassure AC Milan supporters that Silvio Berlusconi hasn’t changed his feelings towards AC Milan: he is the leader of this club,” Galliano said.
“Nothing has changed and nothing is going to change. There hasn’t been any special meeting, this is the truth. There has only been the budget presentation, which has taken place in Arcore with owner Berlusconi and Cannatelli and Pellegrino of Fininvest and AC Milan managers. There wasn’t anything unexpected, neither any urgent meeting.”
Milan have been linked with moves for a number of high-profile players after veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo opted to join Serie A rivals Juventus.
Manager Massimiliano Allegri fielded several questions from reporters on who he may be targeting, including Sao Paulo’s Lucas, Riccardo Montolivo of Fiorentina and highly rated Santos 20-year-old Ganso.
“(Lucas) is an excellent player, but many names will surely be made from now till August 31,” Allegri said.
“We should only be focused on working with the available players and I’m very satisfied with them. In this moment the team has all necessary players. Of course, Andrea Pirlo has left the team and we should replace him, but he should be replaced with an important player.”
“Two minutes ago you told me Lucas, now Montolivo,” Allegri responded to reporters. “Ganso, then there has been Fabregas. Other names as well have been made: Pastore as well. And the list could go on forever. I’ve known most of the players since more than a year.”
He was brought to White Hart Lane in the midst of Ronaldinho fever with the mind-set that he could be even better. Whilst the Brazilian was bamboozling defences in La Liga whilst sporting the red and blue of Barcelona, Giovani Dos Santos was scribbling his signature on a contract that would see him wear the white of Tottenham Hotspur.
Fast-forward three years and things have gone considerably sour for the 22-year old Mexican. Frozen out, unwanted and seemingly stagnating at a club already brimming with a midfield full of quality players. It’s been a sorry decline for Dos Santos and the only way he can pick his career up is by moving on. However Harry Redknapp and the rest of Tottenham Hotspur might just regret not giving him a chance to shine.
There is no doubting that Dos Santos has bags of talent and Tottenham seemed like the perfect platform for him to rise to the top of footballs very best. The club were looking to progress to the next level after a series of fifth place finished and the winger was seen as the final piece of the jigsaw. Spaniard Juande Ramos was in charge and he had first hand experience of seeing Dos Santos in action during his time with Sevilla. A fee of £4.7 million was seen as a coup for a player highly rated by the biggest club in the world. But what transpired saw Dos Santos fail to make the desired impact and also get on the wrong side of Redknapp who replaced the Spanish boss early in the season. The Spurs boss criticised the Mexican’s attitude and life outside the club, as he would regularly turn up late to training on a Monday morning.
After so much hype he seemingly slipped off the radar and with other talented players coming to the fore everything seemed lost for Dos Santos. The pressure of being compared and having to live up to the world best footballer at the time had obviously gone to the young mans head. He’s played 10 games for Spurs in the last three years and is considered by many of the fans to be a flop. He is obviously still well thought of around Europe with Udinese joining Sevilla and Valencia in the chase for his services. However I still think Tottenham should give him one more chance to prove he is the player he was prophesised to be. He clearly slipped out of everybody’s mind and when he popped up playing for Mexico in South Africa in last years World Cup many people didn’t really bat an eyelid instead focusing on the players that were expected to excel at the tournament, which is understandable. I’ve always held a candle for Dos Santos after seeing him play for Barcelona a few years ago. He also proved to be one of the greatest ever free transfers for me on Football Manager but that’s a story for another day.
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What followed thoroughly delighted me to the point of sheer ecstasy. Whilst the rest of the country were complaining about England’s ineptitudes I was wild eyed like a little child who had just received the latest action figure for Christmas. I took so much pleasure in watching Dos Santos actually show the people of Earth that he is the player many people thought him to be. His performances for Mexico were a joy to behold and he was deservedly nominated as young player of the tournament narrowly losing out to Germany’s Thomas Muller. A decent loan spell at Racing Santander followed and this coming season he will be back at Spurs unless a move elsewhere materializes.
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But with the impending departure of star midfielder Luka Modric and as Redknapp struggles in the transfer market he’d be foolish not to hold out an olive branch to the Mexican. I have a sense that Dos Santos wants to succeed but first and foremost wants to play the sport he loves. You don’t see many ex-Barcelona players taking the opportunity to move to Ipswich Town and play Championship football. The World Cup highlighted the potential that he still possesses and at 22 he still has time on his side to make his Tottenham career a success. However I think Redknapp’s patience has already worn too thin and the death knell on Dos Santos’ White Hart Lane career may have already been signed, sealed and delivered. I’m certainly not apprehensive when I say that Tottenham will live to regret letting him go.
Arsenal target Juan Mata was among the goals as Valencia defeated Hamburg 2-1 in their pre-season friendly in Germany on Tuesday.Mata gave his side the lead with a delicate back heel, before Spain under-19 international Juan Bernat doubled the advantage in the 70th minute. Hanno Behrens nabbed a late consolation for the hosts.
Next up for Unai Emery’s side is a match with Romanian champions Cluj, while Hamburg start their Bundesliga campaign against champions Borussia Dortmund on Friday.
Valencia meanwhile will be hoping to still have Mata at their disposal when they start their domestic campaign against Osasuna on August 20.
A Sandro Wagner goal was the difference between Bundesliga club Werder Bremen and English Premier League side Everton.
Wagner exploited Everton’s defensive frailties to head home the winner on 37 minutes.
Promoted Premier League side Queen’s Park Rangers had more fortune in their friendly with Football League graduates Crawley Town, winning 4-2.
Charlie Wassmer scored a brace for the new League Two boys, but QPR were too strong, with Heidar Helguson scoring twice and Kaspar Gorkss and Lee Cook also finding the back of the net.