Arsenal miss out on their dream Villa in Spain
By Matthew Day ⋅ June 15, 2008

David Villa is a target for Chelsea, Liverpool and Barcelona

Any lingering hopes Arsenal fans had of capturing Spain’s star striker David Villa have died, with the Valencia man’s transfer market price rising in the millions since his hat-trick against Russia.

That was followed by the winner against Sweden, and Valencia are now in an incredibly strong bargaining position. Los Che are set to ask for up to 40million euros for the former Zaragoza man, ruling out Arsenal who are again to avoid investing huge sums on a single player.

Barcelona, Chelsea and Liverpool now lead the chase for Villa’s signature. Barça are thought to be favourites, and with the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho heading for the exit, the club are looking for a new forward to lead the line and have identified Villa as their main target.

it was 28 million only last week

Big Phil will bid £40m for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. (News of the World)

But the Spanish international has reassured Liverpool fans that he has no desire to leave Liverpool. (Sunday Express)

Ronaldinho would love to sign for Chelsea and be reunited with Scolari, the coach who made him a World Cup winner six years ago (Daily Telegraph)

Scolari will shake-up Chelsea's midfield and attack with moves for Deco, Ricardo Quaresma, Ronaldinho and David Villa, with Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka among those likely to leave. (Sunday Times)

Deco won't be moving to Stamford Bridge as he is seen as too old to justify a likely £12m price tag (Various)



TRANSFER RUMOURS
Rafa Benitez could persuade David Villa to sign for Liverpool, according to the striker's Spanish team-mate Carlos Marchena. (Mail on Sunday)

Ronaldo agreed personal terms on a move to Real Madrid "a long time ago". (The Observer)

But United won't be bullied into offering Ronaldo a bumper new pay deal to persuade him to stay. (Mail on Sunday)

Liverpool will up their bid for Gareth Barry to £15m and could sign the Aston Villa midfielder as early as next week. (The Observer)

And they might have to go as high as £20m for the England international. (News of the World)

Spurs keeper Paul Robinson will not be moving to Middlesbrough as manager Gareth Southgate has decided to give Brad Jones and Ross Turnbull the chance to fight it out for the number one shirt. (The Observer)

Bordeaux and Roma are chasing Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre. (Channel 4 - Football Italia)

Spurs boss Juande Ramos wants two keepers to replace Paul Robinson - Manchester City's Joe Hart and France international Gregory Coupet. (News of the World)

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes hopes to sign Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra for £8m. (News of the World)


And Hughes will complete the £18m capture of Brazilian forward Jo this month. (Various)

James Milner has pleaded with Newcastle not to block a "dream" £7m move to Liverpool. (Various)

Coventry have signed Aron Einar Gunnarsson from AZ Alkmaar (The Observer)

Manchester City goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson is a £2m target for Turkish side Galatasaray. (Various)

Inverness Caledonian Thistle's Romanian striker Marius Niculae could be heading back to Sporting Lisbon after Euro 2008. (Sunday Mail)

Rangers forward Jean-Claude Darcheville insists he's staying at Ibrox, despite the arrival of Kenny Miller and Andrius Velicka. (Sunday Mail)

Roy Keane is on the verge of offering £10m for Celtic's Aiden McGeady, with Anthony Stokes heading from Sunderland to Glasgow as part of the deal. (Scotland on Sunday)






OTHER GOSSIP
Sheffield Wednesday hope to secure Alan Shearer as their new manager once a £50m take over has been completed. (News of the World)

Southampton want former World Cup winner Ossie Ardiles as their director of football. (News of the World)





AND FINALLY
Sam Allardyce would not be a popular appointment as manager of Blackburn among some fans, with almost 2,000 signing up to a Facebook petition. (Various)

Barcelona and Portugual attacker Deco has confirmed for the first time that he is in talks with Chelsea over a move to Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese schemer enjoys a close relationship with current international boss Luiz Felipe Scolari – Chelsea’s new manager.

Three days ago Deco denied holding meetings with Blues owner Roman Abramovich, insisting he had not signed for Chelsea.

He insists he still has not talked to Scolari about a possible move, but he now admits talks have opened with the West London club.

"There is interest from Chelsea, which is normal," he told Marca.

"But Scolari has not told me anything, we are now just talking to the club."

Deco admits there are still other options, namely former boss Jose Mourinho’s Inter, but he is confident Scolari will bring success to Chelsea.

"Of course, there are other possibilities," he added.

"Scolari is the man responsible for the spirit and life we have inside this team and for the fantastic sense of unity we have. But above all I was happy for him and I am certain that he will have a lot of success at Chelsea."

Deco Closer - Ronaldinho and Etoó?


“Come and join me at Chelsea!” is what Deco has been quoted as saying to Ronaldinho in “El Mundo Deportivo” – a Catalan football newspaper. A mis-quote? A slip on Deco´s part? What about Etoó? Is he tied up with a possible move to AC Milan rather than Chelsea given that Inter´s Moratti has said they are not in the market for a forward? Or is it likely that ALL THREE are Stamford Bridge bound?

“We are contemplating the future without them,” says new Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola.

"The coach thinks this way (bizarrely speaking about himself in the 3rd person!) after analyzing questions of performance and the [last] season. All of the players in the first-team squad last season are of a very high level. But with the technical secretary we are forming a squad and Deco, Ronaldinho and Etoó are not in our minds."

"If I felt that he (Ronaldinho) wanted to be the player he was again, he would be here but the situation has deteriorated and the solution is to build a strong dressing-room."

Now this last quote is a concern that many Chelsea fans share. Whilst admitting that he if he could be bothered, he would still be the best player in the world, many of us know that the Brazilian spent last season not appearing for some training sessions and enjoyed far too many nights out on the town – the last thing we want is someone coming to the Bridge and spending most of his time in the West End rather than Cobham.

IF, however, he really wants to knuckle down – and there’s the Big Phil factor to help that - then we could be in for some breath taking football next season; to the contrary, it would be embarrassing.


Deco has already put his tuppence worth in:

"With the greatest respect to Manchester City, I would not like to see Ronaldinho go there and play for them.” (City fans could quite rightly bristle at these comments).

“It would be good for Chelsea to sign Ronaldinho.”

“He would go to a great club and I would love to see him playing in the Champions League for a great team, and showing he is still the best player in the world.”

"I still consider Ronaldinho to be one of the best players in the world. He needs a huge team to express himself in, one that plays in the Champions League and aims to win it.”

Ronaldinho has hinted only at the possible move:

"I am Gaucho [the name given to those from the Rio Grande do Sul area of Brazil] like Scolari.”

"I won the World Cup with him in 2002. I grew a lot with him and it would be a pleasure to cross paths with him again."

The Deco fee to Chelsea is reported as £12million and the £15million Barcelona supposedly wanted; "At my age you cannot ask too much for me” said Deco.

The transfer will take place once Euro 2008 finishes (or at least announced - presumably he will have a holiday!).

“There is interest from Chelsea, although Scolari has not told me anything.

“Now we’re talking with Barca. Naturally, there are other possibilities.”

However, although Deco has admitted that his destination is between Chelsea and Inter, this would also depend on machinations between Chelsea/Milan/Inter on who gets who and Deco himself said only 2 days ago that nothing has been agreed yet. Still, that was 2 days ago…

"I would like Ronnie to play with me for Chelsea," is his latest quote.

Etoó? He’s already stated that if he moves he would prefer the Premier League and we know that Barcelona are going to release him.

Moratti says he’s not in the market for a forward (Do we believe him though?) and Milan have publicly expressed their interest in Drogba, Etoó and Adebayor.

Does Etoó´s move depend on Drogba? Will Drogba stay, Etoó arrive and Chelsea then drop their supposed interest in Torres? (Hicks says the Chelsea/Torres story is all rubbish – Gillett remains mute). And what about Lampard? Does Scolari envisage using Deco, Ballack AND Lampard in midfield? Or will Lampard rejoin Mourinho at Inter?

There’s talk of Ricardo Quaresma of Porto and David Villa of Valencia as well. Quaresma is a winger that I would love us to sign but what about Villa? Would work very well with Drogba but despite his promising start I don´t rate him as highly as Etoó (Which means that we will sign Villa and he´ll score 50 goals next season whilst simulataneously emmitting fireworks out of his backside!).

Presumably we don’t want to sign ALL the players mentioned (so many poker moves between buying and selling clubs there could be any combination of arrivals) – but I wouldn’t be surprised if 2-3 of them are wearing Chelsea shirts next season.

- Tottenham line up a double swoop for £10m Zaragoza striker Diego Milito and Real Madrid's Ruud van Nistelrooy. (Daily Star)

- Barcelona claim they have agreed a £25m deal to sign Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor. (Daily Star)

- Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is leading the chase for Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips. (Daily Express)

- Another Aston Villa target is Newcastle star James Milner - once Gareth Barry leaves for Liverpool. (Daily Mirror)

- Tottenham are heading a list of clubs interested in Germany striker Lukas Podolski. (Daily Mirror)

Tottenham Tottenham Tottenham looks like they are buying everyone

They must mean buisness then , it will soon be chelsea chelsea chelsea lol.

- Manchester United could lose Carlos Tevez unless they offer him a new deal before the end of the year. (News of the World)

- Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool are all interested in £15m-rated Rafael van der Vaart. (News of the World)

- Arsene Wenger is prepared to sell Emmanuel Adebayor for £25m later this month as long as he can sign Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn. (The Mail on Sunday)

- Manchester City and Everton are fighting for the services of £8m-rated Dejan Stankovic from Inter Milan. (Various)

- Newcastle line up a £6m swoop for Tottenham's out-of-favour winger Aaron Lennon and face competition from Sunderland for the £10m transfer of Celtic's Aiden McGeady. (News of the World)

- Everton and Newcastle are still in the hunt for Orlando Engelaar. (Sunday Times)

- Bolton will be happy to pay Lyon £4.5m for striker Milan Baros. (News of the World)

- Aston Villa and Middlesbrough are interested in Spurs keeper Paul Robinson. (The Observer)

yea its all spurs in transfer window like.. i was thinking considering the amount of money Sunderland have got i havnt seen any speculation of them eye'ing any 1 up yet just a couple

RONALDO TO USE DIRTY TRICKS TO FORCE MADRID MOVE?
Cristiano Ronaldo will reportedly attempt to force a move to Real Madrid without formally requesting a transfer from Manchester United.

A fresh wave of speculation about Ronaldo dominates the Sunday papers, with Fleet Street unanimous that the Portuguese forward is intent on leaving Old Trafford. However, it remains to be seen exactly how he will achieve his 'dream' move to Madrid.

According to The Observer, Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, 'has been mandated by Real to offer a cash-plus-player deal. Brazil's Robinho and Wesley Sneijder of Holland head the list with which Real hope to tempt Sir Alex Ferguson, with the Spanish club's opening offer expected to be €40 million plus one of the two. Ronaldo, due to go on holiday, is said to be confident that United will accept that his departure is inevitable.'




ARSENAL DECIDE TO SELL ADEBAYOR
Arsenal are reportedly ready to sell Emmanuel Adebayor, their leading goalscorer last season, because they are unwilling to meet his demand for a £80,000-a-week contract.

According to The Mail on Sunday, Arsene Wenger has personally authorised the Togo striker's sale and the Gunners are now attempting to instigate a bidding war between Barcelona and AC Milan.

'The Arsenal manager and board of directors are prepared to sanction Adebayor's exit having been infuriated by the player's wage demands, which are understood to be £80,000 a week,' the newspaper reports. 'He was given a wage rise just a year ago and, although the board were prepared to give him another increase to £60,000 a week in light of the 24 goals he scored last season, his demands have proved too great to reconcile.'


SPURS AGREE VILLA FEE
Tottenham have reportedly agreed to pay Valencia £20m for David Villa.

According to The Sunday Mirror, the 'striking sensation of Euro 2008 has been the number one target for Tottenham manager Juande Ramos and Spurs have made it clear they will pay the £20m asking price.'

Rather suspiciously, the story ends at this point with no further details supplies.
Which makes Transfer Gossip suspect that Spurs are still a million miles from actually signing the player. For all we know, there may be at least ten clubs which have agreed to pay £20m for the striker.


CARVALHO HEADING TO INTER
Let's stay with the Sunday Mirror for a moment because the newspaper is also claiming that Ricardo Carvalho is poised to make a £15million switch to Inter Milan.

Jose Mourinho is described as 'confident' that he will soon be reunited with the defender, while 'sources close to Carvalho now believe he has set his sights on a move to the Italian champions.'

The good news, however, for Chelsea is that the Mirror reckons Frank Lampard will stay at the club.

'He was hugely impressed with the sensitivity with which the Chelsea hierarchy handled the situation of the death of his mother Pat last season, and is reluctant to show any form of disloyalty to the club which helped him so much at a difficult time in his personal life.'


ARSHAVIN ASKS FOR A MOVE FROM ZENIT
Courtesy of inspiring Russia into the semi-finals of Euro 2008, Andrei Arshavin has become one of the most in-demand players in Europe and the good news for his growing number of suitors is that he has asked for a move out of Zenit St Petersburg.

"Andrei has told us that he wishes to change clubs. At present in the way of offers it is quiet. But the situation may well change soon," confirmed Zenit boss boss Dick Advocaat.

Arshavin has a £10m get-out clause in his contract and The Sunday Times notes that 'The 27-year-old has drawn interest from clubs in Italy, Spain, France, Germany and England, including Newcastle, Manchester City and Everton.'

The People, however, reckon it is Arsenal who 'are in pole position to net the Russian playmaker', while AC Milan and Chelsea are also in the queue, though Milan are outsiders to land him because they cannot offer Champions League football next season.'


SPARKY ABOUT TO GET BUSY
All change at Manchester City. The Sunday Times says that 'Goalkeeper Joe Hart looks to be heading to Tottenham after rejecting a new contract, Richard Dunne has been offered £75,000 a week by Portsmouth and Everton want midfielder Michael Johnson, who is valued at £8m.'

To compensate, new boss Mark Hughes will attempt to sign Bayern Munich forward Lukas Podolski for £20m and Espanyol defender Pablo Zabaleta.


HAREWOOD TO STAY AT VILLA
Striker Marlon Harewood has revealed his desire to stay at Aston Villa - despite attracting interest from a host of clubs.

The former West Ham player was primarily used as a substitute by Martin O'Neill during his first season at Villa Park, although he quickly became a fans' favourite.

And he is understood now to be on the radar of newly promoted Stoke, Fulham and QPR. But Harewood, who has two years remaining of his current contract, is keen to stay and make his mark at Villa.


BRUM REJECT McFADDEN BID
Birmingham have rejected a bid of £5.5million, plus central defender Bobo Balde, for striker James McFadden from Celtic.

City chairman David Gold has insisted Scotland international McFadden is "not for sale".

Celtic fan McFadden pledged his future to Blues when it became clear their relegation from the Barclays Premier League was inevitable. And Birmingham manager Alex McLeish knows keeping the likes of McFadden and Sebastian Larsson is crucial if they are to mount a strong promotion challenge.