[Football] Summer 2009 transfer thread

[Martyn]

Why doesn't he just sign Torres?

I heard that Torres is a secret Man Utd fan, he is going to change the inside of his armband from "We'll Never Walk Alone" to "I heart the Red Devils".

[Mike]

Still, trying to get Benzema to England is better than stooping down low to Michael Owen.

You're assuming he won't get anyone else. I'm sure he has a list of players he wants the remaining ?60m to go on. Owen is there as a bench player and to help keep the transfer fee down for another striker.

[Shycho]

I heard that Torres is a secret Man Utd fan, he is going to change the inside of his armband from "We'll Never Walk Alone" to "I heart the Red Devils".

I heard Torres was spanish, for "I love Man Utd the most out of all teams in the world" But I don't think anyone at Liverpool speaks spanish so they don't realise the mistake they've made :p

[Martyn]

I heard Torres was spanish, for "I love Man Utd the most out of all teams in the world" But I don't think anyone at Liverpool speaks spanish so they don't realise the mistake they've made :p

Liverpool Football Club, more French than Paris Saint Germain.

[JoeC]

That's a good point, Mike. With Owen having signed, he can look less desperate to buy a striker from other teams.

[VidER]

I heard that Torres is a secret Man Utd fan, he is going to change the inside of his armband from "We'll Never Walk Alone" to "I heart the Red Devils".

I heard that Sir Alex is his real father!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Fergie hedging his bets on another young and cheap player

Manchester United announce signing of French forward Gabriel Obertan

Manchester United have confirmed the signing of the France Under-21 forward Gabriel Obertan from Bordeaux. The 20-year-old has agreed a four-year deal with the Old Trafford club, and becomes Sir Alex Ferguson's third signing of the summer.

Obertan had been repeatedly linked with United in recent weeks and a deal was agreed with the French side, managed by the former United centre-back Laurent Blanc, last night. The fee is believed to be in the region of ?3m.

"Gabriel is a player we have tracked for a few years now, but our efforts to get him here have always been delayed," said Ferguson. "We are delighted to get him now as he is an exciting prospect. We like to get young players and develop them, and we will see that in Gabriel over the next two years."

"I am very happy to join Manchester United," added Obertan. "This is a big opportunity for me to play at such a great club. I am very excited to be here and I look forward to proving what I can do."

After making his debut in 2006, Obertan made more than 50 appearances for Bordeaux, scoring four goals. A minor injury is likely to keep Obertan out of United's pre-season tour of Asia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ju...gabriel-obertan

[Subject Delta]

Why doesn't he just sign Torres?

Because Liverpool won't sell him, and he doesn't want to leave :D

[Shycho]

Because Liverpool won't sell him, and he doesn't want to leave :D

Stop using logic thats clearly not allowed in this thread, as shown by everyone wanting Benzema and co signed by united despite the fact their clubs don't want to sell and they don't want to come.

[Kralik]

"When I left Chelsea I needed to play games, so I'm grateful to Portsmouth for taking me on," he enunciated clearly to the nation's journalists.

"Hopefully I've shown people a greater perspective of what I can do. I want to try and do what I did last season, with Liverpool, and also push on."

The Greenwich-born West Ham United academy product continued, "Even though I'm from south London, the first kit I had was a Liverpool one, but don't ask! I don't know how that happened!"

On the decision to sign for Liverpool ahead of a return to west London club Chelsea, Johnson said, "It was easy. Rafael Benitez was keen to help me improve and turn me into the best player that I can be.

"According to the press there was a lot of interest [from Chelsea], but when I knew of Liverpool, it was an easy decision."

[Martyn]

You can't miss Rafa off the pic...

[Rappy Veteran]

Time to show off the west ham transfers....wait we haven't made any big ones :( :p

[Martyn]

The bookies have suspended bets on Ribery joining Liverpool :laugh:

[Rappy Veteran]

Jo going back to Everton and Frazier Campbell to Sunderland it seems

[HilariousNinja]

God I hope this is true. Although it is the Daily Mail...

Dimitar Berbatov's short and tumultuous Old Trafford stay looks increasingly bleak as Manchester United weigh up a swap deal to lure Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero.

United are understood to have initially offered ?34million and Portuguese bit-part winger Nani as a makeweight for the Argentine ace.

But the Spanish outfit, not keen on Nani, rejected the offer and now the Premier League champions are set to return with last season's ?30.75million Bulgarian recruit and ?17.1million to force a deal with Atletico, according to Spanish daily AS.

Berbatov has come under intense scrutiny after an underwhelming first year at Old Trafford.

The striker has been labelled lazy and was roundly criticised following his FA Cup semi-final penalty shootout miss against Everton at Wembley, which many considered the ultimate tipping point of what has so far been an unsuccessful switch from Spurs.

Having scored just nine goals in 31 outings, United are close to cutting their losses on the 28-year-old who struggled to hold down a first team place towards the end of the season as they look to bolster their firepower for the forthcoming campaign.

Despite the recent addition of free agent Michael Owen, the departures of Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo have left noticeable voids in United's attack.

The Argentine has since emerged as United's No 1 priority in the summer window but the Spanish outfit refuse to be budged on the player's reported ?55million buy-out clause - even though they admit they are resigned to his probable exit.

United reportedly entered talks with the 21-year-old's management company IMG last month to discuss the star's wage demands which are said to be around ?200,000-per week after tax - a potential obstacle in securing the transfer.

But they are yet to agree a fee with the La Liga club who won't settle for anything less than the star's valuation with United attempting to bargain a reduced deal.

Atletico president Enrique Cerezo confirmed he has a mandate from his board to stay firm on their asking price as they know United have funds to play with the world record ?80million fee they banked from Ronaldo's switch to Real Madrid.

He said: 'We will not sell. We have a good team and we will strengthen it in every way that we can.

'We are absolutely calm, not afraid of anything or anyone. We have contracts that we respect and we hope others respect them.

'I cannot do anything if the player wants to leave and a team wants to buy him.'

Aguero, the son-in-law of Argentina boss Diego Maradona, has a choice of interested suitors - including Chelsea and Barcelona - to choose from should he quit the Vicente Calderon, but he is said to be open to a move to the Champions League runners-up.[/q

Basically a swap deal involving Aguero for Berbatov and some cash h:happy:happy:

[rajputwarrior]

we lost pennant :( i loved him and he showed so much potential but always got hurt.

and this is getting stupid, UEFA has to come together and enforce some sort of cap. These amount of transfers and transfer fees teams are paying is unreal. Real has Benzema now too? Like come on!

[Kralik]

we lost pennant :( i loved him and he showed so much potential but always got hurt.

and this is getting stupid, UEFA has to come together and enforce some sort of cap. These amount of transfers and transfer fees teams are paying is unreal. Real has Benzema now too? Like come on!

They do.. and Ribery said he won't leave Munich this year and next year he wants to leave but only to Madrid.. :/

[Rappy Veteran]

Madrid have been crazy to crazy I feel that it is ruining the market, before you could get a good player for like ?5m but now that player would be going for ?17m and most clubs can't really afford that.

[Kralik]

Madrid have been crazy to crazy I feel that it is ruining the market, before you could get a good player for like ?5m but now that player would be going for ?17m and most clubs can't really afford that.

According to Sky Sports Real are interested in D'Agostino..

[Martyn]

As long as they don't touch Alonso or Mascherano.

[Rappy Veteran]

As long as they don't touch Alonso or Mascherano.

Aren't they still interested in Alonso? but baulking at the price

[Martyn]

Real Madrid are still being Real Madrid and giving a press release to the media about Alonso everyday.

[Subject Delta]

I have a bad feeling that he may well be leaving, but I hope that I'm wrong

[Kralik]

They are interested in him and it feels he wants to leave too thats why Rafa came out last week to remind these two of loyalty they owe 'Pool.. Liverpool will be hoping this gets done one way or the other fast.. would be a terrible mess if they leave in the last week of the transfer window..

There was also news of Barca and Real preparing a "mega" bid for Cesc.. but didn't hear anything abt that.. I'd say ?40M plus Sneijder and Cesc is yours.. and we should throw in Eboue just to say thanks.. :rolleyes::

[Kralik]

Franz Beckenbauer has once again criticised Real Madrid's summer spending, dubbing their mega-money chase for Franck Ribery as "ridiculous".

When asked what he would do if presented with such a bid, Beckenbauer told German paper Passauer Neue Presse, "I would have a guilty conscience.

"These sums of money are ridiculous. But there is always some lunatic who walks around throwing money away.

"No decision will be made until August, when the transfer window closes."

... "Everyone knows something has to be done about salaries.

"I don't think a salary cap would work. But I am sure something will happen soon.

"What is happening is insanity, especially in a time of financial crisis when many people are fearing for their jobs, and their existence."