Thursday, July 13, 2006

Transfer rumours and other news (July 13th)

The World Cup is over and some Argentina players have raised their value in the transfer market. Some will change teams for this coming season and some others are still waiting to see for which club will they play soon.

Transfer rumours:

Roberto ABBONDANZIERI: The latest news indicate that he is very close to sign a contract for Spanish side GETAFE. The 34-year old keeper is looking for a chance to prove his value in an European league after a successful spell at Boca Juniors. Besides, this move will give him another financial security and the thrill he is looking for by adding a great new experience of playing in La Liga. Apparentely, he is 'fighting' for GETAFE's place between the posts against Mexican Oswaldo SANCHEZ and Uruguayan Fabian CARINI. The situation will be sorted in the next few hours.

Angel TORRES, GETAFE's president, has also indicated that his club could sign an Argentinian left-back but he refused to reveal his name.

Juan Pablo SORIN: He is an Argentine left-back and he was declared by VILLARREAL's manager Manuel PELLEGRINI as being available in the transfer market. The arrival of Robert PIRES to play on the left hand side of the Yellow Submarine's midfield, plus the great performances by Rodolfo ARRUABARRENA (another Argentine playing for VILLARREAL) have left SORIN without a role in the squad.

With no time to cry about it, Juampi is looking closer and closer to the Bundesliga outfit STUTTGART. They seem to be ready to pay 6 million euros to take the Argentina captain to Germany.

SORIN started his career in ARGENTINOS JUNIORS and went on to play for JUVENTUS (ITA), RIVER PLATE (ARG), LAZIO (ITA), PARIS SAINT GERMAIN (FRA), CRUZEIRO (BRA), BARCELONA and VILLARREAL (ESP). If he moves to Germany it will be the sixth different league he'll play, making it one of the most travelled players in the World.

Javier SAVIOLA: El Conejito (The little rabbit as he is nicknamed) could be on his way to ARSENAL. FC BARCELONA manager Frank RIJKAARD have declared he won't be counting with SAVIOLA for this season, so a move is mandatory for him. Even though VILLARREAL (Spain) PSV EINDHOVEN (Holland) and PANATHINAIKOS (Greece) were interested, the prospect of playing in the Premier League is tempting SAVIOLA and it looks as if he is going to play alongside Thierry HENRY. Could be decided as early as this week.

Gabriel HEINZE: Despite the ardent interest by Spanish giants REAL MADRID and FC BARCELONA, HEINZE has stated today that he is very grateful of the people of MANCHESTER UNITED after all the support he received when he was injured last season. He said that if the club want him to stay, he will stay.

Roberto AYALA: There were rumours taking him to VILLARREAL. Those rumours were denied but there are other versions linking the VALENCIA's central defender with TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS. LIVERPOOL is another team setting his sights on AYALA. Still no decision as VALENCIA CF is hoping to renew his contract.

Maxi RODRIGUEZ: After one season playing for ATLETICO MADRID and a great World Cup with Argentina, MAXI is heavily wanted by INTERNAZIONALE. They are rumoured to have offered 13 million euros plus fellow Argentine Santiago SOLARI.

Javier AGUIRRE, ATLETICO MADRID's Mexican manager is doing all he can to keep MAXI at the Vicente Calderón for this coming season.

Hernan CRESPO: With Didier DROGBA staying put and the arrival of Andriy SHEVCHENKO and Salomon KALOU to CHELSEA, CRESPO could be on his way back to Italy. He never hid the fact that he wanted to go back to the Italian Serie A and he could be the new addition to either AC MILAN or INTERNAZIONALE. It remains to be seen and it depends also on AC MILAN's situation after the corruption cases in Italy.

Other news:

Carlos TEVEZ: He was expected back in Brazil to re-join CORINTHIANS last night. But he have communicated the club he is very tired and he needs a couple of more days to join them. He missed last night defeat (against CRUZEIRO) and he will also skip this Sunday's derby match against PALMEIRAS. CORINTHIANS had a terrible start of the campaign and they are now in the relegation zone. Javier MASCHERANO is expected to play on Sunday.

Hugo TOCALLI, José PEKERMAN's assistant manager, could become the interim manager. It's not official yet, but it is believed Julio GRONDONA, president of the AFA, will offer him and the rest of PEKERMAN's staff to continue until the end of 2006.

This decision would be based on the idea to give the current process some continuity and to avoid major and sudden changes by naming another manager in a rush.

40 comments:

Seba said...

ABBONDANZIERI have signed a contract with GETAFE.

You'll be able to see him in action in this La Liga season.

I'm happy for him.

Anonymous said...

Nobody want to make comments?

The only one I care about in the list is Saviola. I really love the way he played in this world cup and wish the best future of him. And I sincerely hope to see him play for Argentina for the next four years. Yes, I believe it will be a great move if he could join Henry in Arsensal.

By the way, one of coaches I admireed most is Wenger of Arsenal. I have hoped to see him coaching the French team ever since 1998. Too bad the French football association could never persuade him. Just for this reason I don't fancy French's chance to the title in near future.

Anonymous said...

With the arrival of Aguero, I hope Maxi will stay with Atletico Madrid. Its always good to have a few Argentine play in the same club. I am aware there are a few Argentines in Inter.

Seba said...

At the moment the 'argies' at Inter are:

Javier ZANETTI
Walter SAMUEL
Nicolas BURDISSO
Esteban CAMBIASSO
Julio CRUZ
Santiago SOLARI

CRUZ might be on his way out. Same with SOLARI.

The sentence has come and Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina will play in Serie B this season. Juventus will also have a 30-points deduction so it makes it virtually impossible for them to go back to Serie A in only one season.

The last two titles have been taken away from them but it remains to be seen whether they'll give them to another club (like Milan or Inter who were those who finished after Juve those two seasons).

Milan receives a 15-points deduction but will remain in Serie A. No Champions League for them this season.

I expect lots of changes and transfers after this sentence.

Key players from Juve, Lazio and Fiorentina will surely be on their way out.

Cannavaro and Zambrotta will probably play for Capello at Real Madrid.

That's to name just two.

Anonymous said...

Seba, can you guess who is the most popular Argentina players for millions of Chinese fans after Maradona and Batigol? Guess, guess, guess, I will give you three chances:):):)

Anonymous said...

well joey i guess aimar.

About the transfers being a manchester united supporter, i hope we buy tevez and mascherano to replace roy keane and van nistelrooy.
Imagining a frontline of tevez and rooney gives me great pleasure.

Palleta that joined liverpool would have been a great long term replacement for gary neville as well.

Also if ronaldo leaves maxi rodriguez wouldn't be a bad replacement. But i wonder how good his crossing is as i don't watch that many games of athletico and he didn't cross the ball much in germany

Anonymous said...

I think the English style is different compared to ours (I mean - Argentine's), and I really don't like our midfielders and forwarders to join Primier League. If you need examples, just take a look at Crespo and Veron.

Anonymous said...

crespo has done well when given the chance at chelski and veron was just the wrong player for uniteds system at the time just like riquelme would be if we signed him. How tevez would be amazing in the premeirship and so would maxi as they are strong mentally and physically

Seba said...

Based on the number of e-mails I've got during the World Cup asking about AIMAR and praising him all the time, I've got to say it's him.

In the future it'll be Lionel MESSI.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of Aimar (who is one of my favorites) I'll be the first (maybe) to ask what the deal is with him. Is he staying at Valencia or is he going to be transferred? I heard the administration wasn't happy with him :(

Seba said...

Cantona: Apparentely TEVEZ and MASCHERANO are not in the transfer market.

No doubt they'll be great additions to United. But maybe in a couple of seasons.

I agree about CRESPO. He did reasonably well. I think VERON also played some great games but Italian football suits him better.

TEVEZ could set the Premiership on fire. I don't think many Premiership defenses are ready to face a player like him (they are used to mark tall players or fast ones, but he's something else). He is short and very tough and his ability on the ball is also different than most of the Premiership forwards.

Seba said...

I hope AIMAR can get back to his old form and in order to do that, he needs to stay out of injuries (his nightmare in the recent years).

I've got no news about him and a possible move out of Valencia.

Will let you know as soon as I find out something.

Anonymous said...

I will say Aimar is the most popular Arg midfielder in China. Most fans here like him a lot more than Riquelme. And I sincerely hope he will be the playmaker for Arg in the next four years.

And yes, Missi is going to be the next most popular.

But the most popular Arg player after Batigol is not Aimar. He played for Arg for a long time and is almost like a Arg flag for most Chinese fans. Sometimes I wonder if he is so popular back in Arg. Guess again.:):)

Anonymous said...

my second guess would be javier zanetti joey.

Yeah thanks for the info seba, plus if tevez is ever available chelsea will probably outbid everybody else. I just hope tevez doesn't go to players'r'us and waste his talents for boatloads of cash.
I am constantly hearing rumors that aimar might join liverpool to team up with benitez again though u hope that doesn't happen.
Another argentinian player i would love to see united buy is burdisso. As a replacement for gary neville he would be ideal and with heinze already there it would add some argentinian bite to the united backline.

Hell i would like to see saviola at united as well as his pace would light up the premeirship like michael owen did a few years back

Seba said...

I know! It has to be Diego SIMEONE!

Anonymous said...

Well, Cantona is right. Good guess!

Seba, Simene couldn't be very popular because Backham is waaay too popular, and you know what happened in ARG-ENG classic in 98 (I just watched that game again).

sometimes I wonder if Zanetti himself know how popular he is in China. Most Chinese fans love him the same way we love paolo maldini, who is the most popular Italian player after Baggio.

Zanetti is like a flag for Arg soccer after Batigol, a symbol of great talent, hardworking, and absolute integrity and patriotism.

When he was dropped out of the Arg squad in May, Chinese fans were hugely outraged and angry. Zanetti himself will be very moved if he could read all the articles and poems Chinese fans dedicated to him.

And now, after everything is settled down, most fans here still believe the seed of failure for Arg was buried when Pekerman dropped Zanetti (and Samuel as well) from the squad.

And I have to agree. I worried about the Arg defensive throughout the elimination phase and it was simply painful to watch horrible plays from defender like Scaloni.

As it turned out, this is a defensive world cup. So it is not surprising a team without a strong defense line (no matter how good the offense is) couldn't make it to the semifinal.

Anonymous said...

yeah i'm right!!.

Well argentinian defenders are generally pretty good if u consider the likes of pasarella, ayala etc.
this is the most frustrating summer of my footballing life cuz argentina lost on penalties, juventus got relegated and manchester united keep selling players without buying replacements.

Seba said...

Joey, I'll show you a picture very soon and you'll drop off your feet!

On top of everything you said about ZANETTI, I would like to mention his continuous charity actions.

He has a foundation (FUNDACION PUPI) that helps the homeless kids in Argentina.

He is a very popular figure and a very likeable person.

Anonymous said...

Well, seba, actually we already know it.

That's another reason why Zanetti is so popular, a perfect role model. Especailly after what Maradona has done, Chinese fans are looking for an Arg player who is great both on and off the field.

For the last decade we watch him play for Inter and Arg, and we simply couldn't imagine either team playing without him.

All these said, do you have any inside information why he was dropped? Is he too old, not in perfect state, not suiting the tactics, (we don't believe any of these things), or is it because something else beside soccer?

Seba said...

Joey, there is nothing confirmed about the reasons for him being dropped.

But there is a nasty rumour going round that says it was because he is a 'bad luck omen'.

I don't want to believe a manager in his sane mind would believe such a thing.

I sincerely think PEKERMAN prefered SCALONI, BURDISSO and COLOCCINI to cover for the right back position because he knows all those three players very well.

Anonymous said...

seba, if I say SCALONI and COLOCCINI were the worst players in this Arg squad, will you agree?

Yes, dropping off your best player and picking some really bad ones because the former is 'bad luck omen'. Great job, Pekerman.

I know what you are talking about. Zanetti played for Inter and Arg for so many years and hasn't really obtained many championships.

I guess it is all HIS fault, and Inter and Arg would have won tons of Champion without him, isn't it?

Oh, yes, Arg got really lucky without 'bad luck omen', isn't it? Before this tourment Arg always won penalty shootouts, now you know how to lose one.

Yes, I know Pekerman coached SCALONI and COLOCCINI at youth level. But did he really take time to watch these two playing in the season? From what I know not only did they play horribly bad in this world cup, they had horrible seasons in the league all along.

I know Pekerman has done great job with this Arg, I still want to thank him for bring a wonderful squad and play wonderful soccer. But, I still have to say it is not unfair that he was generally regarded as one of the worst coaches in the tourment, along with Eriksson of England and Parreira of Brazil.

Anonymous said...

Seba,

I don't mean to bring up a negative subject, but we haven't talked much about the fight after the Germany match. Is there any truth to the rumor that the Germans made anti-Jewish comments (because both Peckerman and Sorin are jewish)? What has the Argentine press been saying about it? Will it affect Maxi in the next cup.

Seba said...

Joey, I think those are ridiculous rumours. I don't buy them! Not at all!

I just told you there were rumours going round.

As for the fight against the Germans after the match...none of those things were mentioned.

I don't think something like that happened. What everybody said was that the Argentine players reacted after the Germans celebrated in front of their eyes and they believed they were provoking them.

As for MAXI and the next cup...well...he has a 2-games suspension and he'll have to miss the next two official matches Argentina will play. It has to be during the Copa America next year.

It won't affect him for the next World Cup.

Saurabh Bhattacharjee said...

I was also absolutely gutted by Zannetti's exclusion. I had actually treated the first reports of his probable axing with condescending ridicule. How could he be after all he was the lone star for Inter last season.

Even then I will treat Pekerman with utmost respect. He brought the traditional style of the team back. This team had class and finese as compared to the mechanical rigidity which we saw with Pasarella and Bielsa.

Unfortunately, he will be remembered by history more for his ill-fated decisions against Germany than his good deeds.

I hope none of the Argentine footballer lands up in EPL. The long ball game will corrupt then. Arsenal may be an exception. And Tevez should not join Chelsea. Jose Mourinho will kill his individuality.

This is from a pre-Abramovich Chelsea supporter who yearns for the panache of the days of Zola.

Anonymous said...

Let me see if I can summarize the brawl:

1. Borowski gestured towards the Argentina players to "shut up" having scored his penalty kick
2. Lehmann saved Cambiasso's final penalty kick and German won
3. Cufre kicked Germany defender Mertesacker and was shown the red card by the referee
4. Bierhoff jumped up and joined the fight, so did most of the players and staffs from both side
5. It lasted about 90 seconds

I do NOT believe there is any anti-Jewish comments. Remember this is in German. The host is trying desperately hard to make people forgot what they did 60 years ago.

Anonymous said...

Hi guys, nobody wants to talk about Zidane's headbutt in final?

This is ALL that people ever talk about after the final.

Most Chinese believed that Materazzi did it on purpose, and he plotted it before the match.

In one of the most popular Chinese world cup site, half of 200K voters thought Italy is NOT worth of the title.

So what's the reaction from your guys?

Anonymous said...

Saurabh, I absoltely agree with what you said about Pekerman.

Actully Pekerman reminded me of a goalkeeper who played wonderfully for 90 minutes, making many crusial saves, and then...oops, he made a fatal mistake in the last minute and the opponents scored the winning goal.

And the whole world will blame him for the defeat and that's how history will remember him. That's always the way it is. What else do you expect?

Having said these, I hope Arg will find a coach with plenty of European experience. Arg has NOT beaten any European teams in the elimination phase for 16 years. You can not always eliminate your European opponents by penalty shootouts. If you can't beat European teams then you can't win the world cup.

Anonymous said...

Joey, there is more to the fight than what you stated.
From what I have read the German players celebrated when Ayala missed his PK which angered the rest of the team.
Then the Argentinean players started saying stuff in Spanish. Podolski supposedly says something to Heinze as he passes the Argentineans after his PK (people think this is where the anti-Jewish comments come in but I don't believe it, I mean I don't think the Germans would say something like that since they are sensitive to their history, but of course there are plenty of other things he could have said to Heinze to piss him off).
Then Maxi says something to Lehmann after his PK (you can see it on the replay).
Borowski montions for the Argentinean players to be quiet and a couple of them (the Argentineans) make for the Germans.
The rest follows what you originally stated.
Basically trash talking on both sides (I don't believe that the Argentineans were the only ones guilty here) that go out of hand as we saw happen with Zidane. Everyone involved got punished so case closed (though any word on what happened with Bierhoff?).

Anonymous said...

I think the real reason zanetti was dropped was because ike sorin he makes a ot of runs forward and with an ageing central back pairing argentina could not afford that. So if pekerman had brought zanetti along and put him on the bench it woud have been detriminal to team spirit. Kinda like bringing roberto carlos just to tell him he isn't a first choice player.

About the argentinian brawl, like mentioned it was basiclly germans rubbing their victory in argentinas face and cufre and maxi etc couldn't take it and ashed back physicaly. Happens in playgrounds all over the world.

Zidanes headbutt wasn't as suprising to me becuz zidane has always had a bad temper and a nasty streak about him. I think he has been sent off around 15 times in his career which for a player who doesn't realy have any defensive duties is quite a lot. Materrazzi provoked him with insults and zidane should have responded in kind or been the better man and ignored it. But he lost control and we all know what happened next.

For those who say italy didn't deserve the cup, i say don't be a hater.
Italy won this cup with extreme turmoil in their domestic leagues which they turned into positive energy. They did it without their star defender Nesta for most of the tournament. they did it with an off form totti and luca toni who were supposed to be their most influential midfielder and striker respectively. They didn't play Joga Bonito but they played Joga Para Ganhar and guess what, they are world champions and all repect to them.

Anonymous said...

Latest news: Valencia's Argentina international playmaker Pablo Aimar could be close to joining Real Zaragoza, according to reports in Spain.

Aimar is no longer required at El Mestalla and the club are happy for him to find pastures new in search of first-team football.

Zaragoza are believed to have offered around €10 million (£6.9 million) although they are wary about matching his personal terms.

The Argentine is on a lofty wage with Valencia and Zaragoza are hoping he might be willing to take a pay cut to come to Estadio La Romareda.

i think aimar would fit in at Zaragoza quite well. With Milito and Ewerthon up front along with oscar gonzalez in midfield they could challenge for a uefa cup spot this season

Saurabh Bhattacharjee said...

Cantona, I will completely second your conjencture on the probable reason for Zannetti's exclusion. While it was a very difficult decision to accept, it was not completely incoherent. We must also commend Pekerman for having courage to take a difficult decision. In addition, Burdisso acquitted himself well. It was only his unfortunate injury that exposed Scaloni and Coloccini. That is where I thiught Zannetti's excellence and experience could have come useful. However, it would have been difficult to keep a senior like him on the bench.

Joey, I just hope Pekerman continues for he deserves another shot. Hope he discards his adamance.

Seba said...

Cantona, thanks for the updates on AIMAR.

My question now would be:

CAN AIMAR AND D'ALESSANDRO FIT INTO THE SAME LINEUP????

They play relatively in the same position and I think that kind of competition for places will not do well to none of them.

Remember D'ALESSANDRO was recently signed by Real Zaragoza after his short spell at Portsmouth.

Anonymous said...

Haven't they played in the same lineup on the national team? I remember that they played together against Chile in one of the qualifiying games. I also found this: http://www.diarioequipo.com/noticias/noticia.asp?noticia_id=10486

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to Aimar, I sincerely hope he will stay out of injuries, which is a lot more important than which club he plays.

It is obvious if Pekerman wants the job he could stay. I believe he learned his painful lessons, as well. But it seems he is determined to leave. I believe he made up his mind even before the tourment.

Whoever becomes the next coach, please, do NOT hire Maradona. I heard he is even a top candidate, you must be kidding me. Diego should be a cheer-leader for Arg but NOT coach.

Anonymous said...

Here is the line-up I would like to see for Arg for the next few years.

Forwards: Tevez, Saviola (or Kun)
Midfield: Messi, Aimar, Mascherano, Rodríguez (or Cambiasso)

Obvious we are going to see a brand new defensive line in future.

The problem about this line-up is, obvious, most members are very small. I hate to say it, but a friend of mine joked dring world cup that watching Arg play reminded him of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs.

Anonymous said...

@joey: I totally agree with you about who should NOT be the next coach. MARADONA is much too self-centered to successfully handle a team day in, day out. For me MARADONA would be the worst choice. I think the AFA would do well in appointing TOCALLI and the rest of PEKERMAN's staff until the end of the year while thoroughly considering who is the right man to take over permanently ...although I still hope (but don't believe) PEKERMAN will continue at the helm of the team he has created himself. He deserves a second chance and people are ready to give it to him, so it's up to him to take it or not.

Anonymous said...

How about Alfio Basile? He also coaches Argentina to play in their traditional style. It would be great if someone like him took over the helm.

Ingi

Anonymous said...

Hi, guys! Did you hear that? Wenger said he is not interested in Saviola.

I feel really sorry for the little rabbit...man, he is bing kicked around like a ball...why is that...he is such a great player...it is a pure job to watch him play.

Poor rabbit...

Seba said...

Unbelievable! Such a great player!

Panathinaikos (Greece) was interested. It's a big club but in terms of league potential and exposure, it would have been great for SAVIOLA to join Arsenal instead.

There could be an opportunity for him in another Spanish club.

In any case, he is missing some crucial days in his preparation for the season and he could face the prospect of being a substitute in his next club.

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