Corluka : The True Stand-Out...

So let’s get this right. Mark Hughes is just about to lose one of his best players and he’s actually happy about this prospect because it will give him more cash to spend on new signings? Despite the fact that City were prepared to not just break, but smash the bank to bring Ronaldinho to Eastlands.

Still, who are we to question The Sun, who have quoted the words of a ‘City source’, who claims that losing the versatile Vedran Corluka would actually be a good thing. The Croatian was one of City’s stand-out players last term and demonstrated his international class at Euro 2008. It appears that it’s the player’s choice to up sticks and hook up with Luka Modric at Tottenham.

And new City manager Mark Hughes will use the £8million fee for the defender to buy a badly-needed striker.

Croatian international Corluka, 24, has already passed a medical at White Hart Lane and cannot wait to join his good friend Luka Modric in London.

A City source said: “This deal is great news for everyone. Vedran’s a good player but it means the manager can use the money to bring in a forward. Everyone’s a winner. Vedran is desperate to team up with Modric. He was popular here but this is good business.”

Surely his departure will leave City buying a ‘badly-needed left-back’ as well as a striker? This is a great signing for Tottenham if it goes through, with the defence almost having a stubborn look about it for the first time in ages at White Hart Lane. Surely City fans are peeved to see one of their best players leave?

Andy Johnson in Craven Cottage...

Andy Johnson's protracted move from Everton to Fulham has been concluded, with the England forward signing a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £10.5 million.

Fears were raised that the deal would fall through earlier in the week when a routine medical at Craven Cottage cast doubt on Johnson's fitness.

However, the two clubs have resolved any differences in valuation, with a proportion of the fee to be paid up front and the rest based on appearances. Johnson becomes Fulham's 11th signing since they secured their Premier League status on the final day of last season and looks set to form a new forward pairing with fellow new boy Bobby Zamora. The former Birmingham striker made 73 appearances and scored 22 goals during his time at Everton but found himself edged out of David Moyes' first team after the arrival of Ayegbeni Yakubu from Middlesbrough last summer.

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, though, is in little doubt about the quality of his latest buy and here what he has to say "I have made no secret of my wish to add Andy Johnson to my squad at Fulham. I believe that he has all the qualities needed to assist us in next season's campaign and I am more than delighted that we have secured his services for the long term. There has been a lot of speculation regarding this transfer during the last week, very little of which has had any foundation. I am just happy to be able to focus on the positive news that Andy Johnson is now a Fulham player, one who we have great hopes for, and I am grateful to the chairman, the board of directors and the chief executive for working tirelessly to make this possible."

Now with whom he'll partner in front, is it with new signed Zamora or with Kamara. Will he get 15 or 20+ goals for Fulham to finish at the middle of the table.

Man Utd Youths Should Get A Grip Over Ronaldo Dilemma...

So then, after weeks of speculation Ronaldo has confirmed that he's staying, the boo-boys among United's support are now faced with the dilemma of what to do when Ronaldo scores his next goal for the club. Do they cheer, do nothing and act as if nothing has happened?

To be honest, I couldn't care less, because if these so called fans cannot appreciate that Ronaldo was always going to want to play for Madrid given where he comes from then there's no hope really.

What's more the unpalatable truth is that it's highly likely Ronaldo will not be the last United player who will want to join Madrid or Barcelona at some point, especially with so many Brazilians at the club right now. On that note last night the Reds took on Juventus in what turned out to be something of a 0-0 pre-season yawn, that is except for two excellent second-half performances from substitutes Rafael da Silva and Rodrigo.

Rafael is grabbing the Lion's share of the headlines, but I'm personally a lot more excited about his compatriot Rodrigo - his passing and the way he retains possession of the ball for the team in any given situation means it's highly likely that he will soon displace John O'Shea and Darren Fletcher for any midfield slots.

Compare and contrast the distribution of John O'Shea who at times was causing more problems for the United back four than the visitors attack, but when Rodrigo came on he looked class. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Rodrigo or Rafael could one day be on Real's radar, so we United fans will no doubt have to endure more of tedious speculation linking our stars to the Spanish champions.

I personally despise everything about Real Madrid and their slimeball president; his club have done everything within their powers to unsettle Ronaldo in a bid to create friction between the player, the club and its supporters. For me the fact that United and importantly Ferguson, got what he wanted is a victory, a lesser manager would have caved in under the weight of pressure.

I'd love nothing more than the Reds to meet Real Madrid this season and grind them into the Old Trafford turf in doing so knocking them out of the Champions League. Make no mistake, Real Madrid are the ones we should be warring with - not each other, or our star player.

One final question to anyone who is thinking about booing Ronaldo. Who will laugh the loudest when this happens? Our rivals that's who. We will be a collective laughing stock - please do not let his come to being and yes I know that Ronaldo played his part in this sorry saga, let us get the very best of him while he is still with us. We have more chance of retaining the big one with Ronaldo as opposed to without him.

Is Slave Camp Running in Lazio...

This has been news in the calcio world recently. When Lazio first met up for pre-season training in mid-July, coach Delio Rossi made a list of players that did not fit into his plans for the coming season.

These players are: Roberto Baronio (considered as a youngster to be the next great Italian midfielder, never happened),

Simone Inzaghi (Pippo’s younger brother who has always been more technically gifted than Pippo, but not as successful),

Massimo Mutarelli (a defensive midfielder who works hard all game, impressed at Palermo),

Tommaso Berni (a young goalkeeper who was never given a chance),

Alberto Quadri (another promising player as a youngster but has turned out to be an average player), and

Guglielmo Stendardo (on loan at Juve last season, a decent defender who has also garnered interest from Milan and Inter).

So when the list of players of who would be taking part in pre-season training camp was posted, the names of these 6 players were not listed. While their teammates were off to the Italian Alps, these 6 players stayed back in Rome, and were told by the club that they were not part of the first team and had to train at Lazio’s Formello training ground by themselves with just Lazio’s athletic trainer Angelo Crialesi to look over them. In a recent interview Massimo Mutarelli said that he asked to rescind his contract, but has not received an answer yet. He said that the club has not even supplied them with equipment to train with, and it really is a scandalous situation. He said that Delio Rossi had not even told any of the players anything.

The only player that isn’t really fazed by all of this is Guglielmo Stendardo, who was expecting to leave this summer anyway, and has offers from various clubs. He also said that he has no intention to ask for his contract to be rescinded because he has an excellent rapport with Claudio Lotito. Stendardo is wanted by Bologna and was recently linked with Milan in the press. Another possible destination is his hometown club Napoli, who may trade defender Maurizio Domizzi (who has his own problems with Napoli) for him.

The main problem is that it’s almost mid-August and these players face the possibility of not finding a club at all. Lazio has really shown no desire to find them a club as well. Mutarelli is still waiting for his contract to be rescinded so he can be a free agent. Baronio has offers from clubs in Serie B and Valladolid in Spain but nothing is concrete yet. Tommaso Berni has a host of offers from Serie B clubs and may be the first to leave. Simone Inzaghi has scared many clubs away with his high salary (1.2 million per year) and therefore small clubs like Reggina who were interested are not interested unless he rescinds his contract. There was also a rumor that some MLS clubs were interested in Pippo’s younger brother. Alberto Quadri has an offer from Avellino in Serie B and Perugia in Lega Pro.

Yesterday the AIC (Italian Footballer Association) finally got involved releasing this statement:

«Enough, this has to stop, what you are doing to these 6 players is scandalous and not logical, but what is most important is that what you are doing to these players is not legitimate. We hope this is resolved quickly but if it’s not the club will have to be sanctioned in some way. It’s not true that we haven’t been following this horrible story. In fact lawyers of these players have contacted us and we are trying are best to resolve the situation. We hope that it will be resolved.»

So now the ball is in Lotito’s court. We’ll have to see what happens next in the days to come…

Van Bommel : The Bavarian Captain

How happy am I today? Extremely. The love of my football life has been officially given the Captains armband. Not just for the pre-season, but the entire season. Klinsmann has named Mark to be Oliver Kahn’s predecessor in the Captain’s role. He will have deputies in Martin Demichelis and Lucio.

I’ve been hoping for this since the announcement of Kahn’s retirement and I couldn’t be more pleased. It seems that Klinsmann has been reading the Bayern Offside.

“He is predestined for this position,” coach Juergen Klinsmann said Friday. “Mark is suited to this role. Since the beginning of pre-season the team have been well led. He is enthusiastic and is not afraid to criticise when he feels it necessary. He can also communicate with the team in many languages.”

In case you’re not aware, he speaks his native Dutch along with German, Spanish and English. van Bommel is the first foreign player to skipper the Bavarian giants. He has made 56 appearances for the team since joining them in 2006. He is the team’s 14th Captain. Mark’s first official full time role as Captain will come when he leads his team out for Sunday’s first-round German Cup match at Rot-Weiss Erfurt. This has made my day and now I can set off to work in a good mood.

Wenger Eyes on Cana...

Wenger looks to Marseille for another quality player to bring to the Emirates. Arsenal are being linked with another swoop on Marseille with midfielder Lorik Cana said to be the target.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has already snatched Samir Nasri off the French club this summer and now it appears that he is interested in signing Cana. The Albanian international who skippers Marseille, admits that he is considering his future with the club but the Gunners would face competition for his services.

The former PSG man is also attracting interest from Everton and is believed to be rated in the £6million bracket.

Cana has spent the last three years at Marseille, where he has played 95 games, but there is a chance he could be at the Emirates Stadium in time for the start of the new season.

25 year old Cana is a quality midfielder who has been instrumental in Marseille’s upturn in fortunes helping them to top three finishes in the past two Ligue 1 campaigns. Arsene is known to be a fan of the Albanian and could see him as an alternative to the likes of Xabi Alonso and Gareth Barry who are both more than a little overpriced in comparison.

Do Gunners fans think that this signing would be a better value addition than the Premier League midfielders he has been chasing?

Rafinha & Diego Will Play in Olympics - UPDATE

German clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 have cleared Diego and Rafinha to play in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. And they wont be calling back.

With Leo Messi it’s even more complicated. He didn’t meet up with the Argentina squad until Sepp Blatter made it known that - in his eyes at least - clubs had to release players. Now Messi’s stuck between a rock and hard place.

Argentina’s first Olympic game is against Cote d’Ivoire and kicks off tomorrow. Argentina coach Sergio Batista expects Messi to stay and play: “Messi will be on the start list for tomorrow from the beginning and I am sure he can be here with us for the rest of the competition.”
Barcelona won’t like that. They want Messi back in time for the Champions League Third Qualifying Round game against either Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow on August 12th and now they have CAS on their side.

This whole thing has gotten ridiculous now, and been left far too late (seriously, why make a ruling the day before the tournament starts?) And the bigger problem than what’s mandatory and what isn’t is the short term selfishness shown by the clubs, which has now been approved by CAS.

The reason the release of U-23 players was “customary” is because clubs had been happy to go along with it, to respect the wish of their players and to respect the Olympic tournament. Now clubs are flexing their muscles.

Here’s what Barca President Joan Laporta told “We are simply trying to protect our interests. That is all.”

But do Barcelona really need Leo Messi to beat Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow? I’m sure Eto’o, Xavi, Iniesta, Henry and co can take care of it.

But where as Bremen and Schalke dosent want to spoil their relationship with the players.

Honestly, I think Barcelona are making a huge mistake, which could potentially ruin the affection Messi has with the club. I know they pay these players’ million-dollar wages and consider them huge investment property, but still, to be so adamant that a player who has already given them so much in his few years of top-flight football cannot participate in a dream tournament of his seems like it can only cause irreparable damage.

Next step put the Olympics Tournament in the FIFA dates.

CAS sided with the clubs precisely because FIFA failed to so to put Olympics Football in FIFA book. FIFA failed to show the Olympic spirit and failed to make any definitive rules, for which FIFA had plenty of time ahead of the tournament.