Daily Transfer News - 24th May 2007
Click here for all major live football scores!Brazilian Julio Baptista will return Real Madrid after Arsenal ruled out bringing him to the Emirates on a permanent deal - something to cheer about if you are a fantasy player or Arsenal fan. Over at Portsmouth Harry Redknapp has launched a spending spree. I personally think he should save up and get some plastic surgery.
Samuel Eto'o hopes Arsenal forward Thierry Henry will sign for Barcelona this summer. |
| Udinese have confirmed Sulley Muntari has travelled to England to complete a move to Portsmouth. |
| Julio Baptista is set to return to Spain following his season with Arsenal. |
| Harry Redknapp insists Sylvain Distin is the first arrival of many at Portsmouth this summer. |
| Rafa Benitez is ready to start his summer clearout after Liverpool's Champions League defeat. |
| Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate may consider selling in order to land his summer transfer targets. |
| Crystal Palace boss Peter Taylor has revealed he is considering a move for veteran striker Teddy Sheringham. |
| Colchester have put Richard Garcia's contract talks on hold after he flew to Australia to be with his ill father. |
| After Champions League glory, AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi wants to sign Ronaldinho. |
| Matt Jackson has joined Watford on a two-year deal after rejecting the chance to stay at Wigan. |
| Gareth Southgate has dismissed suggestions Yakubu is unsettled at Middlesbrough. |
Tabloid Headlines - Thursday 24th May 2007
Click here for all major live football scores!All the talk is about Southampton's Gareth Bale this morning. Will the teenager go to Tottenham or Manchester United? Having seen him against Man City in the FA Cup this season I have to say that he certainly shouldn't be rated as a £10 million defender. English players being overpriced again? You bet!
THE SUN:
Liverpool failed with a last-ditch bid to snatch defender Sylvain Distin from under the noses of Portsmouth.
Ryan Giggs is trying to convince highly-rated Southampton left-back Gareth Bale to join him at Manchester United rather than sign for Tottenham.
DAILY MIRROR:
Gabriel Heinze could be on his way to Spain after Villarreal entered the race for the Manchester United defender.
Tony Adams has revealed he is desperate to manage old club Arsenal.
DAILY STAR:
Real Madrid are lining up a £20million bid for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Claude Makelele has threatened to quit Chelsea for Spanish club Villarreal this summer unless he gets a new contract.
Blackburn's Andy Todd is poised to follow in his father's footsteps by signing for Sunderland.
Premiership newcomers Birmingham are lining up a £3million bid for West Ham left-back Paul Konchesky.
Southampton have turned down a £6million bid from Spurs for left-back Bale.
Bryan Robson wants to make Manchester United's Kieran Richardson his first signing as Sheffield United boss.
DAILY MAIL:
Tottenham are confident of signing Bale in a £10million deal, but Saints boss George Burley denies anything has been agreed.
Aston Villa defender Jlloyd Samuel is on the verge of joining Bolton on a free transfer.
Watford have agreed a £500,000 deal for Crystal Palace winger Jobi McAnuff.
DAILY EXPRESS:
Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd was stunned when given the news of the attempted takeover of his club while he lay sick in a hospital bed.
Bale is certain to leave Southampton this summer, but the Saints want to flush out other potential suitors after Tottenham made a bid worth a total of £10million.
Lee McCulloch has told new Wigan boss Chris Hutchings he still has his heart set on a move to Rangers.
THE GUARDIAN:
Tottenham will sign Bale for £10million today.
Sylvain Distin left Manchester City because of their lack of ambition in the transfer market.
DAILY RECORD:
Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood fears losing skipper Russell Anderson, a target for Middlesbrough, Everton and Sunderland.
Maurice Malpas has admitted defeat in his attempts to keep Kevin McBride at Motherwell.
Craig Gordon may be a summer target for a host of Premiership clubs, but the keeper insists he is happy to stay at Hearts and laughed off suggestions he's worth £10million.
Daily Transfer News - 23rd May 2007
Click here for all major live football scores!| Portsmouth have signed former Manchester City captain Sylvain Distin on a free transfer. |
| Harry Redknapp admits midfielder Sulley Muntari is very close to signing for Portsmouth. |
| Southampton have denied reports suggesting Tottenham have agreed a deal for Gareth Bale. |
| Andy Todd is on his way out of Blackburn after he was told the club are willing to sell him. |
| Claude Makelele wants Chelsea to decide if he still has a future at Stamford Bridge. |
| West Ham's Carlos Tevez has been reportedly offered to Chelsea for £35million. |
| Bayern Munich have reportedly targeted Arsenal's Robin van Persie for a £8million summer move. |
| Rangers fear they could miss out to Juventus in the race to sign Bayern Munich's Claudio Pizarro. |
| Rafael Benitez won't be awarded a new contract for winning the Champions League. |
| Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o dismissed speculation linking him with a move to the Premiership. |
| Derby chairman Peter Gadsby is confident manager Billy Davies will stay at Pride Park. |
| Portsmouth are expected to confirm the signings of Sylvain Distin and Sulley Muntari on Wednesday. |
| Jose Mourinho now wants a striker and defender after signing Steve Sidwell. |
Daily Update
So, Sylvain Distin has finally had enough of Premiership strugglers Man City and is hoping to ply his trade at Portsmouth next season. The Frenchman was a huge part of the Manchester outfit and will be hugely missed at Eastland’s. But what is Man City’s loss can now be Portsmouth’s gain. The South coast team are lining up a formidable defence for the start of next year with Distin moving to be alongside former England and Arsenal man Sol Campbell. Distin statistically is one of the best central defenders in the Premiership and, in my opinion, is the best defender in the air in the English top flight. His clearance and aerial prowess is almost unrivalled and he has coped well against the likes of Peter Crouch and Didier Drogba this season. He will certainly be an excellent addition to Portsmouth and will definitely be one to keep an eye out for at the start of next season.
Seasonal Round-Up
So, we draw close to the end of the season and without an International Summer tournament most fantasy players will get a prolonged break from the weekly agonies of picking the "perfect" team. But it is not all done and dusted just yet, we still have a few more games left to enjoy and sneak a few more places up the ranking table.Top Players - David James the Comeback Kid
Ronaldo surely takes the top prize as the fantasy mangers MVP of the season. His consistency, attacking attributes and clinical finishes may have been lacking in the European Cup but he has certainly delivered in style for the Premiership. He has been a thorn in the side of most Premiership defenders and managers will have him labelled in as next years first draft pick into their squads. Moving away from, perhaps, the overrated we come to the underrated players of this season. In the goalkeeping department I have been very impressed with resurgence of David James. The Portsmouth keeper has possibly had one of his best seasons this year (probably due to not having the pressure of playing for England) and has looked mature and comfortable at his new home on the South coast. Another player that I have admired between the sticks this season is Readings Hahnemann. The American, who loves to collect rifles, has been pretty good as shot stopper himself this season. He has racked up the most amount of saves for a keeper this season (161 so far) and when you look at Reading's high position in the league table it is obvious to assume that Hahnemann is their best defender. In other areas I have enjoyed picking Matthew Taylor (POR) and Nicky Shorey (REA) in defence, David Bentley (BLA) and Cesc Fabregas (ARS) in midfield and Dimitar Berbatov (TOT) in attack.
My performance - fantasy mediocrity?
Using these players this year has been a mixed bag for me fantasy football wise. I am doing well in the Daily Mail game (top 200) after a fairly decent run; I am also in the top 100 of the SkySports fantasy game, I actually notched up the highest score for one game week which I am pleased about. Over in the Premierleague.com game I have currently accrued a respectable 1791pts, which was not good enough to disturb the top players but has helped me to lead my private league for most of the season. Finally Yahoo. Oh Yahoo, how I love to hate thee... In my opinion it is by far one of the most intense, skilful and fun games on the market but it still suffers from many flaws and I have made some cardinal sins this year. On no less than FIVE, yes FIVE, occasions I have missed the lockdown time with an illegible team. This has lead to a mediocre season for myself this year. I know, schoolboy error but sometimes you just can't help being stuck up a mountain at 10am on a Saturday without WiFi. Yahoo should seriously look into remedying this setup as I feel it happens to many players and once it does happen, your interest tends to wane in the competition. Saying that though I still somehow managed to scrap into the top 97%.
The Ugly - Fantasy Tripe
There are a few games that I have not enjoyed this season, one is the Sportinglife/Silent Manager fantasy game. The prize money is negligible, £10k, compared to say The Daily Mail's £60k and you have to pay for all transfers bar four, again in The Daily Mail you get five free every quarter. The simplistic scoring system, lack of transfers and long waits for points updates certainly makes this one of the bogey games of the season.
The future - Man City Champions of Europe????
What about my performance? Well, I have tried my best this season to publish as many weekly line-up reviews as possible but it certainly has become a time strain. I have identified five different articles that I hope to make permanent fixtures for next season: EPL Preview (Saturday AM/Friday PM), EPL Review (Tuesday AM), General Weekly Fantasy Article (Wednesday) and finally a Team of the Week/Pick of the Week (Friday).
I hope everyone has had good fortune so far!
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