Transfer Rumors (04 July 08): Wright tells SWP to leave Chelsea, Barca to make final offer for Adebayor, Pavlyuchenko to Tottenham, and more
It’s Friday, and I’m back to give you all the latest top transfer headlines. I’ve been away for most of the past week, as regular readers can tell (cheers to Ahmed for taking over in the meantime), so I’m still getting caught up, which means that if there are any transfers that need to be brought to my attention on the summer transfer lists, make sure to leave them in the comments, and I’ll get to them.
So, what’s the latest in the Cristiano Ronaldo saga? Some reports have his sister saying that he wants to stay at United, while others are saying that United not only see the writing on the wall, but that United and Real Madrid have agreed a fee in the region of 90 million euros for him.
Rumor Rating: 3 - Tomorrow, on the next episode of the Cristiano Ronaldo Show, we’ll find out what his cousin’s hairstylist’s uncle thrice removed knows about Ronaldo’s future. Stay tuned!
The Daily Mail says that Barcelona are going to make a ‘take it or leave it’ 30 million pound offer for Emmanuel Adebayor.
Rumor Rating: 3 - Arsenal have held firm thus far, but 30 mil could very well get them to cave in.
You know what they say about father knowing best, and Ian Wright feels like the best thing for son Shaun Wright-Phillips should leave Chelsea, and that Portsmouth would be a great fit for him.
Rumor Rating: 3 - Can’t say I disagree with him in the least. If only he’d beaten it into his head three years ago that actually going there was a bad, bad decision…then again, hindsight is 20/20, as ‘they’ also say.
Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko is reportedly the object of a bid from an English team, and the Daily Mail says that it’s Tottenham. Pavlyuchenko has finished atop the Russian Premier League scoring charts in each of the last two seasons.
Rumor Rating: 3 - While Andrei Arshavin is getting all of the attention, Pavlyuchenko had a great showing at Euro 2008, scoring three goals. As for his potential move to England, he’s also been linked with Manchester United recently, but whether he could go to Tottenham will hinge on the Robbie Keane-Dimitar Berbatov situations.
Fulham have made an offer for Swedish defender Fredrik Stoor. The 24-year old, who plays for Rosenborg, has eight caps for Sweden.
Rumor Rating: 5 - Stoor is rated at seven million pounds, which might be a little higher than Fulham might want to spend on one player this summer.
West Brom have sealed a 3.2 million pound deal for Heerenveen right back Gianni Zuivertoon. Zuivertoon, a Holland U-21 international, has signed a three-year deal.
Rumor Rating: 5 - Zuivertoon, who scored the decisive penalty in Holland’s epic shootout victory over England in the 2007 Euro U-21 championship semifinal, is expected to compete for a regular place right away, so he could make an immediate impact in Tony Mowbray’s side.
Birmingham could soon snap up Kevin Phillips in a two-year deal, keeping the veteran striker in the Midlands after he helped lead West Brom to the Premier League.
Rumor Rating: 5 - Phillips still has a lot of goals left in him, and just like he proved to be a key part of the Baggies’ Championship title success, he could do the same with Alex McLeish next season.
Villareal continue to be busy in the transfer market this summer, and they’re now set to snap up Velez Sarsfield midfielder Damian Escudero. The 21-year old scored six goals for Velez over the 2007 Apertura and 2008 Clausura, and he made his debut for the Argentine senior national team earlier this year.
Rumor Rating: 5 - Along with purchasing Escudero, Villareal will send midfielder Leandro Somoza to Velez.
Former Liverpool striker Florent Sinama Pongolle has moved from Recreativo Huelva to Atletico Madrid. After not making much of an impact at Liverpool, he spent the last two seasons at Recreativo, scoring 22 goals.
Rumor Rating: 5 - Coincidentally, Anthony Le Tallec, who arrived from Le Havre along with Sinama Pongolle in 2003, just completed his permanent move from Liverpool to Le Mans.
Sampdoria have signed Brescia defender Marius Stankevicius for a reported fee of 950,000 pounds.
Rumor Rating: 5 - The 26-year old, who has 25 caps for Lithuania, can play either center or right back.
Monaco have offered Juventus 7.5 million euros for midfielder Tiago, who had a forgettable season in Turin after a big-money summer move from Lyon.
Rumor Rating: 4 - Juve would be taking a loss of 5.5 million euros, but sometimes letting go is better than holding on, isn’t it?
FC Twente midfielder Orlando Engelaar is set to join Schalke 04, where he’ll be reunited with former Twente coach Fred Rutten.
Rumor Rating: 5 - This is a blow for new Twente manager Steve McClaren (that name doesn’t sound Dutch, but it does sound familiar), but the money will help McClaren make some vital reinforcements ahead of Champions League play.
Well, that’s it for today’s rumors–chime in, chip in, and I’ll be back tomorrow!
I don’t buy the Pavlyuchenko to Tottenham rumors one bit. The only thing that was said was that an English team that doesn’t play Champions League football made a bid. Of course the media would select that it was Tottenham, but my bet was it was either Blackburn, Portsmouth, or Newcastle.
wait a minute…mclaren’s managing Twente? talk about fall from grace…
Degen and Dossena sign 4 year deals with Liverpool
Mclaren will be the only english manager talk about a fall from grace. Which is really funny in a way.
robbies a school boy celtic fan alway has been always will be so liverpool supporters you now know the facts please don’t think that he would not join you he will make his own mind up if liverpool ever put an offer in .but i’ve a feeling the article was written by agooner thinking he ’s funny man(see robbie keane wikipedia)
what about lamps? Is he staying??
Anser - he gets to manage a team in the champions league and he’s managing outside England. It’s not that bad…
as an arsenal fan,we need a sharp striker and a creative midfielder.i will b very happy,if we can sign silver and arshv.it will b great if we can retain the likes of Hleb and Ade