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Michael Owen on His Way to Manchester United?

Posted: Jul 3rd 2009 10:38AM by Michael Cardillo (author feed)
Filed under: European Soccer, English Premier League, Soccer

0 COMMENTS
Michael Owen is set to sign for Manchester United File this one away under something that nobody, I mean nobody, saw coming. Michael Owen was at Manchester United's training ground for medical tests and could sign with the Premier League champions before Friday is over.

It's not too often that a transfer is actually shocking, but if this one goes down it's a Grade A stunner. After losing Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez it's hard to fathom that Sir Alex Ferguson is chasing down a player who could barely stay on the field during his star-crossed tenure at Newcastle United. In fact, I read somewhere that Ronaldo and Tevez scored more goals the last two seasons than Owen made appearances.
Continue Reading Michael Owen on His Way to Manchester United?

Man United Agrees to World-Record Transfer Offer for Cristiano Ronaldo

Posted: Jun 11th 2009 9:26AM by FanHouse Newswire (author feed)

2 COMMENTS
Cristiano RonaldoLONDON (AP) - Manchester United accepted a world-record transfer offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid on Thursday, clearing the World Player of the Year to negotiate personal terms with the Spanish club.

The Premier League champions received an unconditional offer of $131 million for Ronaldo, and unlike last offseason is willing to see its 24-year-old star join a major European rival.
Continue Reading Man United Agrees to World-Record Transfer Offer for Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona Deals Chelsea Heart-Breaking Loss, Reaches Champions League Final

Posted: May 6th 2009 4:51PM by FanHouse Newswire (author feed)
Filed under: English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, La Liga (Spain)

4 COMMENTS
LONDON (AP) - Barcelona advanced to the European Champions League final against Manchester United in dramatic fashion, tying Chelsea 1-1 Wednesday night when Andres Iniesta scored in the third minute of second-half injury time.

Michael Essien scored on a 20-yard shot in the ninth minute for Chelsea, which lost last year's final to Manchester United on penalty kicks.

Champions League Snapshots

    Chelsea's Michael Ballack (R) screams at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after a possible handball by Barcelona during their Champions League second leg semi-final soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London May 6, 2009. The game ended 1-1, Barcelona won on the away goal rule. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh (BRITAIN SPORT SOCCER IMAGES OF THE DAY)

    Reuters

    Frank Lampard of Chelsea reacts after Andres Iniesta of Barcelona scored the winning goal against his team in injury time during their Champions League second leg semi-final soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London May 6, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh (BRITAIN SPORT SOCCER)

    Reuters

    Barcelona's Lionel Messi (R) is congratulated by his manager Josep Guardiola after their Champions League second leg semi-final soccer match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London May 6, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh (BRITAIN SPORT SOCCER)

    Reuters

    Barcelona's Andres Iniesta (R) and Samuel Eto'o celebrate a goal against Chelsea during their Champions League semi-final second leg soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London May 6, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea (BRITAIN SPORT SOCCER)

    Reuters

    Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, center, celebrates with Samuel Eto'o after scoring his sides equalising goal during their Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match against Chelsea at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Wednesday, May, 6, 2009. (AP Photo/ Matt Dunham)

    AP

    Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, left, reacts after scoring a goal against Chelsea during their Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Wednesday, May, 6, 2009. (AP Photo/ Jon Super)

    AP

    Barcelona's Andres Iniesta, no8 shoots and scores a a goal against Chelsea during their Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Wednesday, May, 6, 2009. (AP Photo/ Jon Super)

    AP

    Barcelona's Andres Iniesta , center, celebrates at the end of the match as his team win their Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match at against Chelsea at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge Stadium in London, Wednesday, May 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

    AP

    Frank Lampard of Chelsea reacts after Andres Iniesta of Barcelona scored the winning goal against his team in injury time during their Champions League second leg semi-final soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London May 6, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh (BRITAIN SPORT SOCCER)

    Reuters

    Barcelona's Andres Iniesta celebrates a goal against Chelsea during their Champions League semi-final second leg soccer match at Stamford Bridge in London May 6, 2009. REUTERS/Albert Gea (BRITAIN SPORT SOCCER)

    Reuters

Continue Reading Barcelona Deals Chelsea Heart-Breaking Loss, Reaches Champions League Final

Man United Pays £32M to End Tevez Saga

Posted: Jul 28th 2008 11:00AM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: English Premier League

0 COMMENTS
We're never really going to know who owned the player rights to Carlos Tevez when he arrived at West Ham United in 2006. The East London club insisted he was a fully registered player, while stories persisted that Media Sports Investments and their sleazebucket owner, Kia Joorabchian, still owned his economic rights, which would have been a violation of Premier League rules.

That's not the case anymore. The Guardian is reporting that Manchester United paid £32 million to make Tevez's loan from West Ham permanent, officially sweeping one of the most sordid stories in Premier League history under the rug.

That transfer fee is a record for an English club, eclipsing the £30M that Chelsea wasted on Andriy Shevchenko. Perhaps that cash was better spent on Tevez, who's only 24 and who scored 19 goals in 39 games last season. Some have suggested there are better potential strike partners for Wayne Rooney -- and Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly has a list -- but Rooney and Tevez played well together last season and could remain the Red Devils' first options up front for years to come.

Perhaps the only question now is whether the record fee for Tevez might hasten the sale of everyone's favorite brown-and-serve winger, Cristiano Ronaldo. Real Madrid, however, has reportedly given up on CR7 and is only thinking about Cesc. (UPDATE: Cesc isn't thinking about Madrid.)

Blatter: Cristiano Ronaldo Is a Slave to Man U

Posted: Jul 10th 2008 2:15PM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: European Soccer, International Soccer, English Premier League

3 COMMENTS
Could someone explain to me why FIFA president Sepp Blatter felt it was necessary to comment about the Cristiano Ronaldo situation? Doesn't he have bigger fish to fry, like overseeing South Africa's readiness for the 2010 World Cup, or rigging the next FIFA vote to make sure he's re-elected? Or are those small things when compared to ensuring that Ronaldo gets what he wants?

It's not just that he felt the need to say something, either. It's what he actually said:

"There's too much modern slavery, in transferring players or buying players. We are trying now to intervene in such cases. The reaction to the Bosman law is to make long-lasting contracts to keep the players, and then if he wants to leave there is only one solution, he has to pay his contract."

"Modern slavery." Is he serious?
Continue Reading Blatter: Cristiano Ronaldo Is a Slave to Man U

Is Scolari Wrecking Man United From Outside?

Posted: Jul 8th 2008 3:45PM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: Soccer, Premier League, European Soccer

0 COMMENTS
Do you get the sense that Chelsea's hiring of former Portugal boss Luiz Felipe Scolari was simply a move to cause turmoil in Old Trafford?

After all, it was Scolari who fanned the flames of the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer rumors. He would certainly be interested in seeing Chelsea's main rival for the Premier League crown lose its best player. Now it seems his replacement in Portugal is one of Man United's top coaches. Carlos Queiroz, who has been Sir Alex Ferguson's right-hand man for five of the past seven seasons, is set to replace Scolari as manager of the Portguese national team.

Ferguson and Queiroz have won three Premier League titles (2003, 2007 and 2008) together, and Queiroz played a vital role in improving Man United's defensive tactics in recent years. He was also going to be the man who would convince Ronaldo to stay at Old Trafford. Will his departure cause the Red Devils to slip in their quest for a third consecutive league title and a Champions League repeat?

Makes you wonder how many more dominoes Scolari can knock over, doesn't it?

Ronaldo Out Two Months After Ankle Surgery

Posted: Jul 7th 2008 4:00PM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: Soccer, Premier League

0 COMMENTS
While the transfer drama surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo rages on, only one thing is certain now -- the Premier League's top scorer last season won't be playing for anyone until September at the earliest.

The Manchester United (for now) winger underwent surgery on his right ankle today in Amsterdam and is expected to be out for up to two months. Doctors repaired damaged cartilage in the ankle, a result of one too many stepovers that ended with Ronaldo getting stepped on. He is expected to miss the FA Community Shield match against Portsmouth on August 11 and possibly the first few weeks of the Premier League season.

I suppose this will give Man United fans an idea of what life will be like without Ronaldo on the wing, even though the club is redoubling its efforts to convince Real Madrid to bugger off. Reports emerged today that the Red Devils are preparing a new contract for Ronaldo that will convince him to stay at Old Trafford a while -- which, according to his sister, is what he really wants. I suspect Nereida Gallardo, Ronaldo's Spanish model girlfriend, would say something completely different. She must not like the steak pies in Manchester as much as her boyfriend does.

Wayne Rooney Caught Smoking a Cigarette

Posted: Jun 28th 2008 2:30PM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: Soccer, Premier League

1 COMMENT
We've avoided going into detail about Wayne Rooney's recent million-pound wedding and blow-out bachelor party around here, mostly because it's not nearly as interesting as EURO 2008, and quite frankly, the visuals are horrifying.

This little tidbit, however, might have Manchester United concerned. The Daily Mirror recently published this photo showing Rooney appearing to have a lit cigarette in his hand.

Now, I won't go into a long rant about how alcohol and cigarettes don't spark the outrage that other drugs do. The issue here should be obvious. For a world class athlete who makes a living running around at breakneck pace for 90 minutes at least once a week, smoking just seems like a really, really bad idea. No Premier League player wants to do anything that would limit his lung capacity -- not if he wants to keep making those huge paychecks, anyway.

It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if, in the future, we'll end up talking about Rooney the same baseball fans talk about Mickey Mantle. "He was a great player. Too bad he never took care of himself."

(H/T: The Offside)

Man United Digs In for Fight to Keep Ronaldo

Posted: Jun 20th 2008 2:42PM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: Soccer, Premier League, European Soccer

0 COMMENTS
Now that Portugal is out of EURO 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo can go back to focusing on what's most important to him -- himself.

While Mr. Stop Drop and Roll continues to play up talk of his inevitable transfer to Real Madrid, his current employer, Manchester United, has decided to draw a line in the sand and declare that Ronaldo is not for sale at any price -- and if you believe that, I've got a Premier League club in Derbyshire I'd like to sell you.

Clearly, though, Sir Alex Ferguson wants to keep the young Portuguese around for at least another year, so he can chase after more trophies. If Ferguson didn't want Ronaldo on his side, he'd be gone by now. That's what happened to David Beckham, Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy, among others.

Plus, there are good reasons for Ronaldo to stay put. Nike recently signed Ronaldo to a £25million deal, which apparently involves a Air Jordan-esque clothing line. Should Ronaldo move to Real Madrid, which deals exclusively with adidas, he would risk losing all that cash -- assuming, of course, that adidas wouldn't fill that void.

I still say the economic reality of the Webster Rule makes this transfer inevitable, if not this summer then next summer. Man United won't risk losing him for a mere £12 million in 2010 if they can get £70 million for him before then. They can't sell £58 million worth of CR7 replica jerseys if everyone knows CR7 will be gone soon.

(H/T: Soccer By Ives)

2008-09 Premier League Schedule Keeps Spotlight Off Big Four

Posted: Jun 18th 2008 11:15AM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: Soccer, Premier League

0 COMMENTS
With all the excitement surrounding EURO 2008, it might have been easy to overlook the 2008-09 Premier League schedule, which was announced on Monday. You can see the full schedule here.

The most interesting thing about the coming season's schedule is that there are no "Super Sundays" that feature the Premier League's Big Four -- Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United -- playing against each other on the same day. Those marquee matches are spread fairly evenly throughout the schedule. Perhaps the Premier League is trying to distance itself from the notion that it's a top-heavy league where only four clubs have a legitimate shot at the title. I wish them lots of luck trying to convince people otherwise.

Our pals at The Guardian also note that Manchester United's September schedule is a little rough. The Red Devils face Liverpool at Anfield on September 13, then play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on September 20. In between those two games is their first Champions League group stage match. We should hear Sir Alex Ferguson whining about this any day now. "Waaaah! Defending two major championships shouldn't be this hard! Waaaaah!"

Of course, that assumes Ferguson doesn't follow through on his threat to bail on Man United if the club sells Cristiano Ronaldo. The offseason at Old Trafford gets more interesting every day, doesn't it?

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