Arsene Wenger Grabs Another Young One – Amaury Bischoff

Arsene said he would be getting a midfielder and he has. Amaury Bischoff will be coming over from Werder Bremen. I guess that he has kept an eye on him since January.

The 21 year old Frech born player actually has represented Portugal on their U-21 Team.

He has made only one first team appearance which brings us back to buying young talent to develop vs getting someone in there who’s going to get the job done right away.

If we continue to lose the veteran players and replace them with potential talent, we will always be one step behind ManU and Chelsea.

I can only hope that he makes at least another midfield purchase and maybe another striker. I think we have a good back four, but could always use a player that could step in if needed.

Bentley Closer to Joining Spurs?

For someone who made his way up through the Arsenal youth program I can see how David Bentley could ever consider the possibility of going to White Hart Lane and playing for Spurs. The 23 year old Blackburn player is asking to leave the club even though he extended his contract last year.

A few years back David Bentley was supposed to be the next David Beckham. Everyone saw him as the one with potential. I don’t think he ever reached that, but he has come along a good way.

Bentley left Arsenal because he couldn’t break in the starting XI and wanted to develop his career. First starting off on loan and then eventually going to Blackburn, Bentley really made an impact on the team and got his playing time. Now he’s also been select to the English team and seems to be coming into his own.

Too bad it’s Spurs, but they are in the process of losing Robbie Keane and Berbatov. So I guess they will need to spend some money to still suck this coming year. No matter what Spurs do, they will still suck.

In other news:

Fulham have completed the transfer of Rosenborg defender Fredrik Stoor. They are still waiting for the potential transfer of Andrew Johnson, but have collectively picked up eight signings this summer to really overhaul the club. Once known as team America, they will now have a mix of players.

Sunderland and Roy Keane are in the process of signing Spurs midfielder Steed Malbranque. He just completed his medical and could be on his way to good old Sunderland. Not much of a town, but great fans and close to Newcastle.

FIFA has ruled that Barcelona must release Lionel Messi to represent his country at the Olympics this year in China. Barca are saying that this is not an international match on the calendar, but FIFA does not agree. But Fifa said: "The judge determined that the international match calendar is not of relevance in establishing whether clubs are obliged to release players for the Men's Olympic Football Tournament." Messi wants to play for his country, but the club wants him for their Champions League qualifier in early August. So we will see what happends.

Also, Barca wouldn’t allow Ronaldinho to play in the Olympics, but AC Milan has given him approval to play for Brazil.

The US played Ivory Coast in a warm up match for the Olypics and played to a 0-0 draw. Brad Guzan had an amazing game to keep the score at 0 saving some good shots.

Getting a little Arsenal news in the picture. Cesc Fabregas has rejected all claims of exiting Arsenal. He says he is committed to the club. The reports that are the latest rumor are that if Arsenal don’t win a trophy this season, Cesc will make a bid to go to Real Madrid in 2009.

Just one more Arsenal story. William Gallas has admitted to making significant errors last season and has promised change if he is given the armband this year. "You know I learned a lot, you want to be the best captain, give good advice to your players, but sometimes you can make mistakes as well so I think this season I know what I'm going to do and I know I am ready to change my way to speak to the players." My thought is that they should take it from him and hand it over to the future of the club, Cesc. Cesc deserves the change to show that he is a true leader, even at his young age.

Burgenland XI 2-10 Arsenal -- and other random thoughts

Wilshere 1, 65 (pen), Bendtner 14, 19, 30, 37, Vela 25, 33, 52, Walcott 69. Not sure this means anything at all, but warms my heart anyway -- in particular very glad that Vela scored. (You may be saying, why is there a photo of Aaron Ramsey when he didn't score? Partly because I read the match report on the Daily Mail site and they got it wrong and partly because...he's cute!)

In other news, all sorts of reports today about how Fabregas does or doesn't want to move to Real Madrid. I was all upset until I read the statement Cesc/Arsenal put out in response to what I am sure was quite an uproar:

"I have not spoken to any media so it's frustrating to read quotes that I have supposedly said about my future.

I have spent the summer relaxing with my family, friends and girlfriend and I return to training with Arsenal tomorrow.

I think that some people are just trying to make mischief but my intentions are very clear. I am happy here at Arsenal, my future is with Arsenal and the priority is to achieve success and win trophies at Arsenal."

I love that kid. Dave, you have to name your baby Cesc. Seriously.

Gallas is also saying he made some mistakes and is "ready to change [his] way of speaking to players." Whatever the hell that means. I know I should like him, and I GUESS I do, but honestly, it's the way Republicans like McCain -- reluctantly, and because there is no alternative. But he's still better than Eboue.

Seems like Adebayor is officially not going anywhere. BUT WHO ARE WE SIGNING? The suspense is killing me.

That's it from this tired corner -- 19 more days!

Barton Released From Jail & Still Has a Job

This is a sad world we live in when you have a guy like Joey Barton who has repeatedly been in trouble for fighting, including knocking out a teammate, and he still has a job at Newcastle United. Barton was released after serving two months of a six month sentence. Barton was doing time at Strangeways Prison, interesting name, in Manchester.

Kevin Keegan has publically said that Barton still has a place on his team.

The other thing that makes me realize this guy is a complete tool and needs more than just psycological help is that he attacked a man on the streets of Liverpool and it was caught on CCTV. Everything in the UK is caught on CCTV, you can't walk on a public street without being watched. So why punch someone when you have no defense against a video of it.

So Newcastle United bought this guy in June of 2007 for £5.8 million and is on £40,000 a week. He was also selected to play for the English National Team after he had already assaulted his former teammate at Man City, Ousamane Dabo.

Barton was also accused of vandalizing a taxi cab, but was cleared of the charges. Now how many things do you think this guy has gotten away with in his career.

If I were the top players on Newcastle I would be protesting the thought of this animal being let back on the pitch. Teach him a lesson by taking away football and the large salary he gets. when he's selling cars in Newcastle he might realize what he did. That's going to happen, because he will be back at practice this week.

In Other News:

Robbie Keane is close to signing a deal with Liverpool that is said to be worth about £18 million. I just can't see him being worth that much, especially coming from Spurs. That alone is damaging to his reputation.

Fulham are on the verge of signing Andrew Johnson from Everton for £12 million. Looks like Everton need to free up some cash to buy Sporting Lisobon midfielder Joao Moutinho. So we will see if this goes through. I thought Fulham wanted to become team America, but have since dropped the number of Americans it has by two.

Portsmouth have sold midfielder Silley Muntari to Inter Milan for £12.7m, which is Jose Mourinho's second signing after getting Roma winger Mancini. So who will be next on the former Chelsea managerers list?

Arsene Wenger is looking for a new midfielder before the end of the transfer window. He has lost Gilberto, Hleb and Flamini this year and Lungberg last year. Alex Song is off to the Olympics for the start of the season and we made two signings, Nasri & Ramsey, but neither have proven anything yet. Hopefully they will be just what we need. So who will be that one signing we look for, please be someone of value, not of development.

Arsenal take on Burgenland XI today in their next friendly and Wednesday will take on VfB Stuttgart before the weekend Emirates cup against Juventus and Real Madrid. So these will all certainly be good test matches to the start of the season Saturday, August 16th. We do also have a Champions League qualifier on Tuesday, August 12th, which is the first match that really counts.

I thought this was an interesting rumor floating around, Henri to ManU. There;s just no way that this would happen. Plus he would be in Ronaldo's way if he played up on the left. So that's all for today.

Let's hope Arsenal have a good showing with the young guys today. Hope we some impressive play.

Only 20 more days!

Y A W N

There is nothing happening, anywhere.

Silence in the Footy World

There's nothing fun and exciting to report lately. Arsenal played a friendly in Austria and ended up 1-1. Most of the players player were the younger guys and reserve players. The big test will be some of the upcoming matches in Amsterdam and at Emirates.

Just in - Kolo Toure may potentially have contracted Malaria and could be sidelined for up to a month from Arsenal. Good thing it's the summer, but hope he recovers quickly.

Wenger says he will sign one or two more. I can only hope that he means experience players and not 17 year old future stars. We need people who can impact the team today not in 3 years.

The transfer market is going nowhere at the moment, so we will see what the next big move will be.

I heard David Bentley was being pursued by Spurs. I can't see a kid who came up through the Arsenal youth going to Spurs. It's just not right. I would hope he would refuse to play for them.

The MLS All-Star Team will take on West Ham in Toronto on Thursday night to a sold out Canadian crowd. I loved that South Park movie that beat down Canada - that was awesome! Still Toronto has a great fan base and they have been a great addition to the league. Now if Kansas City could get their new stadium build they might get a good fan base, but right now it's too hot to go see a match here.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has revealed the club are close to securing the services of French striker David N'Gog from Paris Saint-Germain. Guess they need to replace old Crouchy.

It's being reported that Frank Lampard is being offered £150,000 a week to remain at Chelsea. That's a lot of money for a guy to share time in the middle with Deco.

In Beach World Cup news - I know this is such an exciting sport. Brazil will face Russia and Argentina will play Spain as well as France against Italy and Portugal against Uraguay in the quarter finals. I didn't even know they were playing this. I guess I need to find out where I can watch this exciting sport.

That's it for now!

It's too f'ing hot to blog

It's been about 97 degrees and 97 percent humidity all weekend in New York. It's miserable, and I felt really bad for the Galaxy and Red Bull players -- apparently it was about 102 degrees on the pitch.

Anyway, random news this weekend, nothing big:

Arsenal won its first pre-season friendly against Barnet 2-1. I'm afraid I don't know who or where Barnet is, but hell, I'm glad we won.

Hleb is now really pissing me off, claiming that Cesc could follow him to Barcelona. The thought alone makes my heart stop.

Arsene Wenger has said that he wold sign "certainly" one, maybe two more players this summer. Who? Now that Gilberto has left we need someone by Cesc. I am liking he idea of Xabi Alonso, what do you think? I've always kind of liked him, and of course he and Cesc know how to play together.

Chelsea reportedly want to pay £80 million -- $160 million -- for Kaka. £80 million!! I love Kaka and would love to watch him play, but since they've already signed Deco, I'm not sure this makes sense. But oh yeah, right, it's Chelsea. So who knows.

L'affaire Ronaldo continues -- the thing is, I would love to watch him play every other weekend, BUT if he leaves ManUtd are about half as good, which is only good for us. Hmm. A conundrum.

The Adebayor saga also continues -- apparently he has returned to training, with Wenger saying he will be staying with Arsenal. I say, leave or stay, whatever, but for god's sake PICK ONE.

I'm watching the Arsenal-Chelsea game from last December on FSC right now -- Gallas just scored his header. The picture on the left, from this game, is one of favorites of all time. Watching has reminded me of Eboue -- forgot about him. You know what we should do?? Sell him and buy Arshavin. That would be so great.

Okay, off to the gym, later.

Hleb Leaves Arsenal For Barca & Gilberto to the Greeks

I used this horrible picture of Alexander Hleb, who looks like he's taking a shit, because he's a piece of shit. The 27 year old Belarussian has been at The Nou Camp for his physical this week and will be off to his new team for about £12 million.

The only think that is good about this deal as that Hleb and Rosicky never really seemed to work well together when on the field. Maybe this will show us what Rosicky is really made of this season.

We paid £11.2 million for the guy in 2005 so we at least will be breaking even on our investment unlike our past deals with Reyes and others. Hleb wants to leave because he doesn't like living in London and is "Mentally Tired". Come on you TWAT! You come from a freezing cold country that you have to boil your water and be careful that you don't step on old bombs - I made that up.

As you can see I'm not happy as Flamini has already left and Gilberto is about to sign a deal with Panathinaikos. So what does that leave us with to support our boy Cesc? Freddie left last year, so now we have a bunch of young guys again when we need some veteran players with big league experience.

We better sign someone besides a 21 year old French star. Keep your fingers crossed that with Ronaldinho going to AC Milan that maybe Adebayor will stay with us this coming season and we will see if he can keep putting in the one touch shots.

Michael Ballack gets married

...and not to me. Which might be a good thing -- what's with the shiny suit?

Thoughts on a Monday night after too much wine

Stupid Berbatov is going to ManUtd for something like £28 million. I hate the dude, but he is, unfortunately, good. Still, if Cristiano "Slave" Ronaldo leaves that's still a net loss, so that's something.

Roma wants Julio Baptista! Why this guy couldn't find the net for us, ever, is a mystery. He was so bad I kept thinking he was PAID to miss - like by the mafia. Seriously. Him and Aliadiere.

Meanwhile Arshavin is "desperate" for Arsenal, so the question is why he's back on the Zenit squad. I like this guy in spite of his degree - sorry, "degree" - in fashion design. Can we just suck it up and get him, please? Him, a striker to replace Ade, a holding midfielder and a central defender. And Robin and Rosicky to stay healthy for the whole season. Then we should be okay.

I'm no longer a huge fan, but agree that Ronaldinho shouldn't join ManCity, but mostly because it's MAN CITY and is owned by a corrupt and perhaps felonous (is that a word?) former leader of Thailand, and I can't f'ing stand him and his pudgy face (sorry, it's true) and his sunglassed wife. Ro would be better off working for a corrupt and perhaps felonous CURRENT head of government - Berlusconi - in Milan. At least he'd have Kaka.

Dave, everything looks good on Cesc.

Everton has some new reality show on FSC: "Soccer Dreams," the search for the next Everton player. Could be good, but will probably suck.

Shona got a new flatscreen TV and will be getting Setanta, Gol TV and FSC. She is excited.

(Posting from my BlackBerry, so let's hope this works.)

UPDATE: Shona's super just called and she can't get Direct TV. She is pissed.

Nigel Winterburn Joins Blackburn Coaching Staff & Other News

Former Arsenal player Nigel Winterburn joins Paul Ince as the new defensive coach for Blackburn Rovers. Winterburn was part of the back four that made up the boring boring Arsenal teams that won the league in 1989, 1991 and 1998.

Winterburn later went on to play with West Ham and retired in 2003 when the team was relagated. He will always be one of the Arsenal classics.

Ronaldinho will decide his fate in the next 72 hours making a decision to either stay with Barca or move on to another club. Man City are one of the clubs hoping to get him, but AC Milan is also in the running. As I've said, I really don't think that he would do well in the EPL and will end up in Italy. We will see.

Arsenal announce the new away kit for the 08/09 season. It's based on the kit from the famous Anfield 89 match. If you aren't familiar with that one, you need to purchase the DVD or the highlights of Arsenals greatest goals to really understand. You could just watch the version of Fever Pitch with Colin Firth as well and you would know the story.

Anyway, here's what the new kit looks like and as Shona would say - It's going to look great on Cesc.

In other Arsenal news, the club as increased the season ticket prices 4.5%. After a four-year price freeze, the cost of the cheapest ticket has risen from £885 to £925 for next season. Arsenal's tickets are £275 more expensive than the next highest club, Liverpool. The one thing that they say is that they do include Champions League and League Cup Tickets as part of the price. Well, what if they were out in the first round of everything? Who benefits then? Actually no one since there's alot of lost revenue. Still the increase will hurt the pocketbook for some. To me it's still worth every dime, but then again, I'm not a season ticket holder.

So the coming weeks will tell what will hapen and who will go to what club.

The other big mystery is will Brett Favre come out of retirement and will he stay with the Packers. He should have just retired and left it alone, because now he's going to piss a lot of people off. If he does come out of retirement, I do hope he stays a Packer and starts.

Blatter Should Shut His Mouth!

Here we go again. Christiano Ronaldo had earlier stated that it would be his dream to play for Real Madrid. ManU have stated that they will not even consider it.

So now Sepp Blatter has to stick his big fat head in the middle of it saying that it's not right for ManU to keep hold of Ronaldo if he wants to leave. Blatter was quoted as saying, "I think in football there's too much modern slavery in transferring players or buying players here and there, and putting them somewhere. "

I think he's missing the point of why these people sign contracts and pay other clubs large dollar amounts for these players. ManU bought and developed Ronaldo to the player he is today. So now they are supposed to let him walk because his dream is to play for Real Madrid.

What the little twat needs to do is play out the years left on his contract, if that's what ManU want. Then he can go where ever he wants after that. If ManU want to take advantage of getting a high dollar amount for him, then they should sell him. If they want to keep the player who scored 42 goals and helped them win the EPL and the Champions League, they have every right to.

So Sepp Blatter, piss off and keep your mouth shut.

It's Fabregas Week!

It's always Fabregas week in Shona-land, but this week Cesc is highlighted on Arsenal.com. Check it out, there are clips and everything.

Oh, just leave already

I've never been a big Hleb fan. A bit too much Skeletor for me. But while I don't think he's always a key player for us, I never wanted him to leave. And then this morning, over my Starbucks, I read this:

Hleb on Wenger: “My view of how I should be playing didn’t coincide with the manager’s...I told him last season I wanted to leave and think he was quite upset about it...But ask him. It may turn out he’s happy to see me go."

Hleb on Cesc: "With scoring opportunities he's more selfish than I am. Given the chance to shoot he always goes for it - unlike me."

WHAT. I know he and Cesc are friends, and that English isn't his first language, so I don't think he meant to say that Cesc was greedy, but still. Frankly, I'm having a hard time believing Barça want him -- he's just not that good -- but whatever. All I know is I don't.

And then tonight, I hear that AC Milan vice president Adriano Galliani says Arsenal is ready to sell Ade. "I will reveal to you a scoop," Galliani told [the program Antenna 3]. "I have received a letter from Arsenal that says, 'Following our communication of June 13, in which we informed you we were not willing to deal over Adebayor, now we are writing to tell you that we will consider a deal if it still interests you.'"

Again, I also don't want Ade to leave, but honestly, let's just rip the band-aid off. This neverending back and forth demeans all of us.

I really, really hope we resolve both these situations this week. And then buy Arshavin, Senna and Villa. A girl can dream...

Today's News in the Footy World 07/07/2008

Russia forward Andrei Arshavin has told the press that he is not interested in playing for either Arsenal or Chelsea. He wants to play for Barcalona. So the big question now is will he get his wish or will Arsenal buy him anyways.

Come on the guy is used to cold wet weather, why go play in the beautiful tropical settings of Barca when you can spend cold wet winters playing for Arsenal. It would be like being at home.

Arshavin is said to be on the market for about £20 million. So we sell Ade to either AC Milan or Barca and take this guy if he would come. That's what I would do. As much as I want to keep Ade, I don't see it happening.

Inter Milan and good old Jose Mourinho are in talks with purchasing 30 year old English midfielder Frank Lampard from Chelsea. Lampard has made it known that he wants to leave the club and with only one year left on his contract, Chelsea would be wise to sell him now or he will walk for free next year. Lampard came to Chelsea from West Ham, where he started his career. Now he looks to move on to play for former coach Mourinho at Inter Milan. Chelsea recently made a deal to pick up Deco from Barca, so this will be a challenge to Lampard's playing time.

AC Milan are looking to stir it up. They are trying to buy either Adebayor from Arsenal or Didier Drogba from Chelsea. Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said in June that Adebayor was his club's "sole transfer target" of the summer, although he later said hecould not afford the TArsenal striker. Barca came out in the news on Friday and said they were close to making a deal with Arsenal. Didier Drogba has also been linked to moves to AC Milan, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Barca. So the question is where will either of these guys bee this year. Time will tell.

Christiano Ronaldo is still up in the air at the moment. He says he wants to leave to play for Real Madrid, but Manchester United are not willing to sell him. ManU and Real Madrid have always had a good releationship, so if ManU wants to keep him, Real will walk. The big question is if Ronaldo wants to stay and I think it could go either way for him. I hope he leave for Real Madrid.

Kaka is linked to a move from AC Milan to Chelsea, but at the moment it's all up in the air and nothing more has been said or done. We will see if this will happen. I believe Kaka will leave AC Milan this summer, but where will he go. I don't think that the EPL is the best place for a Brazilian player. Either another club in Italy or one in Spain would be a better fit.

Ronaldinho has rejected an offer to go play with Jo at Manchester City. Man City is looking to buy some new players this summer and they are setting out for the big boys. The problem is, who would ever want to play at Man City when you could play anywhere in the world, that is, except in Barcelona. My guess is Ronaldinho will end up in Italy or potentially at Chelsea even though it would be a bad move.

So that's the latest for today. I will be travelling for the next few days so stay tuned for latest later in the week.

Arsenal Friendlies - Starting July 19th

Arsenal will be starting off the pre-season with a bunch of tough matches to get ready for the season. After the Barnet match that takes place every year, there is some tough comepition. They must have negotiated a ma match in the transfer of Jens to play Stuttgart, then on to Real Madrid and Juve. Keeping it tough they will also be playing Ajax and Sevilla in Amesterdam.

So we will not be seeing Arsenal in the United States, but the pre-season looks to be a good one and should really help us see how our players are performing.

Champions League qualifying will begib Tuesday, August 12th and the EPL begins Saturday, August 16th.

Pre-Season Schedule:
*July 19th Sat Away - Barnet 3pm
*July 22nd Tue A Szombathelyi H. 6.30pm CET
*July 28th Mon Away Burgenland XI 6.30pm CET
*July 30th Wed Away VfB Stuttgart
Emirates Cup:
August 2nd Sat Home Juventus 4.15pm
August 3rd Sun Home Real Madrid 4.15pm
*August 6th Wed Away Huddersfield 7pm
Amsterdam Tournement:
August 8th Fri Away Ajax 8.15pm
August 9th Sat Away Sevilla 6pm
* Available on ATVO Video

Also - you can buy that new kit that CESC is wearing on http://www.arsenal.com/ link to the store.

Arshavin to Arsenal?

So...in some good transfer news, according to the Telegraph Arsenal lead the "race" to sign Andrei Arshavin after Chelsea withdrew their interest, post-Deco (who, by the way, I love. It's going to be painful seeing him in blue this season).

Arshavin wants a contract of £6.3 million/year, and current club Zenit are asking for at least a £20 million transfer fee, which I can't imagine Wenger will agree to. According to the story, the director general of Zenit, Maxim Mitrofanov, confirmed that there has been only one firm bid for Arshavin, a £12.5 m offer from Barcelona. Is he worth more? Er, no. One good Euro showing does not a great player make, as Yoda might say.

Still, he IS good, and his style would fit right in chez Arsenal (so would the rest of the Russian team's, actually. Maybe we should consider Zhirkov and Pavlyuchenko). On the other hand, with Nasri having allegedly signed, I might argue that we need a central defender AND a holding midfielder more.

"Several potential buyers are involved as clubs sell their players," his agent said. "Arshavin's future may be dependent on conversations about Hleb, Adebayor, Cristiano Ronaldo and others." Yup, exactly. So we'll see.

That said, here's the best part of the story: 'Arshavin has his heart set on a move to London because he believes it will be more valuable for his children to learn English than Spanish... A source close to the Russia playmaker explained that Arshavin, who values education sufficiently to have completed a university diploma in fashion design, is keen for his two-year-old son, Artyom, and his three-month-old daughter Yulia, to experience life in Britain.'

HAHA. Putting aside the fact that you can, in fact, learn English in Spain, let's all savor the 'university diploma in fashion design' bit. HAHA.

Footy News Brief

Ronaldo will undergo ankle surgery and be out for at least 6 weeks missing the start of the EPL campaign. At least that's what's being said. Other say it's all about him leaving for Real Madrid, but honestly I think he will stay.

Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins admits he would be forced to consider his future at St James' Park should Arsenal make a move to sign him. "Arsenal is a big club that everyone wants to play for. I am thrilled and it will be nice to play for such a team," the 23-year-old said. So the big question is will Ade leave or is it all bullshit. We will see in the coming weeks.

Chelsea claim they are no longer interested in signing Russian star Andrei Arshavin. After signing Deco they seem to have lost interest.

Palmeiras goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri looks to be signing a contract Liverpool. The 25 year old keeper was authorized by his club to meet with Liverpool.

Galatasary have signed Liverpools Harry Kewell and are looking to signed West Ham's captain Lucas Neil. Looks like Galatasary are looking to buy up some EPL players to strengthen the team.

Gareth Barry is getting closer to a move from Aston Villa to Liverpool. They are still in the process of working out the details and negotiating the price. In the mean time Barry is not allowed to train with Villa.

Not much else to report today.

Barty Crouch moves to Portsmouth

Eh, who cares, really. Bobby McMahon on FSC thinks Barty is mediocre at best, which is probably mostly true, but still a little harsh. I honestly have no opinion about this -- writing this because I am in Wisconsin and bored. I can't remember who Liverpool's non-Torres striker(s) is, though. Better not be Villa.

A new number 14

This isn't news any more, but worth mentioning anyway -- starting this season, Theo Walcott will be wearing the number 14 jersey. Which is sad. I almost wish they had retired the jersey, more or less like France have with the number 10. Still, if Theo even half-way lives up to his predecesor, we should be in for quite a season.

Is Adebayor Worth £35 Million? Would You Sell Him?

AC Milan had shown interest in Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor until they saw the price tage of £35.8 million. Then they ran for the grape vineyards. So my question is if he's worth that and someone is willing to pay it, should Arsenal sell him?

Adebayor was condidered to be Milan's main target this year, but I had heard on FSC last night that Ronaldinho is about 90% certain to be their main target.

Adebayor was named BBC's African player of the year. The funny thing about that is that he has always been at odds with the coach of the Togo National Team and has even walked off the team in the past. Still with 30 goals last season, mainly because RvP was hurt, he did lead the team and really was one of the most consistant players.

He has a good attitude and seems to want to stay and player for Arsenal. He was quoted as saying "I was born in Togo so I never cared about playing for money, my happiness was to play to enjoy myself. That's what I've been doing until now. "You can see people changing clubs because of money, because they want a change of atmosphere or to get their names in the big leagues. I just play football to enjoy myself. I play because I love it."

He also said "The most important thing for me is to keep on enjoying my football. I'm staying at Arsenal." So now the question is more about does Arsenal want him or £35 million.

It's a tough decision for a club. Honestly, if he continues to play well and is happy, they should keep in under contract and ignore all the offers. Even as outrageous as they seem to be right now.

I might feel different about that if I know that Arsene Wenger was going to go out and buy another top quality performer with the money. He's more than likely going to take that money and buy three to four younger players and develop them. We don't need to develop players, we need players who can play and contribute now.

Jens is gone, Flamini is gone and I wish Gallas would go or start to play better. So there's still almost 2 months to get a few players, so we need to work it now. Actually we may have picked someone up, I'm just a little behind on the news right now.

£35 Million, I say keep him and let's see if he can have a season that shows he's worth every bit of that. With Cesc feeding him balls in the middle, he might be. We just need to find Cesc's counterpart in the mid.

UPDATE: Adebayor gets go-ahead for Barcelona move. More to come.

Here We Go Again - Americans Buying EPL Teams

There have been informal discussions about the potential takeover of Newcastle United by American Investors.

Representatives of Muke Ashley, the current owner have been meeting with New York based private equity fund InterMedia Partners.

The price is said to be aproximately £420 million. This is about £286 million more than Ashley paid for the club a year ago. Could you imagine the amount of money this guy is about to make in one year on a half-assed club like Newcastle United. Sure they have Michael Owen and Blondie from Man U - Alan Smith, but they haven't been able to put together a decent team in years.

Personally I think it's insane that an American investment group would pay anywhere near that amount for a failing club. Now buying Arsenal would be something else. Actually I hope that Arsenal stays in it's current hands.

I'm not sure all the current clubs around the world that are owned by Americans, but it seems to be a trend for Americans to buy clubs outside the US. Maybe what they should start thinking about is how can they build good clubs in the US that are profitable and have top named players as well as youth organizations that will help develop young talent to be the stars of the future.

We always seem to be two steps behind. We have always had a handful of good American players, that all play in Europe. We have never had enough good players to compete with Germany, France, Italy or Spain. That's where we need to be, but with baseball always lurking and never going away it will be a challenge to keep kids in the sport after they reach the age of 12. I can tell you all the bous in my Smallville, KS suburban neigborhood of Metropolis all chose to play baseball over soccer. That needs to change.

Couple of Interesting Coaching Moves

FFF president Jean-Pierre Escalettes has made the decision to keep current French coach Raymond Domenech throught the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Domenech's team had one of the poorest showings of the tournement. They may have been in the group of death, but to score only one goal and out in three. I would have thought that they would have sent him packing.

So the big question now is will Domenech bring in some young talent or continue to play with the old guys. I certainly would hope that he would give Gael Clichy a shot for the left spot as he was the best in the EPL in that position this year. I also would say it might be time for Thierry Henry and others to hang up the boots.

In other coaching news Jose Mourinho will be moving on to Inter Milan as the new head coach. They were the champions last year, so it's not like he's jumping into a team that needs help. Plus he has former Arsenal player Flamini playing for him now, that certainly means more championships. Looks like Hernan Crespo will be staying with the club now that he has been released by Chelsea.

Chelsea's new head coach will be former Brazilian & Portugal coach Felipe Scolari. Scolari has already brought Deco over to Chelsea and will probably make numerous other changes to attempt to get a championship of some sort. It's been a few years since they won the league and they lost in the CL Finals. Close, but no cigar - can Scolari help this team or will he be destroyed by the Russian Dictator?

So a few changes in coaching over the summer and one who should be happy he still has a job. I don't wish luck to any of them - I only wish Arsene all my luck. Martin O'Neil will be back to Villa, Rafael Benitez will be back with Liverpool, Sir Alex Red Nose will be back with ManU as well as many others. So now we wait to see who buys good players this year.

Jo to Man City for £18 Million

Man City complete their record signing picking up Brazilian striker Jo for some crazy amount like £18 million.

Mark Hughes has just become the new manager of Man City less than a month ago and he's going big and maybe going broke. I think it's a good signing for the club, but based on their performance of the past, let's see what he can do for them.

Jo came from CSKA Moscow where he helped them win four trophies in the 3 years he spent with them. The 6ft 3in forward who's full name is Joao Alves de Assis Silva scored 44 goals in the 77 games he played.

Let's see what magic the Brazillian star will bring. I honestly have never seen him play and look forward to having the Arsenal back four eat him up.

They have also been writing a lot in the press lately that Jo is trying to get Ronaldinho to come play with him. That, I really can't see happening.

So Man City started off strong last year only to finish in 9th place with 55 points and a -8 goal differential. Maybe there will be some change under Hughes this year.

Tune in to see who will be the next big signing in the EPL. Actually in any league.

Top 10 reasons we love Cesc

10. see Russia v Spain, Euro 2008
9. His non-Wayne Rooney-esqeness
8. He's kind of cute (sorry Dave)
7. see minute 120, Spain v Italy, Euro 2008
6. His humility
5. His age: at 21, he's just getting started
4. His intelligence, on and off the ball
3. He says stuff like this: "[Spain's victory] was also for the Arsenal fans that have been suffering a lot this year. For them, at least one player has won something. It is for them.”
2. His grace, on and off the ball, on and off the pitch
1. And above all, his game

I have to stop saying this but oy, it's been way too long

To the three people (if we're lucky, thanks Melissa) who read this -- we're back (again)! Euro 2008 has inspired me to continue sharing my not-so-prescient thoughts on soccer -- er, football. And just in time for the start of the pre-season.

So here we go.