Thursday's B*ll*x

[Chinners]

City must pay £43m to bring Benfica's Luiz to Manchester
New Portuguese champions will fight hard to keep their hugely promising Brazilian defender for one more year
Manchester City will need to pay €50m (£43m) if they are to bring the Benfica defender David Luiz to Eastlands, a huge investment in a player who is as yet uncapped by Brazil and who will take a lot of persuading to give up the prospect of Champions League football next season.
Luiz's potential has led to a number of clubs, including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich monitoring his progress, though the Benfica president, Luis Filipe Vieira, declared this week that only one of his title-winning squad – Oscar Cardozo – will be allowed to leave the Estadio da Luz for less than the value of their release clause. Luiz, 23, contracted until 2014, has a £43m release clause.
City manager Roberto Mancini's interest is understandable, given the widely held view that Luiz, who turned down the opportunity to join Real Madrid to play for their second team a year before arriving at Benfica in 2007, is the best defender Portugal has seen in 20 years. Real's interest may be revived if Jose Mourinho arrives at the Bernabeu this summer given that Luiz, like many of the Benfica side, shares an agent – Jorge Mendes – with Mourinho.
City certainly have the greater buying power now, though Luiz is deeply attached to Benfica and the club's fans – he is the one player who runs across to applaud the supporters after every game – and sources in Portugal believe Vieira may try to persuade the player to stay for one more year and leave next summer, possibly a Brazil international by then and hence more valuable. Benfica may not be in need of the money which the sale of Luiz brings in, if Cardozo and Angel di Maria, their brilliant left winger, both depart this summer. Real are considering Di Maria's £40m buy-out clause, and selling the two players may bring in a total of £50m for the newly-crowned Portuguese champions.
Talks between City and Benfica on Luiz are some way off, with Vieira, his manager Rui Costa and the player all currently in the United States for Benfica's end-of-season tour. Vieira, who handles transfer business at the Lisbon club, will then holiday in Timor. But City, who also anticipate a drawn-out pursuit of Aston Villa's James Milner, badly need a player of Luiz's versatility after the poor seasons defenders Kolo Touré and Wayne Bridge have just had. Though the Brazilian, signed from Vitoria in 2007, has played mostly at left-back for Benfica this season, his more natural position is in central defence where his fine technical ability gives him the ability to advance into attacking positions with the ball and distribute well. He is also known for his aerial ability at corners.
The Portuguese media have been astonished by Dunga's unwillingness to select Luiz for Brazil but his rate of development suggests that he has the potential to become one of the best central defenders in the world. Luiz would certainly offer a foil to Jerome Boateng, who is more of a stopper, if the German defender's expected £11m move from Hamburg is completed. But he would be equally useful to Mancini as a full-back, given that Boateng, Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott could meet City's requirements in central defence.
Martin Petrov, who is out of contract at City, is very likely to leave this summer though the future of Sylvinho, who is in the same position, is less clear.
Meanwhile, Gianluigi Buffon's agent has dismissed suggestions that the player might be leaving Juventus, with both City and Manchester United having been linked with the Italy goalkeeper. Silvano Martina said: "Considering the ongoing reports, I want to remind everyone that Buffon is under contract with Juve and that next season he will play at Juve. When he was asked hypothetically where he would want to play if he left Juve, he always said his first choice would be England, but there is nothing else."

Manchester City to offer Patrick Vieira new deal until the end of next season
Manchester City are expected to offer a 12-month contract extension to Patrick Vieira to keep him at Eastlands until the end of next season.
Vieira, 33, arrived on a free transfer in January on a six-month deal and although he started just eight games, manager Roberto Mancini was impressed by his form towards the end of the season.
Talks between Vieira and Garry Cook, City’s chief executive, have not yet begun but the player is settled in Manchester. Although he missed out on one of his principal objectives when moving to Eastlands — a place in France’s World Cup squad — it is thought he may be prepared to take a further reduction in his wages to ensure he remains at the club.
Tévez can 'be best player in the world' He may be joined at Manchester City by Yoann Gourcuff, the Bordeaux attacking midfielder who is a central figure in France coach Raymond Domenech’s plans this summer.
Gourcuff has impressed at the Stade Chaban-Delmas since returning to his homeland after an unhappy spell at AC Milan, helping Laurent Blanc’s team to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
City may have to spend as much as £21million to land the 23 year-old.
Meanwhile, City are thought to be among the clubs interested in signing Everton’s Mikel Arteta.
The Spanish midfielder’s agent, Inaki Ibanez, insisted on Wednesday that his client is happy at Goodison Park amid suggestions he may be targeted as a replacement for Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal. Everton are determined to resist any attempts to poach one of the club’s key assets.
Relations between Everton and City remain strained after Joleon Lescott’s transfer last summer, as well as the touchline clash between David Moyes and Mancini when the two sides met in the Premier League in March.

TRANSFER BOLLOX
Barcelona are preparing to launch a £70m bid for Liverpool's Fernando Torres after signing David Villa, his strike partner in Spain's national side, from Valencia. Daily Mirror

However, the Catalan side's hopes of luring Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal to the Nou Camp could be hit by Yaya Toure's reluctance to move in the opposite direction. The Ivory Coast midfielder is said to be attracting the interest of Manchester City. Daily Mail

Barca have decided they will not pay more than £30m for Fabregas, which could also put the deal at risk. Daily Star

Arsenal are looking for £80m before they allow their talismanic skipper to return to his former club. Daily Mail

Gunners manager Arsene Wenger is actually hopeful of persuading midfielder Fabregas to stay for one more season. Daily Mirror

However, should Fabregas leave, Arsenal can forget plans to replace him with Mikel Arteta, according to the Everton midfielder's agent. Manchester United have also been linked with a move for Arteta. the Sun

Manchester United are planning a £15m bid for Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell despite Toffees boss David Moyes saying the 19-year-old is not for sale. the Sun

Merseyside rivals Everton and Liverpool are competing to sign £11m-rated Ajax centre-back Jan Vertonghen. Daily Mirror

Sunderland manager Steve Bruce is planning a major spending spree after being told he has "an open chequebook". the Sun

Birmingham City are considering a £2.5m bid for Fulham full-back Paul Konchesky. Daily Mail

The Blues have also joined the race for Burnley striker Steven Fletcher as their hopes of landing Fulham's Bobby Zamora fade. Daily Mirror

West Brom are poised to sign Hull star Stephen Hunt - even though he won't be fit for the start of next season. The Baggies have agreed a £4m fee for the Republic of Ireland winger, rising to £5.5m if Roberto di Matteo's men stay in the Premier League. Daily Star

The Baggies are also set to make a £2m move for Stoke striker James Beattie. the Sun

WAG OF THE DAY
http://www.maxim.co.uk/girls/celebrity/ ... _peek.html

OTHER BOLLOX
Inter Milan have denied they have made an approach for Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez to replace Real Madrid-bound Jose Mourinho. the Sun

Benitez says he wants a further four years at Anfield and also feels there is no evidence that star striker Fernando Torres wants to leave the club. the Times

Manchester United failed in a last-ditch attempt to sign Spain international striker David Villa, who joined Barcelona for £34m. Mirror

The Red Knights consortium's hopes of taking over United from the Glazer family looks set to fail because of internal wranglings. Guardian

Dutch champions FC Twente want Portsmouth manager Avram Grant to replace Steve McClaren, who has left to manage German side Wolfsburg. However, Grant is being linked with the vacant post at West Ham. Daily Star

Grant will be unveiled as the Hammers new manager next month. the Sun

Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba believes he can finish as the World Cup's top scorer. Daily Star

England World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks believes Fabio Capello should use David James as his number one goalkeeper for the World Cup. the Guardian

England midfielder Steven Gerrard says team-mate Joe Cole is just as good as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo - in training. Daily Mirror

If you fancy owning the shirt worn by England's World Cup winning hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst, pop down to Harrods where it is set to go on sale on Friday. Hurst no longer owns the number 10 shirt he made history in at the 1966 World Cup final. The price tag? Only £2m...plus VAT! (Daily Express)

[btajim]

Manchester City to offer Patrick Vieira new deal until the end of next season

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

[Robert]

I actually quite like vieira

[Dameerto]

I hope he's taking a serious hit to his weekly wages to stay on

[craigmcfc]

Gary Lineker is one lucky man

[mr_nool]

Gary Lineker is one lucky man

Can't believe someone with his ears could bag a bird like that!

[Chinners]

EXTRA JUG EARS BOLLOX

LINEKER QUITS MAIL COLUMN
Gary Lineker has quit his column for The Mail On Sunday in protest over their 'expose' of Lord Triesman.
The paper reportedly paid £75,000 to Melissa Jacobs for a recording of Triesman, in which he speculated that the Russian and Spanish bid teams for the 2018 World Cup may collude to bribe referees in South Africa this summer.
Triesman was forced to resign from as chairman of both the FA and the England 2018 bid team, and Match Of The Day presenter Lineker is not impressed with his other (now former) employers.
In announcing his decision to quit, Lineker, who has written for the paper for six months, said: "The story itself, the circumstances surrounding it and the actions of the Mail on Sunday in publishing it have undermined the bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2018.
"I wholeheartedly support the bid, because I believe that hosting the tournament would be brilliant for the country, and I am an official ambassador for it. I have therefore taken the view that I cannot continue as a columnist for the Mail on Sunday."
Lineker's agent Jon Holmes had further criticism for the paper, believing it to be a honey-trap with little or no public interest.
"The story showed crass judgment," Holmes said.
"It had dubious journalistic merit, was clearly obtained by entrapment, and was timed to do the maximum damage to the World Cup bid, which Gary and all football fans in this country passionately support. We wanted to make our position clear and to do all we can now to help persuade Fifa that England is the best country to host a great World Cup in 2018."

The Guardian reports that The Mail has further comments recorded by Jacobs, but is yet to decide whether to run them this weekend

[irblinx]

EXTRA JUG EARS BOLLOX

LINEKER QUITS MAIL COLUMN
Gary Lineker has quit his column for The Mail On Sunday in protest over their 'expose' of Lord Triesman.
The paper reportedly paid £75,000 to Melissa Jacobs for a recording of Triesman, in which he speculated that the Russian and Spanish bid teams for the 2018 World Cup may collude to bribe referees in South Africa this summer.
Triesman was forced to resign from as chairman of both the FA and the England 2018 bid team, and Match Of The Day presenter Lineker is not impressed with his other (now former) employers.
In announcing his decision to quit, Lineker, who has written for the paper for six months, said: "The story itself, the circumstances surrounding it and the actions of the Mail on Sunday in publishing it have undermined the bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2018.
"I wholeheartedly support the bid, because I believe that hosting the tournament would be brilliant for the country, and I am an official ambassador for it. I have therefore taken the view that I cannot continue as a columnist for the Mail on Sunday."
Lineker's agent Jon Holmes had further criticism for the paper, believing it to be a honey-trap with little or no public interest.
"The story showed crass judgment," Holmes said.
"It had dubious journalistic merit, was clearly obtained by entrapment, and was timed to do the maximum damage to the World Cup bid, which Gary and all football fans in this country passionately support. We wanted to make our position clear and to do all we can now to help persuade Fifa that England is the best country to host a great World Cup in 2018."

The Guardian reports that The Mail has further comments recorded by Jacobs, but is yet to decide whether to run them this weekend

Fair play to him, absolute fucking disgrace that one of our newspapers should be involved in what will obviously be a big setback to our campaign to host the WC, every right minded football phone should boycott the rag

[Nickyboy]

EXTRA JUG EARS BOLLOX

LINEKER QUITS MAIL COLUMN
Gary Lineker has quit his column for The Mail On Sunday in protest over their 'expose' of Lord Triesman.
The paper reportedly paid £75,000 to Melissa Jacobs for a recording of Triesman, in which he speculated that the Russian and Spanish bid teams for the 2018 World Cup may collude to bribe referees in South Africa this summer.
Triesman was forced to resign from as chairman of both the FA and the England 2018 bid team, and Match Of The Day presenter Lineker is not impressed with his other (now former) employers.
In announcing his decision to quit, Lineker, who has written for the paper for six months, said: "The story itself, the circumstances surrounding it and the actions of the Mail on Sunday in publishing it have undermined the bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2018.
"I wholeheartedly support the bid, because I believe that hosting the tournament would be brilliant for the country, and I am an official ambassador for it. I have therefore taken the view that I cannot continue as a columnist for the Mail on Sunday."
Lineker's agent Jon Holmes had further criticism for the paper, believing it to be a honey-trap with little or no public interest.
"The story showed crass judgment," Holmes said.
"It had dubious journalistic merit, was clearly obtained by entrapment, and was timed to do the maximum damage to the World Cup bid, which Gary and all football fans in this country passionately support. We wanted to make our position clear and to do all we can now to help persuade Fifa that England is the best country to host a great World Cup in 2018."

The Guardian reports that The Mail has further comments recorded by Jacobs, but is yet to decide whether to run them this weekend

Fair play to him.....

[btajim]

I actually quite like vieira

Why? He's injury prone, he's slow and he was brought in to fill a position that already had several able men to fill it. Besides, he wanted to get back in to the French Squad yet he even messed that one up!

The Milner bid seems to be dividing people which means only Adam "signed by Brian Marwood" Johnson is the only solid signing that's been made since Mancini arrived.

[craigmcfc]

EXTRA JUG EARS BOLLOX

LINEKER QUITS MAIL COLUMN
Gary Lineker has quit his column for The Mail On Sunday in protest over their 'expose' of Lord Triesman.
The paper reportedly paid £75,000 to Melissa Jacobs for a recording of Triesman, in which he speculated that the Russian and Spanish bid teams for the 2018 World Cup may collude to bribe referees in South Africa this summer.
Triesman was forced to resign from as chairman of both the FA and the England 2018 bid team, and Match Of The Day presenter Lineker is not impressed with his other (now former) employers.
In announcing his decision to quit, Lineker, who has written for the paper for six months, said: "The story itself, the circumstances surrounding it and the actions of the Mail on Sunday in publishing it have undermined the bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2018.
"I wholeheartedly support the bid, because I believe that hosting the tournament would be brilliant for the country, and I am an official ambassador for it. I have therefore taken the view that I cannot continue as a columnist for the Mail on Sunday."
Lineker's agent Jon Holmes had further criticism for the paper, believing it to be a honey-trap with little or no public interest.
"The story showed crass judgment," Holmes said.
"It had dubious journalistic merit, was clearly obtained by entrapment, and was timed to do the maximum damage to the World Cup bid, which Gary and all football fans in this country passionately support. We wanted to make our position clear and to do all we can now to help persuade Fifa that England is the best country to host a great World Cup in 2018."

The Guardian reports that The Mail has further comments recorded by Jacobs, but is yet to decide whether to run them this weekend

Fair play to him, absolute fucking disgrace that one of our newspapers should be involved in what will obviously be a big setback to our campaign to host the WC, every right minded football phone should boycott the rag

Exactly my thoughts, appalling error in judgement by all those involved at the Mail on Sunday including the editor who allowed it to go ahead. They should be ashamed and deserve to lose a hell of a lot of their regular readers

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I actually quite like vieira

Why? He's injury prone, he's slow and he was brought in to fill a position that already had several able men to fill it. Besides, he wanted to get back in to the French Squad yet he even messed that one up!

The Milner bid seems to be dividing people which means only Adam "signed by Brian Marwood" Johnson is the only solid signing that's been made since Mancini arrived.

Only solid signing out of the two signings made?

[Renato_CTID]

http://sport.sky.it/sport/calciomercato ... lioni.html

Italian Sky understands that Barca will sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic for not less than 45 ml £. Mancini is obviously the favourite to sign his ex Inter striker!

[Florida Blue]

Manchester City to offer Patrick Vieira new deal until the end of next season

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

I don't see the problem, let him play in the early rounds of the domestic cup and Europa, where his experience will more than compensate for skill drop. We do not have a lot of players with the expereince he has, if money is not an issue, no harm in having him in depth. It is not like he is a dressing room canceer.

[Vhero]

Manchester City to offer Patrick Vieira new deal until the end of next season

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.

I don't see the problem, let him play in the early rounds of the domestic cup and Europa, where his experience will more than compensate for skill drop. We do not have a lot of players with the expereince he has, if money is not an issue, no harm in having him in depth. It is not like he is a dressing room canceer.

We already have 2 players for 1 position we don't need a 3rd De Jong and Barry both play DM and we should be getting an AM in the window meaning we shall only be able to play 1 DM. Vieira is a waste of wages and is a shadow of his former self he should be playing in the championship not the premiership.

[btajim]

Only solid signing out of the two signings made?

Let's pretend he's signed Milner. We've bid big money for him. His potential arrival seems to have split people on the relevant thread.

I'm pro-Milner, btw.

[DoomMerchant]

Only solid signing out of the two signings made?

Let's pretend he's signed Milner. We've bid big money for him. His potential arrival seems to have split people on the relevant thread.

I'm pro-Milner, btw.

wummster. i'm not biting son.

cheers

p.s. im pro-Milner as well btw.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Only solid signing out of the two signings made?

Let's pretend he's signed Milner. We've bid big money for him. His potential arrival seems to have split people on the relevant thread.

I'm pro-Milner, btw.

Ok, just for arguments sake, let's pretend we'd signed Milner. I would most certainly NOT cry myself into sleep and kick a hole in the wall. He is decent player and if Robbie Manc had plans for him then he could turn out to be very good signing. Not great but very good.

So I'm not pro- or anti-Milner. I think there are better out there but I also believe in square blocks to square holes and I'd support that signing very much. I just don't think it will happen and even more so, and some people might label me crazy, but I think this is more of A) smoke screen B) trying to unsettle one of the key players for our direct rivals. I think Marwood knew 20m offer would be rejected and I also have a feeling we will not see him for City. I think there's something else going on behind the scenes and for one reason or another we are trying to direct the attention elsewhere. One reason that crossed my mind was that we'd have list of players who are foreign who we are after and if we sign them we can always point out that "we tried to sign top English talent but price was unreasonable" or something like that. When you are the chip leader in game of football transfers, it allowes you to make few bluffs.

[btajim]

So I'm not pro- or anti-Milner. I think there are better out there but I also believe in square blocks to square holes and I'd support that signing very much. I just don't think it will happen and even more so, and some people might label me crazy, but I think this is more of A) smoke screen B) trying to unsettle one of the key players for our direct rivals. I think Marwood knew 20m offer would be rejected and I also have a feeling we will not see him for City. I think there's something else going on behind the scenes and for one reason or another we are trying to direct the attention elsewhere. One reason that crossed my mind was that we'd have list of players who are foreign who we are after and if we sign them we can always point out that "we tried to sign top English talent but price was unreasonable" or something like that. When you are the chip leader in game of football transfers, it allowes you to make few bluffs.

Milner has since refused to confirm that he'll be be staying at Villa which is a clear signal that he wants out.

We can pay him more yet the RAGs can offer him Champions League. Either way, I don't think he'll be with his present Club next season. I'd personally not pay a fortune for him because other Clubs will then hold out for huge fees for their Players. See Roque Santa Cruz as an example.

[BobKowalski]

Only solid signing out of the two signings made?

Let's pretend he's signed Milner. We've bid big money for him. His potential arrival seems to have split people on the relevant thread.

I'm pro-Milner, btw.

Ok, just for arguments sake, let's pretend we'd signed Milner. I would most certainly NOT cry myself into sleep and kick a hole in the wall. He is decent player and if Robbie Manc had plans for him then he could turn out to be very good signing. Not great but very good.

So I'm not pro- or anti-Milner. I think there are better out there but I also believe in square blocks to square holes and I'd support that signing very much. I just don't think it will happen and even more so, and some people might label me crazy, but I think this is more of A) smoke screen B) trying to unsettle one of the key players for our direct rivals. I think Marwood knew 20m offer would be rejected and I also have a feeling we will not see him for City. I think there's something else going on behind the scenes and for one reason or another we are trying to direct the attention elsewhere. One reason that crossed my mind was that we'd have list of players who are foreign who we are after and if we sign them we can always point out that "we tried to sign top English talent but price was unreasonable" or something like that. When you are the chip leader in game of football transfers, it allowes you to make few bluffs.

Just can't see that myself. Largely because I rate Milner very highly so I would see him as one of the key targets rather than a clever ploy and also because I don't really buy into these smoke and mirror theories. Usually it is what it is. We want Milner. We bid for Milner. And for £30m we will probably get Milner.