Football Champions

Can any Football Club resist a 50M€ offer for one of its players? According to the English press,  Premier League Champions MANCHESTER CITY are preparing the super offer for ATLETICO DE MADRID Colombian forward FALCAO. The rumour of a possible Falcao transfer has been hot since the end of the season, as Atletico needs money for its own purposes, apart from a contract payment on Falcao that they

It seems as if Sir Alex Ferguson has finally grown tired of the cheap shots aimed in his direction by Carlos Tevez:

"In my opinion, I don't think he was worth £25m. He was popular with the supporters. The fans quite rightly have their heroes and I was happy to go along with the deal as long as it was the right one but, quite simply, he is not worth £25m.

Strong words indeed, and as one friend of Soccer Source emailed yesterday, what are the odds of Tevez scoring a hat-trick when City play United this season?

On the other hand, Ferguson is likely just being (brutally) honest; after all, if he did think Tevez was worth all that money he would have offered to pay that amount. Instead, he snagged Michael Owen on a free transfer. It'll be interesting to see which player ends the season with the most goals.

--Smoods

You've probably heard by now that Manchester United pocketed a fair sum when they sold Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid. In the immediate aftermath of the deal there was breathless speculation about how Sir Alex Ferguson would spend the cash -- would it be Karim Benzema? (Nope, he went to Real.) Perhaps Franck Ribery? (He's apparently going nowhere.)

Not even close. Fergie plumped instead for a 20 year-old Frenchman who no one's ever heard of for the grand sum of 3 million pounds, and signed free agent Michael Owen. (He also signed Antonio Valencia from Wigan for a reported 16 million pounds, though that transfer was long-expected.)

Has he done enough? He thinks so. Hopefully, some United fans can chime in and let us know what they think. But there's a case to be made either way.

In the 'against' column, United have lost the second-best player in the world (behind Messi) and a very bitter talismanic striker, and replaced them with a player who barely stood out at a mid-table provincial team, a kid who was sent out on loan by his team in France last season and a former England hero who was seriously expected to join the likes of Hull or Stoke this off-season. That's hardly going to be enough to keep up with an ever-improving Liverpool and a hungry Chelsea, is it?

But then there's the other view. Obertan is one for the future, perhaps, but between them Owen and Valencia might make up for Ronaldo's flair and goals. Valencia certainly has his moments, while Owen's goal-scoring record has held up remarkably well throughout his career. Then you have players such as Anderson, Wellbeck, Macheda and even Nani -- youngsters whose time Ferguson hopes has arrived. Even if just two of those players break through this season, the case could be made that United will be stronger in the coming season than they were last year.

Time, of course, will tell. Some observers don't believe Ferguson's really finished shopping this summer. But even if he has, one thing that United fans -- and fans of rival teams -- know all too well is that for the most part second-guessing Sir Alex is a fool's game.

--Smoods

The start of the Premier League's silly season seems like a good time for your humble Brit blogger to get back into the Soccer Source saddle (or at least, harness). And what sillier than Carlos Tevez, the man who loved Manchester United, portraying himself as the victim before jumping over to their nearest rivals, Manchester City?

Tevez joining City isn't so silly -- after all, they're the richest club in the world and are on a mission this summer to sign the best players they can. What's silly is the hypocrisy that English football expects of its players. Tevez can't simply come out and say he's joining the club that offered him the most money, oh no. He has to pretend he's just been forced to make a choice that Sophie would have shied away from.

It's an annoying habit, to say the least, and one that John Terry is currently indulging in, pretending to be concerned about Chelsea's chances next year and the quality of summer signings, when really all he wants is a pay rise. (Think that's cynical? Why else could a guy who claims to want to win trophies be considering leaving the second-favorites for next year's title to join the team that finished 10th?)

The view here is that English footballers could learn a thing or two from their U.S. counterparts: it's just a business and teams should pay what players want or risk losing them. And yet the Premier League and its actors still behave as if this is the quaint days of yore when players did it for the love, played for teams they supported and only ever moved when they were hard done by. It's time to move on, fellas. Best of luck to Tevez and Man City (more of whom in a later post) but, please, let's drop the sanctimony and talk of hurt feelings.

--Smoods

Update: So here's Carlos saying he joined because City "has the ambition to be one of the biggest clubs in the world." That's why he left Man United? Really? He helpfully added, "Money was never important." Methinks he might be protesting a bit too much.