The Rumour Room: Daily Round-Up

Rounding up all the days biggest transfer news and gossip.

Has Mido Joined Liverpool?
“Egypt striker Mido is set to leave Middlesbrough after manager Gareth Southgate accepted an undisclosed offer for him from an unnamed club.” – BBC

Right. Nowhere on the world wide web, does it state that Mido has joined Liverpool. In fact Liverpool have never even been linked with the player. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has joined Hull. Phil Brown is desperately searching for a striker and Mido could well fit the bill. I don’t for one second believe that he is the type of player Rafa would look at. Mind you, in saying that Rafa has made some catastrophic signings over the years.

If Rafa has signed him, which i highly doubt, I would totally understand why he would want to keep it on the quiet.

Likelihood Rating: I wish I had 3 hands… So I could give this rumour 3 thumbs down. – 1/10

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Half Price on All Defenders. Only at LFC.
Its a bonanza! Rafa will be selling Arbeloa and Dossena for half their original asking price. It is believed that both players will leave the club for around £4.5M. Rafa had originally put a price tag of £8M on Arbeloa, while Dossena cost the club £7M last year.

With the signing of Glen Johnson, Arbeloa has been seen as surplus to requirements. Real showed a great deal of interest and it seems they are close to bagging their man. I’m not too sure though, is he leaving because he wants to, or because Rafa is looking to cash in. Surely if he stayed there would be greater strength in depth ensuring a healthy competition for a place in the starting 11?

Dossena on the other hand has failed to make an impression. His brief role as LB was below average at best. Dossena is too attack minded to be able to play in that position, which is why he does so well playing LM. I hear a lot of people saying that we should keep him and play him there. I’m not convinced. You wouldn’t buy a cat that barks all the time and decide, “OK he’s a rubbish cat, but ill keep him as a dog instead”.

I feel that even though Dossena isn’t the word greatest LB, he is still Italy’s first choice and should not be let go for less than we paid for him. Perhaps Rafa is selling him on a cheap and working on a deal that would see Lavezzi move in the other direction? Who knows.

Likelihood Rating: I feel both players are ready to leave the club in the next week or two – 9/10

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City Set To Start Transfer Merry-Go-Round.

Sky Sports reports that city are closing in on Toure with a bid believed to be £16M. I didn’t actually believe that Toure would leave Arsenal, but sources say he could feature for City as early as Saturday…I suppose City have become a huge club over night. I think that £16M is about right for the player as opposed the the original £12M. Sources suggest that City will also make a move for Lescott very soon and will throw the transfer window into a merry-go-round frenzy. Its goes like this:

Arsenal’s Toure will join City, Hangeland will leave Fulham for Arsenal, Joleon Lescott will leave Everton to join City which will pave the way for Tottenham’s Alan Hutton and City’s Nedum Onuoha to join Everton.

You dizzy yet? I sure as hell am. City seem to be making bold statements about their intent to challenge for silverware. While Arsenal would do really well to sign Hangeland. Everton on the other hand seem to be replacing diamonds with coal. I’m sure that they could find better replacements than Hutton and Onuoha from Lescotts transfer fee.

Likelihood Rating: Toure and Lescott to City – 8/10. Hangeland to Arsenal – 7/10

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This Is A ‘Real’ Slap In The Face
Another Real Madrid story. This time it will anger you for other reasons. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has said, and I quote: that the £30M price tag Liverpool put on Alonso “does not correspond to reality”. What bullsh*t is this!

First of all Mr Perez. If you are going to go and pay £80M for Ronaldo, £56M for Kaka and £35M for Benzema, then you cannot complain that clubs are holding you to ransom. What you have done is monopolise the transfer market and inflated prices so badly that the only way for clubs to be able to buy players, is to sell players for ludicrous amounts.

Secondly, admittedly Alonso may not be worth £30M, but he is too important to the club for us to let him go for anything less than. If you want to buy a player that a club is not willing to let go, then you have to make an offer to that club that they cannot refuse.

In yesterdays round-up, you may remember that i said Perez could have been testing the waters to see if Alonso would Force Rafa’s hand. this seems to be the case. It must be frustrating to be a spoilt little brat and not get your own way!

Likelihood Rating: Alonso to Real? Perez could have shot himself in the foot, either that or he will be forced to up his bid. – 5/10

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Darren Bent Stars In: Hijacked!
Imagine your sat on a plane, watching the stewardesses do their thing. You may have even popped a few sleeping pills to ease the journey your about to take. Your all strapped in and ready to go, when all of a sudden your told to get off the plane as your current club had agreed a deal to sell you. This is is exactly what happened to Darren Bent as he sat on the plane ready to go on a pre season tour to China.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is set to break the clubs transfer record by signing Darren Bent from Tottenham. This looks like it has picked up pace and is only a matter of time before its a done deal. Lets hope the 2 clubs can agree on a fee.

Tottenham have confirmed that they have signed Crouch for a price believed to be in the region of £10M. With Portsmouth likely to be fighting for relegation and Crouch being sold, there was only ever really one outcome as to what team he would join – and that was never going to be Liverpool. Its obvious now that Bent is no longer needed at Spurs and I feel he would do very well for Sunderland should the move go ahead.

Likelihood Rating: Bent to Sunderland? I reckon so – 9/10

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City Ready To Muscle Bolton Out Of Deal.
City and Bolton are set to go toe to toe for Miguel Veloso after it was revealed that he can leave the club for a fee of £15M.

This is a pretty easy one to sum up. Bolton simply cannot compete with the financial muscle of City, and will get bullied out of any deal. I don’t believe City will go for Veloso though as they simply don’t need him. In saying that, they seem to want to horde players, so who knows.

Likelihood Rating: Veloso to City? Its just a rumour – 3/10

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How To Succeed At Chelsea FC
“Chelsea captain John Terry has revealed the level of influence he has at Stamford Bridge in his first interview since rejecting Manchester City’s overtures. Terry says he is among a trio of players, along with midfielder Frank Lampard and striker Didier Drogba, who give advice to owner Roman Abramovich.” – BBC.

It would seem that the best way to succeed at Chelsea is to become close friends with John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. A lesson which Solaria obviously found out the hard way. So… Is it a good thing or bad thing that the owner of the club listens to the players?

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Just A Random Thought…
It would seem that Manchester United’s era of dominance will never end, especially if Jose Mourinho gets his wish and takes over from Ferguson. I can only hope that this doesn’t happen. All good things must come to an end. Its just the natural order of things.

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