It’s fair to say that Roman Abramovich is a popular figure at FC Porto, despite snaffling Jose Mourinho from them after the narcissistic manager had won the Champions League with the Portuguese champions. Since then, Chelsea have spent £19.85million bringing Ricardo Carvalho to the club and a further £13.2million on the reserve player that is Paolo Ferreira. Now it appears that the Russian is fumbling about with his loose change for another Jose.

“Chelsea can confirm it has reached agreement with FC Porto for the transfer of Jose Bosingwa. The player is now in England to discuss personal terms and undergo a medical.”

Are Chelsea the only club to build their team around a right-back? After all, spending £30million on this position in the past four seasons indicates it’s an area that they are very serious about! It originally appeared that Manchester United were going to sign the defender, thus securing a ready-made replacement for Gary Neville. However, Chelsea reign supreme in the spending stakes and will now seemingly offload Julian Belletti.

Porto are now busy preparing a shop window featuring many other members of their squad, in the hope that Chelsea will acquire them at super-inflated prices.

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The Times reports that Juande Ramos is starting to adjust to life without his star striker, although surely he doesn’t see Darren Bent as someone who can come in and replace Berbatov like-for-like? Who do you think the Spaniard should sign as a replacement?

“It depends on what the offer is and whether the club will accept that,” Ramos said. “I know big clubs want to sign him. The player will only go to a club if he wants to. We want the player to be happy. He has the key to this and it is up to him.”

Ramos admitted that he has considered several replacements who would be capable of building a partnership with Robbie Keane. “Obviously, we have to cover our backs in case the player decides to leave and we have to have options to replace him,” Ramos said. “There are great players in Europe that can do just as well as Berbatov.”

But how many of them want to sign for Tottenham? Magic Juande has shown he has pulling power by attracting the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, Alan Hutton and Luka Modric to Spurs, although to sign a top-class striker when all you have to offer is UEFA Cup football will prove to be a tricky test for the Tottenham manager. There’s a good chance that a forward will be snared from a Spanish club, where Ramos has an in-depth knowledge after his time at Seville.

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The Guardian report that Spurs have been sniffing around Diarra for some time, while let’s remind you of the player’s loyal words upon joining Portsmouth.

“The people at Portsmouth know that I will not spend my life at the club,” said Diarra after completing his £5.5m move in January. “I was able to add a clause to my contract. If I shine, if a really big club wants me, I already know that everything will go well. I don’t want any more battles.”

The wheeler-dealer that is Harry Redknapp won’t led the midfielder leave without making a decent profit from the sale, that’s for sure. Diarra’s last efforts in a Pompey shirt might be helping them secure the FA Cup before flying the nest to join his fourth Premier League club in the space of a year. If Pot Noodle is the slag of all snacks, what does that make Lassana Diarra?

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Sky Sports reports that Rafael Benitez has given Kewell and his agent short shrift over the possibility of a new deal and that the winger will be moving to pastures new in the summer. It appears that a certain Norwegian full-back with a penchant for scoring spectacular own goals could be joining him.

“We have tried to come to an agreement with the player and his agent, but that has not been possible,” said Benitez.

“Kewell will leave the club at the end of his contract.

“With Riise and the rest of the players they have one or more years left on their contracts, so he is still our player at the moment and he knows if we receive a good offer - good for him and the club - it could be…

“But he is still our player and I am really pleased with him because he is a fantastic professional,” added Benitez.

Presumably Liverpool fans won’t be sad to see Kewell leave Anfield, although the same might not be said of Riise, who has done pretty well during his seven years at the club. The Norwegian has managed 33 goals for the Reds, which isn’t bad for someone who’s played mainly as a full-back.

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However, surely there are others nearer in line to the throne if Sir Alex Ferguson decided to call it a day at the end of the season (although knowing the tenacious Scot, he might last another ten seasons at the helm!)? Sky Sports report that Wigan chairman Dave Whelan won’t stand in the way of the former Sheffield United, Huddersfield, Crystal Palace and Birmingham manager if the Red Devils come calling. Not that Bruce should be holding his breath…

“When United come to choose a new manager, if they go for Steve Bruce you have no chance of standing in their way,” Whelan said in the Daily Star.

“I wouldn’t contemplate doing so if United came for Steve. I would be delighted for him and sorry for the club.

“If Sir Alex wins another European title this year - which I hope he does - he may decide he has had enough.”

If SAF does step down in the summer, who do you think should replace the great man? Many have touted Carlos Queiroz, Fergie’s right-hand man as the natural successor, while some people make a claim for Mark Hughes, another former United great. Whoever takes the reigns will have a tough act to follow!

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However, The Guardian report that every cloud has a silver lining. Just as Jerry Maguire appeared to be walking out of the office on his tod, the character played by Renee Zellweger stood up and joined him. In Renee’s place at Arsenal is young Nicklas Bendtner, who has shunned the likes of Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen to stay with Arsenal. At last some loyalty being shown at Arsenal!

Bayern indicated via an intermediary that they were prepared to pay €10m for the striker and the other two Bundesliga clubs also made their interest known. “I have heard about these offers from Germany but Nicklas will stay at Arsenal,” said Thomas Bendtner, his father. “The only way things could be different was if something unexpected should happen, such as him being moved totally outside of the team, but it’s difficult to see that happening as he is playing right now.”

Bendtner, 20, has made 39 appearances this season, 16 as a starter, and has scored nine goals. “I’ve always said that Arsenal is my club and that’s where I want to play my football,” he said. “When you look at my season and the way it has developed, I see no reason why I should want to change Arsenal with any other club.”

Until next season, when he’s scored 25 goals and the Milans and the Madrids of this world come a-calling! Let’s hope that the likes of Adebayor and Fabregas remain with the club, rather than see us witness the fragmentation of such an excellent footballing side. Money is talking louder than ever at the moment though, and retaining them for one more year might just be stemming the tide.

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Since his emotional outburst though, it turns out that Portsmouth Manager Harry Redknapp and Reading manager Steve Coppell both actually agree with him, with Harry quoted as saying:

“You would need £150million to spend to have any chance of breaking into that top four, Look at Liverpool last summer, they spent £28million on Fernando Torres and he is a fantastic player but who else can compete with that?
I agree with Kevin Keegan, I do not see any way that anyone else can break into the top four. Tottenham came closest for a few seasons but if you look at them now they have fallen back into mid-table. Nothing is guaranteed by spending money and it is getting harder and harder to get there.”

And Coppell today saying:

“I have been saying that for a long time. At the start of the season you know within four teams definitely, probably within three and most betting people would say within two teams who is going to win the league, I contradict myself by saying it is brilliant to watch these teams do well in Europe but they have too much of an advantage on a week-to-week basis for it to be a really competitive league.
There are sub-divisions within the league that are competitive but in terms of winning the division you know who is going to do that at the start of each year.”

Are they right? Is the Premier League boring or just predictable? Should the Top Four be booted into an Elite Euro League? Should the Champion’s League rules be changed? Surely something needs to change or the fans will vote with their feet.

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We have two lovely tickets for the filming of Nike’s The Cesc Fabregas Show this coming Monday 13th of May (at Fountain studios in Wembley from 6pm, only open to Over 18s). So if you want to win it just answer this incredibly easy question and email your answer to editor [AT] caughtoffside [DOT] com. We will pick a winner at random and you’ll be off to watch a legend at work!

So for you chance to win this prize answer the following question (yes it’s an easy one).

How old is Cesc Fabregas?

a) 70
b) 111
c) 21

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“Arsene Wenger fears his young Arsenal team are in danger of breaking up after it emerged that Emmanuel Adebayor has demanded £80,000 a week to stay at the club.

“The 24-year-old striker signed a new contract last summer worth a weekly £35,000, but he has told Wenger he wants to be paid in line with the top players in the Barclays Premier League.”

Are Arsenal disintegrating in front of our eyes?

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“We need to make a big signing for next season and Gerrard was at the centre of our thoughts.

“Liverpool gave us the most emphatic response he was not for sale.”

Alas, the most intriguing part of this story - what exactly the “emphatic response” was (indignant spluttering, violent Spanish swearing, a bullet painted in Inter’s colours inscribed with “do one”) - wasn’t revealed by The Sun.

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Despite a question mark over Steve Bruce’s allegiances to the Red Devils, his players are talking up their chances of ruining United’s big day in a big way. Emmerson Boyce has told the Daily Mail that the bobbly pitch, the way that the Latics will be organised and a burning desire to make their own headlines could stop Sir Alex Ferguson’s men in their tracks.

He said: “People don’t like coming to our ground and playing against us.

“It will help against Manchester United. On a perfect pitch all their top players will have a field day, but they will have difficulty passing and running with the ball on ours, even though they are top-class players. They won’t be able to play the game they’re used to, it’s nowhere near the standard of Old Trafford.

“We can get in their faces, test their touches and it will help us. A lot of people have moaned about it this season, but that’s usually because we have either got a good result or given them a tough game. We have got good results against the big teams because we love being the underdogs and there will be no pressure on us on Sunday, it’s all on them.”

He added: “We would like to emulate West Ham. People still talk about that team that cost Manchester United the title 13 years ago and I’d love people to remember us in 13 years’ time. We are loving the publicity. Everyone will be watching us across the world and it shows how far we’ve come as a club. We are going to enjoy being in the limelight.

“People are talking about Wigan right now and that’s a good thing. The fact we can have a say in the title race has given us extra motivation. I and the rest of the players want to show people what we can do against Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez and if we cost them the title everyone will talk about us. We are safe in the table. They are the ones with everything to lose.”

This will be music to the ears of Avram Grant and his Chelsea mob as they set about destructing Bolton on Sunday while holding a transistor radio to their left ear. That’s apart from Didier Drogba who will be moodily sitting on the subs bench, listening to his ipod as usual. Wigan managed to hold Arsenal to a goalless draw recently, thus helping to end the Gunners’ title challenge. Emile Heskey then scored in the dying embers of the match at Stamford Bridge to make it ‘advantage United’ in the title race. Will the Latics’ final act be to deprive the champions a second successive league title?

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Not that it was a clean break between Bruce and his former club last autumn. Far from it, there’s been a spat between the two parties which have run over the past few months, becoming increasingly bitter in the process. The Wigan manager was forced to pay back some of the upfront cash he received from City for image rights, something that clearly rankles with him when asked about his former employers and their current predicament at the foot of the table.

Bruce said: “I will be sorry for the players, staff and fans if they go down. Anyone else at the club? No, that’s it.”

Miaow! Sky Sports report that Brum’s co-owner David Gold is not taking these comments lying down, snapping back in customary fashion. Do you think he and David Sullivan take turns to verbally volley with their former employee?

When quizzed recently “Steve has consistently made attacks on the board. Does he hold all seven of us responsible including Jack Wiseman, who is 90, or just some of us?

“At the moment an old man thinks he is responsible along with the rest of us and he’s not.

“So come on Steve, show some courage. Name names. Anything else is cowardly.

“It’s time he told everybody what it is we’ve done wrong. The truth is we have done nothing to be ashamed of. We treated him generously and acted more than properly.

“He should sit down with people other than ‘yes men’ and take proper counsel and he will then learn that we have acted more than fairly.

“We reduced substantially what we were owed on his image rights and told him to pay £300,000 over three years because we have shareholders to think about. There’s about £30,000 left to pay which shouldn’t make too much of a dent in the huge bonus he’ll get for keeping Wigan up.”

Indeed, there’ll be a Brucie bonus and a half coming from Dave Whelan after the Latics manager kept them in the Premier League for the third season running. However, you might not be able to put a price on watching Birmingham get relegated for their ex-gaffer, especially as he won’t have to visit St Andrews next season!

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The Manchester Evening News reports that SAF continues to play his own special brand of mind games, questioning the motivation of the Trotters ahead of their visit to Stamford Bridge. Whether they’ll notice the Scot’s words of warning is another matter, those hangovers often take some sleeping off.

“All the press seem to be talking about is the integrity of Wigan,” said the United manager.

“Nobody has questioned Bolton. Nobody has even mentioned Bolton. It is interesting the different attitudes. All we have had is Wigan players saying we will beat Man United and that’s fine.

“We have no problem with that. We are a big club.

“And then you hear about Bolton players out celebrating all week. It amazes me the difference in attitude.

“Both teams are safe. Both can relax. Both are confident but one team can celebrate while the other is all keyed up to play Manchester United!”

It now appears that Gary Megson has ordered his players to stop drinking. At least on the Saturday before the match. Well, at least they’ve been asked to stay off the spirits and just stick to long drinks like beer and wine. But will they pay attention to their manager now that they’re safe. Cheers!

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“If we receive a very good offer — and by that I mean £15m — we will consider it. I’m happy to keep him.”

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