Mark Apostolou brings us some hot Sportingo Transfer Rumours.
There’s gossip and rumour – and there’s reality. Decide for yourself which category this roundup of newspaper talk belongs to. Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Sporting Lisbon and Porto also feature in this news bulletin.
‘Off the pitch things are not so rosy for Toni and he has already been quoted as saying his future may lie away from top-of-the-table Bayern’
Italian goal machine Luca Toni appears to want out at Bayern Munich as he finds it hard to adapt to life in the Bundesliga (various). There are claims that he longs for a return to Serie A, where he was a legend at Fiorentina. However, Arsenal and Spurs are said to be monitoring the situation carefully.
On the pitch, the Italian international has been a success and is joint top scorer in the German league. However, off the pitch things are not so rosy and he has already been quoted as saying his future may lie away from top-of-the-table Bayern.
Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger is said to be a fan of the British-style forward and Tottenham’s Juande Ramos was very much interested in taking the 30-year-old to Sevilla when he was available last summer. A relative latecomer to the game, Toni still has many years at the top level and would be a great addition to either north London squad. However, a move back to his beloved Viola seems far more likely.
A plethora of Premier League clubs are chasing AC Milan’s Croatian defender Dario Simic (various). The 32-year-old defender, who helped his national team to victory at Wembley last week, is said to be on the shopping list of Liverpool, Manchester City and Everton. All three clubs believe he still has a lot to offer and, perhaps more importantly, would cost next to nothing to sign.
Simic has repeatedly expressed his desire to give the Premier League a shot after nearly a decade of service with both Milan clubs. It seems inevitable that he will be playing on English soil before the season is out – but for whom?
Manchester United assistant Carlos Quieroz has announced a quartet of talent currently on Sir Alex’s wish-list. Sporting Lisbon pair Miguel Veloso and Joao Moutinho lead the way, while Porto’s Ricardo Quaresma and Jose Bosingwa are also on the Old Trafford radar. That’s a large shopping list of talent, but Fergie’s No.2 was quick to elaborate by adding: “Do we like them all of them? Yes, of course. However, we cannot work with 200 players!”
I would imagine that Veloso and Quaresma are the most likely additions, but they won’t come cheap as United look to further add to their midfield and attacking options. Just how many Portuguese players can one team have?