Transfers - Gossip Shop: City in Messi u-turn

Eurosport - Sat, 07 Mar 08:01:00 2009

Manchester City have moved quickly to quash speculation sparked by Sulaiman Al-Fahim over the possible signing of Lionel Messi.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 La Liga Barcelona Leo Messi - 0

The Gossip Shop rarely finds itself outside the confines of the M60 these days, and City have sharply distanced themselves from the bullish advances made by Al-Fahim in the direction of Messi.

The ever-bashful doctor said: "Messi is a player that makes me love Argentina again."

But City have strenuously refuted the claim, saying: "The story is untrue and this fact has been accepted by the newspaper in question. General comments about Lionel Messi, made by Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim, were mistakenly linked to Manchester City."

Meanwhile, City and Chelsea have been given the proverbial nudge by Valencia's chief executive, Javier Gomez, who revealed David Villa may have to leave the Mestalla.

Cash-strapped Los Che, with debts exceeding those of even Gordon Ramsey, may be forced to sell their Spanish Villa, with Gomez conceding: "Obviously we would consider that type; we have to control costs."

The club's integrity in tact, it is time for the Blues to fend off a potential move for one of their own. Joe Hart has barely been confined to the City of Manchester bench for two months, and already the 21-year-old is eyeing greener pastures, with Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill reported to be close to sealing a summer deal for the keeper.

The reported £3 million price on Hart's head would represent fantastic business for Villa, who are only thinly veiling their intentions to field an all-English side - who needs 6+5, eh?

On the red side of Manchester, Argentinian side Banfield suggest that they are awaiting contact from United over midfielder Nicolas Bertolo. Whether the South American club are waiting next to the phone is unclear, but Reds scouts are reportedly tracking the 23-year-old"s progress.

Despite trotting out the classic 'come and get me' line ("It's flattering to be linked with other clubs") David Healy insists that he is ready to fight for his place at Sunderland. As admirable a sentiment as this is, the nature of the fight in question has to be queried: are we talking an Audley Harrison approach to regaining his first-team spot, or something altogether more gung-ho.

The Northern Irishman has played just 96 minutes of Premier League action so far this season, but according to the 29-year-old, "It has never crossed my mind that I would go and play for Rangers."

A Gossip Shop offering would not be complete without Didier Drogba 's understated agent having his say. Thierno Seydi revealed in The Sun that the striker "may be one of the best-paid players in football, but humility is part of his personality. Chelsea were right to keep him." Now who can argue with that tribute?

West Ham are reportedly lining up a move for the prolific Croatia midfielder Danijel Pranjic. The winger has scored 15 goals in 22 league games for Dutch outfit Heerenveen and is apparently also being monitored by Sunderland. But lest the Hammers forget Kieron 'next season will be the one' Dyer - his personal medic team almost have him primed for meaningful action finally.

Onto more concrete matters, and Stoke City boss Tony Pulis has not lost his desire to acquire French midfielder Hassan Yebda . The Potters missed out on the 24-year-old Benfica man in January, but a summer move to the Britannia looks on the cards.

Manchester United's on-loan Angola striker, Manucho, has nudge-nudge, wink-wined Sir Alex Ferguson after netting Hull 's winner against Fulham, insisting that a return to Old Trafford 'would be good for everyone', (he hopes).

Charlton striker Izale McLeod's short fuse has left him in limbo after the striker had a barney with Millwall boss Kenny Jackett with his loan deal at the Lions duly cut short. But with Addicks manager Phil Parkinson insisting that 'we can't have him back and he can't play for the reserves or the first team', it looks like Izale will be cracking out the Wii this weekend

Dan Quarrell / Eurosport

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  1. mgodsall, i don't know how you would call the­ Spanish League boring, its the best league in Europe(in­ my opinion) in terms of attacking flair and pace!

    From MichealS, on Fri 6 Mar 6:00PM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    well said non. I agree to all of that. but I think the­ defending is really good in spain and the ebglish teams­ are letting that side of their game slip

    From yip, on Fri 6 Mar 6:00PM

  3. the premiership has been weaker this season than in­ other recent years. there's been a lot of­ inconsistency by all teams at some stage in 08/09. i­ don't think you can say which league is really the­ best because they all have good and bad points. the­ english game still needs more players who show genuine­ skill and needs less of the­ hoof-the-ball-up-front-to-the-big-guy. the italian game­ is often too slow and overly defensive. the spanish­ game sometimes lacks any real aggression and players­ get too much space. but look at the top 3/4 teams of­ all of those leagues and those criticisms dont apply. i­ guess thats whats so great about the champions league.

    From Non, on Fri 6 Mar 5:50PM

  4. Clutchy, Scott S, etc, I've watched lots of La­ Ligua, It's Very technical and the players are full­ of tricks but, ITS BORING!!!!!!!!!!! People all over­ the world CHOOSE to watch the EPL by paying­ subscriptions, They don't want La Ligua IT'S­ BORING.

    From mgodsall, on Fri 6 Mar 5:11PM

  5. Wise words from Scott s. Well said mate ;-)

    From King_Billy, on Fri 6 Mar 4:26PM

  6. 1982,
    ronaldo won those awards simply coz man u won­ the UCL. Messi is clearly beaten by this fact. same­ goes when Kaka won the award a year before.. n just for­ your recapped, did u ever think that Cannavaro would­ have won the best player of the year award (correct me­ if i'm wrong) in 2006 if Italy didn't win the­ World Cup..? n did the award he won make him really the­ best player in the planet among others.. say Zidane for­ instant..?!

    From carlamms, on Fri 6 Mar 4:23PM

  7. Ronaldo isnt the best player in the world. He won it­ because utd won the CL and he scored just about all of­ utds goals last season. He isnt a big game performer.­

    If Inter win the CL this year then Ibrahimovich will­ win player of the year, Chelsea win it then Lampard­ might win the award. Barca then Messi will, Real and­ Robben stays fit then he will. they are just maybes­ cause I think Messi is perhaps gonna win it­ anyway.

    Point is Ronlado isnt even the best winger in­ the world, if it wasnt for his goals he would be a good­ player only. always played best when went through the­ middle and scored.

    Plus outside the top 4 in England­ the teams are very average, outside the top 4 or so in­ Spain the clubs all have some pretty good players and­ would probably beat the English teams in same­ position.

    I like the EPL, I used towatch the la liga­ when had sky sports in my bedroom and always found the­ games more entertaining. I havent really seen much this­ season but I have rarely seen a decent match in England­ I watch at least the highlights of all the games. I­ prefer the EPL as Chelsea are in it but its unfair ­ that people say the EPL is the best league just cause­ its thrown down our throat. The standard of game has­ been poor and thats the reason I give for it not being­ the best

    From yip, on Fri 6 Mar 4:22PM

  8. Who are the current WORLD CHAMPIONS? does that mean­ they are the best team in the world? The English just­ force their DEBT-RIDDEN league down peoples throat­ because their National team is so pathetic. Did you­ watch the Spain vs England game? The classy Spanish­ gave them a footballing LESSON. Players like Rooney can­ keep running around like headless chickens while­ players like Xavi, Iniesta and Villa are making them­ chase shadows. With regards to why Messi didn't win­ the top awards.. Yes, I forgot the "whole­ world" votes for who gets the awards.. lmao
    PS:­ Barca will walk the Champions League. The­ "English" teams better get ready for more­ ANTI-FOOTBALL if they run into them.

    From King_Billy, on Fri 6 Mar 4:20PM

  9. I dont think that best player of the world would would­ change best club in the world for 8th team in PL. And­ to ch.ronaldo: that award was unfortunate mistake -­ they wanted to give him world best actor of the year­ not best player..

    From Filip, on Fri 6 Mar 4:16PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    LOL... I just read this news on some tall interesting­ place called: :-) T allmingle Co M :-) the most­ popular place for h ot mo dels, handsome men me et and­ mi ngle! u might be surprise what u end up with!!LOL­ :-)

    From pattymmlove, on Fri 6 Mar 4:15PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Also if messi is the best player in the world by­ unbiased people why did ronaldo clear up the awards?­ sure the whole world cant be biased?

    From 1982, on Fri 6 Mar 3:54PM

  12. am sure an english team are champions of europe at the­ min, who i may add beat another english team in the­ final. Also this year will be the same one of the­ english clubs will win it again. But as you call these­ "better clubs" in spain will do F**K all,­ would the top 4 in spain be in the quarter finals year­ in year out no apart from barca and real there wouldnt­ be any. Btw if u thinkin i am a fan of this big 4 u­ would be wrong

    From 1982, on Fri 6 Mar 3:52PM

  13. 1982 the very best players wanna play for milan madrid­ or barca. that is true im afraid. Im a chelsea fan and­ Im saying this. chelsea are the only english club to­ sign any of the worlds top top players from other­ leagues in recent times. top players rarely switch­ clubs anyway.

    but ur comments abvout theCL are also­ wrong. Liverpoool got outplayed by madrid and got­ lucky. utd dominated 1st half of the inter game because­ inter played some young centre back. then 2nd half­ inter asked the questions and had the best chances in­ the match to score. people talk about the inter keeper­ but he didnt make any saves that werent straight at­ him. also all of utds chances were from set­ pieces.

    again people seen the game differently because­ the english pundits described the game the way that­ english teams look better. they do it so much with utd,­ liverpool and arsenal

    From yip, on Fri 6 Mar 3:37PM

  14. The Epl always fails to get the players they really­ want. Where's the Etoooo's, the Kaka's, the­ Ronaldinho's, the Pato's, the Villa's, the­ Silva's, the Aguero's, Messi(CLEARLY the best­ player in the world by unbiased people)...??? KEEP­ DREAMING Kiddies, you will never have players like­ these in the kick and rush league Epl.

    From King_Billy, on Fri 6 Mar 3:21PM

  15. You can never get through to stupid people like 1982.­ "Any players asked always wanna play in the­ prem" lmao.. only the Epl are desperate enough to­ run around licking players balls and begging them to­ say they want to play in the Epl.. LOL, then the­ players go away laughing at how desperate the English­ are... hahahahahahaha

    From King_Billy, on Fri 6 Mar 3:12PM

  16. HOW DO THESE JOURNALIST OR MEDIA WHICH WRITE OR­ FABRICATE SUCH STORIES GET AWAY WITH IT.I WISH ONE DAY­ THEY PAY THE PRICE FOR DOING SO.THEY JUST SIT SOMEWHERE­ AND CREATE SOME NON EXISTING TRANSFER RUMOUR AND MAKE­ IT APPEAR LIKE THEY GOT THE INFORMATION FROM THE CLUBS­ OR THE PLAYER CONCERNED.

    From valach, on Fri 6 Mar 3:12PM

  17. Also just look at the liverpool madrid game beaten at­ home by one of the top four. Also the best team in­ italy outplayed at home very luckily getting a draw by­ Man u. BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD

    From 1982, on Fri 6 Mar 3:00PM

  18. Did i say anything about the last 10 years? No! I said­ last year there were 2 teams in the final and it will­ be this year. And am sorry about the english teams not­ having many english players. but just think of barcas­ great spanish frontline of french, african, and­ argentinian players u go for the best players u can. ­ Also any players who are asked always wanna play in the­ prem!

    From 1982, on Fri 6 Mar 2:56PM

  19. Well done parsnip181-Scott s, it's good to see­ there's still a few of us who don't believe all­ the ridiculous hype that surrounds the Epl.

    From King_Billy, on Fri 6 Mar 2:55PM

  20. EPL is over hyped and over rated. because english media­ and pundits cant take not being seen as the best so­ they force it down everyones throats.

    I think the­ standard of football in it this esason has been very­ poor.

    chelsea raised the bar on the standard when­ mourinho came and made utd raise their game.

    people­ talking about dominating the CL, it is a knockout­ competition with 4 English teams not being allowed to­ play each other till quarter final stage or something­ so chances are the english teams will be there or­ thereabouts.

    remember porto played monaco in the final­ not too long ago but that doesnt say anything about­ their league's.

    I prefer less teams from more­ leagues making it further as it varies the games and­ makes it a more interesting competition.

    From yip, on Fri 6 Mar 2:50PM
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