Transfers - Transfer Talk: Tevez for Real?

Eurosport - Thu, 08 Jan 09:28:00 2009

These truly are depressing times: nobody has any money, it is bloody freezing, and the painfully unfunny Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps has been inexplicably commissioned by the BBC for yet another season.

2008-2009 Stoke-Manchester United Carlos Tevez celebrates scoring the winner - 0

For football fans the opening of transfer window should offer excitement and intrigue as you speculate about who your club might sign but instead most clubs seem to be scrambling to keep their players rather than showing any desire to bring new ones in. The only saving grace is that there is nobody out there with any money to spend - except of course for Manchester City.

Then of course there is Real Madrid, who never really have any money, but who also never let a massive debt get in the way of a big transfer signing. They are ready to ruffle the feathers of their good friends at Old Trafford by trying to snatch Carlos Tevez away in a £25 million bid.

Manchester United had provisionally agreed a £32m deal with Tevez's owners MSI back in 2007 but now want the price reduced because of - you've guessed it - the credit crunch. Kia Joorabcien and his cronies are not willing to play ball though and what better way to get revenge than to shop the Argentine to United's transfer nemesis.

One group of fans that will be sweating this January more than anyone else though will be those bubble blowing Cockneys at Tevez's former club West Ham.

A host of Hammers have been linked with moves away from Upton Park although Gianfranco Zola will hope that the impending sales of Matthew Etherington to Stoke (£3.5m) and Callum Davenport to Bolton (£3m) could keep the wolf from the door. However, Scott Parker (Manchester City), Matthew Upson (Aston Villa), Craig Bellamy (various) and Julien Faubert (Rangers) are all still in demand.

Zola will not have much money to replace those players so he is looking to youth and will try and sign Brescia youngsters Savio Nsereko (19-year-old striker) and Bartosz Salamon (17-year-old midfielder), while City could throw in Michael Johnson to try and net Parker.

Arsenal's proposed bid for Andrei Arshavin could go through for as little as £10m or could be derailed because of wage demands depending on which paper you read. They could move for Portsmouth's Nico Kranjcar as an alternative if it all ends in tears

Manchester City and Internazionale could help each other out by swapping their unwanted strikers - with Jo going to Milan and Adriano to Manchester.

Everton are preparing a bid of £500,000 for Bristol City defender James Wilson but with Spurs and Arsenal also interested you feel the Championship club might be able to hold out for a little more money. The Toffees would also have to pay 16 times that amount (that's £8m for those of you who are rubbish at maths) for Racing Santander striker Mohamed Tchite, who is not as bad as his name suggests.

Stoke could add more African flavour to their team. They already have seven Africans on their books and they could be joined by Aruna Dindane (Lens) and Henri Camara (Wigan). Dutch striker Quincy Owusu-Abeyie who is Dutch but a Ghanaian international (does that count?) could also join the Afro-Potteries party if he moves back to England from Spartak Moscow.

West Brom want Marlon Harewood on loan from Aston Villa but the Midlands side will only settle on a permanent deal - so Tony Mowbray might move for Manchester United's Danny Welback instead. PSG's Peguy Luyindula and Benfica's Ariza Makukula are also on the Baggies' radar.

Blackburn want Fiorentina's sometimes brilliant, sometimes rubbish, Italian winger Franco Semioli and Sam Allardyce will be hoping that if he does sign he will settle better than Corrado Grabbi (remember him?) at Ewood Park.

El Hadji Diouf looks a more likely signing from Sunderland but Wigan will are also keen.

Aston Villa are set to sign 17-year-old defender Arsenio Halfhuid from Excelsior in Holland which looks a more sensible and considerably cheaper signing than Sporting Gijon's Roberto Canella who would cost £10m.

Portsmouth's woes in the transfer market continue with Lyon's Sidney Govou turning them down although Peter Crouch has said he will stay until the end of the season (and we can think of 70,000 good reasons a week for him to do so).

Tottenham will hope they have more luck than Pompey if they move for Govou's team-mate Fred.

Of course, everybody is waiting for Spurs to just go ahead and sign Stewart Downing, and if that move finally goes through, Middlesbrough will bid for Celtic's Aidan McGeady as a replacement although the £10m asking price could be a stumbling block.

Celtic could also lose goalkeeper Artur Boruc to Newcastle if the Magpies sell Shay Given to Manchester City.

Staying in the North-East (with a dollop of North-West) and Boro and Bolton both want Grant Leadbitter from Sunderland.

A couple of Championship rumours are doing the rounds too. Wolves have offered a cash plus player deal for John-Joe O'Toole but his club Watford want cash only. Reading could pounce instead as they continue to act as a feeder club for the Irish national team.

Meanwhile, QPR, Bristol City and Southampton could bid all £1.5m for Leeds player Bradley Johnson whose future looks to lie away from Elland Road.

Seán Fay / Eurosport

Comment 65 - 84 of 104

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  1. toon_terror. its ok fella this time next season you­ will be going to nice places like coventry. and derby­ so i realy would not bother talking about other prem­ clubs..

    From R M, on Thu 8 Jan 3:02AM

  2. what are ya talkin about pisstamford, tevez does want­ to play for man u thats the problem, he's bein­ screwed over.. melon..

    From flinto, on Thu 8 Jan 2:58AM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    sell him if he wants to go its all @#$% anyway if its­ not RON its TEV both think they are bigger than the­ club.... buy two players that want to put the shirt on­ and play football for a @#$% load of money, tuff ole­ job they have !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From sooty, on Thu 8 Jan 2:29AM

  4. Boruc to Newcastle and McGeady to Middlesbrough---your­ having a laugh!!!! Why would anyone want to sign for­ either of those two clubs when they are guaranteed­ champions league football every year with Celtic.The­ only thing either player would win with either club is­ a relegation battle!!!!These English teams make me­ laugh with the arrogance that they can sign a great­ player from a scottish club for very little money-to­ replace a player of inferior quality who they have sold­ for millions!!!!

    From Chris, on Thu 8 Jan 2:28AM

  5. if city are crazy enough to buy parker 15m and bellemy­ 20m i say we bring king carlito back to the boleyn!!

    From jmh_tru, on Thu 8 Jan 2:19AM

  6. Are man utd going to reduce ticket prices DUE TO THE­ CREDIT CRUNCH

    From k, on Thu 8 Jan 2:13AM

  7. tevez will not be moving to City because of the rival­ of new millionaire issue. if united ever dear it, that­ will be instrument City will always use against­ United.

    Tevez please STAY

    From Oshea, on Thu 8 Jan 2:05AM

  8. Echo jmh-tru comment. Why on Gods earth do Geordies­ think they have a divine right to class themselves as­ anything other than Cr*p, if ever a team existed that­ over inflate themselves way way above their station­ (other than Spurs of course), then it is the Toon.­ Obviously reading league positions in tables is beyond­ you Magpie so perhaps something a bit simpler like you­ are 4 places below us, that is beneath us in case you­ 'no comprendy'. Lets see what happens Saturday!­ Keep the faith with all your mates, unleast it gives­ you something in life to hope for!

    From STEVE C, on Thu 8 Jan 1:55AM

  9. It would be great if Everton bought Mohamed Tchite, I­ do not know anything about him but I would love to hear­ the commentators calling him Sh@te everytime he touched­ the ball.

    From markear1, on Thu 8 Jan 1:50AM

  10. stephenmachon..IF YOU WERE THAT GOOD THERE WOULD BE OR­ SHOULD BE NO REASON TO BUY YOURSELVF OUT OF THE­ @#$%...YOU MAY HAVE ALLL THIS MONEY BUT YOU STILL AINT­ GOT A TEAM NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PAY.

    From L H, on Thu 8 Jan 1:38AM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I'm an open minded girl from US, I'm interested­ in exotic things, photography, dating and sports...I­ have my photos on --- Tallhub Co m ---, I love tall­ guys!
    Do you love traveling and have some experience?­ Just find me out.

    From Xioasd S, on Thu 8 Jan 1:23AM

  12. toon terror, have you seen the table this year??? ­ worst team then would be the one 4 places above you. ­ never mind, next year you won't have to worry about­ the premiereship at all.

    From jmh_tru, on Thu 8 Jan 1:13AM

  13. good move if it will happen, but I dont have a­ clue........

    From Nath, on Thu 8 Jan 1:11AM

  14. agree with the two pints comment,used to be funny but­ not funny anymore,,.

    From michael s, on Thu 8 Jan 12:56AM

  15. WE MAY BE @#$% NOW MAGPIE BUT WE CAN BUY OUR WAY OUT OF­ THE @#$% YOU CANT, HA HA

    From stephenmachon, on Thu 8 Jan 12:55AM

  16. everyone going on about city being humiliated against­ forest... your forgetting they lost to brighton in the­ carling cup aswel, lets laugh about that aswel. haha­ only chance city have of becomign a force in world­ football is if the owners fund a project to clone­ george best, put pele in a time machine back to the­ 70's, place maradona on the atkins diet, sign­ zidane and print an image of materazzi on the ball­ every game, sign ronaldo and tell him he can carry a­ compact mirror with him in matches so he can ensure his­ hair wont be out of place, sign maldini and tell him he­ can have all the new hips and zimmer frames he likes as­ part of a sign on fee, sign gary neville on the basis­ that no more 'chuckle brother' jokes will be­ aimed at him if he signs, sign ronaldinho and tell him­ he can perform his party trick of eating an apple­ through both a letter box and a tennis raquet before­ every match on the pitch if he signs, sign messi and­ tell him nobody will compare him with maradona anymore,­ sign buffon but he must understand that the board will­ legally change his name to gianluigi mullet, and­ finally teach richard dunne how to kick a ball 10 yards­ accurately. i rekon they might have a decent chance of­ winning something then. but its pretty unlikely to­ happen, might be worth a couple of quid tho i might see­ what ladbrokes say.

    From mr_steve4, on Thu 8 Jan 12:54AM

  17. man,tevez should not go he is so hot i mean really hot­ he dumped his wife for another girl man he is crazy

    From Adedigba Babalabi, on Thu 8 Jan 12:53AM

  18. good team in premier league-Arsenal,Aston Villa
    Bad­ Team in premier league-Stoke City,Sunderland
    worst team­ in premier league-stoke,west ham
    Most Annoying and good­ for nothing premier league-MANCHESTER CITY
    All rubbish­ and worthless talks and rumours(bidding this getting­ that but at last second class players eg-bridge
    I fell­ preety poor for city fans.
    ­ love toon_terror

    From The Magpies, on Thu 8 Jan 12:48AM

  19. good team in premier league-Arsenal,Aston Villa
    Bad­ Team in premier league-Stoke City,Sunderland
    worst team­ in premier league-stoke,west ham
    Most Annoying and good­ for nothing premier league-MANCHESTER CITY
    All rubbish­ and worthless talks and rumours(bidding this getting­ that but at last second class players eg-bridge
    I fell­ preety poor for city fans.
    ­ love toon_terror

    From The Magpies, on Thu 8 Jan 12:48AM

  20. Since when did Aston Villa need central defenders?­ Cuellar, Davies, Knight and Laursen are all good enough­ if you ask me.

    From danny_stephenson1985, on Thu 8 Jan 12:41AM
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