Eurosport - Fri, 20 Nov 08:54:00 2009
Chelsea's metaphorical feet have gone all cold over the signing of Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero, who may not be worth £40 million after all.
The Argentine hitman is one of world football's hottest properties at the moment, but Blues owner Roman Abramovich is reluctant to splash out what would be a British transfer record.
With huge wage demands, Aguero could eventually cost Chelsea nearer £70m and Abramovich is yet to be convinced that that represents value for money. (Daily Star)
With the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini set to step up to the plate in January, who needs Aguero anyway? At least that's the view of boss Carlo Ancelotti, who is confident the young pair can step up and do a job in the New Year. (Daily Express)
Meanwhile, Chelsea are still keen on snapping up Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson for £4m in January - although they will then loan him straight back to Boro.
The Championship side are desperate to hang on to Johnson, who has been outstanding this season, but boss Gordon Strachan already has his eye on Norwich midfielder Wes Hoolahan as a replacement, should Johnson leave. (Daily Mirror)
Elsewhere, there is bad news for fans of alternative medicine the world over - the therapist who has helped recently Robin van Persie and Glen Johnson, among others, could be forced to shut down.
Mariana Kovacevic's health centre (or, for those not yet bored of lazy plays on words, 'health placenta') is facing closure after Serbia's Minister of Health Tomica Milosavljevic ordered a full investigation into whether she has a medical licence.
Two health department workers went to the clinic yesterday, but left without having gained entry. They are now trying to trace Kovacevic, whose healing methods include injecting and rubbing human placenta into injured body parts. (Daily Mirror)
In other transfer tittle-tattle, Bolton boss Gary Megson is to launch an ambitious £7m bid to lure Celtic midfielder Scott Brown to the Reebok.
Megson sees the Scotland international as the ideal replacement for injured Sean Davis, but will face competition for his signature from Tottenham, Everton and Stoke in January. (Daily Mirror)
Portsmouth manager Paul Hart has blocked Amr Zaki's proposed move to Fratton Park over fears the Egypt striker's temperament could disrupt the club.
Pompey part owner Sulaiman Al-Fahim wanted the former Wigan bad boy and had agreed a fee with Egyptian side Zamalek, but Hart is none too keen to hand the 26-year-old a Premier League lifeline. (The Sun)
And Blackburn's injury-plagued midfielder Steven Reid is set to join Championship side QPR on a one-month loan. (Daily Mail)
Still angry at Thierry Henry's Hand of Gaul atrocity? Brace yourselves, it's not over yet.
The France striker's fall from grace since 'that' hand ball has been nothing short of spectacular. Simply everybody has an opinion, with a rough estimate of around 99.9 per cent of people absolutely against the Barcelona striker. Even his own have turned against him - Arsene Wenger, Emmanuel Petit, David Ginola, Bixente Lizarazu, the French public...
We could go on, but this is a paper review, so instead, here's two of the best of today's back page headlines, found among the pages and pages of anti-Henry copy, which rather sum up the ugliness of Henry's actions: 'Repulsive' (The Sun) and 'What a twit' (Daily Star).
A final aside on the fallout from Wednesday's scandaleux World Cup play-off - Phil Brown has ordered three of his Irish players to see a shrink ahead of Hull's game against West Ham. The Tigers boss is concerned over the mental state of Paul McShane, Stephen Hunt and Kevin Kilbane following the trauma of Paris. (Daily Express)
Comment 4 - 23 of 23
Henry should not be blamed. blame final. will that kind of open cheat happen with tennis?
let them answer that simple question. last year champions league was a gift to bacelona.
period
if that match must be replayed,then the match between chelsea and bacelona must be replayed as well. football has lost its credibility. that game btw chelsea and bacelona was the last football match i watched. i have made up my mind never to watch football. tennis is far better and straightforward. no match fixing .fifa will not allow electronic measure because it will make it difficult for them to fix a match. don't forget they make millions from match fixing.
He is a player that has the potential and is gifted which is typical for a South American not like these sh/ hit pit so called home grown english players, but need to be a bit better than he is and that may be in the next two seasons unless he can grow in the world cup for Argentina he have to wait his turn and 40M naaaaahh say 21M and a weekly wage 76,000 yeah he can be a force to be recon with for the future remember he is how old 23 years old?????...and haaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm rubbing it in he is muucccccccccccccch better than any young english players that is around that age group at the minute... hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa spoilt braaaaaats......who don't work on there technical ability..
40 million for a 21 years old like the so called kun Aguero ?. As a die hard Chelsea fan in Nigeria am not in support of such plan. Instead such sum should be spent on RIBERY. But that should n`t distract Chelsea board from making some recruitment by January especially now that the Fifa ban has been suspended. As for Henry, he should be sanction for such deliberate act. Then for the ref and his assistant, i would not be surprise if Fifa do not take any necessary action against them after all TOM OVREMBO did same in the semi final match between Chelsea and Barcelona at the UEFA champions league last season. Stephen Ayeni
40 million for a 21 years old like the so called kun Aguero ?. As a die hard Chelsea fan in Nigeria am not in support of such plan. Instead such sum should be spent on RIBERY. But that should n`t distract Chelsea board from making some recruitment by January especially now that the fifa ban has been suspended. As for henry, he should be sanction for such deliberate act. Then for the ref and his assistant, i would be surprise if fifa do not take any necessary action against them afterall TOM OVREMBO did same in the semi final match between chelsea and bacelona at the UEFA champions league last season. Stephen Ayeni
Come on people stop whinning about this and get on with it..!! You don't think an Irish would have done the same.!!?? Don't be naive and start screaming foul when anyone would have done that for their team (especially for country) in any sport. You don't think calls have gone against my team!? Get a life and move.! Go Chelsea.!!!
Chelsea shouldnt buy aguero,better someone with less value or noone at all.many people dislike chelsea because they have lots of money and use it only to buy players.
Thats all
Out of 17 statments on this page(not including this)1 or maybe 2 are anywhere close to
to the subject headline.so why is france-v-ireland being yapped about?? there is the WC
blogs to go to..
Aguero..He maybe good but 40 mill,is he really worth it??only if he ends being sold on for profit.but give the kids a shot see what happens..
chelsea go get carlton cole,higuain, yakubu or agbonlahor.
they sure will improve the forward line.
I no y dnt we buy fabiano he's cheaper and more frequently scoring than this mony hungry @#$%.
Feelin for henry though 
does it now stand out to the idiots who slate alex ferguson for his rants at the refs....he is 100% right and it took him to have the boll@cks to stand up to the sheer magnitude of shabby refereeing...so you can all see now refs are getting worse and tv refs should be brought in to help our game before it gets any worse....
UCB UK from United Christian Broadcasters. Broadcasting Nationally
On DAB Digital Radio From 1ST December 2009 and on the internet right now!! at ucbmedia dot co dot uk
Respect for the Ref. What respect if you have referees and their assistants that blatantly fail to see a clear foul. Maybe SAF has got a point. Yes any players would have done the same thing as Henry did - but it does not make it right. That is the issue. Keeping quiet about it - and any other fouls for that matter - means we are endorsing such behaviour on the pitch. A replay is not the right solution although there already was a precedent. Yes Ireland must go on with their lives but at the same time the culprit must not be exempted from responsibility. To do so would be to do injustice to integrity and fair play in football.
I haven't come to know that Irish people are whiners and sore losers, so I hope all these people are not Irish. Well done France.
Hughes will offer 80 million just because he can!
why is evryone crying about this Henry's handball? Can any of the Irish player put their hands up and say they wouldn't do the same to put their team on the plane to South Africa? Pls get over it, the deed is already done, move on and try to qualify for the Euro's. Go on IRELAND!!!!!
UCB UK from United Christian Broadcasters. Broadcasting Nationally
On DAB Digital Radio From 1ST December 2009 and on the internet right now!! at ucbmedia dot co dot uk
Football has always been like this.. INTERESTING outcomes. Come on Ireland, you had all the chance to kill the game but did not take your chances. Yo only have yourself to blame. Nobody has denied the handball, but we must live on. France in south Africa? Who cares?
once a cheat always a cheat . fifa should ban french and allow ireland to participate.
fergie has quesioned the capabilities of referees , see they are killing the gane
vey soon . intergrity will lack and no body will be interested.
I bet if Henry had been English or Irish the media would not be hounding him. The media are hypocrites just like when Ronaldo( Portuguese) was taken off and acted angrily they said he was petulant and rude when Rooney (English) did exactly the same thing the media said he was just showing passion and always wants to play.
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