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Transfers - Gossip Shop: Arsenal in for Hangeland

Eurosport - Fri, 22 May 15:38:00 2009

After Arsene Wenger admitted Arsenal lacked experience and leadership at the back, Fulham centre-half Brede Hangeland is being tipped for a big-money move across London.

FOOTBALL Fulham defender Brede Hangeland, linked with a £15 million move to Arsenal - 0

The Norwegian colossus has marshalled what was previously a leaky back four to the fourth-best defensive record in the Premier League and, after a long meeting with chief executive Ivan Gazidis, French tactician Wenger has been promised a big war-chest to allow a £15 million bid for the ex-Copenhagen stopper.

Now £15m is a lot of money but there are very few affordable, proven centre-backs with the experience and dominance that the Gunners require.

One option - Joseph Yobo - just came off the market after signing a five-year deal to be third-choice behind Joleon Lescott and Phil Jagielka at Everton. Loyalty or lack of ambition?

In return, Fulham will ask for the bulk of the cash plus one of Swiss defensive duo Philippe Senderos or Johan Djourou , and promising Norway U21 starlet Havard Nordveit.

The rumours linking Emmanuel Adebayor with a move to Chelsea intensified when he failed to show at the Arsenal end-of-season party at posh Mayfair bar/restaurant/boast-house Sketch.

The Togo hit-man could argue that his time in Gaul-land has made his palate immune to the dubious delights of the venue's nouveau-French cuisine, and that the chinny-reckon hamstring injury that kept him out of the goalless draw against Manchester United needed treatment ahead of his non-appearance at home to Stoke this weekend.

But the writing is on the wall and the ex-Monaco player will join one of Milan, Chelsea, Internazionale or Juventus this summer.

Dean Ashton could be on his way out of Upton Park with West Ham ready to cut their losses on the big striker due to his chronic injury problems.

One of the best target men in the division when fit, the £7m former Crewe and Norwich goal scorer has played only 51 games in two-and-a-half years and just four this season.

With former suitors Newcastle set to drop into the Championship, A ston Villa and Everton are primed to pounce in a cut-price deal for the 25-year-old.

He could be replaced by Juve forward Vincenzo Iaquinta who, despite impressing when used, is not first-choice in Turin and, with a big-name manager set to take the reigns following Claudio Ranieri's sacking, a big-name striker is set to follow.

One man who will not be moving to London from Italy is Inter right-back Maicon.

The Brazilian had been linked with a move to Chelsea, which is bizarre enough in itself as he is effectively Jose Bosingwa without an EU passport.

However, the 27-year-old - who almost joined Manchester United in 2004 but was refused a work permit - has insisted that he will stay at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Midlands rivals Aston Villa and Birmingham have both been linked with Argentine midfielder Lucas Biglia.

The 23-year-old Anderlecht man is valued at around £8m and, despite Villa having more cash to spend, Birmingham are at the front of the queue by virtue of having less options in midfield.

Should Martin O'Neill opt to sign him, it would be a clear indication that Gareth Barry is on his way to Liverpool .

Blues desperately need to add some flair to their solid but tedious squad if they are to stay in the top flight next season, and the names keep coming.

Derby duo Kris Commons and Giles Barnes - the latter currently on loan at Fulham - would cost around £6m together.

Boss Alex McLeish could also raid former club Rangers, with defender Madjid Bougherra and disgraced former captain Barry Ferguson on his list.

"He has done well but I would expect Rangers to ask for a high fee," the Scot said of Bougherra.

"Barry (Ferguson) can be anything he wants to be," he added. "I feel for him, the way it has happened. He came back from England and helped myself, my staff and the Rangers followers to a title in 2005."

A move back south of the border beckons for Ferguson.

Do you have any grounded, unfounded or ultimately baseless transfer tittle-tattle to spread wildly among your peers? If so, feel free to comment below.

Eurosport

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  1. Wenger should do away with Ade he has no force needed­ to get goals that can give Gunners trophy. We need­ sharp attackers of Henry's type and defender of­ Adams like. So wenger should go to market where­ experience player are bought and get 4 good ones from­ Samuel Anodi

    From Hi, on Sat 23 May 10:12AM

  2. Clueless Mark Hughes has done his best but isn't up­ to the big time.
    Juande Ramos will not be staying at­ Real Madrid despite turning around Real's season as­ the directors won't forgive the 2-6 home loss to­ Barca nor bouncing out of the Champions League­ early.
    He is a serious possibility for Man City - he­ has Premierleague experience with Spurs and a terrific­ European and La Liga record with Seville.
    A good­ signing for City COULD be Gattuzo from Milan who has­ repeatedly said he'd love to play in the Premier­ League.
    City have too many mediocre strikers but the­ best classic #9 of all is Bojinov, if only he can avoid­ losing a 3rd season to injury.
    Signings need to­ bolster the defense mainly, whilst the Irish captain­ Dunne is good with interceptions and tackles, 95% of­ his clearances are random and reach the opponent. Time­ for someone more intelligent and IF City want Ramos or­ anyone, the available money will get them - that­ includes Chelsea's Ivanovic or Alex - the latter­ will happily join his country-mates Robinho and Elano

    From adrian w, on Sat 23 May 9:43AM

  3. You're all dreaming !!!
    Zinadine Zidane is now­ working in a non-executive role with his last club Real­ Madrid.
    Franc Ribery sees Zidane as his ultimate idol­ and role-model as he stated clearly in a Eurosport­ interview.
    Ribery or Real Madrid will announce that he­ has SIGNED for Real Madrid after the closing Bundesliga­ game.
    UTD will NOT get him to replace Ronaldo who is­ ALSO going to Real Madrid.
    The best picking Utd will­ get is Arian Robben who will become superfluous for­ Real Madrid, but they won't sign anyone big - their­ owners have a huge debt to cover from the share-deals.­ Maybe Cantona or Pele will come out of retirement for­ them but forget it - next year the Merseyside Reds will­ be back to dominate English football
    Sergio Ramos will­ not leave. Real have let Canavarro leave back to Italy,­ so they can't lose another crucial defender in­ their bid to re-create the new 'Galacticos', 6­ years after the­ Zidane-Carlos-Raul-Ronaldo-Beckham-Figo-Makelele­ team.
    Watch out next eason for Real who will have both­ Van Nistelroy and Sneider back from injuries.
    Hey!!­ where are the MAN CITY rumours??

    From adrian w, on Sat 23 May 8:09AM

  4. 37.
    i think he would be about 15-20 mil cuz hes a­ defender and defenders are cheaper than attacking­ players...:)but thats a good point chechener...

    From Davis K, on Fri 22 May 11:46PM

  5. 31.Manchester United-(Benzema 30mil, Ribery 35mil,­ Sergio­ Ramos 15mil)

    Sergio ramos 15mil ? u keedin me?­ hahaha u will never get him for 15 lol

    From chechenr, on Fri 22 May 10:56PM

  6. Who is he going to be taking the place of if say we do­ get him but i dont think we will

    From gunners4 lyfe:), on Fri 22 May 8:45PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Manutd -
    OUT:
    tevez 2 liverpool(sigh!!)
    Nani 2­ real(or, wherver' but out of utd at least, he's­ g@rb@ge!)
    Ronaldo 2 real
    IN:
    Benzema­ (definitely)
    Ribery( only if ronaldo leaves)
    Sergio­ Ramos

    Loserfools-
    OUT: alonso,dossena, Lucas , babel­
    IN: tevez, villa or Silva or Barry(most­ likely)

    Gooners
    OUT: adebayor 2 inter or chelski , van­ persie, denilson
    IN: Hangeland

    Chelski -
    OUT: frogba 2­ inter, carvalho 2 inter, deco ,Ashley Cole 2 barca
    IN:­ adebayor...

    From dhruvrastogi_rooney, on Fri 22 May 7:33PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Manutd -
    OUT:
    tevez 2 liverpool(sigh!!)
    Nani 2­ real(or, wherver' but out of utd at least, he's­ g@rb@ge!)
    Ronaldo 2 real
    IN:
    Benzema­ (definitely)
    Ribery( only if ronaldo leaves)
    Sergio­ Ramos

    Loserfools-
    OUT: alonso,dossena, Lucas , babel­
    IN: tevez, villa or Silva or Barry(most­ likely)

    Gooners
    OUT: adebayor 2 inter or chelski , van­ persie, denilson
    IN: Hangeland

    Chelski -
    OUT: frogba 2­ inter, carvalho 2 inter, deco ,Ashley Cole 2 barca
    IN:­ adebayor...

    From dhruvrastogi_rooney, on Fri 22 May 7:33PM

  9. Manutd -
    OUT:
    tevez 2 liverpool(sigh!!)
    Nani 2­ real(or, wherver' but out of utd at least, he's­ g@rb@ge!)
    Ronaldo 2 real
    IN:
    Benzema­ (definitely)
    Ribery( only if ronaldo leaves)
    Sergio­ Ramos

    Loserfools-
    OUT: alonso,dossena, Lucas , babel­
    IN: tevez, villa or Silva or Barry(most­ likely)

    Gooners
    OUT: adebayor 2 inter or chelski , van­ persie, denilson
    IN: Hangeland

    Chelski -
    OUT: frogba 2­ inter, carvalho 2 inter, deco ,Ashley Cole 2 barca
    IN:­ adebayor...

    From dhruvrastogi_rooney, on Fri 22 May 7:33PM

  10. WOW THIS IS A FIRST MAN CITY NOT MENTIONED AT ALL WHATS­ UP NO RUMOURS TODAY WOW I AM SHOCKED LOL LOL LOL LOL

    From BOB, on Fri 22 May 6:52PM

  11. Manchester United-(Benzema 30mil, Ribery 35mil, Sergio­ Ramos 15mil)
    Liverpool-(Tevez 23mil, Barry­ 16mil,)
    Chelsea-(Van Der Vaart 20mil, A.Young­ 19mil,)
    Arsenal-(Hangeland 15mil, Ledley 6mil, Diego­ 27mil)
    Aston Villa-(Dafour 10mil, Ashton 12mil, Bentley­ 10mil)
    Everton-(Kanoute 10mil, Chiellini­ 25mil)
    Fulham-(C.Cole 8mil, Ljungberg Free, Shorey­ 5mil)
    Tottenham-(Campbell 5mil, Ben Arfa 15mil, Yakubu­ 15mil)
    West Ham-(Crouch 9mil, Gilberto Silva 5mil)
    Man­ City-(Ballack 10mil, Owen Free, Beckham­ 16mil)
    Bolton-(Pogatetz 5mil, Whitehead 8mil, Downing­ 10mil)
    Stoke-(Welbeck Loan, Maldini 4mil, Gibbs­ Loan)
    Wigan-(Aliadiere 5mil, Bullard 5mil, Primus­ 2mil)
    Portsmout-(Gomez 7mil, Konchesky 5mil, Dawson­ 5mil)
    Sunderland-(Brunt 9mil, Insua Loan, Thuram­ Loan)
    Newcastle-(Riise 7mil, Pedersen 5mil, Dempsey­ 9mil)
    Blackburn-(G.Cahill 5mil, S.Davies­ 5mil,)
    Wolves-(Tugay Free, Hamann 2mil, Benjani­ 5mil,)
    Birmingham-(Dunne Loan, Wheater 2mil, A.Alves­ 4mil)
    Burnley-(Cresswell Free, Shawcross 3mil, Phillips­ 3mil)

    The teams up there are the teams i think will be­ in EPL next season..
    hope u like it

    From Davis K, on Fri 22 May 6:43PM

  12. lets get what we can 4 adywankor hes a money grabbin­ tit. Sooner we get rid the better.
    Back henry 4 his­ last few campaigns to drum up some decent experianced­ players 2 go along with the talented youth weve got­ coming through the ranks.@#$% the rest of ya gooner 4­ life.

    From Natalie, on Fri 22 May 6:16PM

  13. Adebayor to remain wit arsenal or heading to Man utd,­ but definetly not chelsea.

    From sitamiky, on Fri 22 May 5:50PM

  14. valencia to man u
    hangeland to arsenal
    Tevez to­ liverpool
    Messi to man city
    Kris common to fulham
    Owen­ to spurs
    ferguson to birmingham
    little howards big­ question is on tv now!!! BBC 1

    From lberkeley, on Fri 22 May 5:15PM

  15. arsenal needs to get more experienced players to add to­ the youth in the team. What arsenal need is like 4­ experienced player for defence, midfield and attack to­ motivate the other team members.That is what man u has­ that is making them to be a strong team dey combine­ youthfulness and experince together. When Viera was in­ arsenal the team is doing well becos he has­ experiences.

    From David, on Fri 22 May 4:38PM

  16. donal1990 i can only see utd going for valencia from­ wigan

    From Paul T, on Fri 22 May 4:23PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    News of Adebayor planning to leave Arsenal could end up­ to be sweet tide for all fans. But even sweeter could­ be the news which could link Mr Wenger with a similar­ move! Don't you think so , fans? I for one am (si..­ and)tired of listening to the man's "The boys­ played well" tune. And how about defender Koro­ making an about turn? Fans, don't you think he is­ too old and therefore too slow to contain the ever­ elusive crop of strikers in the League? Please Arsenal­ Fans, let us discuss the future of the two guys: Arsene­ and Koro.
    ZIKAPANDA, Malawi.

    From Biziel, on Fri 22 May 3:28PM

  18. I've heard Darren Ferguson is on his way to Inter­ Milan! Great signing for them. Good player for any top­ team!

    From saunders.ryan, on Fri 22 May 3:22PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I would Prefer Hangenland because he would be the best­ defensive in Arsenal, I do not want see black in­ defensive of Arsenal

    From Abba Mai Adda, on Fri 22 May 3:15PM

  20. Fergahun is finished...his legs have gone. I heard he­ was opening a hotel.

    From david, on Fri 22 May 3:05PM
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