Transfers - Gossip Shop: Everton to lure J. Moutinho

Eurosport - Tue, 24 Feb 19:27:00 2009

We don't know for sure what you're thinking, but if we had to guess then we'd pop five quid on it being one, or all, of the following:

FOOTBALL Goodison Park - 0

(a) Look at that clunking great typo in the headline, can't those idiots even spell the name of the world's second most famous football manager.

(b) Hah! Another ridiculous, stupendously implausible story from the tittle-tattle-mongers who run the Gossip Shop.

(c) How exciting, but David Moyes is one of the most sensible, decent managers in the Premier League, why on earth would Everton want to replace him?

All of which would be sensible reactions on a day when 'The Special One' is back splashed all over the media - but the man we're talking about is Senor Joao Moutinho rather than Senor Jose Mourinho.

Moutinho is a Portuguese midfielder who plays for Sporting Lisbon, and apparently the Toffees are chewing over the idea of tabling an enormous bid - of up to £20 million - to bring him to Merseryside as a replacement for the long-term injured Mikel Arteta.

Moyes was keen on the playmaker last summer, but unwilling to meet Sporting's price tag. Yet the thought of nine months without Arteta - or Aarghteta, as The Sun dub him this morning - has prompted him to have another root around the back of the Goodison Park sofas to rustle up the extra cash.

Trying to replace injured players seems to be one of the biggest problems managers face these days, but that could all be a thing of the past... because indestructible non-human players are coming soon to a pitch near you!

"It's Roy of the Robots!" cries The Sun this morning, alongside a picture of that robot from the Honda adverts apparently kicking a football. By which we mean a picture of a robot standing on one leg with a picture of a football crudely photoshopped beside it.

"Is that C4-3-3PO?" they also cried, apparently so pleased with themselves for having come up with two such plum headlines for an utter non-story that they decided to go with both.

Hmm. Looking back up this page, we should probably avoid further criticism of spurious headlines for mediocre news stories - though in our defence we'll just point out that The Sun costs 30p while this website is absolutely free.

In case you hadn't guessed, genuine transfer chit-chat is a bit thin on the ground today. But for those of you who are new to this feature and are perhaps, rather ludicrously, expecting some genuine news, here's a quick run-down of what's out there:

Andre Oijer is set to head to PSV Eindhoven when his Blackburn contract runs out this summer; Nottingham Forest's manager Billy Davies is trying to get hold of Stoke winger Michael Tonge and Manchester City striker Ched Evans on loan deals; Danny Shittu is lining up a move from Bolton to either Wolves, Reading or Birmingham; and Brighton have put Paul Ince top of their shortlist for a new manager.

See what we mean? The cheap puns on similar-looking Portuguese names and poking fun at multi-million pound football robots were far more interesting.

There's one other piece of news that's worth a mention: Japan are apparently determined to bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, even if they don't win the 2016 Olympics. Previously, the two bids were to be tied together as a package for stadium-building purposes.

If their bid were to succeed, Mexico, Japan and Germany would each have had two World Cups in the time since England last hosted the event.

The way things are looking, by the time the sport's greatest showcase returns to these shores those robot footballers might not be so fantastical after all.

Toby Keel / Eurosport

Comment 21 - 40 of 40

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  1. Fred, you may be an adult but what you've posted­ shows you're childish and still have a small brain.

    From c, on Wed 25 Feb 1:27AM
  2. No LFC fans on here they are at home, it is past there­ curfue

    From Fred, on Tue 24 Feb 10:56PM
  3. i strongly suggest you you don`t Kop off with any LFC­ fans you will get the clap and avery STD on the planet

    From Fred, on Tue 24 Feb 10:48PM
  4. it is very funny the Yorkshire ripper only murdered­ kopite prostitutes, and geoffrey Darmer killed a couple­ of kopites but kept puking up after eating one he said­ in court you can`t keep a kopite down

    From Fred, on Tue 24 Feb 10:34PM
  5. stay in your Bedfordshire slums, lfc dogs arses

    From Fred, on Tue 24 Feb 10:25PM
  6. WE know your scumbag murders, you horrible kopite scum

    From Fred, on Tue 24 Feb 10:20PM
  7. I cant do dis all on my own, but I'm no, I'm no­ Superman!

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 7:38PM
  8. Nothing can be more pitiful than trying to be witty but­ coming out like an ignorant - Herr Toby­ Keel!

    Moutinho/Mourinho = Keel/kill?
    SENHOR NOT Senor­

    If you venture into foreign languages, make sure you­ get it right or the joke’s on you.

    Ps - nuno_regufe­ was being ironic.

    From HL, on Tue 24 Feb 7:26PM
  9. Uuummm Danone!

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 7:11PM
  10. nuno_regufe Moutinho is a Portuguese midfielder who­ plays for Sporting Lisbon

    READ THIS LINE!!

    From Nath, on Tue 24 Feb 6:40PM
  11. (17) kopite 1973 - everton are not a one man team - un­ like stee gerrard fc . gerro's a blue anyway. tit

    From Greg, on Tue 24 Feb 6:22PM
  12. So sad Mark K but then I suppose that's what should­ be expected from an LFC fan

    From miker2910, on Tue 24 Feb 6:08PM
  13. No.22-if you read my no.23, it was meant for no.21.­ Sorry about that boss! Confused? me too.

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 6:03PM
  14. No.21-p off will u u little tart. U blue boys seem to­­ know more about LFC than u do of ur own­­ club-4EVER(Laggin behind us)TON. Why do we know little­­ of you-coz theres not much to talk about boyo!

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 5:58PM
  15. I just wana say in advance-well done real Madrid on­ your deserved win over 12 man Utd.

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 5:53PM
  16. Here we go-puzzle time. U ready? Ok so! 1st of all,­ pick a number between 1-100,000. Double it. Add 50.­ Devide the whole lot in half. Finally, take the number­ you picked at start, away, and you are left with 25! I­ guarentee that you will ALWAYS know the right answer to­ this puzzle, no matter what number is picked at start.­ Heres a tip-its to do with the number that you ask the­ person to add-in the sample I gave youy its 50. I dare­ anyone to write telling me they chose a number and I­ will get the answer. PS-never tell anyone what you­ chose between 1-100,000.

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 5:31PM
  17. He's Portuguese you plank - read the article!!!

    From Anthony, on Tue 24 Feb 5:07PM
  18. what is a senor???is moutinho spanish?

    From Nuno, on Tue 24 Feb 4:57PM
  19. as good as he may be can he really replace arteta and­ create `the magic that arteta seems to do with hiis­ eyes closed

    From Lee, on Tue 24 Feb 4:53PM
  20. No.22-p off will u u little tart. U blue boys seem to­ know more about LFC than u do of ur own­ club-4EVER(Laggin behind us)TON. Why do we know little­ of you-coz theres not much to talk about boyo!

    From LFCool!, on Tue 24 Feb 4:49PM
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