Transfers - Gossip Shop: Stoke in for Scholes

Eurosport - Fri, 29 May 18:48:00 2009

As Gossip Shop prepares for retirement, Paul Scholes could be set for a sensational exit from Manchester United after Stoke allegedly expressed an interest in the former England playmaker.

FOOTBALL Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes after the Champions League final defeat to Barcelona in Rome. Scholes, 34, has been linked with a surprise move to Stoke City. - 0

Scholes, who turns 35 later this year, is frustrated by a lack of first-team opportunities and was only on the bench for the Champions League final.

"Not playing every week is an adjustment you don't like making," Scholes said in the Daily Mail. "You train all week, and you want to play games."

Were Scholes to leave, it would come as something of a bombshell for United fans, who have always thought that the one-club man would only countenance leaving for boyhood heroes Oldham.

But Scholes is nothing if not realistic and, knowing his legs are fading, he is considering a route into management and starts his coaching qualifications this summer.

"I would have thought that next season will be my last one," he continued. "After that, I would not rule out management. Let's see how the coaching goes first."

And this is where Stoke would come in, according to The Mail.

Eager to add some quality to his midfield of massive bruisers, boss Tony Pulis wants Scholes for a season, with a view to coaching while learning the management ropes at the Britannia.

It would suit Scholes logistically, as he would not have to move from his Moors home, and professionally, both in the short and long-term. But, vitally, it is not Oldham.

Other United stars tipped to leave are, of course, Carlos Tevez , and somewhat more languid striker Dimitar Berbatov.

Furthermore, United's inability to match Barcelona in midfield could signal changes, with Michael Carrick, Anderson, Ryan Giggs and Ji-Sung Park shown up for being no more than 'pretty good' as opposed to Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Lionel Messi's 'bl**dy marvellous'.

Some of the names bandied about - Michael Essien, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Cesc Fabregas - are not options in the short-term, but an intriguing prospect is Yaya Toure.

Shunned by Arsene Wenger despite Kolo's recommendation, the younger of the Ivorian brothers is hard, fast and skilful. But he is also very, very good, as shown in his effortless conversion to centre-half in the build-up to the biggest game of his career.

Tevez, meanwhile, could oddly be the man that allows Sir Alex Ferguson to bring in some midfield steel.

Liverpool are top of the queue to sign him, but at £25m his purchase would rule out a bid for Gareth Barry unless Mascherano or Alonso were allowed to leave.

Whether the Reds would countenance the sale of a key midfielder to their bitter rivals is open to debate, but if Tevez joins it would be somewhat hypocritical of Rafael Benitez to stand in anyone's way.

A final edition of GS would not be complete without an obligatory Cristiano Ronaldo rumour. But, ever the maverick, GS has been decided that Ronaldo is one man who will be staying at Old Trafford, despite The Sun's insistence that he is due to hand in a transfer request.

The Portuguese heart-throb seemed to be playing for himself in the Champions League final, which may have put Real Madrid off making a £70 million bid.

Franck Ribery, however, would cost around half that and is eager to leave Bayern Munich, what with FC Hollywood being a bit alpha male for the shy winger.

That would annoy Chelsea, who - despite having no manager - were preparing to bring in the Frenchman for the constantly-crocked Joe Cole.

Anyway, the Blues would be better served by looking to bring in defensive cover and a good, young striker to fill the boots of the soon-to-depart Didier Drogba.

Converted left winger Yuri Zhirkov of CSKA Moscow would work as both back-up to full-back Ashley Cole and as a viable alternative to Florent Malouda.

Reports emerged that the Russia star had agreed to join Chelsea, who dismissed it as "paper talk", just how GS likes it.

On a striking tip, Lyon's Karim Benzema and Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero score goals for fun (both, eerily, have just over 40 in just over 110 appearances for their clubs) and are frighteningly young at 21 and 20 respectively.

Chelsea will have to splash some cash on those two, but Drogba and Malouda would both be amenable to part-exchange deals if the new manager at Stamford Bridge decides to dispense with their services.

With Liverpool edging closer to Tevez, a move for Barry (who, honestly, would add little to an already excellent midfield) is looking less likely.

Arsenal, however, would love to have a man who can tie his own shoelaces, and could use some of the cash Wenger has allegedly been promised to fund a bid for the England international.

Wenger really should have spent the £4.5m Yaya Toure cost when he joined Monaco from Olympiacos after a failed trial with the Gunners, or even the £6m shelled out by Barca a year later. Barry, meanwhile, would cost at least £12m.

So, this is the end of the Shop, ordered to the knackers' yard after one libel suit too many.

Stay tuned, though, as the unfounded gossip and baseless rumour will continue in an all-new format starting on Monday.

Eurosport

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  1. for anybody that comes across scouse hater-solent­ assassin-michael o-dazmanure,it is all 1 person that­ claims to be an avid mancunian,when infact he is from­ charlton east london,so beware he goes onto different­ pages trying to upset other peoples teams for­ banter,dont give the guy the time.

    From fergieisagenitalwart, on Sun 31 May 1:57PM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    for anybody that comes across scouse hater-solent­ assassin-michael o-dazmanure,it is all 1 person that­ claims to be an avid mancunian,when infact he is from­ charlton east london,so beware he goes onto different­ pages trying to upset other peoples teams for­ banter,dont give the guy the time.

    From fergieisagenitalwart, on Sun 31 May 1:57PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    for anybody that comes across scouse hater-solent­ assassin-michael o-dazmanure,it is all 1 person that­ claims to be an avid mancunian,when infact he is from­ charlton east london,so beware he goes onto different­ pages trying to upset other peoples teams for­ banter,dont give the guy the time.

    From fergieisagenitalwart, on Sun 31 May 1:56PM

  4. for anybody that comes across scouse hater-solent­ assassin-michael o-dazmanure,it is all 1 person that­ claims to be an avid mancunian,when infact he is from­ charlton east london,so beware he goes onto different­ pages trying to upset other peoples teams for­ banter,dont give the guy the time.

    From fergieisagenitalwart, on Sun 31 May 1:56PM

  5. Ade P - On what do you base your comment? Liverfool won­ NOTHING this year, Man United won 3 trophies.

    From redimaster, on Sun 31 May 11:35AM

  6. Ade P you cant even spell liverpool,you thick bit

    From ruth, on Sun 31 May 11:12AM

  7. man ure IS the past,­ WELCOME to a new era, i give you­ the mighty­ LIVREPOOL,now step aside old­ "hasbeens" and­ watch the future of English­ football unfold before your­ very eyes, with dazzling­ displays from such players as­ Gerrard, Torres and the­ ICEMAN Alonso, Liverpool are­ near perfection, watch­ and weep Manure...

    From Bike 69, mabaho ka !, on Sun 31 May 10:20AM

  8. EH! EH! DIS IS OUR YEAR DIS IS! Sounds familiar?­­ Remember the glory days, Cilla, Tarby, Sonia, it's­­ all in the past . BORING. YNWA = You'll Never Win­­ Anything! SCOUSER'S ARE SO BORING . . . Y A W N­ Same old drivel. BORING!
    Bryjones71 Dream on! Like I­ said­ 'What Success'? Sod all really. Typical­ thick­ Scouser­­ just like Gerrard . . . hungry for­ more­ success? What­­ success? That's a laugh, your­ head­ is about as­ empty­ as Gerrards trophy cabinet.­ 20­ years and counting ho,­ ho,­ ho. If Gerrard wants­­ success he should play for a­ team­ that actually wins­­ something, AND THAT'S A FACT!

    From Mmmm000se, on Sun 31 May 8:11AM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    man un clowns ha ha ha ha ha ha barsaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ­ 0-2

    From Dido, on Sun 31 May 6:48AM

  10. If Scholes if going anywhere then it will be to Oldham.

    From Jonathan B, on Sat 30 May 9:20PM

  11. SCHOLESY! PLEASE DONT GO! YOU ARE AN UNITED LEGEND AND­ EVERY SINGLE ONE OF UNITEDS FANS WOULD BE DEVESTATED TO­ SEE YOU GO! AND TO STOKE N'ALL!

    From jamief1234, on Sat 30 May 9:19PM

  12. LIVERPOOL FANS ONLY TALK UP SUCCESS (its nothing new­ you will hear it every year)
    Its because­ "Liverpool are jealous of Man Utd FACT. Jealous of­ United fans because united fans actually have something­ real to gloat about, jealous because they have not won­ the league for almost 20 years, jealous of their­ stadium, jealous about everything. That’s why they­ always talk about you" they talk about Chelsea for­ the same reasons, we are not as successful as united­ but the fact is it eats into a Liverpool scouser­ because his team can’t win the league title

    Liverpool­ fans are only good at 'talking up success' its­ called hope, hope is not 'fact'
    Liverpool fans­ are fast becoming a laughing stock of football, bitter,­ jealous people who have nothing to cheer about in­ football, so instead they slate other teams­ FACT!!

    MORE FACTS
    Man United - Champions, carling cup­ winners, european finalists and world club­ champions
    Chelsea - Fa cup winners
    Everton - Fa cup­ finalists (I quote this because of the­ rivalry)
    Liverpool - won nothing, never even reached a­ final.

    From Brian B, on Sat 30 May 5:03PM

  13. Red couser bums are always giving it the large, all you­ ever hear from them is
    liverpool will win the league,­
    liverpool are the best,
    liverpool are catching up­ with united
    Benitez this Benitez that
    IN­ TRUTH
    Liverpool have never won the premier league
    Won­ hardly anything in the past 15 years
    Have a small dated­ stadium
    Won sod all again this season despite so much­ (false) promise

    Why do you lot talk so much nonsense,­ every frigging year you claim 'this will be your­ year' and then when it doesnt happen you all change­ to 'oh next season will be our year' IT NEVER­ HAPPENS AND IT WONT FOR A VERY LONG TIME, GET THAT INTO­ YOUR THICK MUSHER SKULLS. Even everton reached a­ domestic final this year, something liverpool failed­ on, you can go on and on about the past? but thats all­ it is 'the past' and nothing more. Thats all­ you have to gloat about, your title wins of the­ 70's and 80's. Chelsea are more succesful ion­ modern times than you, even leeds, blackburn and­ Arsenal have achieved what you cannot do (win league­ title in modern times)
    This season says it all, ok you­ beat us twice? so what we have been giving you hidings­ for years

    From who am i, on Sat 30 May 4:17PM

  14. It would be good to see Scholes go to Stoke as he is­ probably a bit long in the tooth to
    carry on playing­ full matches with Man Utd but he could add a bit of­ quality in the Stoke mid field for a good part of­
    matches he may only play a part of each match but the­ experience he could take there could be a great­ asset
    and may help stoke to survive another season,­ Even better if he sees it as a stepping stone toward­ management
    which he has in mind,
    Good luck to him he­ has given Stirling service to England & Man U over­ the years, A true professional footballer.

    From Dave, on Sat 30 May 3:49PM

  15. Comment 376 you sad bin dipper liverpool won sweet FA.­ Scum? You need to look closer to home you toilet

    From STEPHEN H, on Sat 30 May 2:12PM

  16. BARCELONA !!! :D haha Man u­ :PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

    From Craig, on Sat 30 May 2:03PM

  17. W H Y A R E S C O U S E R 'S S O D A M N­ E D S T U P I D ?

    From Mmmm000se, on Sat 30 May 12:23PM

  18. I'm a Liverpool fan and I have to admit that Rafa­ will be totally out of his mind if he lets Alonso go­ after a wonderful season he has had...

    From Naren7, on Sat 30 May 12:03PM

  19. liverpool are a better club plzzz dont make me laught­ if liverpool were that much better then they would have­ won somthing and what did they win this year let me­ think ermmmmmmmmmmmm SOD ALL

    From mick p, on Sat 30 May 11:52AM

  20. the author of this article is retarded. how can u begin­ to envisage Mascherano leaving Anfield and more­ importantly it's to people these rumours about­ alonso leaving anfield to bed. any club that think Rafa­ is prepared to let alonso go after the season he has­ had are high on something. alonso was liverpool's­ player of the season.... they will rather let gerrard­ go before alonso leaves. alonso is the heart beat of­ liverpool

    From Kudakwashe, on Sat 30 May 10:04AM
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