9 Man Madrid make historic comeback to take the Super Cup

Real Madrid's pre- season has not been the best in years compared to their Spanish rivals. On more than one occasion they had to be saved by some individual brilliance. It has also not been the great transfer summer for the Spanish champions. After the Ronaldo saga, the highlight though has been the signing of Van der vaart, a real steal. The big problem for Schuster has been the injuries. He has used some make shift players in certain positions and though they scraped through the pre-season, it was always not going to be enough for the highly competitive La liga. The first realization for Schuster came, after claiming that they are going all out and serious for the Spanish super cup when they visited the Mestalla to face Valencia last week. The last time Madrid tasted any success in the Spanish super cup was back in 2003, when David Beckham made his debut. I am one of those men who believe that Schuster is indeed one of the sharpest tacticians i have seen. Unfortunately he also has some serious problems in hiding mistakes. Well the simple reason is that he makes some really childish ones.

Last week Valencia won 3-2 when they scored all three goals in the second half after a rather dull first half. Garcia and Heinze at the center of defense, Torres at LB and the veteran Salgado at RB. Midfield also had a rather bizarre combination of Diarra and De la Red. Van der vaart played behind the strikers and Robinho on the left. With his mind already possibly in London, Robinho looked completely out of touch. It was only the superb finishing skills of Van Nistelrooy that saved the day for Madrid. The introduction of Robben in the second half and also Sergio Ramos at RB, really did spread the play for Madrid. I am lets say puzzled when a Manager would leave Metzelder and Sergio Ramos on the bench.

Andy Gray the famous commentator has said "Each football match is like a blank canvas at kick off and you never know what would be drawn on it". It was exactly the same at the Bernabeu when Real Madrid welcomed Valencia in the return leg of the Super cup. Schuster knowing that he would be under immediate pressure from the fans, line up Pepe and Heinze in the center, Ramos at RB and continued to have Torres at LB ahead of Marcelo back from the Olympics. He reverted back to the formation that he used for major portion of last season. He had Diarra in the holding role, Guti on the right ( so as to say) and Van der vaart in the provider role. Robben got the nod ahead of Robinho and the two strikers in Raul and Van Nistelrooy.

Madrid came out confident and controlled the ball, but unfortunately the midfield was so packed from both teams that there was no play in the final attacking quarter. Few long range shots from Van der vaart and Van Nistelrooy were all that Madrid had to show for. With Pepe the orchestrator in the back line for Madrid, David Villa the tormentor in the first leg was taken out of the equation. Pepe was also trying to feed some long balls with the hope of finding Robben. Against the run of play it was David Silva who scored, the one two outside the Madrid box, Heinze hesitated for a second and the shot just was too perfectly placed. 0-1 to Valencia and they were leading 4-2 on aggregate. Within minutes of the goal Van der vaart made an absolutely stupid two footed studs up tackle on Mata and out came the straight red card. His first appearance in front of the Bernabeu ended in an early shower for him.

1o man Real Madrid came out in the second half looking a bit more determined and Robben went past a few defenders on the right and put in a delightful cross for Van Nistelrooy. His header on target was blocked by Raul Albiol with his arm. In my book, he was the last man, it was on target and it should have been a red card. Nonetheless Madrid got the penalty and Van Nistelrooy converted calm and cool from the spot. 1-1 and an aggregate now 4-3. But again the drama of the night just started when Van Nistelrooy already carrying a yellow card, went in studs up on Baraja, he got the ball but also got the man. Two tackles two cards and Madrid are down to 9 men.


Schuster realizing it was time to either fight or give up, decided to gamble. I have been analyzing football matches closely for about 10 years now and i have thought that i have seen some really remarkable turn arounds. One that comes to mind is Liverpool's stunning comeback against Milan in the Champions League final a few years ago. I would rate this match also among one of the best in this league. Torres was replaced by Drenthe who was to play a free role on the left. Guti was replaced by De la Red. Robben was running riot on the right and from a set piece, some astonishingly poor marking let Diarra have a go at the goal and it fell back the cross bar and Sergio Ramos was in to finish it off. 2-1 to Madrid and 4-4 on aggregate. If it was to remain this way Madrid would win the cup due to the more number of away goals scored. Madrid had to survive about 10 minutes. Higuain replaced Raul and in a counter attack Madrid cleared the ball quickly from their box and De la Red was off through the middle, with only Higuain up front he took an audacious shot from nearly 30 yards out, which went in. The boy is young but it has to be given credit on the attempt he made. 3-1 Madrid.

Just two minutes later Alexis made a back pass on some pressure from Robben and super sub Higuain obliged and one touch to beat the keeper and scored. 4-1 Real Madrid with a few minutes left and an aggregate of 6-4. Former Madrid striker Morientes grabbed one back to make it 4-2 on the night but Madrid won the Spanish super cup 6-5 on aggregate with an astonishing come back.

With the obvious tactical genius that Schuster is, he would not have failed to observe how good Madrid plays when the midfield is not stuffed. The dribblers like Robinho and Robben need the space to dribble past a few players and make their contributions count with some wide wing play. This basically will pull out one or more players to support the wing backs and will thus open up more spaces in the center. This is exactly what happened when Madrid were reduced to 10 men. It just opened the stage for one Dutchman in Robben who was just superb in the second half.
I have never been a big fan of this weird midfield formation that Madrid plays. It maybe effective, but i would rather look at a more in the book style. With Robinho almost destined to leave, Schuster may now have a problem of a different sort. Schuster tried to calm things by including the Brazilian in the substitutes. Real President is claimed to have said that the Brazilian can leave if he pays 45M and that Madrid do not want an unhappy player in their ranks. In the tense last 15 minutes when his team mates were outside the Madrid dug out, Robinho seemed to be glued to his seats. When finally he did come out to collect the winners medals, he was jeered and booed by a vast section of the fans with signs printed "money grabber". Robben as in the last season is just superb when he is on the ground, but still is pretty unlucky with his injuries. But for the night Robben can be happy that he put in a Man of the Match performance in one of the most remarkable turn arounds in football.

Rafael van der Vaart adds more Dutch quality at Madrid?

For Real Madrid fans it has been an awfully quiet summer in the transfer department, mainly because the club officials have claimed time and again that Christiano Ronaldo is the only target for this year. Media claimed a spat between Madrid President who said that "It is Christiano or no one" and Manager Schuster's counter claim that if that is the case he is the last one to know, is now all resolved. At the press conference after their pre-season friendly match against Hamburg FC in the Emirates cup, the question was put forth to Schuster on the possibility of signing Rafael van der Vaart who has been supposedly a long time target. The Hamburg midfielder was conspicuously missing in the game against Madrid. Schuster said, Rafael is one of the players Real is monitoring but everything will depend on whether Christiano joins or not. It seemed more as though the Dutchman was more of a back up plan.

A day later media claimed that Real lodged a 5M bid and was rejected right away by Hamburg. Real was anticipating that Rafael can exercise a move next year for just over a million and that this was the time to negotiate with Hamburg. Sunday Real played Arsenal and lost by a lone goal from Adebayor. The unfortunate incident of the night was second half substitute Wesley Sneijder being stretchered off after a poor tackle from Diaby. Obviously the Dutchman was in severe pain and the fear of ligament damage and possible 6 months away from the game was going to be a disaster for Madrid.

Monday morning the good news was that the MRI scans showed that Sneijder could be out only for about 3 months and the even better news was that Real made an official statement on their website stating that the Spanish Champions have reached an agreement with the German club in the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart, subject to clearing a medical and then an official presentation on the President's balcony on Tuesday. Though the fee was not mentioned it is rumored that Hamburg was set to benefit 9M on the Dutchman.


Without a doubt Rafael van der Vaart is a superb addition to the roster, and along with the long list of Dutchmen like Sneijder, Van Nistelrooy, Drenthe and Robben is sure to add some real quality. Just 25 years of age he is for sure one of the superstars in Holland. Coming through the ranks of the Ajax youth system like a lot of Dutch stars, has done some superb things in his career which has also been tainted by fair share of injuries. An amazing stat on van der Vaart is that for an Attacking midfielder he scored 18 goals in 21 league games in 02/03 season which earned him a well deserved European Player of the Year in 2003. van der Vaart has had more limelight off the pitch than on, when he was romantically involved to Sylvie, a Dutch model and actress who was voted the sexiest female in Holland in 2005. Their wedding was shown live on the prime network in Holland. Amidst interest from clubs like AC Milan, van der Vaart decided to join German outfit Hamburg and was a key player for them as well as is leaving them after 3 seasons as their Captain.

It will be interesting to see how Schuster manages his midfield. If it is going to be the rotation of last year, which was more of the Manager being unsure and not giving players the playing time they need. Sneijder came from Ajax as a left sided attacking midfielder. He was moved to an attacking midfielder role in the center playing right behind the strikers and he was a success. Scoring 9 goals on his way to a title in the first year with his team, Sneijder was superb in his set piece play and open play goals. He was one of the less heralded transfers last season and the lack of pressure probably helped. van der Vaart is very similar in playing style to Sneijder. Since Wesley is injured and if van der Vaart plays decent in the same position then Schuster definitely has a problem on hand. Marco Van Basten used both Sneijder and van der Vaart in midfield in the Euros this year and though they were decent as a combination Sneijder really outshone his new club team mate. Madrid's success in midfield is rather an unorganized mode that Schuster uses, where Sneijder though is supposed to be positioned on the right, really has a floating role. From what i have seen van der Vaart is primarily left footed, is a set piece specialist and can take long shots and brings home a decent kitty of goals every season. Would Schuster be tempted to play Sneijder and van der Vaart behind his strikers and have Robben or Robinho play on the right wing is to be seen. With "contract for life" Guti holding on to a spot, is Madrid making the mistake of stacking up too many players of the same kind? It is the likes of Baptista, Sneijder, Guti and now van der Vaart battling for one spot. Roma could very well renew their interest now and could see Madrid accept the 15M bid for Baptista.


We still have about 25 days to go for the transfer window to close, if indeed Christiano Ronaldo joins the Capital city club, it will be without a doubt one of the most formidable midfield's in Europe. Well 5 years back we had Zidane, Figo and Beckham on the pitch wearing the white shirt, but then lets hope it is different....

Back door exit for one of the greatest players in the world!

In the 2002 world Cup match between Brazil and England, a funny looking long haired Brazilian scored with a stupendous free kick which made David Seamen look foolish. That was not just his impact on the game, he was soon to see a Red card, but went on to become a World Cup winner. That was the first time people really took notice of Ronaldinho Gaucho who was already a superstar in the French top league playing for PSG. Real Madrid was the first target destination, but with the Beckham saga, Madrid bought the Englishman and arch rivals Barcelona welcomed Ronaldinho. The new #10 at Barca took time to really show case his skills, but once he got going there was no stopping him. He has won the FIFA World Player of the year, European Footballer of the year and FIFPro World Player of the year award. As a Real Madrid fan i still remember a couple of seasons back, at the peak of Ronaldinho's form with Barca, a trip to the Bernabeu resulted in the Madrid fans pulling out the white cloth and cheering and chanting his name.

207 matches and 94 goals and 5 seasons later, the one player that took Barca to the heights of Champions League and La Liga success was shown the door, or rather Dinho accepted to walk out the door without much fuss. Barca are a bit notorious in these non significant exits of players who have done such a lot for them. Having been plagued with injuries last term and a limited outing of 12 La Liga games, and his personal life coming under the scrutiny, we may say some of this is self inflicted.

Barca spent about 21M GBP for the services of the Brazilian in 2003, and welcomed bids from Man City which was reportedly at 25.5M GBP. Ronaldinho declined the move and instead opted to join AC Milan who had the bargain of their life when they paid 21M Euros to tie the Brazilian to a 3 year contract. With Real Madrid's Ronaldo chase the most publicized articles in the press, the Ronaldinho transfer was just a whisper in the wind. Milan were not shy of their capture, this was the first player welcome press meet to be held at the San Siro. There were 40,000 fans to welcome the Brazilian.
Few days later the question on everyone's mind was what jersey number would Dinho wear since Seedorf already was the #10 at Milan. Dinho's primary commercial sponsors R10 should be the once worried. Later it was decided that Ronaldinho will wear #80, his birth year and that Seedorf will still play in midfield alongside Kaka and Ronaldinho. It will be really interesting to see the combination work in midfield for Milan. The Italian giants struggled through the last season for goals, and finishing off games, but is Ronaldinho the man to do it for them? The club sold striker Gilardino this summer and now have very few options in that position. They were linked with possible bids for Arsenal's Adebayor and Samuel Eto from Barca, but with the money spent on the Ronaldinho transfer, Milan would struggle to cuff up that kind of money.

For me Dinho is still one of the best players that i have seen in my time. It was the Brazilian's "Thank You" note that was the first kind of any communication on this on the Barca web site.

As a fan of La Liga, and football time for me to say shame on you Barca and Thank You, Ronaldinho....Anyone who questions the greatness of the player needs to take a walk.

Do you have a transfer target Real Madrid?

After the Euro Championships the transfer market has been rather silent apart from a few preposterous rumors of who is going where. The whole world is glued on the possible world record transfer bid from Real Madrid for the services of Christiano Ronaldo. For the same period that Real have shown interest in the Portuguese winger, Man U have openly declined to do business. We have had Sir Alex meeting up with Ronaldo and telling him that the best club for him to be is at Man U, and don't go chasing the extra buck. Player contracts are so well defined these days that just by splashing out 80 or 100M richer clubs cannot throw their weight around. It is well documented that Madrid is using the media to such an extend that you have one piece on this transfer saga every day. Man U are complaining that this is unsettling the player. But is Man U in a position to complain? They have used the same tactics the time they used the media to price out Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves. Real President promised Ronaldo, Kaka and Robben in his election campaign. OK he dint get the first two, but the club after disappointing trophy less four years from 2003-2007 have built a strong team with good utility players.

Winning the Spanish La Liga two years and the way they won it last year specifically shows that they don't need a big team make over. What the Madrid midfield is missing is a right winger or even a decent right sided player. All through the last season Schuster tried almost 30 combinations in the Madrid midfield and only one with two wingers. Both Robben and Robinho prefer to play on the left and with the addition of Ronaldo a striker or a central midfielder will have to give way. Wesley Sneijder who has been one of the best signings Madrid has done in the recent past has already gone public in stating that one player with such a high wage cap could be unsettling for the dressing room. This statement could more to do with Dutchman worried on losing his spot in the starting 11.

With the chase for Ronaldo's signature stalled with Man U sticking to their original stand, the Media have moved on to other players. A day after Sir Alex meeting with Ronaldo, word is Madrid have moved on to other targets. But who are these targets? Well Rafael Van Der Vaart is one, who has been a target for years, and in my opinion will be an excellent signing, but wait he would probably end up being another candidate warming the bench. For the Dutch national team both Sneijder and Van Der Vaart played together in the midfield but there is going to be much more competition at Madrid.

The press claimed that Chelsea made an checked on the status of Kaka with Milan with the arrival of Ronaldinho. Milan officials claimed that the only club who checked with them were Real Madrid and they were given the answer that "Kaka is not for sale even for 300M". For Real Madrid Kaka should have been the first choice instead of pursuing Ronaldo. It is true that Kaka has declined a move year after year to Madrid, but has Ronaldo committed for a move to Madrid.

Real Madrid officials are claimed to have met with Valencia before the Euro Championships to discuss a possible bid for David Villa. Real seriously have a problem with their striking options. The entire last campaign the only dip in goal scoring came when Van Nistelrooy was injured. I had written in few of my posts last season that Schuster needs to give more playing time to Saviola and Soldado. With Benefica interested in Saviola, and Getafe given till the end of the week to meet Madrid's valuation on Soldado, that leaves last year's super sub Higuain. They need to bring in a quality striker and the best choice was Villa. He is relatively young, is Spanish and more importantly is in terrific form. Both Raul and Van Nistelrooy are producing the goals, but what if either of them gets injured? Over the past two days Real Madrid Manager is claimed to have said that he wants Samuel Eto' in this side. Few problems Schuster...Barca have told possible interested parties that they would not listen to any offers less than 30M for the Cameroon striker. Do you want to pay this money and a huge weekly wage for a player who left Madrid youth ranks and bad mouthed the club and the fans after being on Barca pay roll? With Guti and Casillas making statements that Eto' is welcome back in the capital city this does not seem to be just another rumor. Samuel Eto' is such a character that his place is anywhere but Real Madrid....

Madrid was wise and smart in their transfers over the past couple of summers, and really dont need to add many players to the roster. But the names that they have been linked to does not fit in with the current squad or what the team really needs. So let us see what transpires in the next week or so, because as i see it Madrid put all the eggs in one Ronaldo basket.

FIFA to investigate "Real" Ronaldo saga

The Euro 2008 tournament that kicked off this weekend has almost stopped all transfer rumors. All big name players participating in the tournament have put off their transfer talks till the end of the month when the curtain falls. There is one particular player and the news surrounding him that never seems to stop. Though his performance for Portugal in their opening game against Turkey was below his usual standards, Christiano Ronaldo still had everyone talking where he would be playing next season.

Long time admirers Real Madrid have not kept it secret that they want the Portuguese super star playing at the Bernabeu. This is not the first time Real have made public their interest in any of the big name players. Kaka and Fabregas are other examples where the difference was the players rejected the move and stuck to the loyalty with their respective clubs. Last season Real were a whisker away from pricing out Kaka from AC Milan. An 80M offer would have definitely seen Milan selling the Brazilian, but it was Kaka who after talking to Madrid representatives decided against the move. Fabregas was indeed a target over a couple of seasons, it was a promise made by Real President as a part of his election campaign. The only promise that was kept was that of bringing Robben from Chelsea.

After winning the Spanish La Liga for the second season running Real certainly do not have problems in the center midfield to even think of accommodating Fabregas. New signing Sneijder who is continuing his terrific form into the Euro for Netherlands, Argentinian Gago who was one of the players of the season, Guti who still seems to have a few years left in him have all cemented their places in the center of midfield. Diarra, Baptista and others wait for their chances. Real youth player Granero who was loaned out last season at Getafe is rated as one of the most talented young players in Spain and he has been immediately recalled by Real. This leaves hardly any explanation to bring Fabregas into the squad.

Real President has openly claimed multiple times that they are interested in players of the quality of Ronaldo. There is no way Real can talk to Ronaldo as he is in a long term contract with Man Utd. The player contract specifications have been put in place by FIFA and UEFA to protect clubs and their priced assets from clubs who have high purchasing muscle power.

It is very simple here, Real President has played a game of making the press do his negotiation work. Claims such as "If Ronaldo wants to move we have the money to spend". Sounds familiar? this was what he claimed last year with Kaka. After the Champions League win, sources close to Real said they are ready to offer Man Utd 100M GBP and also maybe a player for Ronaldo, and double his wages to a record breaking 200,000/week. There is no salary cap in Spain mind you. Earlier last week Ronaldo said "If Real are ready to offer the money they claim, then i am open to talk". We even had Real Brazilian star Robinho claiming that there was interest from Chelsea but the likely deal would be a part exchange for Ronaldo with Man Utd.

Is this practical? Can a club have the financial solvency to spend 100M GBP in a single transfer? Player price tags have come down dramatically after 2003. It is supposed to be averaging at somewhere close to 25M GBP except players in the league of Kaka, Messi, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho to name a few. In 2000 Real spent the then transfer fee record of 37M GBP for Luis Figo who joined from fierce rivals Barcelona. The following year in 2001, Real again broke all transfer records by paying Juventus 45.6M GBP for Zinedine Zidane. Am i finished here? Certainly not. In 2002 Real spent 28.4M GBP for Brazilian striker Ronaldo. With another 25M GBP spent on David Beckham in 2003, Real Madrid spent an astonishing 135M GBP in a period of 4 years on 4 players. Are they in a position to spend 100M GBP on a single player? With their transfer philosophy changing since 2003 and also going past Man Utd as the highest earning club I am one of those guys who feel that Calderon is not kidding.

When Madrid signed Beckham, it did not look that bright a move especially after he signed for LA Galaxy for free when he moved 4 years later. I have written this in one of my earlier blogs that a financial study found Real Madrid earning almost 200M from having Beckham wear the white jersey for 4 years through Merchandising. Real would for sure be looking at Ronaldo as the next generation David Beckham.

Sports Journalist across the world are claiming that Ronaldo should be out of his mind to even think of moving from Man Utd. They were for sure the best club in Europe last season. But they did not have things easy. Tough competition from Chelsea to the last day in the Premiership and a lottery win in the Champions League final against the same opponents. Going into the final of the Champions League everyone acknowledged how great a player Ronaldo is but also added that he had to guide Man Utd to victory in the Champions League to ensure his stature as a world class player. Ronaldo did step up to the plate and scored in normal time, but we fail to think what the English press and the press around the world would have claimed if John Terry had converted the crucial penalty and won the game for Chelsea. It was Ronaldo out of all people who missed from the penalty spot for Man Utd.

Zidane came to Madrid with the Champions League medal missing in his illustrious career and Madrid won the very first year Zidane was there. Figo was able to achieve the same glory. Christiano Ronaldo has already had a season where he scored over 40 goals, won the Premiership and the Champions League with Man Utd, what can he possibly achieve at Real Madrid?

This is how i look at it, Ronaldo has been at the club for 5 years and has grown from being a selfish dribbler with wasteful skills to a world class player. Does Real have any history of developing players? Let me think? Answer is simply an emphatic NO. On the other hand how players like Stam, Beckham and Van Nistelrooy were treated by Sir Alex is not hidden from Ronaldo.

Ronaldo will gain on his stature by playing for Real Madrid apart from the extra millions he will make in wages. Reports in England claimed that Sir Alex was fuming as Ronaldo was not answering his calls after his match. Now Man Utd representatives including Sir Alex and the owners the Glazers have all denied any plans of selling their priced asset. After Ronaldo's claim and interest to play for Madrid, Man Utd have taken the last resort and that is to report them to FIFA for wrongly conduct. If there is someone who needs to commit here it is Ronaldo. If he like Kaka and Fabregas in the past have done, confirm his loyalty there is no point in Calderon or the press making any claims. Man Utd reportedly are going at a debt of 300,000 a week and paid 42M in debt last year. Glazers plan to break even by 2012 which would mean getting rid of some of their higher earning players like Rio and the rest of the gang.

A 100M in spending money or an unhappy player at 150,000 a week? Will it be indeed the thumbs up for Ronaldo.....

Champions Madrid make first signing

A day after they finished a record breaking season with a 5-2 win over Levante, Real Madrid made their first signing official. Real have paid close to 10M Euros for the signature of highly rated Argentine Center Back Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander.

The former Newell's Old Boys defender was valued at 18M which put off Barcelona. Real have worked out a Business deal which will see a cash down payment of 10M to Racing right away, the player will remain on loan with Racing as they prepare to play UEFA Cup next season and will be a permanent move to Madrid next year.

Real have done smart business here by paying for the already highly rated defender who could have cost them double the money next season and also a year more with Racing will give Garay the experience of playing in a European tournament and Madrid will also get a year more out of Cannavaro before the Italians likely return to home club Napoli.


It was not just Racing who got a sweet deal, Garay was signed from Newell's Old Boys by Racing Santander in 2005. The then 18 year old cost Racing 2 M but Newell had smartly put a clause in the contract which would mean that in an event of future sale they would receive 15% of the transfer fee. In this deal the Argentina club could very well end up with over 1.5M which could be a real relief in a financial crisis struck year.

Unsettled players, clubs in crisis- rumour mills curtain raiser

Every summer the transfer window always is the busiest time for most news dailies and sports journalists. More than 80% of the stories are all rumours are hopeful reporting based on the probability factor. Most big clubs are predictable to say the least in who they are looking at. Even when they try as much as possible to hush things up, it is mostly inside information that sets the press off. As far as i see it, it does not do any good to any one. The buying club unsettles the player, the player owning club and also brings other competition for signature which in turn will jack up the price tag.

We are not even in the transfer window yet, and most importantly across Europe, except La Liga all most leagues are running into a dramatic end to the season. Already we have news of players leaving clubs, players put up for sale and big buyers trying to unsettle their targets. The first news in this category actually materialized in a move. Mathieu Flamini signed a 4 year bumper deal with AC Milan on a free transfer. Press and fans of Arsenal have gone on and on about how this could affect the chemistry at the club. There was also a ot of mention on Flamini being an ungrateful servant of the club. Well Flamini has his point of view, for sure and that will be in this line. He joined the Gunners 4 years back on a free transfer and never saw his salary cap raised. Arsene is a smart tactician, the minute he knew Henry was being courted by Barca he went ahead and raised his salary over the 100K mark, but Henry still left the following season. But it did the job for Arsene, not only did he prevent Henry from leaving on a free transfer in 2 years, he was able to recover 16M for the Frenchman and he had his Captain to lead team into the new Emirates stadium. The same was the case with Fabregas, and the fear of a bumper offer from Real Madrid, Arsene has further extended the Spaniards contract to 2014. When Flamini was not being re-signed 20 year old Fabregas was getting renewals after renewals.

Arsenal have issued a statement later, mentioning that they are over Flamini and that the Board did everything to keep him from leaving. The only problem, it is breaking up a solid partnership in midfield, means a new player, more money to be spent and the threat of other youngsters in the club being unsettled. Alexander Hleb following suit as per the Press and claims from his agent that Inter Milan have offered him a lucrative deal. Hleb is reported to have even offered to buy out the remaining 2 years on his contract. Now this made the ideal time for Real President Ramon Calderon to throw a bait, "Cesc if you ask for a transfer, we will come get you". He did the same last year with Kaka and he declined the offer. The Brazilian would probably think after the end of this season as to if the choice was the correct one. But Fabregas is going to look at it different. The example he would be taking would be that of Henry, who has struggled in his first season at Nou Camp, and his himself a possible transfer target back to the Premiership. Real would for sure break their bank to buy Fabregas, because he would be a wonderful addition to the team. I certainly don't feel the Spaniard will be interested for a move. This was followed by Wenger saying that Adebayor needs to work harder to continue the rich form he is having. A day later reports in the press claimed that Wenger wanted to bring the "one season wonder" tag on the Togo man because he did ask for a salary hike.

Two days back, Inter who are celebrating 100 years are promising to make some major headlines in the transfer market. They have it seems tabled a 25M offer for Captain Steven Gerrard. If there are any two players who are going no where, it will be Torres and the Captain.

If there is one player, most clubs in Europe would love to have, not many points for guessing- Berbatov. The striker with the silky touch has been followed by a lot of clubs within the EPL. Now it seems Real Madrid has joined the race and even offered about 32M to the Spurs. Real are for sure looking at a striker. Everyone close to the Spanish giants still claim that they are going to be silent in the transfer market and may only make one or two major signings. A team which has Raul, Van Nistelrooy, Robinho, Higuain, Saviola and Soldado as striking options still want a striker? Well the good part is Real Madrid have taken the badge of Galactico off their tag and have worked in creating a team that functions as a unit. David Villa, Luis Fabiano and now Berbatov, one of them is for sure to end up in Real Madrid.