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Morning Ticker: Ribery eyes Madrid, Atletico says no to ‘Kun’ sale and Denilson’s disaster

Franck Ribery (Getty) 

Real Madrid's third big summer signing is now officially in the cross hairs.

French star Franck Ribery has been on Real Madrid's wish list for some time, but now that Ribery's agent has revealed that the Bayern Munich playmaker wants to sign with Real Madrid, it seems like only a matter of time before he joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka as the new version of 'Los Galacticos'.

This development comes in the wake of Real Madrid revealing that its pursuit of David Villa had essentially ended.

Yes, we know, Bayern Munich "isn't selling" but neither was Manchester United.

Here are some other news stories from this morning and Tuesday.

Atletico Madrid say Aguero 'not for sale'

By now you may have heard of Manchester United's interest in signing Argentine star Sergio 'Kun' Aguero from Atletico Madrid. Well, Atletico has heard it too, and insist they are not selling.

Right, that's what they all say.

Ultimately, it may not matter what Atletico wants if Manchester United can match Aguero's escape clause figure, reported at close to Â£55 million ($90.75 million).

With Cristiano HiltonRonaldo and Carlos Tevez both leaving Old Trafford this summer, Sir Alex Ferguson knows he must find some attacking reinforcements, with Karim Benzema and Brazilian starlet Douglas Costa also rumored targets.

Man City set to make Lescott bid

Everton is bracing itself for a fight to hold on to top defender Joleon Lescott as Manchester City prepares to make a £15 million bid ($24.7 million) for Tim Howard's teammate.

Manchester City has already added Gareth Barry and Roque Santa Cruz this summer, and there are even rumors of a potential run at Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, but bolstering the defense is certainly a high priority.

Denilson's final farewell?

Brazilian midfielder Denilson may have played his last professional soccer game, at least we sort of hope so, after making a goal-scoring debut in the Vietnamese League…..and promptly quitting the league.

No, we didn't make that up. Denilson played one game, one half actually, and scored a goal for Vietnamese team Hai Phong Cement FC, but decided afterward that injuries were too much and he couldn't play any longer.

Is this the last we've seen of the once-great Brazilian? Or will he wind up at an even smaller league, with a team with a worse name than Hai Phong Cement FC? Is he really this broke? Has he become the MC Hammer of professional soccer?

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That's all for now. What do you think of these stories? Would you love to see Aguero sign with Man United? Will you be disappointed if Everton sells Lescott? Are you glad we didn't use that same Ribery photo for the hundredth time?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Getting Lescott away from Everton will be a minor coup for City. Before getting into the top four they need to get past Everton and Villa. They did nicely getting Barry away from Villa now this with Lescott? I’m impressed with their spending thus far – stealing (at enormous prices) quality players from teams at their level. If they are able to land one of their coveted big fish as well, they will be a very interesting team to keep an eye on next season.

    Soon the Manchester derby be one of the biggest games of year even outside of Manchester.

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  2. Denilson was a good player for Betis. He just got his big pay day and then stopped playing. Thats what happens in American sports. Players play until they get their big paydays and then they dont care anymore. Look at Barry Zito for the Giants. He was so good in Oakland and then gets a HUGE payday and cant win a game for the Giants. Its the same thing. He would be a good MLS player if he didnt demand a DP level salary.

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  3. Denilson’s next stop? Hollywood United. With him, Brian Dunseth, Alexi Lalas, and Anthony LaPaglia, they will be unstopable. 😉

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  4. whoa, didn’t know denilson was only 31. thought he was 40/41-ish. in every photo i’ve seen of him in the last two years he looks like he 50 lbs overweight, uninterested and disheveled… and at least 15 years removed from the gam.

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  5. As a Bayern fan, I have no problem selling Ribery as long as they get a good price. They should then get some help in some other areas where they need it, inlcuding helping improve a defense that leaked tons of weak goals (thanks, Lucio!). Or perhaps they could pull a swap and get Robben or Vander Vaart (spelling?).

    Also I wouldn’t mind selling Toni…he’s a good player, but with Gomez in the fold along with Olic and Klose they have a few attacking options. Toni would get a good chunk of change in return, and they could then invest in some young talent!

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  6. EA,
    Outside of Thorrington (who was eligible to play for South Africa) none of those guys had the option of playing for another national team and all of them were/are playing consistently at a high-level in MLS.

    Of course, the 22 year old Nguyen “could” miraculously turn his career around and work his way back into a fringe/B team role with the USMNT (likely by moving to MLS and excelling at the level of the players you mention). However, starting for Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, a mid-table team in the 14th ranked league in Asia isn’t the route from which he will do that. I was just pointing out that maybe with his embrace of Vietnamese domestic football, he might have liked the chance to play for them internationally…

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  7. “So is Nguyen ruing the day that he made two substitute appearance for the US in the ’07 Copa America? If he hadn’t he would have been eligible to switch to the Vietnamese NT, as he is unlikely to ever break into the USMNT again…

    Posted by: Chase | June 24, 2009 at 10:53 AM”

    John Thorrington, Chad Marshall and Conor Casey would all take umbrage with that statement. And I bet we’ll see Josh Wolff again one day, for some one off game. Hell, didn’t Ante Razov suit up not that long ago?

    Never say never.

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  8. $24mm for lescott is a joke. he is good, but c’mon. just another example of premier league teams overvaluing english players

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  9. haha, Ives, what’s bad about the name of Hai Phong Cement FC? I’m sure that’s the name of their sponsor (cement company in Hai Phong, the city where the US dropped a few bombs way back when). It’s no different than the name of some stadia in the US.

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  10. Dang, Ribery is positively the COOLEST ugly guy I have ever seen. After me, of course.

    Klinsi seems a bit bitter (don’t blame him, don’t necessarily blame them, either). A recent article had him pointing out that “NOW” Bayern is following his advise to get more fire power, etc., which he’d been asking for this last year. It’s been said that to keep Ribery happy, they’d need to supply some more quality and depth around him. I don’t see them getting rid of him–yet. But who will they add to the team?

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  11. Does Ribery to Madrid mean Robben goes back to Prem (Hotspur,ManUnited,Mancity)?

    Does Villa finally go to Liverpool to team with Torres?

    Raul’s long tenure over at Madrid?

    Toni to Barca as rumoured?

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  12. Ives, no mention of the Iranian players bravely wearing the green armbands, a symbol for liberty, and then being kicked off the national team

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  13. “once-great Brazilian” or once-greatly-hyped Brazilian?

    Real Madrid will sell a lot of merchandise and be exciting to watch, but if they can’t sign a defender or two then nothing changes in the trophy cabinet.

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  14. So where’s Villa heading to? Barca??

    Don’t tell me Kun is heading out of my team, Athletico. Fergie: ‘lay off’!!

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  15. wow that Denilson stuff has kind of lost its laughter factor and just turned into sad. The guy is only 31, its not like he is 40 trying to cut it but two years removed from his twenties. I think Ribery going to Madrid would be the clincer for me to buy tickets for the DC United Real Madrid match-

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  16. Nothing about Egypts players paying some “professional women” then saying that the money for the service was instead stolen? Iran’s players that wore the green band have been banned from playing for the national team as well….

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  17. So is Nguyen ruing the day that he made two substitute appearance for the US in the ’07 Copa America? If he hadn’t he would have been eligible to switch to the Vietnamese NT, as he is unlikely to ever break into the USMNT again…

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  18. Man City need to get some re-inforcements at defense if they wish to be successful..lineup like this:

    ………Santa Cruz……..

    Robinho..Ireland…..Elano/SWP

    …..Kompany..De Jong……

    Bridge..Lescott..Onuoha?..Richards

    ………..Given………..

    That would be a quality starting eleven

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  19. Don’t forget that Lee Nguyen plays in the V-League, and that Denilson’s game was a win against Lee’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

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