After having long been rumored to be after Dimitar Berbatov, Manchester United finally went to action, making a £20 million ($39.5 million) bid for the Tottenham Hotspur striker.
The 27-year-old has been an immediate hit since moving to England from Bayer Leverkusen two years ago. Berbatov has found the net 46 times for Tottenham in all competitions and has consistently been in top form. While it’s a very considerable bid, the North London club are believed to value Berbatov in excess of £25M. If the Red Devils do get their hands on Berbatov, that should take them out of the hunt for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, while it puts Tottenham (as they always are) in the market for a new forward.
Juventus capture Christian Poulsen
Two-time Danish Football Player of the Year Christian Poulsen in on the move to Serie A power Juventus after a successful two years at Sevilla. The Old Lady acquired the 28-year-old for a reasonable fee of €10 million. Poulsen was a staple in the Sevilla midfield as they became repeat winners of the UEFA Cup in 2007.
The back story in this is that Juventus have been rumored to be looking to add one of Poulsen and Xabi Alonso, but not both. This move effectively puts an end to the market on Alonso, as few other clubs can meet Rafa Benitez’s high asking price. With less funds to work with, it looks like other clubs may be taking over the driver seat in many of the English transfer. It’s always interesting to track how a move between one Spanish club and one Italian club can make an impact across Europe.
Beckham backs Casillas for Ballon d’Or
Ready for the good kind of soccer gossip? David Beckham, among others, has come out to back Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas for the 2008 Ballon d’Or award, awarded by France Football magazine to the player of the year. You probably don’t need reminding, but Casillas, considered by most one of the two or three best goalies in the world, had some pretty impressive credentials in 2008. Casillas was a key member of a Real Madrid squad that repeated as La Liga champions this past season, while he was invaluable as captain for Spain in their Euro 2008 triumph.
Beckham’s support is an interesting twist in what seems like a growing contingency that would prefer a Spaniard like Casillas or even Fernando Torres to win the Ballon d’Or over Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo. For most of the 2007-08 season, it seemed like a one-horse race for all the individual awards as Ronaldo dazzled en route to an impossible 42 goals playing primarily as a winger. Undoubtedly, Ronaldo has been hurt by a downright ordinary performance in Euro 2008 and you could also argue that his ongoing transfer saga hasn’t done anything positive for his image.
Should Manchester United do what it takes to capture Dimitar Berbatov? How does Christian Poulsen’s transfer affect your team’s transfer ambitions? Or, any Juventus fans out there, what do you guys think? Lastly, should Iker Casillas win the Ballon d’Or over Cristiano Ronaldo?
Share your thoughts below.
1. I don’t know why Man U want Berbatov, unless they are planning on not keeping one of Tevez and Rooney. SAF won’t be able to keep all three happy unless he plays a 4-3-3, with Berbatov as the spearhead. This would actually work, if they are in fact losing Ronaldo to Madrid. I am confused by United’s transfer policy. But if they buy Berbatov and sell Ronaldo and stop there, I doubt it, they will keep buying.
————Berbatov————-
—–Rooney———-Tevez——-
————Scholes————–
—-Hargreaves——Carrick——–
Evra—Ferdinand——Vidic—-Brown
————Van der Sar————
2. Casillas deserves Golden Ball.
3. Poulsen isn’t anywhere near the quality of Alonso, it is a shame that they couldn’t get a deal done. Liverpool needs the funds, and Alonso was in his best form when he played next to Momo “the boss” Sissoko. If Juve wanted to get back into where they were Alonso is a player they should have bought, Poulsen is a definite, clear cut downgrade.
I also think Ronaldo’s performance in the Champions League will hurt his chances. Against Barcelona he wasn’t very effective and against Chelsea his penalty miss might have proved costly. Usually Ballon d’Or winners show the ability to take over a big game and almost drag their team to victory. Ronaldo hasn’t done that; Casillas has (on a club and national level),and Torres has as well although to a lesser extent. Fernando Torres is an interesting choice but I think it is because no one else immediately stands out as being a contender. But, I know all my “logic” will be thrown out of the window because after all this is France we are talking about and we know how they feel about Spanish soccer. (I still cannot figure out how Raul has never won this award) So Ronaldo will win it by a country mile!
If you want the most skilled striker in the Premiership, who is in his prime and will be for at least the next 4-5 years, you damn well better be ready to pay more than 20 million pounds. Put yourself in Ramos’s shoes. You’re attracting quality players and you have a solid team in place. Why would you sell the centerpiece of your squad for a penny less than your valuation? Remember, Berbatov has never publicly said a word about wanting to leave Spurs.
The fact that Berbatov is 28 doesn’t really matter. The guy doesn’t run. And he’s still unbelievably good. His game’s not going to get worse as he gets older because it’s not based on his physical attributes. The guy could play at the top level until he’s 34, easy. I don’t see how 6 years couldn’t be considered a long term investment.
It’s pretty reasonable. The guy will be 28 in January. He’s an excellent player, but he’s not going to command the kind of money that someone who’s 5 years younger will.
20 million pounds? Bahahahahaha. Nice one Fergie. Feel free to make a serious offer whenever.
I’m not sure who I would rather see at Man United. Berbatov or Huntelaar. Berbatov wouldn’t need to acclimate to the English game and could make an immediate impact, but he’s not really a long term investment. Huntelaar could prove to be similar to Torres and fit in immediately, but could also end up to be a flop in England. The jury’s still out for me.
Interesting that Beckham backed Casillas for the Ballon d’Or. A little while ago he said Ronaldo should get the Golden Ball.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=554680&sec=england&&cc=5901
(last paragraph)
And by Ives I mean Carl.
Ives, the verb “to table” in British English means to bring up, or to begin discussion. In American English, it means the opposite, as in “to put on the table and deal with later”. I’m not arguing for which is correct, and your use is clear by the context. But be a patriot and substitute “tabled” for “submitted” or “entered”.
I not the biggest Ronaldo fan, but it’s rediculous to give the award to anyone but him. I mean he flat dominated the entire season like no one has in a while. Torres? Please. He had a fine season, but you just can’t compare it to what Ronaldo did. I think the transfer saga is really what’s killing him, not his ordinary Euro performance. Truth be told, Torres’ euro wasn’t THAT great, just good.
I’m not sure what I think of the addition of Poulsen to Juve just yet. I mean, this time last year, I was ecstatic with the additions of Tiago and Almiron, and look how that turned out. So I have to wait and see how Poulsen does in Serie A before I pass judgment. I would like Juve to keep pursuing Alonso or Aquilani. Though I would prefer Aquilani since he is younger. I hope the addition of Poulsen means that we won’t see Ranieri doing something stupid like playing Camoranesi in central midfield again!
33 goals plus the goal in Euro 2008 is also impressive.
42 goals.
As much as I would love to see Iker win I just dont think you can give it to anyone else besides Ronaldo. Both were on great teams but Ronaldo was electric from everywhere on the field besides the penalty spot. My heart says go Iker but my head says nobody but Ronaldo deserves it.