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Morning Ticker: Arsenal set to bid for Barry, Man City’s monstrous Ronaldinho bid and MLS notes

Garethbarry_ap

Good morning folks. Today should be a good one for soccer news. You’ve got SuperLiga resuming tonight, as well as the Red Bulls getting a look at their new faces in a scrimmage. There is also the on-going European transfer market, which has new twists every day.

Let’s get started with some news from this morning and Monday:

Arsenal enters Barry sweepstakes

With Juventus’ pursuit of Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso having ended, and the anticipated transfer revenue from that sale no longer coming in, Liverpool’s initial pursuit of Gareth Barry appearing to have ended. Now Arsenal has stepped in and appears ready to make a play for the former Aston Villa captain.

Talk about a priceless move if it happens. Arsenal’s most pressing need is replacing Mathieu Flamini and Gareth Barry would do just that. Yes, the Gunners still have to deal with the potential departure of Emmanuel Adebayor, but solidifying the midfield is more important at this point and Barry would do just that. Nevermind the fact that Arsenal would be swiping Barry away from Liverpool, which appeared to have him locked up a few weeks ago.

What will Liverpool do now? There’s not much the Reds can do, and let’s face it, Alonso isn’t exactly a bad consolation prize. That’s assuming he doesn’t let the fact that Rafa Benitez tried to dump him affect his play.

Is Man City’s monster bid enough for Ronaldinho?

As you probably have heard by now, Manchester City raised the stakes considerably in its quest to sign Ronaldinho, making a $51 million offer for the Brazilian star’s services. Even though the transfer bid, and contract offer for Ronaldinho, dwarf the next best offer, it may not be enough to stop Ronaldinho from joining AC Milan.

Where will he wind up? I think he’ll go to Milan but have to admit that I’m intrigued by the possibility of Ronaldinho playing for City. With Jo and Elano already in the fold, City certainly has a Brazilian flavor and just might be able to knock on the door of the Big Four if Ronaldinho showed up ready to play his best. I also have questions about how exactly Ronaldinho will fit in at Milan.

MLS Notes

Here’s a quick rundown:

The Red Bulls-Harrisburg scrimmage at Giants Stadium is NOT open to the public.

Soccer America is reporting on its website this morning that Juan Pablo Angel, Pat Onstad and Steve Ralston will get all-star calls from New England head coach Steve Nicol. Onstad and Ralston are not surprises but Angel’s inclusion is a bit of a surprise considering the Red Bulls play at San Jose the Sunday after the All-Star game and Angel has only recently returned from a hamstring injury.

The San Jose Earthquakes waived former Red Bulls midfielder Joe Vide on Monday, a disappointing turn of events for a player who showed so much promise for the Red Bulls last year. I would not be at all surprised to see Vide training with the Red Bulls shortly. One of his biggest advocates during his time with the Red Bulls was current assistant Richie Williams, and since the club is still looking for midfield help, don’t be surprised to see the Red Bulls take a look.

A source tells me that San Jose gave KC an allocation larger than $125,000 in the trade to acquire Scott Sealy. That’s more than $60,000 for each of the two goals Sealy has scored this year. That’s just a bit pricey for a forward who A) is planning to leave MLS after this season and B) is likely to miss time due to World Cup qualifying with Trinidad & Tobago.

That’s all for now. I’ll be checking back in from Giants Stadium this afternoon. Feel free to share your thoughts on these and any other stories in the comments section below.

Comments

  1. Actually, Martin O’Neill got a buddy who is a coach at Arsenal to start the rumor to save some face for him over the entire situation with LFC. At this point, it would not be surprising if Barry starts the season with Aston Villa. He is a good enough guy that he will probably play hard for the Villains … but it is a shame that AV were so stubborn on price. LFC is not going to pay as high for a player as Man Utd (O’Neill kept suggesting Barry had to cost as much as Michael Carrick).

    Barry would be a good addition at Arsenal, but I don’t think they are interested in paying 18m pounds or whatever O’Neill actually gets. LFC’s offers of 15m (with perhaps Steve Finnan ‘thrown in’ or 10m plus Carson are certainly reasonable for Barry. But MON has his target price and he is not budging.

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  2. Smart move by Wenger to drive up the price. Arsenal isn’t about to sign Barry…no way, no how. He’s just making it tougher for the ‘Pool to buy the player.

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  3. @Posted by: h4 | July 15, 2008 at 12:28 PM

    every team that loses someone on a transfer out of the league gets an allocation so they will get a bit of the Sealy money back. The number I see most often is $60K

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  4. im not neccesarily doubting them, they have one hell of a young squad, and wenger is a football genius. flamini was the lynchpin last year for them, though. if they replace him adequately, they are right back to where they were, whether or not they keep adebayor. but if they dont get a quality holding mid, imo spurs have acheived parity with them, berbatov or no. thats what separates the two teams.

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  5. Vide should replace who, exactly? That is the question I’m struggling with. He’s not an upgrade on anyone, even though I do like the thought of him coming back to NY to play. He’d be a decent bench option, I think. He certainly brings the energy and workrate on the field.

    I guess we can get rid of a forward or defender and bring him in. We have plently of dead wood there.

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  6. Like many people, don’t know if Barry is worth the coin … you’re right though cam, that’s the position Spurs need most, even if Berba is already a done deal

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  7. Vide Lovers,

    What does Vide do well other than hustle? What about him makes you think he’ll ever develop things like, oh, I don’t know…

    Touch?

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  8. i dont get why spurs dont jump in the fray for barry. they have more money budgeted to spend than arsenal and liverpool, and a holding mid is exactly what they need. the last thing they want to happen is arsenal getting a worthy replacement for flamini, which is what barry is. imo, right now arsenal is not a top 4 team without a capable holding mid… especially if adebayor is out the door.

    its a no brainer… but maybe spurs want to take care of the berbatov/new striker situation first.

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  9. Berba will be missed dearly, but 28 mil pounds for a player that wanted out is a nice chunk of change.

    If Ramos sells Keane, however, he will be on my doo-doo list with quickness..

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  10. Well MLSNET has the whole team listed and Ralston is not on the list. Brennan is?? Why?? Christian Gomez, Pablo Mastroeni, Buddle, and De Rosario make out the rest of the team.

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  11. Ted,

    Haha, appreciate you saying that. I’m harsh on Xabi, admittedly. I love the Spanish Nantional Team (no, I’m not Spanish, just always have), and it upsets Xabi goes over Arteta (I know totally different styles of play).

    And basically you said it best, The Reds need a scoring threat not named Gerard/Torres (great as they may be).

    By the way, I’m a West Ham fan, so I cry everytime I watch Mascherano for ‘Pool, and think that Hayden Mullins played over him.

    Ugh, friggin’ Hammers.

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  12. any word on attendance for sat nite yet? i checked on tm, only upper level tix still available – that means at least we’re getting to the 40k ish range , although i doubt we’ll top last years 66k

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  13. why get vide now? we have 100 d-mids already! if he and dema stayed, then things would be different (better or worse?)

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  14. Trust me, nobody NEEDS Vide. You don’t get dropped by the worst team in the league because you are awesome. Let him hustle in the USL.

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  15. I have to agree with Mike on this one. I think the whole story is nonsense floated out there by Martin O’Neal to get his asking price. And lets face it Arsenal don’t buy players that expensive.

    I do agree on Xabi though…he has lost it and I think Barry gives them alot more in the final third that Xabi doesn’t.

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  16. Ives —

    Will San Jose get any allocation money if Sealy leaves after the season? If they will get part of that allocation back, that move makes more sense. Yallop seemed smarter than this when he was winning MLS cups . . .

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  17. RE: Barry. Let’s think about this and why it’s probably more newspaper nonsense.

    O’Neill is trying to sell Barry for more than Liverpool is willing. Suddenly there is a quote about Arsenal being interested. Secondly, Wenger doesn’t overpay for players, and since Barry is English that instantly makes him overpriced. Sure Barry would fill a void for Arsenal, but my guess is Wenger will try to fill it for about half the price with someone no one has heard of (ie Eduardo, Sagna).

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  18. The team that needs Vide the most is LA.

    He’s cheap, young, he hustles, and addresses the position that the team needs the most help.

    However it makes too much sense, so Lalas will never do it.

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  19. I’d like to thank MLS and Steve Nicol for electing to give DC United’s players some much needed rest instead of wearing themselves out in a meaningless friendly.

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  20. Again – it seems to me there might be a disconnect about what constitutes an all-star in the American sports context. Nicol may very well not be up on such things, I don’t know. It seems to me the argument is:

    “Sure, Angel only has 3 goals, but that’s because he’s been hurt. He’s still the best striker in the league, so he’s on the team.”

    That’s certainly one way of looking at it. Is it written anywhere that you must block out performaces before the start of the current season when choosing players? That’s certainly the norm in picking all-star teams in US sports, but who knows if Nicol even realizes that?

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  21. Simon – According to some Turkish sources (SF has a link to one on the Offside Rules), Sukur has reportedly been offered $4 mil by TFC. No idea how accurate any of this is.

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  22. Oh how I would laugh if Arsenal got Barry.

    I predict more horrible FO drama for Liverpool this year. Especially if the season starts poorly for them.

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  23. Danny,

    I’m am actually impressed that you know that much about Liverpool (I’m not being sarcastic). Most people ignore how good they are defensively, or even say they give up too many goals, so actually acknowledging the reality of the situation is refreshing. That, and also realizing that replacing Crouch will be hard, show you actually know what you are talking about.

    I prefer Barry as well. He is able to attack better than Alonso. I just don’t think it will be the death of the club if we don’t get him.

    That said, Liverpool needs goals out of someone not named Gerrard or Torres, and Barry would be able to do that better than Alonso.

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  24. I was fine with Liverpool ultimately passing on Barry but I didn’t want him falling to another big four team. Tough turn of events for the Reds. Here’s to hoping for a Mersey Money Miracle.

    As a KC fan I’m glad we were paid well for Sealy but we are now VERY shallow up top, even with Wolff to debut shortly.

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  25. “To my mind, JPA is the classiset striker in MLS history. However, there is no way he deserves the call ahead of Buddle and/or Emilio this season.”

    Sorry but I think this was a good choice. I am more than happy to watch as your star striker risks fatigue an injury in a useless mid-season friendly.

    Hopefully no DC United players will be picked.

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  26. Ted,

    I’m referring to the fact that I don’t think Xabi is a good consolation prize. Liverpool never gives up goals, so a holding midfielder is not their need. And personally I think Xabi offers nothing going forward.

    Barry, is excellent going forward. He would have offset the loss of Crouch (one I consider at this point to be big). I don’t see Liverpool getting Villa or Keane this season, they need Barry’s offensive punch.

    And as far as a holding mid, I think he’s above average, not much more than that. He’s more than 1 notch below Mascherano in terms of holding mid, in my opinion.

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  27. “And someone needs to explain to me what Xabi Alonso does so well other than make goals from midfield.”

    He had an amazing first season with Liverpool but has dropped off somewhat.

    And I don’t think there is any shame in not being as good a holding midfielder as Mascherano. Who is? Maybe one or two other players, and there is no shame in not being one them.

    Xabi is good defensively, and knows when to pick his spots going forward. Just because he isn’t as good as Mascherano or Gerrard doesn’t mean he is bad.

    That said, I would prefer Barry for a number of reasons, the biggest one being his ability to play in the back and on the wing in addition to the center of the park.

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  28. “Angel’s inclusion is a bit of a surprise considering the Red Bulls play at San Jose the Sunday after the All-Star game and Angel has only recently returned from a hamstring injury.”

    I’m not surprised because it would certainly be in Nicol’s interest to wear Angel down, and Red Bull are in the same division …

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  29. Don’t get the love for Vide. He works hard, and, well…

    he works hard.

    And someone needs to explain to me what Xabi Alonso does so well other than make goals from midfield.

    He’s not as good at Javier as a holding midfielder, and he’s not strong going forward. He’s not going to play much there.

    Barry is wonderful going forward, so I actually do think that Xabi is a bad consolation prize.

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  30. And no offense to Gareth Barry–he’s good. But at this point I find the fact that an entire “transfer saga” surrounds him to be hilarious. I mean yeah, he’s pretty good. But it’s Gareth freaking Barry.

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  31. Maybe Nicol is just picking the guys he’d want on his team. I don’t think he’s thinking in terms of the first half of the season.

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  32. Allegre, how do you see that? IMO, Italy is at least as physical as England, if not more. I think it’s actually in his best interest to join City, which is a team on the rise.

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  33. I’m not too surprised by Angel’s inclusion; despite his injury-plagued numbers he is still one of the best players in the league. They probably want him to help insure a victory. Problem is, they don’t NEED all of the best players in this league to beat West Ham.

    Vide can really be a solid player. I hope he catches on somewhere.

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  34. Ives,

    Didn’t SJ try to save some money b/c of the Huckerby acquisition? I thought that was the impetus for letting Vide go, either way I agree that the money for Sealy makes no sense from SJ’s perspective.

    Plus your link to the trade links to a Ronaldhino story

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  35. To my mind, JPA is the classiset striker in MLS history. However, there is no way he deserves the call ahead of Buddle and/or Emilio this season. And Busch should clearly go innstead of Onstad. Think Stevie Nick is thowing the Canuck a bone?

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