Top Stories

Morning Ticker: Tottenham ready to reload, Roma eyeing Yossi and

Andrei_arshavin_ap

Good morning folks. As we inch closer to the Olympics (and I’ve got some SBI-related news regarding the Olympics for later today) things are beginning to really heat up in the European transfer market. As is the case every day in August, there is plenty to discuss in the soccer world so let’s get started with these tidbits to begin the day:

Tottenham to swoop for Euro stars

If you found it a bit odd that Tottenham would go to the trouble of buying a boatload of top midfielders only to sell off star strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane, you can rest assured that manager Juande Ramos has a plan.

That plan is coming into focus now as reports surface linking the Spurs with a triple transfer move for David Villa, Andrei Arshavin and Vedran Corluka. If you watched the Euro 2008 tournament you know that all three players enjoyed strong showings in Austria/Switzerland.

Oh, and the cost of the three players? Try in the neighborhood of $120 million (yes, that’s a pretty respectable neighborhood).

Roma targeting Benayoun

Serie A runners up Roma have set their sites on Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun, a move that could help Liverpool raise the funds needed to finally acquire Gareth Barry from Aston Villa. While Benayoun has publicly stated that he wants to stay at Liverpool, the Reds are in need of some transfer cash to sign Barry and might have to part with Benayoun to get some. There are reports suggesting that Sebastian Leto’s failure to secure a work permit, and subsequent loan move to Olympiakos, will force Liverpool to keep Benayoun. We should find out soon enough.

Still no word on Olympic verdict

It’s 10am Eastern Time and still no word on the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling on FIFA being able to mandate that Under-23 players must be allowed to go to the Olympics. As much as I hope and believe that the CAS will rule in FIFA’s favor, part of me is hoping that it rules against FIFA, which then leads Atletico Madrid to call back Sergio Aguero, who subsequently drops a hat-trick on Schalke 04 in the upcoming Champions League qualifiers, providing the ultimate punishment for Schalke’s part in this whole fiasco.

Think about it. Schalke is missing Rafinha to the Olympics and Atletic Madrid is missing Sergio Aguero, yet we haven’t heard a peep out of Atletico Madrid about this issue. Anybody not think that’s a good trade off for the Germans?

I’ll be sure to post the verdict once it comes forward.

What do you think of Tottenham’s reported spending spree? Do you think Liverpool would be wise to deal Benayoun to help get Barry? Where do you side on the Olympic fiasco?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I almost forgot. I think if Ramos gets Arshavin and Villa, I think we might see a Tottenham side that could possibly break into the top 4.

    Reply
  2. Screw Robinho. I think Chelsea should have beat Ramos to the punch and picked up Villa and Arshavin. (Not that Robinho would be a bad pick up though.)

    Reply
  3. Spurs can afford these signings. If you sell Keano and Berba for 50 mil pounds combined, and add that to the substantial profit Spurs have been turning the past few years, then these are comfortable signings for the club.

    And kpugs, selling players for a loss? Like who? And who are the plural managers you’re taking about? And by the way, Spurs won more silverware last season than Arsenal, Liverpool, and Chelsea combined. You’re trying to make Spurs sound like a joke of a team, but the truth is that it’s one of the few teams that has been positively thriving financially over the past few years. You might want to get your facts straight before you spout off.

    Spurs are doing what they have to do. Arshavin and Villa is about as good as you can do to replace Keano and Berba. They upgraded at keeper, and are adding CB cover. I’m not entirely sure what Bentley’s role is going to be (and I have to admit I do think he’s a tad overrated), I’m not sure what the answer will be on the left side of the midfield, and I’m not sure that Jenas/Hudd/Zokora are the answer at defensive mid if you want to qualify for the Champions League. But with the rumored signings, Spurs would be close:

    Gomes

    Hutton-King-Woodgate-Bale

    Bentley-JJ/TH/DZ-?

    Modric

    Arshavin-Villa

    That’s pretty damn good. The attack, with Bale, Modric, Arshavin, and Villa, would truly be something to see.

    Reply
  4. Wow, I’d be happy with just Arshavin of those 3; that’s exactly the type of player we need now.

    And while nobody wants a player that wants to move, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, Berbatov might have a change of heart with all the talent that’s come in.

    Realistically though, it will take time to mold all the new pieces together, and we might just get off to another shaky start, and Berbatov will sulk. Thus it’s probably best to sell now at high value.

    Reply
  5. ah yes, that’s a lot of money. But then, what is the two year cash value of finishing fourth in the premiership instead of fifth? Group stage at champions league is about seven million euros, plus tv money. Each step in the bpl is about a million pounds, another round or two in carling or fa cups is another million. There’s a lot of cash at stake to earn, and with everton also making a push, spurs have to spend to play.

    Reply
  6. nick is right, mig. 16 mil.

    anyway, i highly doubt spurs get both arshavin AND villa… its one or the other. spurs now appear to be turning their attention to villa because zenit is being a little snooty about the price. even if spurs could afford both, which they might, im not sure, they dont have enough room to put arshavin and villa in the same lineup, especially considering it looks like bent earned a starting slot and that juande wants to regularly start gio.

    spurs are also very interested in buying holding mid miguel veloso from sporting lisbon. id say hes far more likely than villa.

    if anything, spurs have become the biggest story coming into the new campaign.

    coys

    Reply
  7. We’re also selling Kaboul to Pompey…and don’t forget that the sale of Defoe was only finalized this summer as well (initially a loan deal).

    That’s another £15m+ for the two combined.

    Reply
  8. I think we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves here. That report on soccernet is based on RAMPANT speculation in the UK press (which is notoriously unreliable in these matters). The only quote is from an agent (even more unreliable in transfer news since they’re just trying to make money). The whole thing practically screams “juicy rumor to sell papers with no basis in actual facts.”

    Reply
  9. Further research on a german site that is good for transfers had a total value of 18.5M Euros for the Malbranque, Chimbonda, and Tainio. So, given current exchange rates, we’ll say £14.2 Million (much higher than I expected). Add in bostock and the difference in values you and I quoted and they’ve spent £11M or about $22M so far. Still kinda chunky but not tragic yet.

    Reply
  10. A pickup of Corluka, Arshavin and Villa would be redunckulous! Wow! We’d only have dropped about 40-50mil in the market after everyone else sold and we’d be instant contenders (and a half spanish squad it seems…). Thats crazy, but levy knew he’d have to pull out some stops! COYS!

    Reply
  11. Sixteen MILLION pounds for those three? I can’t find any site that’s quoting any numbers. Currency conversions aside, we both forgot Bostock from Crystal City for £0.7M

    Where did you find the numbers for the Sunderland transfers? All sites I see say undisclosed.

    Reply
  12. Mylo: Corluka is a Croatian defender at Man City. I personally don’t rate him as ‘all that’ but apparently, his ability to play both right back and central defense makes him a bit more valuable to som.

    Reply
  13. Malbranque, Chimbonda, Tainio – £16mil

    Robinson – £3.5mil

    Keane – £19mil

    Total – £38.5mil

    Gomes – £10mil

    Dos Santos – £4.5mil

    Modric – £16.5mil

    Bentley – £15mil

    Bostock – £750k

    Total – £46.75mil

    All in all, we’ve spent about £8.25mil.

    Reply
  14. About the Olympics…I could have sworn I saw Robinho and his groin for about 60 minutes against Ars in the Emirates Cup this weekend. Would he have to go if the the court rules it’s mandatory even though he’s “injured”? Just a thought.

    Reply
  15. Nicholas…Spurs are pretty far from even this window.

    Bought:

    Gomes (PSV Eindhoven) 12.000.000 €

    Luka Modric (Dinamo Zagreb) 21.000.000 €

    Giovani dos Santos (FC Barcelona) 6.000.000 €

    David Michael Bentley (Blackburn) 22.000.000 €

    Sold:

    Tommy Forecast (FC Southampton) 400.000€

    Paul Robinson (Blackburn) 4.400.000 €

    Robbie Keane (Liverpool) 24.000.000 €

    Steed Malbranque (Sunderland) ?

    Pascal Chimbonda (Sunderland) ?

    Teemu Tainio (Sunderland) ?

    Anthony Gardner (Hull City) * ?

    If those 4 question marks total to more than 6M Euros, I’d be very surpised. That means Tottenham have spent a minimum of 26M Euros, $39-$40 Million US. Pretty long coin.

    Reply
  16. Damn, the Totts seem like a bottomless money pit. Did I miss something or isn’t Berbatov still London-based? If Ronaldo doesn’t leave for Madrid, will ManU still buy Berbatov, and if not, does it mean that the Totts will still go after Villa? Ahh, you’ve got to love the funny season.

    As for Yossi, I’m a big fan but wouldn’t mind seeing him playing every game at Roma. If ‘Pool sells him and then sells Alonso to Arsenal they’ll have enough to buy Barry.

    Reply
  17. I love every non-Spurs “input”. How much did Arse get for Henry? Not much, huh?

    In case you aren’t following along, look at the return we got on Robbie Keane. 107 goals and we sell him for almost 3 times what we paid for him.

    We’re operating, currently, at even for this window having spent only slightly more than we’ve sold. So, the budget given to Ramos hasn’t even been touched. Spurs are one of the more financially responsible clubs in England.

    Reply
  18. Ummm…all three would be excessive. After selling Keane, the Spurs have spent 28-30M Euros net (depending on what the Malbranque transfer to Sunderland got them). If the sell Berbatov, they should be about even as that’s what he will probably sell for.

    Spending $120M net is a lot for any team. People talk about Chelsea, Liverpool, and ManU spending but those amounts reported are usually a bit inflated because they don’t count the sales of other players.

    Sure, those three players would make them a candidate for 3rd place in the EPL right away with Modric, Dos Santos, et. al….but they might bankrupt themselves.

    Reply
  19. Gotta love the Spurs’ transfer attitude: buy high spending tens of millions of pounds, sell players at a loss, blame the managers (very, very plural) never win anything, ever, retain exact same plan for every season. Woohoo!

    Reply
  20. Wow! If Spurs can land all three of those players they may well compete for a top 4 spot. Of course, they’ll be in major debt, but what’s more important? Didn’t we previously see a news item saying Arshavin wouldn’t go to Spurs? It will be interesting to how this pans out.

    Reply
  21. Liverpool are lucky for the moment that Yossi is still with the team. He is a top class creator and overall player. It would be a shame for him to leave Liverpool.

    Reply
  22. I actually love Yossi and think that he is a great 2nd choice midfielder, but I would sell him in a second to get Barry. I doubt Rafa can raise enough funds with that one deal though to meet the Villains asking price.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Betinho Cancel reply