No Torres Negotiations - Atletico Insist

Atletico Madrid have denied that they are in negotiations with Liverpool over the sale of striker Fernando Torres.

Reports this morning claimed the Spanish international was on the verge of sealing the move to the Premiership, but while this appears to be premature the La Liga club have admitted that the situation may change.

It has been suggested that Liverpool have struck a deal involved £20m and Luis Garcia, but the 23-year-old is still very much in the plans of Atletico ahead of the resumption of pre-season training in ten days time.

A club spokesperson said: "At the moment, there is nothing happening. There are no negotiations taking place, although things can change.

"The player is on holiday at the moment and will report back to training on July 9 for the Intertoto match (at the end of July).

"At the moment, any talk of a move is just speculation and we are still hopeful that Fernando will be with us next season."

Must be the best denial ever.     



Boss wants Torres. Boss gets Torres. 

I really do hate Spurs...

That's just silly. Everybody knows they're in talks, I just hope they last long enough so that he misses the season opener. 

Anyway, I Forlan and Riquelme seem to be on their way to Atletico.

Bent for almost 25M/euros.

Good deal for Spurs but still... too much fowards. Berbatov, Keane, Bent, Defoe. Who's gonna leave? Defoe? I like that guy. Always seemed a nice player to me.

Let's focus on the English teams you do not hate... it'll be easier!

So... you're gonna be playing for Atlético next season... I thought you are a Real fan... I guess the money is good!

Always there to fvck me up you dirrty c*nt. 

Midfielder agrees £2m Blues switch

THE Birmingham Mail understands that Blues have finally secured French international Olivier Kapo from Juventus in a £2 million deal.

Other clubs tried to hijack the transfer at the death, including Fulham, but he has committed to Blues.

Kapo, who spent last season on loan to Spanish club Levante, is due to complete the formalities of the move next week when Blues report back for training.

Blues jumped to the head of the queue on Tuesday when Kapo, the former Auxerre star, flew into Birmingham for talks after the fee was agreed with Juventus.

Blues takeover moves a step closer

THE Blues takeover edged closer today after shares in the Hong Kong firm bidding for a majority stake at St Andrew's were suddenly suspended.

Grandtop International Holdings Ltd announced to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange it was suspending shares "pending release of an announcement regarding a possible notifiable transaction of a price sensitive nature".

The move coincided with an announcement of the Blues deal to the London Stock Exchange by textiles firm Grandtop - Hong Kong billionaire Carson Yeung's Far East vehicle for buying a 29.9 per cent stake in the club.

Birmingham stockbroker Peter Knowles said the suspension of shares was a clear indication of Mr Yeung's intent through Grandtop to move in on St Andrew's.

They've sold off alot of their decent players over the last season, Kapo and that Scottish guy won't make a difference, they'll survive, but nothing more. 

we are gonna make Villa our b!tch for a looooong time 

It's Villa's best part of the season, no games played and due to the alphabetics in the Premier League they currently stand 2nd 

It's Villa's best part of the season, no games played and due to the alphabetics in the Premier League they currently stand 2nd 

That's low.

I think Aston Villa should buy David Villa. Just for the jokes and that. 

Mishale sound slike a typical Blues fan "This is a 3-4 year thing". They built up a superb squad over 3 years last time they were up. What heppened then? Relegated. 

That was during the 100 year curse. Now it's different. You'll see what's like being over and over owned (toughly) by your City rival

The first year in the Premier League they did the double, the next year it was two draws, the next year they did the double again. 

Fortunately we did the double over them in the last season, not only that, but relegated them. 

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has dismissed renewed speculation linking Dutch winger Arjen Robben with Real Madrid.

Reports in Friday's newspapers claimed that the Spanish champions were closing in on the player that president Ramon Calderon has always coveted.

Calderon made signing Robben one of his election pledges in 2006 and, whilst the Holland international remains at Stamford Bridge, the Real supremo is known to still be a fan.

At the start of June, Los Merengues made clear their desire to bring Robben to the Bernabeu, but Kenyon has now moved to quell talk that the former PSV Eindhoven star could be leaving London.

"Arjen is very happy, he's just got married and he wants to demonstrate and prove what a great player he is and still believes the Premier League is the best opportunity," Kenyon said.

"I'm confident he'll be there next season."

Rumours of Robben's impending exit have been partly fuelled by suggestions that Chelsea are closing in on a deal for Lyon winger Florent Malouda.

However, when questioned during a marketing drive in Hong Kong, Kenyon underlined that prudence was the prevailing philosophy at Stamford Bridge this summer, and that no big-money arrivals are anticipated.

"By Chelsea standards it's been very quiet. That's probably the headline...both in terms of names and in terms of big spending," Kenyon added.

"We've had three or four so-called free transfers."

Sky Sports

You probably know this, but Flamini is headed to Birmingham aswell.
Who knows what this club can achieve next season...

Aston Villa - Birmingham City  
West Ham United - Millwall FC   
Everton - Liverpool FC  
Arsenal - Tottenham Hotspur 
Manchester United - Manchester City  
Brentford FC - QPR   
Stoke City - Port Vale   
Nottingham Forest - Notts County   
Chelsea - Fulham 

City Derbies

I found an interesting site on the net. It rates all of the Worlds derbies, to see which one is the most fierce. I just took out all the English ones.

The Birmingham derby is numero uno. 

Arsenal-Man U.
Nuff' said.

Think he meant... derby. Not "big game". But a match between clubs from the same city.

Yep.

The Birmingham derby is definetly bigger than the Manchester derby, though I thought we may be number two behind West Ham - Millwall.

I think it's to do with how much the teams resent each other, rather than what game is bigger. Which shows why West Ham - Millwall is up there. But if you've ever been to a Second City derby, you'd know how dangerous it is, a few of my friends refuse to go because of the trouble before/after the game, it's ridiculous. 

I'd say the biggest game between English teams in United - Liverpool, by a long, long way.

Oops, sorry about that.
Well the north London derby is pretty funny too...the scum hasn't beaten us since 1999...

Malouda: I Have Made Up My Mind To Join Chelsea

Florent Malouda has made up his mind to move to Chelsea, and revealed that he has already spoken with coach Jose Mourinho.

Liverpool were the first English club to be interested in him, but the Blues have since taken the lead in the race to land the Lyon midfielder.

He has now declared in no uncertain terms that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge, where he can join up with former teammates Michael Essien and Didier Drogba.

"Chelsea is where I want to be," Malouda told Progres. "I have made my choice."

"I have talked about it with the coach Jose Mourinho and I have had direct contact with the club, unlike Liverpool where too many intermediaries and sharks have entered the game."

"I want to leave, the directors know it and in these conditions I can't see carrying on with Lyon."

He wishes to play in a competitive league, and Lyon can also no longer match his wage demands. Attempts to hang on to him after losing Eric Abidal would prove futile, Malouda warned the club bosses.

"So much the better for Eric [that he moved to Barca], but it changes nothing for me."

The Blues are expected to make a £12m offer.

Lampard rejects new Chelsea deal

Lampard has been linked with a move from Stamford Bridge
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has turned down the offer of a new contract, BBC Sport understands.

It follows News of the World claims the Blues were willing to make him the top earner at Stamford Bridge.

The newspaper says the deal would have eclipsed the £121,000 a week given to Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack.

England midfielder Lampard, 29, has two years left on his current contract and said last week he was content to see out that period of time at the club.

"They don't have to offer me anything so I'll just carry on," he stated.

However, Lampard added last month that he would have liked the club to have offered any such new deal in early June.

"In an ideal world, it would have happened three weeks ago but it is not an ideal world," said the Blues star.

"It feels strange. It is something I am trying to keep my mind off. You get on with it. I am not surprised by it because nothing surprises you in football."

Under Fifa rules, Lampard can buy out the remainder of his contract but it was reported in February that he was unlikely to take that course of action.

The £15m-rated player has been linked to Barcelona and Juventus, who are now managed by former Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri.

Lampard enjoyed his most prolific season in front of goal for the Blues in the 2006-2007 campaign, scoring 21 times.

So... anybody thinks he'll quit Chelsea?

FC Barcelona, Juventus, ...?

Arsenal has signed Eduardo da Silva from Dinamo Zagreb.

Arsenal has signed Eduardo da Silva from Dinamo Zagreb.

Villa bought Bosko Balaban, a promising young striker from Croatia, he'd had some good seasons with NK Rejika and Dinamo Zagreb.

Let me just say, he scored less goals than Peter Schmeichel for us in 01/02. 

Don't expect much, at all.

Arsene may be a good developer of players, but when it comes to transfers, he is awful.

CHELSEA ALVES SWOOP
EXCLUSIVE Roman desperate for Dan
By Alan Nixon 03/07/2007

CHELSEA are making a stunning £14million bid for Sevilla's brilliant Brazilian Daniel Alves - in their biggest move of the summer so far.

Blues owner Roman Abramovich has sanctioned a deal for the speedy South American right-back who can also play as a winger.

Alves could be sold by the Spanish Cup winners whose officials revealed the Londoners' interest last night - sparking anger among fans and possible a bidding war.

However, Chelsea hope to pull off the move and bring in Alves after clearing the way for a transfer by sending Geremi to Newcastle - and encouraging offers for Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Chelsea hoped to keep the deal secret but Sevilla intend to start an auction with Italians out his players to turn on the style. "The modern game has changed so dramatically that it can be very difficult to uphold standards," said the United boss, who welcomes back his players tomorrow for pre-season training.

"For example, the last two years have been difficult, yet we have still played the Manchester United way and worked our way to the top of the Premiership.

That reflects the principles of this club.

"Last se as on we scored 83 goals in the Premiership. To score that many in the modern game is phenomenal."

Nani and Anderson completed their moves to Old Traf ford yesterday, after signing five-year deals.

Keeper Tomasz Kuszczak also finalised his permanent move to United after a loan from West Brom.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/200...89520-19396156/

It seems that your Aston Villa is going to have a quality kit this season. 

Is Chelsea finally going to have a world-class RB? 

We most certainly are. 

Leave Ferreira alone, I like him. 

Chelsea could have a great defense next year, with depth, too.
Left
Ashley Cole
Wayne Bridge

Right
Daniel Alvez
Paulo Ferreira

Centre
John Terry
Ricardo Carvalho
Alex

Tal Ben Haim being the utility man, playing accross the back 4. That's going to be brilliant.

Impressive defense. Just think Alex will be pissed off in the bench, then we might sign him next year. 

A.Cole - J.Terry - Carvalho - Alves. <- Amazing

Barcelona's: Abidal - G.Milito - Puyol - Zambrotta <- Top too.

Madrid's: Chivu-Cannavaro-Metzelder-Ramos <- Prob the best defensive four. Chelsea's have best full-backs but Alves and Cole are defensively inferior to Ramos or Chivu.