Latest Transfer news!

Arsenal Football Club bidding 40M pounds for a player? Shocking. Is this the same Arsene Wenger who always liked to buy some unknown French or African players for 1-3 $ and then turn them into 25M superstars? But, times are changing. This is the world where Gonzalo Higuain costs Napoli a whopping 37M Euros without add-ons, the world where Jonjo Shelvey costs 7M. And it`s totally understandable that Liverpool rejected the highest-ever bid from AFC for their star asset Luis Suarez. If they ever gonna sell him, that should come at a right price for them, because they will be losing the only super player from their team. Gerrard grows old and Sturridge isn`t top class just yet.

So Arsenal and Arsene are throwing everything they can to sign Luis and we are all sure that it could be a massive boost for them. Or for anyone else who signs him. Suarez produced 20+ goals and 10+ assists during the season in which he was occasionally suspended and injured. And he plays his trade with Downing and Henderson. Obviously if he goes up front, turns his back and sees Downing trying to run and pass him the ball he isn`t so happy. If he goes over to the Emirates he will turn and see Cazorla magic and Podolski crosses. That`s un upgrade for sure. But, the whole transfer and contract thing is becoming very puzzling with Suarez` agent Per Guardiola (Pep`s brother) trying to build a path for Luis to go. Obviously, Rodgers and LFC owners are doing everything they can to keep him but i can`t see him in Liverpool crazy new shirt anymore. Arsenal or Madrid, we shall see.

In the otha` news Chelsea is doing nothing..Like a shark smelling for blood, Jose is waiting for further Rooney news. United is waiting on Fabregas but i think their chances of getting him are slim – Barca already sold one midfielder, Thiago, to Bayern so there is no room for departures anymore.

Napoli have splashed the cash they gained from selling Cavani. And although i must admit that Aurelio De Laurentis is a great seller – he got what he wanted for Cavani (64M Euros) he doesn`t semm much of a buyer. He overpayed for Higuain and he had some better and cheaper options. Jackson Martinez would have cost around the same price they paid Real for Higuain and seems much much better. Seydou Doumbia from CSKA is a goal machine and i doubt he would cost more than 25M.

Higuain produces goals when served but isn`t much of a treat by himself. It is highly anticipated how will Rafa build his attack around him and would he be able to reproduce some good form from the glory days in Real Madrid.

In France, of course, there are buckets of money thrown around. PSG haven’t finished with Cavani. A week later they paid around 40M for Marquinos, talented Roma defender. He is young and good, but 40M? They also acquired one of the best future left backs in the world, Lucas Digne from Lille, and he was 15M. Their main money rivals, Monaco are weighing up a move for Hulk. Poor Lyon and Marseille, they are trying but they won`t stand a chance next year.

Fiorentina is emerging like a total winner for me in this window. Mario Gomez, Joaquin and now Josip Ilicic. Sale of Jovetić provided financial muscle and Montella spent it wisely.

So next week, i expect a lot of Gareth Bale and LS news. See you..

Transfer news!

Ok, it`s been a while so let`s wrap up the official stories.

First of all, the story of the month is Edinson Cavani going to PSG for a mere 63 million euros. The saga is over. No Real and no City for him. Apparently money talks, and altough City and Real do have the cash, Les Parisiens have more. And they showed it.It will be interesting to watch him with Ibra, if Ibra decides to stay, of course. Monaco and PSG are going to play one hell of a derby in France this year. One thing is for sure - Cavani will score a lot of goals.

Aurelio De Laurentis, Napoli president, said that City didn`t want to match his asking price. Frankly i can understand their desicion - but to spend that money on two players (Negredo and Jovetic) that are realistically lower class then Cavani is a questionable desicion. We will see if the 27m spent on tallented Jovetić is justified, but 25m for Negredo sounds inflated. Luckily for Sevilla, he had his best season behind him, so they seized their chance to monetize. Pellegrini is a man who can turn average players into excellent team members (Joaquin, Toulalan, Eliseu..). And by looking at Isco`s develoopment he surely can help young stars.

As for their United neighbours, they are quiet for now, and except Zaha and a rejected Fabregas bid they hadn`t been doing anything but talking about Rooney. Moyes stands firm and repeats that he`s not for sale but on the other hand says that he is a backup striker for RVP. And i think we all know that Wayne Rooney doesn`t like being a backup. He is England first choice striker//support striker so he won`t be sitting on the bench for long. Chelsea made a formal bid, and i don`t know where and how he would play there alongside Lukaku, Demba, Torres and Schurrle but i think Jose knows that Shrek is too much of a chance to miss it. And if he gets him someone is heading to the exit door.

Barca sold one of their prize Masia assets to Bayern. Thiago Alcantara reunited with Pep Guardiola. Bad move, by all means. If there is one club where a midfielder can`t get lot of playing time, except Barcelona, it is Bayern. Schweini, Gustavo, Martinez, Kroos, Muller, Gotze. I don`t know where he thinks he will fit in and who he`s gonna dump out of starting XI. He could do the same in Barca but that`s his desicion and we`ll see if he`s done it right.

One club that really surprised me with great moves is Juventus. Llorente came for free, Tevez came for 11m + bonuses and icing on the cake came with Ogbonna, great defender who arrived from Torino for 15m. They will destroy Serie A, that`s for sure so all that is left is a strike on Champions League. Another important (and a bit sad) news comes from Italy. Legendary owner Massimo Moratti apparently sold the biggest stake in Inter to Indonesian magnate Erick Thohir. Seventeen year old reign is coming to an end, and altough he had his downs, he is a legendary face in world football, a true fan that did everything for his club. Inter has some financial issues and Thohir is there to solve them.

Zavesa

Eto, i ovoj sezoni se bliži kraj. Neće biti nikakve drame, niti specijalnog ludila poput onog od prošle godine. Junajted se prošetao do titule, bez neke prevelike muke. Izgleda da je kupovina RVP-a presudila. To je bilo tih 20+ golova koji su falili a koje Velbek i Ćićarito ipak nisu bili u stanju da donesu. Cela ekipa je odigrala nekako sigurno u bitnim momentima, nije baljezgala i osvajala je bodove kada treba. Mnogo lakša titula nego što se očekivalo. Svemu je pomogla i velika beda glavnih protivnika. Siti se raspao tu negde desetak kola pre kraja, mada i pre toga nije davao neke znake sigurnosti, pogotovu u gostima. Kad je Bosanska Glava malo zatajila sa injury time golovima, odmah je nastao problem.

A taj problem je bio evidentan duž cele ekipe. Džo Hart, prošle godine zmija među stativama, totalno nerešiva enigma koja je vadila ekipu i skidala zicere kako stigne, se pretvorila u rupetinu uporedivu sa Bajkelom. Kompani, kada je igrao, bio je potpuno nebitan, prolazili su ga ljudi koji su prošle godine bežali od njega i često je na Nastasićeva nejaka i neiskusna leđa padao teret odbrane. Nije da je dečko nepodoban, ali mu je ipak prva sezona i ima 19 godina, ne može se od njega očekivati sve. O Leskotu ne treba trošiti reči, dovoljna je činjenica da je na klupi zbog Nastasića koji je doveden kao budućnost, a morao je da se smesti u sadašnjost. Ponekad se na terenu pojavljivao i debeli brat Kolo koji je potpuno zaboravio da igra fudbal. Prognoziram mu Galatasaraj ili neki Katar sa Kvarežmom sledeće sezone. Na sredini je Jaja dao sve od sebe ali nije mogao u onom periodu kada je ostao bez mađioničara Silve, koji kada se povredi, mnogo toga ne štima u toj ofanzivnoj liniji. Da nesreća bude veća, Manćini je odlučio da dobar deo sezone forsira beskorisnog Arapina Nasrija koji je shvatio da je osvojio titulu i da više ne mora ni oko čega da se cima u životu i fudbalu. To je to, sad ide odrađivanje posla. Ako su pametni, poslaće ga u PSG da se tamo poigrava sa nesrećnicima iz Evijana i Bastije. U napadu je Tevez davao sve od sebe, i kakvo god ljudi imali mišljenje o njemu, u pitanju je ipak vanserijski igrač, koga bi svakako kupio za svoju ekipu, jer uvek daje 110% od sebe..Međutim, ove godine to nije bilo dovoljno. Em njega samog nije išlo ponekad, em su mu saradnici bili kritični. Sa izuzetkom Džeka koji je maksimalno koristio svoje prilike, davao bitne golove i bio dosta solidan izuzev u ovih poslednjih 5,6 kola, ostatak napada je blago rečeno odigrao šokantnu sezonu. SuperMario je u vremenu dok je bio tu, verovatno blejao sa Nasrijem i uživao u toj osvojenoj tituli od prošle godine, usput igrajući Soni, blejući sa devojkama, izlazeći po kafanama itd. Pošto fudbal nije igrao, ili bolje da nije. S druge strane Aguero je posle onako sjajne godine u kojoj je zaradio spomenik bio jezivo neefikasan, i prikazivao je realizaciju koje bi se ponekad i Mudrinski postideo (izuzetak je gol na Old Trafordu). Sa takvom igrom ekipe i sa nesposobnim trenerom, ni svetle tačke poput Zabalete, Silve i Turea, nisu mogle puno da doprinesu.

Drugi "konkurent" je za mene najveće razočarenje. Čelsi je pred ovu sezonu kupio sve što valja, sklopio ekstremno dobru ekipu i naoštrio se...kao tupa olovka. Oskar, Azar, Mozes, posle i Demba, očekivalo se  mnoooogo više od sada grčevite borbe za četvrto mesto. Koje im priželjkujem da ne dobiju. Ne samo kao navijač Arsenala, već i kao poštovalac Totenhema koji se mnogo više potrudio i lepom igrom zaslužio da konačno opet dođe do tog četvrtog mesta. Čelsi je na startu sezone dobro krenuo, a onda je malo po malo počelo da curi. Teško mi je da objasnim gde se kriju tačni razlozi za to. Istina je da Tores ne zna ništa, ali nije da je čovek igrao i sredinu i odbranu. Ramireš nije odigrao na svom nivou, Lampard je malo ostario a i bio je skrajnut, dok o Mikelovoj igri dovoljno govori da je Benitez morao kreirati od Luiza novog zadnjeg veznog za neke utakmice. Kešli Kol i Azpilikueta su se trudili ali ‚‚trud" je nešto što je krasilo i Kežmana, tako da neću nikog pohvaliti za to. Luiz stvarno izrasta u vrhunskog igrača ali njegova želja za napadom i postizanjem spektakularnih golova me podseća na ona Lusiova istrčavanja koja su pravila velike probleme njegovim kolegama iz odbrane, pošto je uvek morao neko da ostane da krpi te rupe. Oskar i Azar su se fino privikli ali opet nisu u potpunosti opravdali megalomanske cifre koje su uložene u njih. Mata Zamlata je jedini pravi heroj i njegov gol na Trafordu ih možda izvuče. I dalje mislim da sa otpuštanjem Di Matea ništa dobro nije postignuto i da je i Rafa bačen u jednu vrlo nezgodnu i nezahvalnu situaciju, iz koje će čak moći solidno da se izvuče. Izgleda da ih samo Murinjo može spasiti. I prodaja Toresa, druge nema. Makar negde drugde dao 300 golova, sa Bridža mora da ode. Pogotovo ako se pojavi i Falkao. Sve u svemu, jako loša sezona, upotpunjena ispadanjem u grupnoj fazi LŠ.

Ostali standardno. Arsenal je pokušao da bez Robina napravi nešto ali i u startu se videlo da će to biti jako teško. Kazorla se pokazao kao pravo pojačanje ali nedostatak normalnog odbrambenog igrača i nekog velikog jakog zadnjeg veznog koji bi tukao i uzimao lopte se definitivno oseća. I nisu za bolje od 4-5 mesta. Totenhem i dalje pokušava, Bejl sipa golove ali opet je pitanje hoće li sve to biti dovoljno. Liverpul je Liverpul. I najbitnije im je da Grizač Ljudi ostane.

U međuvremenu je fudbal batalio i ser Aleks. Ali o tome nekom drugom prilikom...