With their omnipresent oligarch stirred into transfer action by his Premier league cash cow's continuing on-field malaise, Chelsea's money men threw a last-ditch £75 million wodge at the club's collective problem (i.e. the very real possibility of missing out on £100 million's worth of Champions League football next season) by shelling out for Benfica's David Luiz and, in case it passed you by, Fernando Torres who signed a considerable £50 million, £175,000-a-week, five-and-a-smidge year deal at Stamford Bridge just as the window began to dwindle away.

For the sixth year in a row, Arsenal are struggling to win trophies. Three chances of doing so were wasted in a matter of two weeks. Who is to blame?

Anyone but Arsene Wenger.

In 15 years, Arsenal have achieved just enough to match the famous Herbert Chapman side of the 1930s that dominated England.

With their main goal threat away in Argentina, around £44 million of new signings starting on the substitute's bench and their captain still recovering from injury, Liverpool's pre-season defeat at Hull will not set alarm bells ringing at Anfield.
But it cannot be dismissed and Kenny Dalglish, under pressure to improve the club's fortunes after spending £100 million since returning as manager in January, did not mince his words after his team's 3-0 setback against the Championship club.

Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber was at the AT&T Sports Franchises and Facilities conference, hosted by SBJ/SBD. He took part in a little Q&A and offered up some interesting nuggets on expansion and TV ratings.

On expansion:

We are focused on New York.

Liverpool will make a last ditch bid for Fiorentina winger Juan Manuel Vargas, with the club hoping to steal the march on Juventus, according to Peru news outlet Andina.
Vargas was said to be close to agreeing a deal with Juventus worth £9 million. The Peruvian has made 80 appearances for Fiorentina and scored 12 goals.

What Went Wrong For Liverpool Against Sunderland - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manager Kenny Dalglish unleashed his 100 million worth signings against Sunderland, still Liverpool were only able to earn a single point from the game. After an impressive first half of dictating the play, Liverpool somehow completely turned off in the second one.

I meant to do more with this quote yesterday but I was a little busy. Anyways, MLS commissioner Don Garber finally put a price on the long-rumored 20th MLS club in New York.

That price, $100 million big ones. Wowzers.

Posted by Jared Montz

I love talking and meeting new soccer fans on Twitter. Today I met Lori Shaw. She is a die hard D.C. United fan and backed up her support of the team 100 million times percent by getting the D.C. United logo tattooed on her back. That is pretty cool! Way to represent Lori and thanks for letting me post this pic!

Hope everyone is recovering from the disgustingly addictive drug that is transfer deadline day.
I'm just about over the disappointment that neither Chelsea or Liverpool thought I was worth a punt. The agent is being sacked today.
Taking slightly longer to recover from the news that Hibs have signed a striker.

Liverpool were very active in the transfer window this winter and the overhaul at Anfield will continue right through the summer, with Marko Marin of Werder Bremen being touted as the next target on Kenny Dalglish hit list.
Marin has been much sought after this season and according to the German media it is now Liverpool that has moved ahead of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester United as the favourites to sign the 21 year old.

MLS commissioner Don Garber appeared at the Sports Business Journal/Sports Business Daily Sports Facilities and Franchises Ticketing Symposium in New Jersey to talk all things MLS. You can read more of his answers to questions about the league here, but below are a couple of his responses to questions about MLS:

On where the league is looking to expand:

"We are focused on New York.

Liverpool is planning an audacious swoop for Tottenham Hotspur winger Aaron Lennon.
According to The People, the club's Director of Football Damien Comolli, has identified the England winger as the ideal acquisition for Kenny Dalglish's summer rebuild.
24-year-old Lennon will cost the Merseysiders at least £20 million and is seen as the perfect remedy, after the club missed out on Ashley Young, who opted to sign for rivals Manchester United for a similar fee.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes the club has gone about their transfer business "responsibly" - even though the club have spent over £100 million since he returned as manager.
Luis Suarez, Andrew Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Alexander Doni have arrived since January as Dalglish looks to rebuild a squad which had become stale.

"We have put a $100 million price tag on a New York team. We haven't sold it to anybody yet ... but I don't believe the fact that we haven't closed a deal has anything to do with price."

via our friend's at SB Nation Soccer.

Quite a haul!

- Jason Davis
In 2011, after Seattle and Philly and Portland and Vancouver and Montreal and the wave that came before them (yes, San Jose counts) and all of the talk of candidates and fees and ownership groups and stadium plans and color schemes and whether names should be "historical" (since 1975!

The big news last week was the announcement that FOX was awarded the English language rights to the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups. FOX outbid NBC and ESPN to claim the rights for approximately $400 million dollars. The Spanish language rights were won by Telemundo for an estimated $400 million.

So while researching another story, I came across this photo touting Soccer United Marketing President Kathy Carter as one of the most powerful women in sports. Helpfully buried in the caption was the following:

Carter is the Executive Vice President of Soccer United Marketing, helping accumulate $100 million in annual revenue.

Ahsan Ali Syed, the man with a Midas touch who rode into Blackburn as their saviour until several financial irregularities exposed by the BBC forced him out of contention is back in the news.

The mug happy Indian businessman is now the focus of increasing media scrutiny over a global scam involving millions of dollars.

The first 17 people who comment on this post will receive the log-in information for the league. If you don't already have a SBN/tBG account, please refer to the how-to guide that is available by clicking the linked text here. From there you can choose to be contacted by email or Twitter DM with the aforementioned log-in information.

Liverpool's newly-appointed managing director Ian Ayre has revealed the club are actively seeking stadium naming rights partners should they move to a new stadium.
The club's owners, Fenway Sports Group, have made clear that boosting Liverpool's gate receipts through an increased capacity is central to their plans to restore the side to former glories.

Of course, the day belongs to Porto for winning their first Europa League title in eight years (the last one they picked up was with Mourinho when he was making his mini mark as a mastermind in 2002!) But these innovative fans take the cake for using paper plates (or something along those lines) to create their butts/costumes!

By Tony Attwood The 20 clubs in the Premier League were very careless last year. And I mean very careless. I mean if lose a £5 note I am fairly pissed off. And these guys lost 100 million times that amount between them. £25 million per club on average. Lost. Gone. Down the plug. Vanished.

June may have been a quiet month on the pitch at Anfield, but off it fans have once again been logging onto the Club's official website in their millions as excitement starts to build ahead of the big kick-off.
In a month which saw Jordan Henderson sign in from Sunderland, an incredible 102 million pages were generated by more than 4.

We hear a lot of agent babble during the summertime, and as much is to be expected as being lying sleazebags is in the job description.

This, however, might just go a bit over the top.

However, he signed a new contract in May with a €100 million release clause and agent Teodoro Fonseca claims Porto are unwilling to accept anything less.

Kenny Dalglish hails support of Liverpool owner John W Henry

The boss has paid homage to the club's American owner following their £100 million spending spree since the turn of the year, which has included the signings of Carroll and Suarez

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-08-04 06:35:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Major League Soccer and the NBC Sports Group announced earlier today that they have entered into a three-year deal that will see 45 MLS matches and four U.S. Men's National Team matches broadcast across NBC and Versus (soon to be known as the NBC Sports Network) a year starting in 2012. NBC will replace Fox Soccer Channel as the league's secondary national English broadcast partner in a move that is sure to excite everyone involved in MLS: its Commissioner and league office, its teams, its sponsorship partners and, perhaps most importantly, its fans.

Michael Regan/Getty Images (Bleacher Report)Liverpool have splashed a load of cash since their new owners took over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
With more than £100 million having been invested, if you combine their summer signings with those brought in during January there are many, many high hopes for Kenny Dalglish's side.

Kenny Dalglish believes his new-look Liverpool are beginning to hit their stride as the Reds look to maintain their unbeaten start to the season against Bolton on Saturday.
Dalglish has made wholesale changes at Anfield since taking charge in January - spending over £100 million on new players - and the Scot has already seen signs that his heavy investment is paying off.

The Michael Vick rags to riches story is complete. After literally losing everything following a stint in prison, Michael Vick has signed a $100 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Michael Vick's new contract keeps him with the Eagles for six years.

Last season, after starting the season as the backup, Michael Vick had the best year of his career.

French newspaper La Voix du Nord are reporting that Liverpool will be given first refusal to sign Eden Hazard next summer as Joe Cole's loan move has now been completed.
The highly rated Belgian winger has been highly coveted throughout Europe this summer with Arsenal been heavily linked with a move for the 20-year-old but now Cole's move to Lille has gone through, Liverpool have been given the opportunity to sign Hazard next summer.

Nothing screams "SWAAAAG!" more than that platinum gold watch, Cristiano! Here he is at the premiere of his own documentary entitled : "Cristiano Ronaldo Al Limite" in Madrid yesterday. The project claims to follow the Portuguese as he is 'tested to the limit', which involves smashing balls through glass, shooting and acceleration skills (some of his favourites).

Nothing screams "SWAAAAG!" more than that platinum gold watch, Cristiano! Here he is at the premiere of his own documentary entitled : "Cristiano Ronaldo Al Limite" in Madrid yesterday. The project claims to follow the Portuguese as he is 'tested to the limit', which involves smashing balls through glass, shooting and acceleration skills (some of his favourites).

The day has come ladies and Gentleman!
After all struggles,crises and broken promises,Turkish Spor Toto Super League will finally get going, this weekend, starting this Saturday.
First, TFF officials said the league was suppose to start on August 5th!
But that did not happened because of the scandal in Turkish Football!

Although he doesn't have much hype, Matt Moore is one of the best pitching prospects of the last decade. The Tampa Bay Rays have been patient with the 23-year-old until now. With the Boston Red Sox and the AL Wild Card within reach, the Rays have called up Matt Moore.

Moore's minor league stats are sick.

Benfica forward Oscar Cardozo is set to pen a deal keeping him the club until at least 2016.
The Paraguayan's current deal will keep him at the club until 2014, how an offer of a two-year extension is expected to warn off interest in the striker.
Liverpool had reportedly been interested in the 28-year-old, however the player's agent Pedro Aldave says he is currently negotiating the extension.

Via Footiebusiness, the Sports Business Journal reported today that Major League Soccer is looking to sell a 25% stake in Soccer United Marketing for around $150 million. That would value SUM at around $600 million, a valuation that seems at least somewhat in line with the stated annual revenues of about $100 million.

All the news that's fit to drink.
And because you'd rather have a beer than be reading all the time... we've taken the day's top news and given it the Reader's Digest-treatment so you can get to that post-work pint quicker.
* Timothy Chandler might not be a Nat after-all.

By Chris Wright

As you may have heard over the past few days, Man City are currrently immersed in plans to develop the 80-odd acres of derelict wasteland currently lying vacant next to the Etihad Stadium...

...into a new, £100-million training complex complete with 15 full-size pitches (including one indoor pitch), on-site sleeping accommodation for 72 players (40 youth teamers and 32 members of the first string), a medical/rehab centre (for Kolo Toure) and a 7,000 capacity stadium for reserve and youth string matches.

The biggest news of the day came in the form of a tweet from the Seattle Sounders:

An MRI has revealed a small tear of Mauro Rosales' right MCL with no additional damage. Mauro is expected to miss 2-4 weeks.

With that, Seattle Sounders' MVP and MLS MVP candidate Rosales will likely be out for the U.

Union

The Union reserves lost 2-1 to Columbus yesterday. Jack McInerney scored in the 14th minute for the U.

PennLive has videos and info on Harrisburg goalie Chase Harrison, who will be training with the Union today. Harrison also runs AskTheGoalkeeper.com.

The Shin Guardian offers up a wonderful breakdown of the current MLS playoff picture.