What can Javier Pastore bring to Chelsea? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

One of the Premier League's usual big spenders, Chelsea will be eager to redeem themselves having failed to claim a trophy in 2010/11. The pressure on the new manager will be immense, especially as owner Roman Abramovich appears willing to pay over £40m for Argentinean attacking midfielder, Javier Pastore.

By CALEB SONNELAND

Things seem to be looking up for Arsenal fans.

With the club poised to snatch up Ivory Coast winger/striker Gervinho from Ligue 1's Lille in the following few days, Gunners fans finally have something to smile about.

The attacker notched a solid 15 goals in Lille's championship-winning season last year but has long been linked away from the club, and Arsenal has been consistently showing interest in the player.

Liverpool target Nacho Monreal is set to join Spain's new big-spenders Malaga.
The Osasuna left-back was linked with a move to Anfield in March after Paul Konchesky failed to settle on Merseyside following his move from Fulham.
The £5million defender, capped four times by the World Cup holders, will complete the switch on Wednesday if the 25-year-old passes a medical.

Well the USMNT made it. They're officially going to the Quarterfinals of the Gold Cup despite, what I thought, was a pretty lackluster performance against Guadeloupe. While Jozy Altidore's golazo was amazing and worthy of recognition in its own right, the rest of the game's blunders will continue to be the talking points heading into the next game against Jamaica, a game that I'm not confident the current US squad can win.

Well, we're halfway through the summer, and everything is just as uncertain as it was when the season ended just over a month ago. I keep checking the transfer news and rumors every day, but nothing is official just endless speculation.

We've repeatedly been told from various sources that July 1 is the official start to the transfer season, or at least it's the start in some countries.

The media has gone mad about Arsenal losing three players whilst their rivals are active in the transfer market. The media have Arsenal fans in despair, failure to re-new season tickets and August will be a month of disaster for Arsenal.

Hearing all this wonder what the point of next season really is?

French international Samir Nasri joined fellow former Arsenal players Emmanuel Adebayor, Gaël Clichy and Kolo Touré on the books of big spenders Manchester City on Wednesday. The midfielder signs a four-year deal with City on the £24m move after a three year spell at Arsenal. Selected as French Ligue 1's Young Player of the Year during [.

Russian big spenders Anzhi Makhachkala are lining up swoops for Robin van Persie, Nicolas Anelka and Neymar, according to player-coach Roberto Carlos.

Carlos claimed his club are also targeting Paris St Germain star Nene in a bid to eventually become as big as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Notts County and former Scarborough FC player Neal Bishop gave Notts County an early lead against big spenders, Manchester City in todays FA Cup 4th round tie at Meadow Lane.
County played well and were well worth their lead but City did eventually scrape back an equalising goal and now County will have to face City at their place in the replay.

BERNE, Switzerland Europe's big-spending soccer clubs were warned on Tuesday that their recent frenzy of transfer activity could affect their ability to meet UEFA's new financial rules aimed at making them live within their means. The European governing body also repeated its determination to stamp out reckless spending one day after the end of [.

As the dust settled from a frenetic end to the January transfer window, there was still the matter of actual games to be played. The reality is that the jubilation and adrenaline that results from a new signing fades quickly if the new signing doesn't produce the kind of results that the fans were hoping for.

Wales centre Gavin Oompa Loompa Henson has joined Rugby's answer to Manchester City French big spenders Toulon after his Saracen's contract was cancelled by mutual concent.

Henson will join up with a host of European stars at Toulon including England's Jonny Wilkinson.

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In the FA Cup Final it's the Big Spenders of the Premier League and the first-time finalists Manchester City vs Stoke City. Staying in England, we also have the high-flying Reds vs an out-of-sorts Spurs and another North West vs London game, but this time a basement battle with Wigan v the Hammers.

John Flanagan today spoke of his pride at being named Liverpool's best reserve-team player of 2010-11.
The right-back held off competition from the likes of Suso, Jack Robinson, Andre Wisdom and Daniel Pacheco to claim the award, as voted by the fans in an exclusive poll on this website.
Flanagan picked up 41 per cent of the vote to finish ahead of Suso (30 per cent) and Pacheco (eight per cent).

Today is going to be a very slow news day on the blogosphere. The transfer rumours are only just gaining momentum and most expect Arsenal to either take second pickings behind the big spenders or to sign players who would not be targets for other top clubs.

Following on from yesterday's debate, I thought it would be interesting to have a benchmark at this point to refer back to at the end of the summer, or at the same time next season.

The Carolina Panthers aren't known as big spenders. However, shortly after the NFL lockout was lifted, they inked Charles Johnson to a deal worth a reported $72 million. The defensive end was one of the most sought after players in free agency. Carolina, judging by the size of their offer, obviously wasn't interested in losing him.

McLeish: Villa can no longer keep up with big spenders like City, Liverpool and United

"It's amazing the parameters that have now been set," says boss

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-07-29 13:12:47 from: The Mirror

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• Kop That: World Cup draw preview: Brazil 2014 888 games, 204 nations, one winner http://bit.ly/oUISdG 23:38:11, 2011-07-29
• Kop That: CIA spooks target Rio Ferdinand http://bit.ly/mY0y3Q 23:38:09, 2011-07-29
• Kop That: What are the odds England get Poland (again) in the World Cup qualifiers?

The Premier League has just kicked off and so Damon and Damian take a look at their respective team's chances. Here is Damon looking ahead to his team's Liverpool's 2011-12 season. There is a transcript below, while explanations of key vocabulary (in bold) can be found at the foot of the post, while other key phrases (in blue) and links (in red) also have meanings explained.

Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder has finally brought an end to speculation that linked him with a move to Manchester United all summer by insisting that he no longer wants to talk about the protracted transfer saga.

The Dutchman, who was also reported to be a major target for Manchester City, hinted that he was closing in on an exit from Inter towards the end of the summer transfer window before negotiations reached a halt.

They have two of the richest football owners in the world, so it should not be a surprise that Manchester City and Chelsea were once again the big spenders in the summer transfer market.

Manchester City spent well over 120 million euros last summer, and for the second year in a row, the club was the biggest spender, albeit only a comparitively modest 92.

They have two of the richest football owners in the world, so it should not be a surprise that Manchester City and Chelsea were once again the big spenders in the summer transfer market.

Manchester City spent well over 120 million euros last summer, and for the second year in a row, the club was the biggest spender, albeit only a comparitively modest 92.

As a fan of a Non-League side it's very rare that I have anyone to talk to about the team I support. I completely understand why some people will have little or nothing to say about the Non-League but what really gets on my nerves is when I hear people writing it off as being a poor level of football.

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Bill Shankley, the famous Liverpool boss of the late 50s and early 70s once said not to look at the league table until 10 games had been played because it meant nothing.

Tweet my Goal! The best gags from Manchester in the Champions League

City are all but out of the Champions League, and United are left needing a point from theirt final game to qualify. Not the best night for Manchester, then. You can read about all that here... Napoli 2-1 Manchester City: Big spenders all but out of Champions League Manchester United 2-2 Benfica: Fergie left needing a point .

VietNamNet Bridge – Big spenders Ninh Binh are hoping to sign footballing superstars including Rivaldo and Guti ahead of the upcoming season.

"After the 2011 season, the managers were looking to improve our squad for next year. Ninh Binh look forward to signing stars such as Rivaldo and Guti to play in the V-League," said Pham Van Le, head of the Ninh Binh Football Delegation.

Manchester United chief Gill urges UEFA to get tough with the big spenders

Manchester United executive David Gill has cranked up the heat on their 'noisy neighbours' by urging UEFA to come down hard on teams who break new financial fair play regulations.

View the full story here: The Mail

A news article on 2011-11-29 12:08:17 from: The Mail

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