Finishing up our "what did we miss out on?" series today:

FELIPE MELO Arsenal were probably linked with Felipe Melo this summer more than any other player. The biggest difference between Arsenal's 2007-2008 season and our 2008-2009 season, which saw the club take a large step backwards, was the absence of Mathieu Flamini.

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We all know the Collective Bargaining Agreement is coming close to it's end and the MLS Players Union and league front offices are set to battle it all out. Well today we got some rough news from the Sports Business Journal (subscription based link, sign up for a free trail if you haven't) that the players union is already talking strike if things don't improve.

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Yesterday out at the Nike headquarters in Oregon the USL first division owners got together for a little meeting. It turns out the group does know how to play some hardball with the other group of owners known as the TOA who are planning to start their own league.

The USL called it a new era for the league, especially the first division.

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Now here's something interesting. United Soccer League's CEO Nick Papadakis told a Canadian radio station that "the negotiations are finished" and Vancouver and Montreal are out of the league for 2010. Neither club has issued a statement though so perhaps this is just a hardball tactic on the part of the honchos at USL 1. Click to continue reading...

I guess Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson is just playing some hardball with the city of Portland now. According to Oregonlive.com, Paulson told Beaverton officials that the future of Major League Soccer in Portland hinges entirely on whether he can find a new home for his minor league baseball team.

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Things have gone pretty quiet on the Persisam front but now comes news they are negotiating with Thai Port for international striker Pipat Thonkanya.
According to this article Persisam and Thai Port have agreed a price for the 30 year old and are now negotiating a release date.
I'm always wary whenever Persisam say they are interested in Thais. Click to continue reading...

Since Bayern Munich decided to play hardball and not sell him to Real Madrid like he wanted, Franck Ribery has resigned himself to making the most out of staying with the club. Unfortunately, new manager Luis Van Gaal is a Stiffly Stifferson, which is putting a cramp in Ribery's pranking style.

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When WAGs stop spending their partner's cash and start earning it Richard Dunne begins life at Aston Villa £2 million wealthier than he might have after his wife demanded a pay-off from Manchester City. Helen Dunne decided to play hardball with football's latest moneybags when it became clear that he would be sold following Joleon Lescott's [. Click to continue reading...

The summer transfer window is now firmly shut, putting a cap on Real Madrid's spending at about €250m(!!!), but the eternal question begs asking: What if it continued?

Sept. 5 Disappointed that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't already have between 10 and 15 goals, Florentino Perez offers Manchester United €117m more for 2008 Ronaldo.

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So here we are, transfer deadline day. I can say with complete and utter assurance that we're not signing anyone.

There's not the slightest whisper of a deal and unless Wenger and Gazidis are playing the hardest of hardball with potential targets and their clubs it seems unlikely anything's going to happen.

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Wenger plays hardball

Thomas Vermaelen may be Arsenal's sole purchase during the current transfer window as Saint Etienne's valuation of star midfielder Blaise Matuidi differs from Arsene Wenger's, and the Gunners' boss is not prepared to pay £8 million for the player he deems to be a new version of the talismanic Patrick Vieira.

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Top marks to the Merseyside outfit for not giving in so easily to megabucks City.

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Everton will demand £30million from Manchester City for Joleon Lescott after David Moyes finally lost patience and ordered the defender to train by himself.

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So near, yet so far.

Arsenal are set to make an improved £7.5million bid for Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh.

The French club felt the original £6m was ridiculous for a player they valued at £15m, but the Gunners have played hardball on player who is out of contract next summer.

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Well, the hot rumor of the day is that Arsenal has made a bid to Chelsea for Solomon Kalou. Apparently Arsenal are offering £6 million, while Chelsea are holding out for £8 million.

I have to say, I've never been all that impressed with Kalou, but he's still young, he grew up idolizing Thierry Henry, and he's basically a spare part at this point with Chelsea.

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Everton have rejected Manchester City's latest offer of £18m for Joleon Lescott.

City contacted the Club with an increased bid for the central defender but the Blues have turned down the offer.

Earlier this summer, the Eastlands club had a bid of £15m rejected, with David Moyes declaring that no player will leave Everton this summer without his approval.

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Hotting up.

IN:

Lisandro Lopez: JMA himself was supposed to be in Portugal today to personaly finalize the deal for Lisandro, but management dropped a bomb today on Porto! In L'Equipe, Bernard Lacombe announced that management had called-off the trip to Portugal today, as well as divulging that negotiations for Toulouse striker Andre Pierre Gignac were underway(see more below).

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United signed Valencia, but their intent to go blitzkrieg on the transfer market suffered a blow when Benzema opted to go to Real Madrid. Reports say they were willing to pay £6m more than us. This can mean either of two things: one, we were trying to play hardball with them while staying firm in our [new found] commitment towards not getting fleeced.

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Welp.
In the interests of fairness, the Galaxy weren't a good team when Beckham found them. But...you know, how does one process this?
Quote: Most of the players were confused. Who was this British guy who looked like the comedian Ricky Gervais? When Donovan asked whether the players would need to change their Thanksgiving plans, it was this guy, not Lalas or Gullit, who answered him. Click to continue reading...

Confirmation that the Premier League has pulled the plug on Setanta comes as no great surprise. The company has failed to pay its monthly instalment payment to the league and a rescue package said to be worth £51m fell through this afternoon. Reports all over the media for the last couple of weeks or so have been saying that the Premier League has been playing "hardball" with the subscription channel, but the truth of the matter is that the Premier League doesn't really want them there and would rather be in a position in which it could cosy up to Sky Sports with a complete and exclusive package.

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Whilst we are looking forward to players arriving next season, a squad can only have so many players, so inevitably there will be departures.

The possible or rather imminent departure of Adebayor has been well documented, but the Togolese striker will not be alone.

Reports today have Inter Milan wanting van Persie and Mourinho is prepared to spend £25 million for the Dutch striker.

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The silence has been deafening from the Emirates. � The silence that is, to deny that Adebayor is not leaving the club.

� In the past and we can look at Vieira, every season he was with us, Henry for the last three season, Cesc last two seasons and even Adebayor last season, Wenger was very vocal in telling everyone that these players were going nowhere.

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Prior to the Champions' League final Ronaldo went on a PR crusade doing interviews affirming his decision to stay on at United. "Manchester is my home", he would say. He even did a spoof interview, where he interviews himself with a choice selection of canned questions that journalists are wont to ask.

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3...2...1... Just as an aside for you kids who scoff at taking the Dev Dollars that MLS wants to hardball you with. There may be perks. Two weekends in a row for DiRaimondo and Peters making that awful journey to Bermuda. Tough life being an MLS... Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber came out yesterday and told the Washington Post's Steven Goff that if DC United and the proper authorities can't get a stadium deal resolved, the team could move.
I see what Garber is trying to do. Threaten a move, play a little hardball, and the politicians in Montgomery County, or the District, or Fairfax County, any place close to DC, will drop everything and scurry around looking for a place in their jurisdiction to host United's new home. Click to continue reading...

One of the oddest stories I noticed yesterday was about Plaxico Burress shooting himself in the leg. That seems a particularly inept and bizarre move in a strange year for Plaxico. The Redskins-Giants game was looking like a close call anyway - but now that Mr. Burress has removed himself from the field again (I'm [. Click to continue reading...