Well, almost a QPR kit "Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck. You gotta copy on me, Pig Pen, c'mon?" Pretty sure this is how the conversation went down between Kevin Payne and Sporting KC's front office as TFC's President traded for MLS veteran Bobby Convey earlier today.
No Pat... we said "Young DP" You can take his face off of the sides of those milk cartons - Kevin Payne was not missing after all. On the heels of Torsten Frings' almost emotional and extremely classy goodbye to TFC, the club president was finally forced to update his very concerned fan base about the lack of incoming players.
May 25th is rapidly approaching, and so is Mario Gotze's rehabilitation process. A left hamstring injury in the second leg against Real Madrid forced the German international to exit the match not even 20 minutes in, and caused instant uproar whether or not he would be able to feature in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
With Bayern Munich's power demonstration tonight against FC Barcelona it is obvious that the German side is strong on all its position. But as the great team it is, they want to make sure that the best players come to the club, and today it was announced that Borussia Dortmund's young superstar Mario Gotze is to change to Bayern Munich next season.
In the following, I'm going to do my best to round up some of the bigger transfer rumours involving Chelsea circulating the internet, TV, and pubs alike. Now, I'm not saying that I'm giving 100% credence to all of them, but I'm going to try and list some of the more prominent ones and see what the ChelseaDaft community thinks about them, and what the varying degrees of truth may be.
Yes, this may be another post debating our possible summer signings - But can anyone blame me? The transfer window always proves to be one of the most exciting times of the year. The anticipation, the whisperings, the rumours, the excitement at announcements - Truly, it's just a lot of fun to follow.
Much of the talk milling around this season is about Super Frank Lampard's future at the Club. The famous No. 8 has made it very clear to owner Roman Abramovich that he would like to stay at the Bridge (even accepting a pay decrease) and fans around the globe have shown that the feeling is mutual.
According to recent reports fromSky Sports, Real Madrid could be set for an English-inspired summer in the transfer market. After elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Germans Borussia Dortmund and a miserable domestic season which is seeing Barcelona run away with La Liga, there is ample speculation linking Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho, and Tottenham's Gareth Bale with a summer merry-go-round.
Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has rubbished claims linking him with a move to Italian giants Juventus. The German international has been linked to the Serie A champions in recent weeks, but insists that he's happy in London and has no plans of moving this summer.
"Firstly, I cannot help it that clubs are interested in me," Podolski told Sky Sportsin response to talks of an impending transfer.
According to English newspaperThe Daily Star, Chelsea could be lining up their next boss. According to the paper, Juventus boss Antonio Conte is the man that Roman Abramovich is eyeing to take over the Stamford Bridge reins, following Rafa Benitez's admission that he'll be leaving the club this summer.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has moved quickly to end speculation linking former Old Trafford favorite Cristiano Ronaldo with a move back to England. The Real Madrid attacker has been linked with a return to Manchester in recent weeks by media around the world, but Ferguson insists there's nothing to the rumors.
Reo-Coker will not be a DP [1]. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto It is official, the much rumoured signing of ex-EPL midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker has gone through. After turning down multiple offers from clubs all around Europe, Reo-Coker decided Vancouver was the ... Continue reading →
The January transfer window closed yesterday and surprised, surprised we signed someone. With the entire month to do business, it only happened on the final day. Personally, I wanted to see more investment (more players) than just the one and I'm sure there will be plenty who will agree with me.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has publicly discussed the potential return of former captain Cesc Fabregas. The midfielder was brought to London by the Frenchman from boyhood club Barcelona, and largely made his name with the perennial Premier League underachievers.
From there, Fabregas made a controversial move back to Barcelona in 2011, and has since enjoyed one of Barcelona's most successful spells in club history, despite missing out on last season's La Liga title.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told the club's official website that he decided to not make an offer for new Chelsea signing Demba Ba, instead opting to sign French striker Olivier Giroud. The 26 year old has since gotten off to a slow start for the north London club, grabbing just six goals in the first half of the Premier League season.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has publicly said that he expects defender and former club captain Rio Ferdinand to remain at the club beyond this summer, when the former West Ham player's contract is set to expire. The 34 year old hasn't been offered a new contract yet, but per club policy regarding players over the age of 30, Ferdinand will be offered a one year extension.
Following weeks of speculation regarding his future, Frank Lampard's agent Steve Kutner has revealed that his client will be leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer. The 34 year old was on the scoresheet for Chelsea for the 193rd time on Saturday when he converted a late penalty against Southampton in the FA Cup, moving him to second on the all-time scorers' list at the London club.
Arsenal have been losing a number of their top players to Barcelona over the last few years, and the Arsenal manager has laid his sights on three potential Barcelona players in order to turn the tables. Almost a decade ago, the Premier League club enjoyed the upper hand by signing Barcelona players like Cesc Fabregas.
Spanish international Victor Valdes is ready to become a Gooner after Wenger has reportedly made him the number one transfer target in the summer. The 31-year-old goalkeeper has announced that he will not be signing a new contract with Barcelona. He still has just over a year left on his current contract.
Michu of Swansea City (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Chelsea have been bringing in several Spaniards over the last few years. Now, it seems that they are ready to add yet another Spaniard to their squad. According to Caught Offside, the club could be looking into bringing in the Swansea striker Michu, who has been a revelation in the Premier League this season.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is eying a move for 20 year old Auxerre striker Yaya Sanogo according to the Metro.
Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger-Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
The French U21 international is enjoying a fine season in Ligue 2, having scored seven goals just last week with four against against Laval and three against Tours.
Francisco R. Alarcon Isco of Malaga CF (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
The Daily Express is reporting that both Chelsea and Manchester are keen on signing Malaga's £35m wonderkid Isco.
Reports out of Spain state that Malaga would be happy to part ways with Isco if their £35m valuation was met with both Chelsea and Manchester City easily capable of splashing that sort of cash on a youngster.
The Daily Mirror is reporting that both Chelsea and Manchester United are looking to bring Santos youngster Neilton to England by activating the Brazilian player's £5million buy-out clause.
Neilton of Santos/ Santos FC
The young Brazilian has made headlines recently with several superb performances in the Copa Sao Paulo U19 tournament.
This week, languagecaster.com introduces the football phrase 'transfer window'. You can understand more about this phrase by reading the accompanying transcript.
Time to bite a new badge monsieur The worst kept secret in MLS is officially out. As was pretty much announced over Twitter on Friday evening by FC Dallas, the Texan side has grabbed Eric Hassli from Toronto FC for a conditional 2nd Round Draft Pick in 2014. While that doesn't quite make up for the short-sighted gifting of TFC's 1st Round Pick to Vancouver in the first place, it sounds possible that Toronto could get a better deal if Hassli plays well in Dallas.
Order your FC Dallas 2013 away kit now! The worst-kept transfer secret in MLS is still a secret... despite official Twitter releases and interviews on Major League Soccer's official website. At press time (yes, I referred to this site as "press". My mum made be a card that says 'PRESS' on it which I stuck in a Joey Jeremiah fedora.
Ah, the Frisco nightlife would suit the L'Hassli Either this deal is done or the FC Dallas' front office will be getting emails RE: Tampering very soon. Earlier this evening, courtesy of the Queen's Park Texas Rangers Twitter account, this little nugget was dropped...
NEWS: #FCDallas is in talks with Toronto FC and close to finalizing a deal to bring Eric Hassli to Dallas.
Ben Haim: Loan boy If it's Thursday that must mean another temporary signing from the bargain bin of English football. In their attempt to become the QPR of MLS (at least until June 30th) TFC has added Israeli International defender Tal Ben Haim... wait for it... on loan.
According to Kevin "The Loan Arranger" Payne "Tal Ben Haim has been one of the top defenders in the EPL for nearly a decade".
The "$1.35 Million Dollar Man"? You know how the old saying goes: "when one Argentine door closes, another Argentine midfielder opens up". Then they say something in Spanish. Then they complain about The Falkland Islands for a bit. Then we tango.
Hot on the heels of Toronto FC withdrawing (or vice-versa) from a potential deal to bring Argentine striker Maximiliano Urruti to town, a full transfer for Argentino Juniors' midfielder Matias "Don't make us do that nickname" Laba seems to be done.
In my eyes, the one thing that can be guaranteed about our summer transfer policy is that a striker will be coming to the club. The only striker that will definitely be playing for us next season is Ba, and the futures of Torres and Lukaku are yet to be seen. Let us make the rather safe assumption that either Torres will be sold, or Lukaku will be loaned out again, or both.
Brazil and AC Milan star Robinho (Wikimedia Commons)
AC Milan midfielder Robinho is not ruling out the possibility of leaving the club when his contract is up as reports of interest from Flamingo have begun to surface.
Robinho joined AC Milan from Manchester City in 2010 has enjoyed a decent bit of success in his time in Serie A.
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojchiech Szczesny has separated himself from the comments his father made about the club and Arsene Wenger, insisting he wants to still be a Gunner.
Szcsesny's father Marciej, a former Poland National was unhappy with his son losing starts despite playing through injuries.
Nigel Reo-Coker has played 45 meaningful minutes in a Whitecaps jersey. 45 minutes is all it took for people in Vancouver to embrace him and his playing and leadership style. When Reo-Coker came on in the 45 minute mark against ... Continue reading →
Joao Plata meets with Real Salt Lake management A few days after Joao Plata's agent attempted to tell the world that his client was being loaned out to Real Salt Lake by TFC, the two clubs decided to make things more permanent. The news from the adoption agency came through this morning that "Los Webster" will now be under the care of Mormon Popadapolises with Toronto receiving a 2015 SuperDraft 2nd Round pick for their troubles.
The January transfer window generally passes by with negligible notice by Sir Alex Ferguson. In fact, the last major business I remember being done in January (could be wrong here) was the signing of Evra and Vidic in 2006. Both of them became first team regulars, but it took them a while to settle in.
According to Spanish media outletSport.es, defending La Liga champions Real Madrid are lining up an audacious swoop for Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has promised fans a marquee signing this summer as fans have been forced to watch their side capitulate in the race for this year's La Liga title, with Barcelona sitting an astounding sixteen points ahead of last year's winners.
