Thursday's Transfer Rumors
With Micheal Ballack, Joe Cole and Juliano Baletti all released off their contracts Chelsea are now looking busy in the market in search for some much needed replacements. Torres has been linked with the London club for quite a while now but it still remains uncertain whether the former Atletico Madrid striker will walk out on Roy Hodgson and join Chelsea or not.
One player who could complete the switch sooner or later is the Brazilian midfielder Ramires. Ramires is also being courted by Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Manchester City (who are chasing anyone who can kick a ball). The Premier League champions have taken the first step by putting in a 13 million pound offer but Benfica will not be letting go of their star defensive midfielder so easily, especially considering the fact that so many other clubs are showing the same level of interest.
Chelsea is also interested in Santos forward Neymar and has also made a bid of 17 million pounds but his club wants a fee of around 30 million pounds. Carlo Ancelotti desperately needs some reinforcements in the mid-field as Deco is also all set to leave the London club in favor of his native Brazil.
In other transfer news, Liverpool have completed the signing of centre back Danny Wilson from Scottish Club Ranger for a sum of 5 million pounds while Fernando Torres is still in talks with the managing director Christian Purslow about his future at the club, but nothing seems to have been decided yet. Another Liverpool player who is linked with a move away from the Kop is Javier Mascherano. Inter Milan are interested in signing the Argentinean international and the player himself is also keen on joining his former manager Rafael Benitez at the Guessepe Meazza.
Roy Hodgson is also confident of beating interest in OG Nice striker Lioc Remy from Spurs and West Ham and plans to offer Nabil El Zahr and Phillip Deggen in a player plus cash offer for the striker. However Hammers have already made a 13 million pound bid for the striker.
Tottenham Hotspurs are on the brink of signing Spain’s legendary Striker Raul. Raul has recently fallen behind the pecking order in the presence of Cristaino Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Higuain and only made a handful of appearances for the Los Blancos last season. But the Spurs desperately need a striker as Robbie Keane is deemed surplus to requirements at White Hart Lane and after a disappointing 8 goals from 38 games by Crouch all the onus is on Jermaine Defoe to lead their charge next season. One look at this situation and it’s obvious that he would need some help, and who better than Raul to bolster their attacking options.
Tottenham are also chasing Craig Bellamy of Manchester City who feels like excess baggage at Eastlands, after the arrival of a few new players. The Spurs will provide the journeyman striker with perfect first team playing opportunities.
While on the other side of North London Arsene Wenger is hopeful that the veteran defender Sol Campbell will resist interest from Sunderland, Celtic and Newcastle and extend his contract with the gunners.
While heading out of the Emirates is Eduardo who has agreed to a deal and will sign for the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk. Eduardo had a fantastic start to his career at Arsenal but after the horrific injury that he suffered two seasons ago against Birmingham he has failed to recover fully and was only confound to the bench last season.
Meanwhile Arsenal’s search for a goal keeper continues as Wenger is weighing his options and Manuel Neuer of FC Schalke and Igor Akinfeev of CSKA Moscow the prime candidates.
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