Not surprisingly the pace of transfer and loan moves has accelerated in the last forty-eight hours. If the story is confirmed by the Hammers then pride of place has to go to West Ham who looked to have pulled off the biggest double move since Ossie Ardilles and Ricardo Villa moved to Spurs after the 1978 World Cup. It is being reported that Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano are to move to Upton Park on a season long loan with an option to make permanent. No one saw this one coming - an absolute stunner.
Some other moves that have been confirmed.
Ricardo Oliveira from Real Betis to Milan with Johann Vogel moving in the opposite direction.
Juan Pablo Sorin to Hamburg from Villarreal.
Andy Cole joins English club number 8 as he leaves Manchester City for Portsmouth. Harry Rednapp seems intent on building football's version of Dad's Army at Fratton Park.
Jonathon Woodgate on loan to Boro from Real Madrid.
Steed Malbranque - Fulham to Spurs with Wayne Routledge on loan to Fulham for a season.
Tommy Smith from Derby County and returns to Watford.
Nacho Novo to Coventry, from Rangers
Rangers have signed Sasa Papac from Austria Vienna
Aberdeen has let Stevie Crawford move back to Dunfermline.
Dwight Yorke to Sunderland from Sydney FC.
Some deals rumoured to still be in the works at 9:30EST
Chelsea and something big - yes bigger than Robert Huth to Boro from Chelsea.
Jose Antonio Reyes and Julio Baptista swithching clubs (Arsenal / Real Madrid)
Kevin Kilbane - Everton to Wigan
Graham Kavanaugh - Wigan to Roy Keane's Sunderland
Damarcus Beasley from PSV to Manchester City (consider this one as unsubstantiated)
James Milner to Aston Villa from Newcastle
Patrick Kluivert to PSV from Valencia.
Florent Sinama Pongolle on loan to Recreativo de Huelva from Liverpool.
Highly speculative.
Ronaldo from Real Madrid to Inter Milan with Adriano going in the opposite direction.
Ivan Helguera and Roberto Ayala a swap between Real Madrid and Valencia.
Bobby first of all l would love to congratulate hammers fans , but l have to say there is more to this transfer than what meets the eye.I fail to understand how a three time south american player of the year who has won almost everything southamerican soccer can offer, and one of the most sought after midfielders in the world decides to go to west ham, a club which was relageted a couple of years ago and had all their star players running away.To make the story funny manu and arsenal were strongly linked with this player and would had been ideal signing for either club which would have made a strong statement of intent throughout europe.It seems to me someone chose a club for these guys because no one in his right senses would snub two of the world's biggest clubs for westham.the surprising thing is that this is the first time l have seen a worldclass player being signed on loan.l hate to say this but this can only be explained in two words..Roman Abromovich, l feel it a ploy ot acclamatise them to london and the prem before taking them in next season,it is a pity that they would do anything to stop their rivals from getting world class player because they knew that they would not get a roller coaster ride, what next send ronaldhino on loan to watford, they is a great deal of being a bad underground deal.Bobby l have to say that we are now in the world were not fifa , or any football association has power over players but abromovich, what a shame.What do think about the deal bobby
henry14 - It sounds like you might be sufferring from a severe case of sour grapes. Has Abramovich been spotted on a grassy knoll overlooking Upton Park? I think if the move is true it is very exciting for the Premiership and in particular West Ham.
In principle, I agree with you a bit Henry14. Not sure about how much Abramovich has to do with it, but clearly MSI (both players' English management firm), is bringing them in on loan with an eye to selling them for much more next summer. If, indeed, they both end up at Chelsea next summer, it will have to raise some eyebrows.
Well the next couple of hours will see what happens to Tevez and Mascherano. However, given the heat on making behind the scene dealings this summer... I doubt Chelsea are stupid enough to seal the deal on behalf of West Ham. Is it to hard to believe that some players believe in their own ability to boost a team. Considering West Ham are not a very bad side, with the right couple of players they could move up some to challenge for a European spot. Some players just like to play, at least I like to believe so...
Well folks... it's true they have now signed on with the Hammers and it is not a loan deal. As Bobby said, this is great for the league.
Bobby, does this mean you want to change your EPL prediction for West Ham? If so, at the cost of which team(s)?
i have to agree with henry14 here. I too subscribe to the notion that something smells fishy here. we'll know for sure if they end up at the bridge, but one has to wonder how west ham pulled this one off. surely Utd could have made much better use of these 2 (michael carrick is not going to solve all their problems)
congrats to spurs for finishing strong before the deadline with chimbonda, melbranque, and mido. hopefully mido can get some starts.
Who will be the midfield playmaker for tottenham now that they have the defence sorted out? i hope it's not mr glaucoma himself davids!
There are some INCREDIBLE rumors out there. Bobby, on your speculation list you have Sinama-Pongolle to Recreativo. That has now been confirmed by Liverpoolfc.tv
Also, I can't believe that Rafa would let Kewell or Kromkamp go. There is no cover at right back without Krom and if Rafa had no faith in Kewell then why did he start him, half fit, in three consecutive cup finals? (Carling, Champions League, and FA)
And kudos to West Ham, perhaps I should move them up my Prem Predictions since I think I had them at 11. What was I thinking?!?!?!
Bobby l think you are getting this all wrong, l would not be worried if they went to man u because l know they can attract the player and also have the money.the question you should answer is did the two guys choose westham or they were offered to westham, l think you once talked about some players being attractive to bigger club and l have to say it will be intresting but l do not think they will stay there for more than a year.my question is how does someone change from signing calton cole and getting the two best young talents in world football overnight
Last edited by henry14 on August 31st at 11:00 AM.
henry14 - Manchester United is carrying a lot more debt than West Ham so I can't see how you say that they have money and West Ham doesn't or should I say isn't suppossed to.
WH spent over $12M to sign Dean Ashton lasr season when others baulked so fingering Carlton Cole as an example is a bit of a red herring.
Last edited by BobbyMcMahon on August 31st at 11:07 AM.
To me the West Ham deal is massive for the EPL. (It'll be interesting as the story comes out on how they did it!) Over the years we always hoped that deals like this would set a precedent for more world class players to come north. Maybe with more $$$ in the EPL, now it will happen.
Henry14: You might consider that this is a positive part of the Abramovich trickle down of upping the appeal of the EPL to those willing to make massive investments rather than any conspiracy thoughts. If West Ham join Villa, and Newcastle (also add Everton maybe) in creating a stronger EPL then the fans will come in big numbers and the standard will keep going up
Excellent move by Carlton Cole who left Chelsea to get some first team action at the Hammers.
West Ham United are delighted to announce the double signing of Argentinian World Cup stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from Brazilian club Corinthians.
The pair have been signed for an undisclosed fee and put pen to paper on permanent contracts with the Club this afternoon. All other aspects of the transfers will remain confidential and undisclosed.
PERMANENT DEAL!! What a steal for Hammers. Having followed the team since they were relegated from the top flight this is a shocking but delightful piece of news. I've posted more about the deal over at my blog
Last edited by TheScout on August 31st at 11:12 AM.
the way pardew said it on the web site and l qoute , the chairman came and asked me if l wanted to sign the players ,end of qoute which shows thatn the player were offered to them rather than westham looking to sign those players
Definitely something rotten in the state of Denmark -- Hammers weren't even rumoured to be going after either of these players. And what conclusion do you draw from the fact that all details of the transaction are undisclosed, Bobby?
I agree with Henry14. Bobby, why would Tevez and Mascherano WANT to go to West Ham? With United, they'd be at one of the biggest clubs in the world, playing on the biggest stage. Mascherano, especially, would be in the staring 11 every day, and on top of that, Heinze would be there to smooth over any language difficulties. After being in this business for many years, don't you think there could be something below the surface here, Bobby?
Agents offer their players to clubs everyday. That's how many players actually get signed. The agent rings the club and then the club has a look at the player and decides whether or not to sign him. Perhaps Tevez and Mascherano both wanted to join a young, up and coming team that is playing in Europe and their agent said "West Ham United".
I'm not saying that there isn't something below the surface, but it is possible that there isn't...
As much as l would want to believe that this was just a coup as any other , l do not think any manager of the top prem clubs would rejct at least one of them and westham were not in the up and going club territory which has the totenham,everton,boltons of this world .It is mainly a midtable club.there is a lot of doubt that they would choose westham over any top four club in the premiership is insane,Bobby you said manu were broke but it was never proved they were willing to pay 17m pounds for hargreaves which is way more than the usually budget at upton park over the last 10 years.In any season l do not believe one day the moneyu theory you propose in comparing westham and manu.Obviously it makes the premiership more competitive but you have to say they are powerful man who have money behind this move.you have to look at the value attached to these players , as l do not believe that they are going to pay in excess of 35m pounds for the two except , if you say they were bought for 5m pounds.Very few teams have a budget big enough to bring those two alone,so it has a lot of gray areas. this like hearing someone say ronaldhino and messi to watford and claim it is a normal deal as good as anyother would be crazy, yes ithas happened but they are big question marks hope they write autobiographies to explain how it worked out. bbc says the hammers agreed with msi who own the rights to these players and with all thing being undiclosed even how long they have signed for this is su####ious
Last edited by henry14 on August 31st at 12:27 PM.
As a Hammers fan I truly could care less about to any conspiracy theories why these two ended up at Upton Park. All I know is that two 22-year-old superstars will be wearing claret and blue this season, and right now we're looking down the table at Spurs and Arsenal. Life is very good.
And btw henry14, you're not quoting Pardew correctly. Pardew said (I'm cutting and pasting)
"Our Chairman Terry Brown came to me on Monday and gave me the opportunity to go for Carlos and Javier - and you don't turn down the chance to sign two world class players.
When I met the players, though, I didn't have to sell West Ham United to them. They knew all about our success last season and our style of play, as the Premiership is shown on TV in South America every week."
Okay, if I am understanding this right then it could signal a major shakeup in how transfers and player contracts are done. In effect, Tevez and Mascherano have signed permanent contracts with West Ham, but, in another sense, they are on loan because MSI still owns the rights to both players, just as they did when they played for Corinthians. So, essentially, there is no real transfer fee. The players sign a contract to play for West Ham for X amount of years, but West Ham does not have the right to sell them on to ManU or whoever, that is still in MSI's hands. Which, also explains why ManU or Chelsea probably didn't come out on top here, this would not be the kind of arrangement they would be interested in, but that might all change soon. This seems to be new ground we are treading here. And could make things very interesting in the future.
On another note, I am happy for West Ham, and happy as a fan of the EPL. Things just got even more interesting. I still don't think West Ham can move above fourth at the very best, though.
Also, as far as ManU's finances go, they are essentially a massive corporation. All major corporations have large debts, but that doesn't mean they aren't still looking to spend in order to add assets. As long as they are doing the business they are right now (nearly $300 million/year) and own the assets they do, they will always have someone willing to give them credit.
Last edited by LARedDevil on August 31st at 12:44 PM.
They did Bobby and ultimately had their offer rejected, but seeing how lerner did it at Villa leads them back for a 2nd bite at the apple and a greater commitment to the club. Doesnt a massive new TV contract kick in this yr making the future revenue streams massive? Valuations for clubs are sure to be on the upstream, look at the turnover in the most recent past.
Bobby, is it possible that MSI are bringing the two Argentines to West Ham as a token of their good intentions, and will make another bid at a buy out of the club?
This is kind of on the side, but dealing with the same story... But here we see two completely different approaches to signing players at the transfer deadline.
West Ham go out and get Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez, two sensational players, and it probably cost them a pretty penny...
Portsmouth (a team no one has been talking about), on the other hand, go out and bring in 4 new players, in Manual Fernandes (Benfica), Andy Cole (Man City) , Niko Kranjcar (Hajduk Split), and Roudolphe Mbela Douala (Sporting Lisbon)
Now Bobby, which approach do you think will have the bigger payoff... Because as a fan of Pompey (reason why I brought it up) I was looking forward to them signing someone big... Granted Manual Fernandes is highly regarded, and Andy Cole is well known, even though his prime is behind him... Kranjcar I hadn't heard of before the World Cup, and until now, I've never heard of Douala
I guess what I'm trying to say is I would have rather seen them pour the money in for Stilian Petrov, or a Jermaine Defoe, instead of a few maybe not as highly regarded players...
Bobby do you think the gallas deal will occur on timme because as l read chelsea offered the full 25m pounds arsenal wanted , but they refused saying they will only accept the deal if it includes gallas, do you think it is feasible for them to strike a deal before midnight
LOL charlie you've been sweatin that one for a while. Best wishes.
Leche, the big name guys don't always deliver. The way that big-name players are made is that they are sleepers first and some bigger club puts faith in them. I think Pompey has made some good moves, Krancjar included.
Like you guys, I couldn't believe my own two eyes this morning about West Ham. Can they pull in Messi and Aguero by the end of the day? :)... I do agree that there is some undertow to this. I'm sure that a second bid for West Ham or a move for the both of them (if they perform well) to Chelsea et al will happen next year. Now lets take a look at West Ham's front line: Tevez, C. Cole, Harewood, Ashton, Zamora, Sheringham. Yikes... at least one of those guys in gonna have a baaad year. Midfield with guys like Mascherano, Reo-Coker, Benayoun, and Etherington is none too shabby either. I expect a hugely entertaining season from the Hammers, just like the last one.
Youre right, I know the offense has been duely criticized latley, but I think that will be worked out and be fine. To me arsenal need some toughness, experience, leadership, and backbone down the middle and in the back. With gallas and baptista, coming from real for reyes, i think this gives arsenal more of what they need.
I still would love to see ribery though, but now im gettin greedy.
As I posted in my blog, you are correct in that MSI, or at least the main man behind MSI, Kia Joorabchian was rumoured to be making a takeover bid for West Ham last year.
And you are also correct in stating that ManU has a higher level of debt to service than West Ham. They re-financed the debt recently to cut back the amount of interest they were going to pay but they are going to be in the hole for quite some time.
Bobby ,l have always that do not make predictions until the last day of the transfer because , arsenal are a different team with gallas and the beast, but l have to say l am surprised by the lack of activity with manu, but l hope we do well with the two replacements
I am surprised that no club in the EPL has picked-up Oguchi Onyewu. I think there are several teams, including the likes of ManU, that could use his presence in the center of defense. Several other clubs with games in Europe, especially Blackburn, could also benefit from him, even if it is as a #2 pick (until he forces one or more of the center backs in front of him out of the way).
This is a MAN amongst boys in Belgium, and I also noticed that Gooch was not in Standard Liege's line-up last weekend, which I thought was a tell-tAle sign he was going to be transferred.
Not that surprised with the lack of action from ManU. SAF put all his eggs in one basket (Hargreaves), and then left himself with no other options. Maybe he is thinking he can get him in January or next summer. There were only three guys they could've and would've signed in the midfield: Hargreaves, Senna, and Mascherano. We all know what happened with Mascherano and Hargreaves, SAF could have signed Senna easily but waited too long to pull the trigger. Diarra was a target, but I think he was always going to Madrid.
I think Arsenal have really done the business bringing in Gallas (IF it has actually gone through). He is versatile, skilled, and strong. Not too sure about Baptista. I will reserve my judgement on him, because I'm not sure how committed he really is. Arsenal may have just traded one want-away (Reyes) for another (Baptista).
Last edited by LARedDevil on August 31st at 4:47 PM.
OK as Henry14 says... it's official on the Chelsea site ... arrgh.
Cole to Chelsea, Gallas to Arsenal
The following is a joint statement by Chelsea Football Club and Arsenal Football Club on Ashley Cole/William Gallas:- Chelsea FC and Arsenal have agreed terms for the transfers of Ashley Cole and William Gallas. Chelsea will also pay Arsenal 5m pounds. Both players have agreed personal terms and passed their respective medicals.
Congrats Henry14 you win. It'll be interesting to see the length of Gallas' contract.
Wayne Bridge got a really raw deal, because the deadline is passed for him to play anywhere else. He probably won't even make it to the subs bench, becuase they'll give the spot to a utility player. What a waste. (Maybe he can play right wing!!)
Last edited by LosAngelesChelseaFan on August 31st at 6:13 PM.
Chelsea official website says cole to chelsea and gallas to arsenal but the story has not been extended on the september 1 news
http://www.chelseafc.com/headlines. asp?title=News+Headlines&sub=News+H eadlines&nav=Navigation+-+News
wenger has to be the best manager in the world made profit out of a transfer window
2m for cygan
5m+ gallas
baptista for free
Denlison pereira neves 4m-a defensive midfielder
3m pounds out of the transfer markert now we look more of a decent side that can challenge for honours, imagine gallas and toure central partnership will be the best in europe
If MSI still owns the rights to the players, it definitely makes the most sense that they are still trying to buy the club. If they transferred the assets to the club, the selling price would suddenly have jumped tremendously, which would be stupid. Why would you inflate the value of something before you buy it? By continuing to hold the rights, it seems the only explanation is that MSI is still trying to buy West Ham.
Chelsea have transferred out 1 central defender (Huth-finally confirmed by Chelsea) and exchanged 1 utility defender(Gallas out Boula in). Problem is they're playing that utility player at right back. Errr... what happens when Carvalho or Terry gets injured? ... oops the only cover is to reinsert Ferreira on the right and move in Boularouz. After that they have only one sort of defender: Geremi.
If Chelsea had done nothing, Gallas would have come to his senses if only to market himself for his next and probably last contract next year.
As it is I can't believe that Bridge will stand for living with the reserves.
Bobby, do you agree that Chelsea have come off with a significantly weakened defense from last year?
Last edited by LosAngelesChelseaFan on September 1st at 8:14 AM.
I just read your Blog, and I just had to drop you a line. I did see it coming, and I am not lying. I also called in to SportsTalk.net on Wednesday morning and told them it could happen, only to be laughed at. When I called them back this morning, they put me back on the air and ate some humble pie. They told me they even opened their show with a tape of my Wednesday call, which gave me a good chuckle. I didn't hear that, since it was early morning for me. If you don't believe me, call the station. It was the afternoon show, around 5pm London time. I live in New York, by the way.
So how did I "know"? A report surfaced on an Argentinean website, clarin.com, on Wednesday morning claiming that Tevez agent was in talks with various clubs, including West Ham. I did a google search and found nothing on any english language site, so on a whim I decided to call the radio show while listening in via the web. Maybe they had some other info about this rumor. Rodney Marsh (not sure on the spelling, but I know he played with George Best) was on and laughed at me. They proceeded to ask me if I like President Bush, probably because the idea of West Ham getting these guys was absurd to them.
Well, when I called back today they were actually waiting for my call. I went on the air and laughed a sinister laugh, and chided them for being one-upped by an American from New York. We chatted a bit, and they put me on hold. A producer got on the phone with me and we talked a moment, and he thanked me for a good call and some very good radio.
CONTINUATION: When MSI broke off talks about purchasing the club, there never seemed to be any acrimony. It was a difference of opinion on the club's value. I never believed the lines of communication were totally closed, just on hold. Maybe they would talk again, maybe they wouldn't. If MSI DID ever buy West Ham, they would be prohibited from transferring players between the two clubs (West Ham and Corinthians). So if MSI were discussing a deal again, even informally, it could be in their best interest to sell these players to a club they could eventually own while they still are allowed to. Remember, these players didn't have any problems with management. It was the coach and fans that alienated them. Tevez even had his car demolished by rowdy fans recently. Add all that in to a pot already stirring with a new sense of ambition at West Ham, and the whole thing starts to make a little sense. Don't you think?
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