The summer transfer saga begins…

world-moneyGareth Barry to Manchester City! Please! This summer could see some amazing squad swapping. It might get really ugly people. Brace yourselves to be annoyed, frustrated and flabbergasted by it all. And even if your team are not in the thick of it all, it will still affect them somehow. Whether it’s getting beat by the teams that have spent big or losing a player because he was offered crazy wages from another club, in the end it all trickles down or up!

What we do know so far is that there is a huge tug-of-war going on between Real Madrid and Chelsea for the services of Kaka. Where do you think he’ll end up? What’s the best place for him? AC Milan hold the winning hand here as the Italians can sell to the highest bidder.

David Villa is another superstar potentially available on the market. His club Valencia need to sell big time because of financial problems. Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City and supposedly Arsenal would love the services of Mr.Villa. Can’t see Arsenal spending the money, can you? And will he be willing to leave Spain?

Franck Ribery is another hot property. The Bayern Munich star is wanted by everyone. They say he fancies a move to Spain. Chelsea want him really badly. He’s the flare player they’ve been craving since the departure of Arjen Robben. Does the Frenchman fancy la vie in London?

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is wanted by Barcelona, which is surprising to me. The Inter Milan hitman is looking for a new challenge and would relish a move to the Camp Nou. Do you think he’s good enough to play up front for the treble winning champs? Can you see Zlatan in a Barca shirt?

Cristiano Ronaldo is Real Madrid bound isn’t he? They say there is a pre-contract agreement in place and if they don’t sign him by the end of the month Real Madrid will owe Ronaldo 26.7 million pounds. Crazy baby, crazy! Will the Premier League be the same without Ronaldo if he goes? Surely we want the best players to stay, even if they annoy the hell out of us right?!!

There are tons of other players on the transfer bubble. People are even talking about Fabregas and Barcelona again. Vidic is even being mentioned as leaving Man Utd. Will Santa Cruz finally move to Manchester City or Arsenal? Are Everton serious about signing Michael Owen? And has Carvalho had enough at Chelsea? Stay tuned…

The Kop has a new hero…

SOCCER Liverpool 5Liverpool have a legend in the making and his name is Fernando Jose Torres. Absent for most of the game against Sunderland today, his power strike in the 83rd minute from a good 25 yards crushed the hearts of the home team. That is what makes Torres a great player. He created something out of absolutely nothing and saved the scousers from an embarrassing start to the season.

On today’s display, you would say Liverpool don’t stand a chance of winning the league. They were slow, unimaginative, uninspiring and gutless. Even Torres was poor by his own standards. But he was determined to re-write the back pages of the Liverpool Echo and every other regional and national rag in the country. Just as every reporter was ready to rip Benitez for his team selection and the poor performance overall, the Euro 2008 champion took matters into his own hands and delivered the killer blow.

What happens if Torres gets a serious injury? Where do Liverpool go from here? I hear you, I hear you…it’s only the first game of the season. We need to give them time to gel and for Keane to feel comfortable in the legendary Liverpool shirt. Agreed. I guess we’ll re-visit the Liverpool situation as the season progresses. That’s when we’ll find out if they are true title contenders.

For now, we’ll just salivate over the new Kop hero. Once upon a time, there was a Liverpool legend who owned the number 9 shirt. His name was Robbie Fowler, aka God. There’s a new number 9 in town now. Finally, the second coming has arrived.