Today’s football news is all about players fighting with their clubs and vice versa. And yes, it’s the big three (United, Arsenal and Chelsea) who are at it again.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to training at Old Trafford has been closely monitored by the media and while Rooney and Ronaldo got along fine in front of the cameras (courtesy of Ferguson, no doubt), Gary Neville has been rumoured to be a tad ‘pissed off’ at Ronaldo for publicly stating that Manchester United were not backing him and that he wanted to leave. The Sun has the scoop, but the bottom line is that Ronaldo ill have a tough time settling in.
Luckily for Manchester United he seems to play better when he has a point to prove, so maybe that will work to our advantage.
Gallas’ refusal to arrive for pre-season training with Chelsea in the US has sparked a storm in a very small teacup – Chelsea haters are rejoicing at seeing the champions face problems in their squad, and with rumours that Arsenal want Gallas in exchange for Cole, Chelsea are caught between a rock (no Ashley Cole) and a hard place (no Gallas).
I think that if push comes to shove, Chelsea should forget about Ashley Cole and focus on developing Wayne Bridge. The England left-back needs to play at the top level to improve (and he is damn good already), so maybe Chelsea would be better off with bringing in cheaper cover for Wayne Bridge. More on this situation later today.
Speaking of Chelsea, Ken Bates has accused them of illegally approaching and signing two Leeds youngsters. More trouble in paradise – look for an out-of-court financial settlement. Maybe this will turn out to be more substantial than Hasselbaink’s claims that Chelsea paid illegal bonuses to agents…
Thomas Gravesen has been told that he should look ‘elsewhere’ to play next season. The 30-year old midfielder will now have to contemplate a move back the Premiership, with Newcastle ‘reportedly’ interested. Why, I don’t know, as they already have Scott Parker playing in that position. Tottenham maybe? Nah. Celtic probably.
And for pure non-news entertainment, Gravesen and Robinho reportedly had a bustup during training yesterday (sparked off by a nasty tackle from Gravesen). No pictures are available, but the team had to ‘get involved’ to break things up. Yay…
Inter have finally completed their 6.5 mil signing of Vieira, and now United fans are left hoping that somehow, someway, Villareal will price United out of a deal for Senna. We don’t want temporary, 2-year solutions. It may work for 6 months, but after that United will be looking for another midfielder. Better to buy someone good for the long-term now.
Speaking of United, Mascherano has responded to media speculation by saying that he’s not leaving Corinthians. So much for the idiotic speculation.
And last (this was too good to leave out), Arsenal have forbidden Headline (publishers for Ashley Cole’s autobiography) from using club pictures in A. Cole’s book. That’s going to be a bitch, ain’t it?
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