Football Dispatch

Tuesday Football
12 June 2007
Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand and prospective owner of Manchester City, has had approximately 750M-pounds in assets frozen by the Bank of Thailand. After revealing his ambition to launch a takeover of City in April, Shinawatra has been going through the club's books and was expected to have completed a deal by early June. His initial offer included 108M-pounds for the club and an additional 50M-pounds for an immediate overhaul of the squad. The former head-of-state, ousted in a coup last year, retains hope that his banks will alleviate his financial constraints in time to salvage his purchase of City. The situation at Eastlands is altogether cloudy. Not only is the club in search of a new owner, but the dismissal of Stuart Pearce has left the team without a manager as the summer transfer period kicks-off.

Thierry Henry is denying any link with Barcelona. Recent reports in the typically credible France Football publication had the 29-year-old Arsenal striker headed to the Nou Camp for 17M-pounds. Henry nearly bolted for Catalonia last season -- before the Barcelona brass became somewhat disenchanted with his conduct at the 2006 Champions' League Final. However, with Samuel Eto'o almost certainly headed out the door, the Spanish giants have once again been tracking the Frenchman. Henry's agent, Jerome Anderson, vehemently denied any connection with Barcelona. "The whole thing is garbage," he hissed when confronted by reporters. France Football had revealed that Anderson held secret talks with Barcelona officials regarding the Henry transfer. Anderson denied that any such meeting ocurred and is threatening a lawsuit against the magazine.

Didier Drogba has dropped a bombshell at Stamford Bridge. The 29-year-old Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker has revealed that he will consider leaving English football over the summer. "I am tempted to discover another world and to see what footballing life is like outside England," he remarked. "Spain and Italy attract me a lot." It is widely held that Drogba was upset with the season-long feud between owner Roman Abramovich and manager Jose Mourinho. And with Abramovich seemingly freezing the club's spending, the Premier League's top scorer is worried that Chelsea have lost their ambition.

West Ham owner Eggart Magnuson has gone public with his desire to keep Carlos Tevez at Upton Park. Still, a 35M-pound offer from Inter Milan may be too good for the 23-year-old Argentine to refuse. The Hammers stand to make little profit if their best player is sold; although Manchester United have offered to take Tevez to Old Trafford on loan. However, it appears as though the former Corinthians man would prefer a move to Serie-A. "It would be nice to play in Italy," he commented, "especially in a team that has so many Argentineans."

Liverpool will make an overture to Real Zaragoza's Alberto Diego Milito at the conclusion of the Spanish season. The 28-year-old Argentine has scored 22-goals for the club this term -- single-handedly powering Zaragoza into the UEFA Cup. His most recent pair of goals came in the 2-2 draw with Real Madrid on Saturday.

Sam Allardyce has targeted three players for a massive, defensive overhaul. At the top of his list is Bolton Wanderers centre-half and Israel international Tal Ben Haim. However, the 25-year-old remains a major transfer prospect for Chelsea as well. At second and third on Big Sam's wishlist are David Rozenhal of Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille's Habib Beye, respectively.

As speculated on Rodblog, yesterday, Atletico Madrid will announce that they will sell Fernando Torres this summer. After a late-season collapse which coincided with a hot run of form by Villareal, Atletico were bounced from the 6th-position in the ledger which they had held through most of the season. As a result, the club will not qualify for European football next season. The 23-year-old Spain forward has scored 86-goals in 212-appearances for Atletico. Each of England's top-four clubs have expressed interest in Torres.

Paul Le Guen is trying to lure Claude Makalele to the French capital. The Paris Saint-Germain manager covets the 34-year-old Chelsea midfielder and believes that his demeanor and defensive strength would go a long way in shaking PSG from its year-long doldrum. Le Guen and Makalele were teammates with Brest in the mid-nineties.

The quarter-final round of CONCACAF's Gold Cup is begining to take shape. Canada qualified for the knock-out stages with a 2-0 win over Haiti, yesterday, at the Orange Bowl. Dwayne De Rosario scored both Canadian goals within a span of 3-minutes. His second came from the penalty spot in the 35th. Costa Rica advanced in 2nd-place from Group-A. Walter Centeno scored the only goal as Costa Rica defeated Guadeloupe 1-0, yesterday.

The United States also look to be one of the advancing sides. They have a 2-0 record and will conlude the Round-Robin portion of the tournament, today, when they play El Salvador at the Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. Trinidad & Tobago will face Guatemala in today's other match.