Football Dispatch

Wednesday Football
31 October 2007
by Jerrad Peters

Trick or treat? Barcelona is dangling Ronaldinho like a sweet piece of candy in front of the noses of Europe's richest football clubs. And they smell a deal. While the 27-year-old maestro's future has been up in the air for several months, it finally looks as though the Catalans mean business. A World Cup winner and two-time World Footballer of the Year, Ronaldinho has been upstaged at the Nou Camp by 20-year-old phenom Lionel Messi. But with his value still sky-high, Barcelona have decided to cash-in on his value when the transfer window re-opens in January. Enter the usual suspects. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has coveted the Brazilian for some time and is prepared to pay him a wage package worth 11.6M-pounds per-year. AC Milan, meanwhile, would love to partner Ronaldinho with countryman Kaka. Both clubs would be expected to pay upwards of 70M-pounds to attain the player. While Chelsea are the likelier destination and are more capable of meeting the various financial demands, Milan will be the more desperate side. Currently 13th-place in the Serie-A, the Rossoneri would devote Ronaldinho's availability exclusively to the domestic campaign, as he is already cup-tied in the Champions' League. Chelsea, as an additional incentive, may use the presence of assistant coach Henk ten Cate in luring him to Stamford Bridge. Ten Cate was Frank Rijkaard's number-two when Barcelona, riding the coat-tails of Ronaldinho, won the European Cup in 2006.

A lot is being made of Daniel Levy's absence from the unveiling of Juande Ramos at White Hart Lane, yesterday. The Tottenham Hotspur chairman has been front-and-centre since initially pursuing the former Sevilla boss in August; and his very public falling-out with Martin Jol earned him the ire and distrust of the Spurs fans. It now appears as though Levy will undergo a month of damage control -- namely stepping out of the spotlight while things settle at the club under Ramos. He did, however, dispatch technical director Damiel Comolli to the press conference. Fortunately for the club's hierarchy, Ramos will be used to the numerous layers of beurocracy from his time in Spain. Still, Spurs' current set-up is something of an anomaly in English football.

When he wasn't posing for the cameras in north London, yesterday, Ramos was giving interviews with the Spanish press. In a conversation with Radio Marca, the 53-year-old claimed to have been pushed out the door by the board of directors at Sevilla. "The situation became unsustainable," stated the newly minted Tottenham manager. "There are times when a club can trample on its coaches." Martin Jol could probably offer an identical statement.

Chelsea will attempt to rescue Nicolas Anelka from the relegation quagmire at Bolton Wanderers after Christmas. The 28-year-old Frenchman resurrected his career at the Reebok under Sam Allardyce. But the recent unrest at the club and his well-known desire to play Champions' League football may lead him elsewhere in the new year. Chelsea, for their part, will be losing both Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou to the African Cup of Nations in January and do not trust Andriy Shevchenko to be able to bear the brunt of the goal-scoring workload in the absence of the two Ivorians. Manchester City, Manchester United, and Valencia are also thought to be readying bids for Anelka. He would fetch approximately 12M-pounds on the transfer market.

Peter Crouch is likely to have a new home come 2008. The ill-used Liverpool striker has scored 12-goals in 22-appearances for England and has a fantastic goalscoring record for his club team as well. Still, manager Rafael Benitez refuses to hand the 26-year-old a place in the starting-XI. And while Portsmouth have been reported to be preparing a bid for the gangly striker, Aston Villa look the more likely destination. Villa manager Martin O'Neill tends to fancy tall forwards and would be prepared to pay over 10M-pounds for Crouch. Last winter's 9.65M-pound acqusition of Ashley Young from Watford is the club's record transfer.