Football Dispatch

Weekend Football
22 August 2008
by Jerrad Peters

Chelsea are on the cusp of making a spectacular swoop for Robinho. Chief executive Peter Kenyon, having already canceled a trip to watch the Olympic football tournament in Beijing, is currently negotiating a transfer fee which could rise to 32M-pounds for the Real Madrid forward. Kenyon flew to Madrid on Thursday after the player publicly announced his desire to join the Premier League side.

“Staying on at Real Madrid is not my objective for the season,” the 24-year-old told Spanish news agency EFE. “My wish is to play in the English League.” He continued, “I believe my time at Real Madrid is at an end. I hope that the directors can come to an agreement with Chelsea to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.”

Chelsea have been pursuing Robinho since June, when it appeared as though Madrid were willing to sell the Brazil international in order to make room for Cristiano Ronaldo. But when the Ronaldo deal fell through, the Meringues halted their negotiations with the English club and moved to sign Robinho to a long-term contract.

The latest transfer speculation arose when it became apparent that Robinho had felt insulted by Madrid’s lack of appreciation for his abilities. He and his agent re-kindled the rumors, conducted a highly controversial interview with Marca, and set the Chelsea hierarchy on high alert.

Dimitar Berbatov’s future will be sorted by Monday. The Bulgarian striker returned from international duty with Bulgaria, today, and is set for a face-to-face meeting with Tottenham Hotspur manager Juande Ramos this evening.
Ramos will make an attempt to convince the 27-year-old to remain at White Hart Lane. But Berbatov’s mind seems fixed on a transfer to Manchester United and raised the ire of Spurs officials and supporters when he autographed a United jersey at the Sofia airport earlier in the week.

The player’s status will be somewhat clarified when Ramos names his squad for Saturday’s match at home to Sunderland. If Berbatov is included, it will likely signal an end to the transfer saga. Spurs fans, however, are unlikely to be as forgiving as the coach.

But, says Ramos, “if he knocks in a couple of goals, then I’m sure everyone who booed him last week will soon be getting behind him and cheering for him.”

The Spaniard also remarked that, “While he is still here, he is very much 100% a Tottenham player – that is how we consider things.”

Meanwhile, Ramos is hoping to secure the arrival of Andrei Arshavin before the transfer window closes on August 31st. The Zenit St. Petersburg forward caught the eye of the Spurs boss while propelling Russia to the semifinals of EURO 2008. Zenit were initially holding out for upwards of 20M-pounds, but are believed to have substantially softened their demands.

Dick Advocaat, for one, fully believes that Arshavin will be a Spurs player before long.
“Last year we sold Martin Skrtel to Liverpool for 10M-pounds,” commented the Zenit manager, “and now probably Arshavin to Spurs.”

Ramos was somewhat more guarded in his remarks, preferring only to say that, “we’ve got a list of targets that we are working very hard on.”

Arsenal may snatch Gareth Barry from under Liverpool’s thumb. Arsene Wenger is an admitted admirer of the England international and is desperate to sign a midfielder to partner Cesc Fabregas. He had attempted to buy Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. But after agreeing personal terms with the Spaniard, the 10M-pound deal was scuttled by Reds manager Rafael Benitez.

As a result, Wenger will make an overture to Barry, who was one of Benitez’ foremost transfer targets until a fortnight ago.

“There is interest in Gareth Barry,” admitted Wenger, “but I cannot say much more.” He continued, “Barry is a good player, but the problem with players who are 27 or 28 is that you pay big money for them and then you get nothing back.”

Weekend picks
Take Liverpool to win at home to Middlesbrough; take Stuttgart to win at home to Bayer Leverkusen; take Schalke 04 to win away at Werder Bremen; take Rangers to win away at Aberdeen; take New England to win at Toronto.

Power rankings
1. Chelsea
2. Schalke 04
3. Stuttgart
4. Rangers
5. Lyon

Have a question about football? Email your query to jerradpeters@gmail.com.

Jerrad Peters covers football for the Winnipeg Free Press, Soccer Three-Sixty magazine, ESPN Soccernet, and Soccer365.com. His work has also appeared on TheMirror.co.uk, Canadian-soccer.com, Footy247.co.uk, Foot2ball.com, and Squadinfo.com.


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