They should be trying as hard as possible to ship out Chygrynskiy, Caceres, Ibra and Hleb too I reckon.

Hleb left last season. Caceres is still on loan at Juventus with them looking more than likely to sign him permanently.

Now we've got past the pish let's look at the other two. In my opinion they paid well over the odds for Chygrynskiy but the lad hasn't had a decent run in the first team. Maybe with 7 or 8 consecutive games under his belt he'd look more like the player who stood out at Shakhtar Donetsk, but I don't think he's going to get that opportunity with Puyol, Pique and Milito ahead of him. He's got 4 more years left on his contract and he's supposed to be one of the more modest earners so maybe Barça are happy to have him on the bench.
Ibrahimovic... I'm still not 100% about him. He reminds me of Berbatov sometimes, but much much better. When things are going well he's class but his head drops far too easily. The way Guardiola has Barcelona playing means there's no room for laziness or disinterest and in my opinion this has found Ibrahimovic out on numerous occasions this season. I think with Villa there's still room for him, but should they sign (or try to sign) Torres then it will be 'adeu' to the Swede.

Hleb is out on loan, no?


See, Caceres I'm really disappointed with. When Barca signed him, I thought Pep would nurture him into Puyol's replacement. For a centre half, Caceres has so much athleticism, he's so quick and agile, it's strange to see that in a defender. He was pretty poor on the ball and his decision making was questionable, but he was young and I can't believe they'll just let him go, especially as he can cover both full back positions.

If he can develop well enough wherever he ends up, he could still become a top player IMO.


Citeh after Milner. Can't say I rate him that highly, whilst I don't see what's wrong with Stephen Ireland. Maybe some of the ITK's will give us the low down on his situation.

One of those one-way loans.


Yes he's quick and agile, but he can't tackle for toffee. The clause in his contract was around €11million.


His head, according to Mancini.

Hleb is back at Barca.

He fell out massively with Christian Gross, he's been very critical of him in the German media.

I liked him at Arsenal, decent rather than special. Had a great ability to turn when he had a defender close to him, but he didn't contribute enough goals for me, not enough end porduct, all a little too neat.

He'll be at Barça until they can find a buyer or someone willing to take him on. He won't get anywher near the first team next year if he's still around.

Of course they probably know no more than any of us but I ended up chatting to a group of Barca fans in a bar after the cup final last night and they seem to think Ibrahimovic will be offered to Arsenal, along with Toure in exchange for Fabregas, they were quite adamant about it.

Can't see it myself.

Me neither.
Caught the end of the game (and the second goal) last night. Commiserations mate, but you've still won more than Madrid

A point which was being made quite often yesterday night



It was a pretty good game actually, amazing atmosphere and a fun day all round - - I'm now off to let the sun cure my headache.

Howard Webb to referee the Champions League final.

Report that Man United have made an offer for Aguero.

Cant see that happening. Even if they offered that i would want another £15m.

Fabregras = Ibrahimovic + Toure + 15 million pounds?
Behave yourself.

[url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/05/20/john-terry-s-brother-paul-is-having-an-affair-with-a-team-mate-s-girlfriend-115875-22270690/Paul & John Terry are very alike[/url

“The players have all sided with Dale and are calling themselves Team Roberts."

Faggots.

"It’s so similar to the John Terry and Wayne Bridge scenario it’s ridiculous."

Wayne Bridge was an ex team mate. The bird was his ex girlfriend. Not really that similar.

"If ever a family needed to be gassed, it's the Terry's."

Really?

I thought he was nailed on for Chelsea TBH.

I see Villa have rejected £20m for Milner, obviously hoping he has a decent World Cup. We're once again linked quite heavily with Rodwell, I've not seen that much of him TBF so not sure where/if he'd fit into the squad, especially for the £20m + been rumoured.

Wouldn't mind Aguero mind.

There has been a lot of talk of that. But on the Chelsea forum today there was a report, translated from Spanish to English, that United had offered Atletico his buy out fee and that they'd spoken with him. He was supposed to have pretty much said his goodbyes to the fans after the game last night.



If I was Villa I'd have rejected the offer in the hopes of getting another improved offer. Reckon they'd be better off flogging him for about £25m before the WC than seeing him do nothing in the WC or even worse pick up an injury.

Albert Riera has slammed the Liverpool board for not fighting his corner in his row with Rafa Benitez. www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 34,00.html He slags off the manager in the press and he wants the board to back him? Things must be really, really different in Spain. Either that or he is just a retard who can't keep his stupid mouth shut. I don't like Benitez. I don't like LFC. But there's not much a manager or board can do when a player is doing such blatantly stupid things. The only one to come out of this badly is Riera.

Albert Riera has slammed the Liverpool board for not fighting his corner in his row with Rafa Benitez. www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 34,00.html He slags off the manager in the press and he wants the board to back him? Things must be really, really different in Spain. Either that or he is just a retard who can't keep his stupid mouth shut. I don't like Benitez. I don't like LFC. But there's not much a manager or board can do when a player is doing such blatantly stupid things. The only one to come out of this badly is Riera.

Aye, I've just seen the translation now. At least if we match his buy-out fee there's not going to be a bidding war between clubs, it's just whether or not we can tempt him to Manchester when Real are apparantly looking at him too.

Would Aguero fit in the 21 and under bracket (not sure when his birthday is) so he doesn't count towards our squad limit? If so, that could be a reason we're opting for him.



There were rumours a couple of months back that we'd agreed a £25m deal with Villa for Milner, and that's where the apparant fall out between O'Neil and Lerner came about.

I wouldn't be surprised if Villa are holding out to try get us and City into a bidding war - still, if the Aguero rumour is true, Milner won't be heading to us.

Quote ="Lord God Jose Mourinho"Albert Riera has slammed the Liverpool board for not fighting his corner in his row with Rafa Benitez. www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 34,00.html He slags off the manager in the press and he wants the board to back him? Things must be really, really different in Spain. Either that or he is just a retard who can't keep his stupid mouth shut. I don't like Benitez. I don't like LFC. But there's not much a manager or board can do when a player is doing such blatantly stupid things. The only one to come out of this badly is Riera.'" Riera's got a history of this kind of thing.

Quote ="Lord God Jose Mourinho"Albert Riera has slammed the Liverpool board for not fighting his corner in his row with Rafa Benitez. www.football365.com/story/0,1703 ... 34,00.html He slags off the manager in the press and he wants the board to back him? Things must be really, really different in Spain. Either that or he is just a retard who can't keep his stupid mouth shut. I don't like Benitez. I don't like LFC. But there's not much a manager or board can do when a player is doing such blatantly stupid things. The only one to come out of this badly is Riera.'" Riera's got a history of this kind of thing.

Yes he did, it was blatantly obvious that was the case.

I think he's gone backwards over the last season so I'd be amazed if his buy out fee has been matched (it was €40m I think), so if that has happened, I'm happy from an Atlético point of view, as long as the money was re-invested to improve the squad and it's performance, like after Torres left us because he wanted to win trophies.

Valdes, Pedro and Busquets named in Spain's world cup squad.

Full list;
Iker Casillas, Valdés, Reina
Albiol, Arbeloa, Capdevila, Marchena, Piqué, Puyol, Ramos
Alonso, Busquets, Cesc, Xavi, Iniesta, Javi Martínez
Silva, Mata, Llorente, Navas, Pedro, Torres y Villa.

I'm not sure Aguero is all that tbh. The times I have seen him (admittedly not much) or read about him he never seems to do a great deal. I know he is highly rated but I don't read about him creating or scoring goals that often.

Not sure he is what Utd need, pressure would still be on Rooney to score the goals. If Utd want him for his link up play then I feel David Silva would be a better option. If it's for goals then maybe Suarez at Ajax or maybe even Benzema if Real decide to get shut?

No real surprise, but Avram Grant has resigned as Portsmouth manager.

West Ham tomorrow?