Champions League Talk

Alain Perrin, who guided Lyon to their first domestic league and Cup double last season, will be replaced by Lille coach Claude Puel according to reports circulating in the French news media. Nothing official has been posted on the official Olympique Lyonnais website. Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas refused to comment. “No decision has been taken”, he told reporters.

One Lyon deal that can be confirmed, and adds to the Puel speculation, is that one-time Arsenal target Jean II Makoun has signed a four-year contract with Lyon after completing a 14m Euro transfer from, you guessed it, Lille. Mathieu Bodmer and Kader Keita joined Lyon from the northern club a year ago, so Puel would be familiar with a few players at the Stade Gerland.

Makoun was buoyant about his moving,  telling reporters “I opted for OL, who showed more interest to me than Juventus and Arsenal. Lyon are a club that can’t be refused, most of all because they have been following me for quite a long time. When OL come and knock at the door, you just go for it!”

The talented Makoun, a 25-year-old defensive midfielder, will wear the number 17 shirt, previously the property of fellow Cameroonian Marc-Vivien Fore, who tragically died from a heart attack while competing in an international game for his country.

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UEFA have annulled an earlier decision to exclude Porto from next season’s Champions League. Porto were initially expelled from Champions League play over alleged bribery of referees in the 2003-04 season. UEFA’s appeals body decided to send the issue back for consideration to their Control and Disciplinary Body, effectively annulling the June 4 decision to exclude Porto from the Champions League.

According to a UEFA press release, the Appeals body listened to representatives of FC Porto, the Portuguese Football Federation, SL Benfica and Vitória SC, as well as UEFA. The Control and Disciplinary Body will now meet next week to take a decision on Porto’s admission to the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League. The date of the meeting has not been announced.

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With all the Euro 2008 coverage over at our sister site EPL Talk, I’ve decided to focus on club football though I am still actively watching the tournament games. I decided to watch the matches as a fan and leave the punditry to others for that particular competition. There is an ocean of information and opinion being produced about Euro 2008 and I didn’t feel I had anything drastically new to add.

So, focusing on club football, I decided to examine which players are being touted as the most likely to move this summer and where they might end up. For your entertainment (feel free to debate in the comments section), I examine the possible fate of 10 players whoe names you’ll be hearing a lot of this summer.

1. Mallorca’s Daniel Guiza is sure to move to another La Liga club after firing in 27 goals for his club this season. Guiza edged Sevilla’s Brazilian Luis Fabiano for the Pichichi (top scorer) crown with his 27 goals. Guiza scored his 10th goal in his last seven matches as Real Mallorca defeated Real Zaragoza 3-2 on Sunday although it was not enough to secure a place in Europe with Racing Santander holding onto the final UEFA Cup berth. Now that he has his wild lifestyle seemingly under control, he’s sure to want to test himself with a team that is either in the UEFA Cup or Champions league and while I don’t see him landing at Real Madrid, Barcelona are in a major rebuilding and could use a strong goal scorer. He could also end up with Sevilla, especially should Luis Fabiano be sold during the summer. Arsenal has also reportedly had some interest in this promising forward.
2. Lyon striker Karim Benzema is a name that has been linked to many clubs though he is being a bit coy over his future. Manchester United are known to be interested but United’s chances of signing him look distant after the Lyon forward stated his long-term preference for Real Madrid. “I like Real Madrid,” he said, “but I think I am too young to sign for a club like that.” It’s quite possible that Benzema could stay on at Lyon for another season as he is only 20 and Lyon are guaranteed to play Champions League football again next year.
   
3. Andrei Arshavin, playmaker for UEFA Cup winners Zenit St. Petersburg, has attracted a lot of attention from top clubs around Europe. Everton and Schalke are the names most often mentioned. Schalke seems more likely as their current kit sponsor, Russian oil giant Gazprom, also are majority owners of Zenit St. Petersburg. Arshavin would give Schalke a major boost as they rebuild and look to qualify for next season’s Champions League group stage. They enter the competition at the final round of qualifying and should be able to make it to the group stage.
4. Valencia’s disappointing mid-table finish and their financial problems (they are trying to fund a new stadium) mean that we could see a fire sale of sorts at the Mestalla this summer. Star striker David Villa has been on the radar of many big-spending clubs for a couple of seasons now. Both Barcelona and Liverpool are thought to be admirers of Villa but with Barcelona already spending a bundle on 4-5 new faces and Liverpool on a tight budget, I wouldn’t count either of them in for this particular move. He could end up with Arsenal as Arsene Wenger needs to bolster his squad and is at the Euro 2008 tournament to look over potential transfer targets. Villa would fit perfectly into the flowing, high-pace style that Arsenal are so capable of producing.
5. The rumours linking Xabi Alonso to Juventus had been persistant enough to make me think there is something in the works. Real Madrid and Barcelona were both reported to be interested in bring the former Real Sociedad star back to La Liga, but Juventus have since emerged as the apparent favourites to snare the 26-year-old midfield marshall. While nothing is confirmed, it is reported that a fee of 12.5 - 16m will be enough to see Alonso leave Anfield. Alonso has said he will not discuss his club future while he is playing for Spain in the Euro 2008 tournament.
   
6. Sporting Lisbon playmaker João Moutinho has already had a turn in the spotlight at Euro 2008 and will have seen his stock rise. Interest in Moutinho is known to be widespread but I don’t see a deal happening before June 15th. That’s the date that the 25 million Euro release clause attached to his contract reportedly expires, after which clubs will be able to negotiate a price for him that they hope will be lower. However, if he continues to play like he did against Turkey then the price is likely to go up, especially if big spenders like Chelsea are in the mix of suitors.
7. Deco. The 30-year-old Portugese midfielder had a disappointing season at Camp Nou and will definitely leave the club that much we know. The question had been where would he end up. I would say that with Jose Mourinho now coaching Inter Milan, it would not be shocking to see Deco link up with his former Porto boss.
8. Werder Bremen’s playmaker Diego has been talked about as a target for Chelsea and Barcelona. Diego’s Bundesliga goal return stands at 26 in 60 matches which is pretty decent for a player who by his own admission is more of a creator than a finisher. With his dribbling, vision and razor-sharp passing, he would be a good fit in any midfield but I don’t know that Barcelona need some like that as they already have Xavi and Iniesta. Werder Bremen chairman Jurgen Born has said that Diego will only leave “over his dead body” but I suspect that if someone comes in with the right dollar figure his stance will ease up. Where could he go? Juventus are in serious need of a playmaking replacement for the aging Pavel Nedved and their return to Champions League could see some cash being splashed around.
9. Ronaldinho. Once thought to be an untouchable at Barcelona, the Brazilian maestro has struggled through the past two campaigns with poor fitness and form. He has been linked to AC Milan and Manchester City. Of those two, I’d have to think that AC Milan would be the more likely destination. A chance to link up in the midfield with Kaka may be too tempting for Ronaldinho to pass up.
10. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who has been linked to Manchester United and well as Real Madrid and others, is the Ajax goal machine who has been on “the verge of moving” for two years now. Is this his summer to move? Ajax are not in the Champions League next season and Huntelaar will be keen to test himself on that stage. Real looks like they would have a good chance of signing him after he admitted that he would jump at the chance to join Real Madrid after hearing a lot about the club from his Dutch national teammates Ruud van Nistelrooy, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder — all current Real Madrid stars. Real’s president Ramón Calderón has downplayed the rumours, saying that there are very few moves in the works for this summer. I think Real would be a good fit, at least in terms of atmospere, for Huntelaar. The presence of several familiar faces would make settling in much easier.

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Just days after Porto FC were stripped of their place in the Champions League, CSKA Sofia have suffered the same fate though for different reasons.

CSKA won their 31st Bulgarian league title this season and earned a place in the Champions League’s third qualifying round but could not meet the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) Licensing Commission conditions. The club are deep in debt and owe money to the National Social Security Institute, National Revenue Agency and creditors. In addition to the Champions League ban, CSKA also face the possibility of being banished to the country’s amateur third division.

CSKA rivals Levski Sofia are set to take their place in the qualifying rounds. Levski were the first Bulgarian club to contest the Champions League’s group stage in 2006 and were runners up in the Bulgarian domestic league this past season.

Levski owner Todor Batkov was quoted by FourFourTwo as saying “Morally and from a sporting point of view we’re not ready for the Champions League but we have to consider our situation as we’ll be punished if we refuse to take part. One way or another, Bulgaria has a (Champions League) quota and I think it’s normal to fill the vacancy.”

The Sofia Echo reports that Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev has asked the State Agency for National Security to perform a thorough check into CSKA Sofia’s finances. CSKA’s president Alexander Tomov has already resigned as result of the row and fans have threatened to go out on Sofia’s streets and protest against the government decision and the disorder at their beloved club.

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Deals are heating up on the eve of the Euro 2008 tournament so let’s dive straight in and get caught up.

This morning’s big news is that Mexican striker Giovani dos Santos has left Barcelona to sign for English club Tottenham Hotspur after the two clubs agreed an initial £4.7m fee which could rise to £8.6m. The BBC also reports (confirmed on the official Barca site) that Barcelona have retained the right to 20% of any fee should the 19-year-old move on from Spurs in the first two years of his spell with the club and 10% on any transfer after that.

Dos Santos can play in midfield or attack and may solve the right, is set to sign a five-year contract with Tottenham. Spurs entrance in the UEFA Cup, rather than the Champions League, may be one factor to this deal as Barcelona are said to have turned down offers for Dos Santos from AC Milan, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.
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Major League Soccer and Spanish club Villarreal have agreed to a fee for the transfer of New York Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore. The final price, not reported in the official MLS announcement, will reportedly be a record for a US-developed player — $10 million USD.

Villarreal finished 8 points behind La Liga champions Real Madrid. That finish earned Villarreal an automatic berth in next season’s Champions League group stage. How much of that Altidore will experience, however, is uncertain. According to Spanish sports daily Marca, Villarreal have plans to loan the 18-year-old Altidore to Recreativo de Huelva, who finished 16th in Spain’s top flight last season.
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As the old saying goes, money talks and Cristiano Ronaldo is listening. The 23-year-old Portugese superstar finally ended his silence in an exclusive interview with respected Brazilian website Terra he is reported as stating: “I would like to play for Real Madrid but only if it is true they are ready to pay what Manchester United ask of them. However, it does not depend on me.”

Reports are that he wants to leave Man Utd for the £300,000-a-week wage packet being offered to him by Real Madrid. This despite the fact that Ronaldo signed a five-year contract extension with Manchester United last April, tying him to the club until the end of the 2011-12 season. The Real Madrid offer is double the wages he is currently making at Old Trafford.

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UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body has stripped Portuguese champions Porto FC of their place in next season’s Champions League over alleged bribery of referees during the 2003/04 season. UEFA cited Article 1.04 (d) of the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League regulations (available via this PDF) in their decision. The article states that to be eligible to take part in the competition a club must, among other things, not be or have been involved in any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level.

The allegations relate to Porto’s 2-0 win against Estrela da Amadora and their 0-0 draw with Beira Mar. Porto won their domestic title and the Champions League in 2003/04 under their former coach Jose Mourinho, who has not been mentioned in any allegations.

Porto have already confirmed they will appeal against UEFA’s decision.

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I’ve been meaning to do an in-depth piece on FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s proposal to introduce quotas on the number of foreign players that teams can field. Yesterday, FIFA held a vote and Blatter’s proposal cleared its first major hurdle. The FIFA Congress delegates voted 155-5 in favour of the proposal which would limit the number of foreign players who can start a match to five.

I’m certainly not a fan of Sepp Blatter but for many reasons I agree with this move and will explain the ramifications further in a detailed follow-up post. The main reasoning behind the move towards quotas on foreign talent is that there is a growing sporting and economic inequality amongst the clubs. Teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United spend large sums of money to obtain any player they want, often at the cost of pushing out young national players. There are also issues about young players moving countries when they are 15 or 16 and whether that is in the best interest of the player regardless of the money to be made.

Many astute minds within the game also back these moves. For example, German legend Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of FIFA’s Football Committee, fully backs the quota proposals. He told reporters: “We have clubs in Germany where there are no German players on the field. That is not in the interest of football and its future.”

Blatter’s proposal would start with a 4 home-grown + 7 foreigners ratio in 2010, 5+6 in 2011 and finally arrive at 6+5 in 2012.

FIFA also introduced strict new rules on Friday to make it harder for players to switch nationalities and stop countries abusing the current system. The FIFA Congress overwhelmingly supported a proposal to amend their own statutes on the regulations allowing players to represent countries other than their homeland. Under the previous system, the rules allowed uncapped players to switch allegiances if they had lived in a country for at least two years, or has a parent or grandparent who was born there. England midfielder Owen Hargreaves is an oft-cited example of this previous rule though there are many others, such as Patrick Vieira, choosing to play for a more prominent national team instead of choosing to play for their native countries. The waiting period has now been extended to five years as part of the plan to reduce the number of foreign footballers playing abroad.

FIFA & UEFA face some opposition from the European Union on this proposal but the hope is that the Treaty of Lisbon will be ratified by Jan. 1 2009 which would allow the European Union to recognize that sport may be a special case.

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ESPN reports that Internazionale have fired manager Roberto Mancini after much speculation that they were going to do so. Comments Mancini made after losing to Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League in March were cited as a major contributor to his eventual dismissal. This past Saturday’s Italian Cup final loss to AS Roma proved to be his final match in charge.

A statement on the club website confirms the firing. It reads: “F.C. Internazionale have informed Roberto Mancini of his dismissal from the position of head coach of the first team, in particular because of the declarations made by the coach after the Inter-Liverpool match last 11 March 2008, and because of what followed, up to the facts most recently reported in the press.”

This clears the way for Jose Mourinho to be brought in as the new manager, a story that has also been circulating for weeks in the rumour columns. Ironically, Mancini has been named in the tabloids as a possible candidate for the vacant Chelsea job following Avram Grant’s sacking.

It’ll be interesting to see how the managerial merry-go-round swings in the next couple of weeks.

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