Well the season is officially over and now after a brief break, the fun begins. This is where things get really interesting. Teams are going to battle it out to sign players, and the more prestigious (and at times the one with the deeper pocket) will come tops. Let us discuss transfers, potential transfers, who you want your team to buy/sell, and who a team should hold on to. To kick things off, I think Kaka's proposed move to Chelsea will be a huge mistake on his part. Not only is 73.5Million Pounds an outrageous amount to pay for a player, it also has a huge impact on football and the smaller teams. I feel that he is not suited to the English game and much like Schevchenko, he would be a huge flop. For my money, I think Ronaldo will leave Manchester United. He has won everything there is to win with them, and a new challenge (as well as the lure of more money) would surely persuade him to jump ship. Arsenal will lose a couple of their top players and sign more "youngsters". Things at Liverpool will be interesting though. With the debt owed by the owners due back in the coming weeks, the future at the club seems pretty hazy and it is hard to tell which way things will go. They won't have much funds to buy new players I assume, and the owners might be looking to sell the club or even a couple of the players to repay the debt owed to the banks. The signing of new contracts by several players and Benitez seems to suggest otherwise, but I am still worried about how things will go at my favourite team. Manchester City got Gareth Barry, which I am delighted about as he was to join Liverpool and I do not think he is Liverpool quality. Any thoughts and comments on what has been happening, what you want to see happening, and what you think will happen in this exciting time for European football?
Speaking of Manchester City, I would have to say (IMO) that they really look like a team that will finally break the top 4 monopoly at the expense of Arsenal for the 2009/2010 season. With a midfield lineup of Petrov, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Elano, Kompany, de Jong, Barry and a forward lineup of Robinho, Bellamy, Santa Cruz, Jo, Benjani and possibly Tevez plus Eto'o (with the former more likely than the latter)... Manchester City really strikes the right chord as the team to watch next season. Heck, they might even go the whole season undefeated with Shay Given at goal!
Their pre-season results are nothing to get excited about though. Petrov is a great player and their midfield is pretty good. Their new strikers are great too, but I think Bellamy is rubbish. Bojinov is a much better player than any of the other strikers aside from Adebayor, Santa Cruz and Tevez.
Hoping my team start to sign some players this week as we will definatly be struggling this season with the teams at the bottom. Crouch should leave this week to get even more of the wage bill so we can at least start living within our means. Liverpool have got a great player in Glen Johnstone.
