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| 31 JULY 2000 Nakata Threatens To Leave Roma "If I don't play I'm off. Since I started playing I never thought that I would be a substitute. I work and train to win a place on the team" Nakata 30 JULY 2000 Barca - Ferdinand Is Next "We need Ferdinand. He's the one our coach Lorenc Serra Ferrer wants and we'll do everything we can to get him." Barcelona President Joan Gaspart "Why would I sell him? Next year he'll be playing for England and worth at least £20 million." West Ham manager Harry Redknapp Barca will bid £16.5 million for the talented defender who is ironically more highly regarded in Italy and Spain than in England. BRAZILIAN ROUND UP by Irineu de Carvalho Drunk-driver and supreme asshole EDMUNDO signs with Santos. The deal is a 1-year loan. Santos pays 1 million dollars plus useless forward CAIO (ex-Inter, Napoli, Flamengo, Sao Paulo) to Vasco. THE ANIMAL will earn US$200K/month, which is 20k/month more than Santos' highest paid player, Colombian super-star FREDDY RINCON, but a 50k/month pay cut compared to his salary at Vasco. SANTOS is trying to dig a financial hole in order to win a title after 16 years. Their next targets are Portuguesa's good defender EMERSON and Borussia Dortmund's right full-back EVANILSON. FLAMENGO has just been evicted from their training camp but their spending spree simply cannot stop. The next name on their list seems to be play-maker JUNINHO of Atletico de Madrid, former Sao Paulo and Middlesbrough. 29 JULY 2000 Beckham For Sale! Apparently earlier in the week Barcelona made an enquiry regarding the signing of David Beckham and were told he would cost £46 million. Barcelona were told that Ryan Giggs was not for sale at any price. If this is genuine then expect Milan to match the asking price, having already had a bid of £40 million turned down last week. Barcelona turned down a bid of £29 million from Milan for Rivaldo, president Joan Gaspart responded "This offer from Milan is for real but they have only done it to stir things up. The gates of Barcelona are open to all Milan players!" Catanha Joins Celta Vigo Celta Vigo have signed Catanha after his move to Spanish Champions Deportivo collapsed. The ex-Malaga striker will cost £7.4 million. Keane Completes Move Robbie Keane has signed a 5 year contract which will earn him £2.4 million a season with Inter. Keane is not likely to struggle for a first team spot as Hakan Sukur and Ivan Zamorano are fourth and fifth choice strikers behind Ronaldo, Vieri and Keane. Transfers That Have Fallen Through - 10 : Beloufa to Marseille Dehu to Lyon Edmilson & Edu to Arsenal - forged passports. Juninho to Benfica (back at Atletico Madrid) Leandro to Porto (went to Fiorentina) Pires to Real Madrid (went to Arsenal) Reinke to Toulouse Riquelme to Milan (refused to leave Argentina) Salas to Parma for Crespo (Conceicao went instead) Song to Marseille ROUND UP by Tim Leidecker Monti Wants To Abolish Transfer Fees Italian Mario Monti, competition commissioner of the European Union wants to abolish transfer fees because "the individual choice where to work is one of the basic rights in the EU". Therefore his aim is to even allow players who are currently under contract to sign with another team on a free transfer. I don't have to tell you that it would have a devastating effect on World Football if he succeeds. Mihajlovic Retires To Give The Youth A Chance 31-year-old Lazio defender Sinisa Mihaijlovic has announced his retirement from the Yugoslav national team four weeks after their embarrassing 1-6 exit from the European Championships. Mihajlovic wore the Yugoslav shirt 47 times (6 goals) explained that "it is time to make room for younger players". Galca Remains At Espanyol Romanian midfielder Constantin Galca, clearly one of the better midfielders of the European Championship, has extended his contract with Espanyol Barcelona. Even though he will earn a little over £4 million during the next four seasons the 28-year-old had similar to better offers from the likes of Napoli, Benfica, Celta Vigo and Tottenham. Skibbe Signs Four Year Deal After Soccer-europe already reported it last Sunday former Borussia Dortmund coach has now officially signed a 4-year-contract with the DFB (German FA). Until June 30th 2001 he will assist Rudi Völler as trainer for the 'A' team, after that he will be in charge of the youth sections as then-to-be-coach Christoph Daum brings with him his own long-time assistant Roland Koch. Footballer Wisdom Of The Day "When nobody shouted "Kirsten, you asshole" in an away game I know very well that I sucked." Leverkusen striker Ulf Kirsten 28 JULY 2000 Thanks to Gabor Sas for the Austrian league transfers. Petit And Overmars Join Barca Arsenal's Dutch winger Marc Overmars and French defensive midfielder Emmanuel Petit have joined Barca for a combined fee of £30 million. Arsenal will not continue their search for midfielders. Corinthians midfielder Vampeta could be a target. Robbie Keane To Inter Inter have made a £12 million bid for Coventry's gifted Irish striker Robbie Keane. Both parties are holding talks. Deschamps Leaves Chelsea Overrated French midget Didier Deschamps has joined Valencia for £3.7 million. Deschamps flopped spectacularly at Chelsea following his move from Juventus last season. Weah Given Free Transfer We forgot to report this earlier in the week. Milan have terminated George Weah's contract after he refused to leave the club. English first division side Fulham are favourites for his signature. Redondo Joins Milan Reports from Spain and South America claim that Fernando Redondo has joined Milan. Yesterday Real Madrid President Florentino Perez claimed Redondo was not for sale. Rumour has it Perez wanted Redondo out because he supported former Real Madrid President Lorenzo Sanz in the elections and also happens to be married to one of Sanz's daughters. Marcelinho A correction to a transfer added yesterday. We reported that Corinthians midfielder Marcelinho had signed for Marseille he is in fact the other Marcelinho - Marcelo Dos Santos, forward from Sao Paulo. Boro Targets Middlesbrough have revealed their latest transfer targets are Barcelona striker Dani and Alen Boksic. Boksic was thought to have left Lazio for Galatasaray. Local i.e. Middlesbrough press speculated that Dani was a target for Boro several weeks ago. Manager Bryan Robson is currently in Spain holding talks with the striker. 27 JULY 2000 Clearance Sale Llorenc Serra Ferrer, coach of Barcelona, has made Vitor Baia, Ruud Hesp, Frederic Dehu, Winston Bogarde, Samuel Okunowo and Jari Litmanen have been made available for transfer. Don't Touch Me New rules introduced by the FA will see players given a 12 match ban if they push or hold match officials and face a longer ban if the officials fall over or are injured. Repeat offenders will be banned for a year. Romania Announce New Coach Laszlo Bolonis is new national coach of Romania ROUND UP by Tim Leidecker Kicker Magazine Bundesliga Defensive Midfielder Rankings World Class 1. Émerson (Bayer Leverkusen) 24 International Class 2. Niko Kovac (Hamburger SV) 28 Close To The Best Circles 3. Jens Jeremies (Bayern München) 26 4. Carsten Ramelow (Bayer Leverkusen) 26 5. Thomas Gravesen (Hamburger SV) 24 6. Mario Basler (1. FC Kaiserslautern) 31 7. Zvonimir Soldo (VfB Stuttgart) 32 8. Thorsten Fink (Bayern München) 32 9. Pablo Thiam (VfB Stuttgart) 26 10. Peter Wibrån (Hansa Rostock) 31 11. Matthias Zimmermann (SpVgg U'haching) 29 12. Martin Stranzl (TSV München 1860) 20 13. Danny Schwarz (SpVgg Unterhaching) 25 14. Roman Tyce (TSV München 1860) 23 15. Bernhard Trares (Werder Bremen) 34 16. Hany Ramzy (1. FC Kaiserslautern) 31 Field Of Vision Eilts (Werder Bremen) 35 Nemec (Schalke 04) 34 Stevic (Borussia Dortmund) 30 Zeyer (SC Freiburg) 32 Kicker Magazine Bundesliga Offensive Midfielder Rankings World Class 1. Stefan Effenberg (Bayern München) 31 International Class 2. Stefan Beinlich (Bayer Leverkusen) 28 Close To The Best Circles 3. Dorinel Munteanu (VfL Wolfsburg) 31 4. Michael Ballack (Bayer Leverkusen) 23 5. Thomas Häßler (TSV München 1860) 34 6. Horst Heldt (Eintracht Frankfurt) 30 7. Zoubaier Baya (SC Freiburg) 29 8. Marcus Weissenberger (Arm. Bielefeld) 25 Field Of Vision Balakov (VfB Stuttgart) 34 Herzog (Werder Bremen) 31 Brand (Hansa Rostock) 28 Wilmots (Schalke 04) 31 Cardoso (Hamburger SV) 31 Wosz (Hertha BSC) 30 Guié-Mien (E. Frankfurt) 22 Milan Sued For £35 Million Daily newspaper "La Repubblica" reported today that the Milanese public prosecution is going to sue 12 former and current players as well as vice president Adriano Galliani and general manager Giancarlo Foscale for tax evasion. From 1991 to 1997 around £35 million are said to be smuggled past the government. If you believe "La Repubblica" the main culprits have been Milan legends Marco van Basten (£13 million), Gianluigi Lentini (£8 million) and Ruud Gullit (£6 million) as they received the lion's share of the money. Petkovic Only Interim Coach Ilija Petkovic, who was introduced as new coach of Yugoslavia at the weekend, will only serve as an interim coach until legendary midfielder Dragan Stojkovic, still under contract at Japan's Nagoya Grampus Eight for another season, will take over in 2001. Kobe Bryant Supports Milan Lakers superstar guard Kobe Bryant revealed that he is a big fan AC Milan "When I was in Italy I was a great fan of the Milan side of Rijkaard, Gullit and Van Basten and when I go to Italy to publicise my new training shoes, I'll take in a trip to Milanello to thank Maldini [for a jersey he received] and say hello to the team." Valencia Says No To Ayala Last seasons Champions League finalist has dropped their interest in Milan's Argentine defender Roberto Ayala because he would break their salary structure. Ayala currently makes around £1 million a season at Milan while the best-paid player at Valencia is Mendieta with £850,000 (!) per anno. Barça Want Overmars And Saviola The negotiations with Arsenal for their Dutch international winger are already at an advanced stage and he may join Barca later this week for around £15 million after already having signed a pre-contract with the Catalan club during the Van Gaal era. Their next target is said to be 18-year-old Argentinean teenage prodigy Javier Saviola of River Plate. The playmaker whose style is very similar to the one of Figo is still under contract with the Argie Champs until 2002 and is also sought after by Inter. Quote Of The Day "Since I beat cancer through the power of my will, money and property are things which aren't that important to me anymore." Silvio Berlusconi 26 JULY 2000 Parma Sign Milosevic Parma have signed Euro 2000 joint top scorer Savo Milosevic for £16.5 million. Milosevic will earn £2 million wages per season. No Spanish Success For Milan Milan are facing more set backs in the transfer market. Valencia midfield Gerard says he would prefer a move to Barcelona and Redondo refuses to leave Real Madrid. Rennes Steal Lucas Rennes have snatched Brazilian striker Lucas from under the noses of Marseille. 25 JULY 2000 Milan Move For Redondo & Gerard "We met with Real Madrid and we put forward an offer for Redondo that will in all likelihood be accepted." Milan Vice President Adriano Galliano Milan have made another bid of £10 million for Valencia midfielder Gerard. Who earlier in the season claimed to have signed for the Italian giants. £20 million Deal For Liverpool Television network Granada have brought the rights to show Liverpool's matches on taped delay over the Internet for £20 million. The service will not launch until 2002 when broadband internet is expected to take off in the UK. The money will immediately be made available to coach Gerard Houllier. Introducing Your New PE Teacher - Dino Zoff! Former Italy coach Dino Zoff will teach a physical education course at the University of Udine. Figo Slams Barca "They (Barcelona) did not want a dialogue, They thought only of the club and I thought uniquely of myself." Cash Boost For England's Kids £90 million pounds will be invested in football at youth level in England over the next four years by the Football Foundation, a joint venture run by the Premiere League, FA and Government. Several clubs have already invested £millions in youth academies and there are many talented English youngsters at Aston Villa, Leeds and West Ham amongst others but they have been criminally overlooked by the incompetent England coach Kevin Keegan. Liverpool Make Move For Ziege Liverpool have made a £5.5 million bid for Middlesbrough's Christian Ziege. Ziege has a clause in his contract that allows him to speak with any club that makes a bid over £5 million. 24 JULY 2000 Gaspart Wins Barcelona Elections - Targets & Departures Having won the Presidency elections and flush with £40 million from the sale of Figo to Real Madrid Joan Gaspart is set for a re-building program. Petit & Overmars Barca have offered Arsenal £32 million for the pair. Arsenal may be willing to sell Overmars as Pires, Parlour and Lauren all play in wide positions. Petit on the other hand is much more difficult to replace especially since the Edu deal fell through. Barca could tempt Arsenal with either Dani or Luis Enrique. Zidane Gaspart's number one target. The press claim Juventus will not sell Zidane however given his appalling record at Juventus over the past two seasons Juve are probably just bluffing and holding out for more money, maybe a bid in the region of £30 million. Rivaldo Barca may be willing to sell Rivaldo to Milan in order to finance the purchase of Zidane. Milosevic Van Gaal wanted to take Milosevic to the Nou Camp but he's no longer coach. Milosevic doesn't appear to be one of Gaspart's targets. Parma have also been linked with Milosevic but will only make a move for him if they fail to sign either Salas or Wiltord (their top targets). Adebola Joins Las Palmas Birmingham City striker Adebola has signed for Las Palmas after passing a second medical. ROUND UP by Tim Leidecker Bundesliga Top 10 Projected Team Budgets 1. Hamburg £38 million 2. Bayern £32 million 3. Schalke £24 million 4. Hertha £23 million 5. Dortmund £22 million 6. 1860 Munich £21 million Leverkusen £21 million 8. Bremen £20 million 9. Stuttgart £18 million 10. Frankfurt £16 million Wolfsburg £16 million The total Bundesliga budget of £350 million is an all-time record (1998-1999 £215 million, 1999-2000 £250 million). Data taken from a dpa survey conducted 3 weeks before the start of the new season. Bundesliga Top/Flop Shirt Sponsorship Deals 1. Bayern £5 - £6.5 million (Opel) 2. Leverkusen £4.3 - £5.4 million (Avenza) 3. Dortmund £4 million (e-on) 4. Hertha £2.9 million (o.tel.o) 5. Wolfsburg £2.3 million (VW) ... ... 17. Hamburg £1.1 million (Hyundai) 18. Cottbus £1 million (Kraft) Lippi Wants Redondo And Salas Inter have made a £13.6 million bid for Real Madrid's Argentinean 'director' Redondo. The 31-year-old former international is said to be one of Lippi's favourite players and could be out of favour at Real after openly backing former president Lorenzo Sanz during his election. Lazio president Cragnotti is demanding £13 million plus Jugovic for the Chilean striker while Inter is offering Jugovic, Panucci + £3-5 million. Rivaldo Update Here is a little background to the story. Milan vice-president Galliani was in Barcelona this week and has already agreed on a 4-year, £3.25 million per season contract with the Brazilian's manager. The problem is who becomes the new president of Barcelona. Milan have a very good relationship to Gaspart who has already promised that Rivaldo wouldn't cost Milan the £108 million fixed in his contract but "only" around £25-30 million. Finally a lot of the Rivaldo deal going through depends on how the Figo situation is solved. As we reported on Wednesday there is a clause of £19 million in Figo's new contract which allows him to terminate the move. Barca could exercise this clause with the help of the Rivaldo money. Real Debts Florentino Perez has announced that Real Madrid has debts as high as £170 million and that his first actions will include liquidation of larger parts (by buying Figo for £46 million for example). Of course Real, as figurehead of the country, does not have to fear any consequences from the Spanish FA. The club only has to guarantee the budget for the upcoming season which is easily financed by TV, gates and merchandising and that's it! Additionally there are many high Spanish politicians and business people attached to the club. Lothar Resumes Playing Career After a 3 hours long meeting between Matthäus, his girlfriend Maren Müller-Wohlfahrt, his manager Brian Eylert, MLS-Commissioner Don Garber, MetroStars-Manager Nick Sakiewicz and MetroStars Coach Octavio Zambrano a lot of hands were shaken and the decision was made that Lothar will finish the season at the New York based club. He will rejoin his teammates for practise on Wednesday and plans to step back on the pitch on Saturday for the MLS All-Star Game. Skibbe New German National Team Trainer As expected former Borussia Dortmund coach Michael Skibbe has been appointed as trainer for the German National Team. The 34-year-old will sign a 1-year-contract and should be on the bench together with new coach Völler for the first time on August 16 for the friendly against Spain. Kirsten Quits International Football "No, I'm not playing anymore [for Germany] even though I would like to help making forget the desastrous European Championships." Leverkusen striker Ulf Kirsten (34) 23 JULY 2000 Yugoslavia Announce New Coach Ilija Petkovic has replaced Vujadin Boskov as coach of Yugoslavia. Dragon Stojkovic, who was favourite to replace Boskov, has extended his contract at Grampus Eight. 22 JULY 2000 Perez - Figo Is Mine "Monday Figo is mine. We'll pay the money to the league and we will present him as a Real Madrid player." When we broke the story on Wednesday, before anyone else, we reported the transfer fee as £44 million. The transfer fee is in fact £46.4 million. £40 million to buy out Figo's contract and 16% tax (£6.4 million) to the Spanish FA. Anelka Mini Series Finally Over, Probably Anelka will be presented to PSG fans at half-time during today's friendly against Corinthians. Wor Kev Quote Of The Day "I know what is around the corner. I just don't know where the corner is." 21 JULY 2000 Arsenal News "The problem was that he (Edu) did not have a passport. We were assured before he came over that he had all the necessary papers and qualifications." Arsene Wenger pulls out of the deal to sign Edu from Corinthians Arsenal's attempt to sign Edmilson is also likely to be cancelled over a dodgy passport. Arsenal has also stated that Kanu will not be allowed to play for Nigeria in this years Olympic Games Zenden May Stay At Barca Outgoing Barcelona President Lluis Nunez has said Zenden will stay at Barcelona if/when Luis Figo joins Real Madrid. De Santis Escapes Massimo De Santis, the referee who controversially disallowed Cannavaro's equaliser in a crucial league match against Juve and later contradicted himself by claiming he blew his whistle before Cannavaro scored has been given a four month ban by the Italian FA - FIGC. The ban however has been backdated to May and will end in time for the start of this season's Serie A campaign in October. Mancs Turn Down Second Bid For Becks "We tried again with Manchester on Wednesday but they really don't want to give him up. Beckham can't be released and we respect the wishes of Manchester United." Milan Vice President Adriano Galliani admits defeat after Man United turn down a £40 million bid for Posh Spice David Beckham Anelka To PSG - Latest Chapter On his website Anelka says "I am coming back to Paris on Friday. Things will be concluded very soon." His brother is quoted as saying "Nicolas will stay here and rejoin the squad for pre-season training." Anelka was due to have a meeting with new Real Madrid President Florentino Perez yesterday (Thursday). 20 JULY 2000 Wor Kev (Keegan) Quote Of The Day "In some ways cramp is worse than having a broken leg." ROUND UP by Tim Leidecker Kicker Magazine Bundesliga Defender Rankings World Class : None International Class 1. Jens Nowotny (Bayer Leverkusen) 26 2. Nico-Jan Hoogma (Hamburger SV) 31 3. Sammy Kuffour (Bayern München) 23 Close To The Best Circles 4. Robert Kovac (Bayer Leverkusen) 26 5. Boris Zivkovic (Bayer Leverkusen) 24 6. Jan Seifert (SpVgg Unterhaching) 31 7. Harry Koch (1. FC Kaiserslautern) 30 8. Marcelo Bordon (VfB Stuttgart) 24 9. Andrej Panadic (Hamburger SV) 31 10. Markus Babbel (Bayern München) 27 11. Marko Rehmer (Hertha BSC Berlin) 28 12. Waldemar Kryger (VfL Wolfsburg) 31 13. Patrik Andersson (Bayern München) 28 14. Thomas Linke (Bayern München) 29 Field Of Vision F Baumann (Werder Bremen) 24 Kracht (Eintracht Frankfurt) 32 Berthold (VfB Stuttgart) 35 Kurz (TSV München 1860) 31 Grassow (SpVgg U'haching) 28 Müller (SC Freiburg) 26 Hertzsch (Hamburger SV) 22 Thomsen (VfL Wolfsburg) 29 Kohler (Borussia Dortmund) 34 Wörns (Borussia Dortmund) 28 Kicker Magazine Bundesliga Winger Rankings World Class : None International Class 1. Bixente Lizarazu (Bayern München) 30 2. Hasan Salihamidzic (Bayern München) 23 Close To The Best Circles 3. Sebastian Deisler (Hertha BSC Berlin) 20 4. Marco Bode (Werder Bremen) 30 5. Marco Gebhardt (Eintracht Frankfurt) 27 6. Levan Kobiashvili (SC Freiburg) 22 Field Of Vision Buck (1. FC Kaiserslautern) 32 Frings (Werder Bremen) 23 Gerber (VfB Stuttgart) 28 Hollerbach (Hamburger SV) 30 Sebescen (VfL Wolfsburg) 24 Straube (SpVgg U'haching) 28 Dortmund Wants To Reunite Old Guard After the former Champions League Winners' have already brought back winger Jörg Heinrich from Fiorentina, 30-year-old Celtic "vacuum cleaner" midfielder Paul Lambert, also a member of the great yellow-black squad of 1997, is on top of coach Matthias Sammers wishlist. Celtic are asking for £2.5 for the Scottish international. Völler's First Mistake Interim National Team Coach Rudi Völler has confirmed 32-year-old Milan forward Oliver Bierhoff as captain of the DFB selection. Experts had expected Leverkusen defender Jens Nowotny to be handed the prestigious armband. More Real Tidying Up Florentino Perez has announced that his primary goal is to get the club free of debt which is estimated between £60 and £180 million. The first possibility would be selling misfit striker Nicolas Anelka who is still wanted by PSG and Juventus. Additionally Perez wants former Real coach Jorge Valdano to assist him as technical director as well as Real legend Alfredo di Stefano as honorary president. Yeboah And Hölzenbein Before Court HSV striker and former Eintracht manager Bernd Hölzenbein are currently before court for tax evasion. The pair has been accused of smuggling £750,000 past the government. Vieri Criticizes Inter's Medical Staff "It doesn't happen where someone comes back from an injury, and after five or 20 minutes gets hurt again. And it happened to me twice. Maybe those who treated me didn't understand [the situation] well enough." Vieri in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport Can you say MVB ? Even though he's a Nerazzurro I sincerely hope not. Lothar Leaving It is expected that German record-international Lothar Matthäus will be given the boot by his MLS club New York/New Jersey MetroStars later today. The former FC Bayern Libero was quoted "I don't need MetroStars and they don't need me" which sums it up pretty nicely. MetroStars management made a fuss about a picture of the injured Matthäus "recovering" on the beach of St Tropez instead of the gym but in fact they only want to save his £1 million annual salary. Milan News Galliani is currently in Spain to negotiate the transfer of Rivaldo to the Rossoneri. Taking into consideration that Barça has just sold Figo it's hard to see him succeed though. He will also talk to Valencia executives after coach Cuper has renewed his interest in Milan donkey defender Ayala. Milan had proposed a swap Ayala plus money for Spain midfielder Gerard before. Beckham Remains United With Manchester Beck's has extended his contract with the Red Devils until 2007. The effective midfielder is now the Premiership's best-paid player with an annual salary of £1,758,000. Batigol Blasts United "I would have loved to have played for United, but they simply didn't have the money or the balls to compete with the Italians. They knew I would have come. I have always maintained at some point in my career I would have loved to have played in the Premiership and United would have been my dream move. But when the offer came in from Roma there was no more contact from United." Batistuta in a "Sun" interview Totti Unharmed In Traffic Accident Italian international playmaker Francesco Totti and his fiancee, supermodel Maria Mazza, have escaped unharmed from a car crash involving four other cars according to the Roman police. Totti is no uncommon face to the officers though as he only got back his driving license they stripped him for speedy driving. 19 JULY 2000 Figo Signs For Real Madrid by Tim Leidecker New Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has indeed kept his word and signed Portuguese ace Luis Figo, at this time perhaps the best player in the world, from league rivals FC Barcelona. Figo, still on holiday in Sardinia until the end of the week met with Perez, his advisor and former Portuguese World Class midfielder Paulo Futre and Figo's manager Jose Veiga yesterday to put the final touches on the deal. Here are some transfer details : Transfer Fee : £44 million (£38 million to Barcelona, £6 million to the Spanish FA) End of Contract : July 30th 2006 Annual Salary : £3 million Buyout Clause : £114 million Finally there is a special clause which sais that Figo will receive further £2 million if Perez is no longer the president at some stage during his days at Real while Figo has to pay Perez the same amount if he wants to leave before the end of his contract. With his move Figo does not only join Raúl as Real Madrid's best-paid player but also breaks the transfer World Record, previously held by Argentine striker Hernan Crespo who moved from Parma to Lazio for £35 million. Figo To Real Madrid - Latest Update According to a Spanish newspaper (As?) new Real Madrid President Florentina Perez is set to unveil Luis Figo as his first major summer signing and Zidane could follow in a deal which would see Nicholas Anelka join Juventus in exchange. According to Rai, Lazio haven't given up hope of signing Figo. Rumours Sylvain Wiltord to Inter Ivan Zamorano to Real Oviedo Redondo to Inter, Zanetti to Real Madrid Lentini Released Torino have released Gianluigi Lentini on a free transfer. Lentini joined Milan for a World Record transfer fee of £13 million in the 1992-1993 season. After a promising first season Lentini seemed destined for greatness before a car crash left him in a coma. He made a full recovery physically but was never the same as a player. Promises, Promises After promising to bring Zidane to the Nou Camp Barcelona Presidential Candidate Lluis Bassat now claims he will make Johan Cruijff Vice President. 18 JULY 2000 Bassat Promises Barca Zidane Barcelona Presidential Candidate Luis Bassat has claimed the club will sign Zidane if he is elected on Sunday. One Season Wonder One season wonder Artur Jorge, he coached Porto to a EC and has won bugger all since, is set to coach Al-Nasr (Saudi Arabia). ROUND UP by Tim Leidecker Extended Contracts Werder Bremen has extended the contracts of international defender Frank Baumann and Brazilian forward Aílton until 2003. Köln coach Ewald Lienen has extended his contract until 2002. 34-year-old striker Ulf Kirsten has extended his stay at Leverkusen until 2002 as well. Famous Quotes "My primary goal will be to make people enjoy games of the national team again - be it in the stadium or in front of the TV. We're not Dutch or French [concerning the playing style]. But the Italians have shown us what is possible with discipline and attitude. Another role model is Émerson - He'd get up at 3 o'clock in the morning to play for Brazil if he got the call. This is the kind of attitude we have to bring back." Germany coach Rudi Völler "It would be a dream come true for me to play for a club like FC Barcelona." Arsenal and France midfielder Emmanuel Petit Season Tickets Four weeks before the start of the Bundesliga season clubs have already sold 261,000 which is almost as much as last season. The leading clubs are Dortmund (41,000), Kaiserslautern (30,110), Freiburg, Bayern Munich (20,000 each/advance sale stopped) and Werder Bremen (19,500). So fans are looking forward to the new season despite or because of the disastrous showing of the DFB team at the EURO. Pardon Barcelona have been allowed to compete in next seasons' Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup). Originally the Catalan giants had been banned from the competition in 2000-2001 for failing to show up for a game against Atlético Madrid but the clowns of the RFEF (Spanish FA) decided they can't do without the big "name" that Barça is. Skibbe Favourite Former Borussia Dortmund coach Michael Skibbe appears to be the favourite for the job of trainer for the German national team after Bernd Krauss decided he doesn't want to do the job, Andy Brehme doesn't have the necessary qualifications (quote Kalle Rummenigge) and Friedhelm Funkel as well as Jogi Löw haven't even been approached by the DFB (German FA). Hansi Müller Fined The former Inter star has been fined £6,400 for "massively insulting" a 23 year-old women after an almost car crash in Stuttgart in May. Müller, now director of public relations at Stuttgart, also loses his driving license for three months. Crazy Contract Former Croatian international playmaker Robert Prosinecki has a crazy clause in his contract with new club Hrvatski Dragovoljac Zagreb. If the team wins, the club treats him to dinner, if the team loses though he has to pay for all his teammates. Direct Swap After the Rossoneri's interest in Christian "Dior" Panucci fortunately seems to have cooled off, Inter is now trying to fob off the "defender" to Roma in exchange for midfielder Di Francesco. The Nerazzurri are looking for a left-sided midfielder after selling Grigoris Georgatos back to Greece. Footballer Wisdom of the Day "We played quite well during the first half but after the break we lacked continu.., contuni.., ah bloody foreign words, we weren't consistent enough!" Pierre Littbarski 17 JULY 2000 Transfers Several people have recently complained about listing transfers before they are 'completed'. If we waited for official confirmation we would not be able to break transfers days, sometimes weeks before they are made official. We are of course not responsible for players failing medicals or failing to agree personal terms! The transfers that have fallen through are : Adebola to Las Palmas (failed a medical) Almeyda & Salas to Parma for Crespo (Conceicao & Almeyda went to Parma) Juninho to Benfica (back at Atletico Madrid) Leandro to Porto (went to Fiorentina) Pires to Real Madrid (went to Arsenal) The transfers of Edu and Edmilson to Arsenal are in doubt because of dodgy paperwork. Viva El Presidente Florentino Perez is new President of Real Madrid having defeated long term President Lorenzo Sanz. Let's see if he keeps his promise and brings Figo to the Bernabeu Gazza To Everton Misfit Paul 'Gazza' Gascoigne has joined Everton on a free transfer and re-unites with former Rangers coach Walter Smith. Rivaldo - Show Me The Money "I want them (Barcelona) to pay me what they promised, which is an improvement." Rivaldo Hey Yo, Survey Time! We are conducting a Euro 2000 survey. If you want to vote download the survey here and e-mail your entrires to : tim@milanmania.com 16 JULY 2000 Nuno Gomes Joins Fiorentina Fiorentina have signed Nuno Gomes from Benfica for £12.5 million. South Africa Want Revote South Africa are planning to ask FIFA for a re-vote on the rights to host the 2006 World Cup next month. FIFA have already stated that a re-vote is not possible. Mpenza Bid Rejected Rangers have had a £6.5 million bid foe Emile Mpenza turned down by Schalke who want £8.5 million for the Belgium striker. Leandro To Fiorentina Fiorentina have stolen Portuguesa striker Leandro from under the noses of Porto. Riquelme Wants His Mommy Riquelme has refused to be transferred from Boca Juniors despite a poor salary and interest from Milan and Barcelona. Riquelme was set to join Parma last season but pulled out of the deal because he thought Serie A would be too tough he also pulled out of a deal to join Real Madrid. Real Madrid Want Veron Ok this is probably posturing by Lorenzo Sanz ahead of the Real Madrid presidential elections but the European Champions, according to the Spanish and Italian press, want to sign Veron from Lazio for a ridiculous £50 million. Figo Wants To Stay At Barca "I have not signed a contract with anyone. I have always wanted to stay at Barcelona. People should only believe what I say." Luis Figo Cantona Looks To Management "It would be difficult to follow Alex (Ferguson) who, I think, is the best manager in the World. However, I could handle it." Eric Cantona |