Rob Parker | June 29, 2010
Visa debit
Ex-Birmingham loanee Chucho Benitez’s hopes of a Premier League return have been dealt a blow after he failed his work permit English test for the second time. The Blues wanted to re-sign the Ecuadorian and West Ham were reportedly interested.
Despite living and working in the country for a year, Benitez failed the required test [...]
Rob Parker | June 25, 2009
Spaniards attempt at gossip column monopoly continues
Real Madrid’s transfer policy is beginning to frazzle OTP’s brain a little bit. Granted many of the hundreds of reports about Real being interested in particular players are entirely fabricated, but clearly some are not. And one of those is their chase for Wigan’s Antonio Valencia.
The Latics have confirmed [...]
Rob Parker | May 26, 2009
Going down… in price at least
1. Michael Owen
The ultimate bargain buy. He always looked likely to leave Newcastle at the end of the season, and he definitely will now. Don’t believe the talk that he is past it - if he manages an injury-free pre-season and is playing in a decent side, he will still [...]
Rob Parker | May 13, 2009
Any fan of football clichés (Gael excluded, Mr Pleat) knows the best way for a club to keep a player they want is to slap a price tag on him. Inspired by Gary Megson’s £20 million valuation of Gary Cahill, here are some of the scary price tags currently keeping the vultures at bay (in [...]
Rob Parker | May 1, 2009
The Sun goes a little way towards redeeming itself
We don’t know too much about the wonderfully hermaphroditically-named Rennes defender Rod Fanni, so we can’t vouch for whether he is any good. But we do know that he is constantly linked with moves to British clubs. Unfortunately, we are unsure whether this is because he is [...]
Rob Parker | April 23, 2009
‘The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated’
Manchester United are apparently swooping to sign Dodo (just as well he is a flightless bird then). The 17-year-old - whose full name is Jose Rodolfo Pires Ribeiro Dodo - currently plays for Corinithians in Brazil.
The youngster has starred for Brazil in the South American Under-17 championships, [...]
Rob Parker | March 3, 2009
Valencia defender could soon be serving up paella for Cesc or Nando
Arsenal and Liverpool are both being linked with a move for Valencia defender Raul Albiol. As the video above shows, the 23-year-old fancies himself as a bit of a cook. Perhaps Liverpool’s large Spanish contingent makes them a more favourable destination - he wouldn’t [...]
