More Transfers and Rumors

The rumour mill is in full swing even though summer hasn't yet begun. A few of the rumors floating around have even panned out to be true.

• Roberto Carlos has left Real Madrid on a free transfer for Turkish club Fenerbahce.
• Deco to Inter Milan as a replacement for Figo. This despite Deco insisting that he's not leaving Barcelona.
• Frank Lampard leaving Chelsea for Barcelona. One report said the move could occur for as little as £12 million.
• Ex-Charlton, Ex-Chelsea player Scott Parker leaving Newcastle for West Ham is no longer a rumor. He's made the move for £7 million.
• Real Madrid have signed German centerback Christian Mezthelder. But they're also after Chelsea's Arjen Robben and Manchester United's Gabriel Heinze and Barcelona's Javier Saviola.
• Sevilla coach Juande Ramos has been linked with a number of clubs.
• Miroslav Klose is rumored to be close to completing a move to Bayern Munich. He's said in the past he wouldn't move there but more and more it looks like this rumor is true. As to why he's had this change of heart is another matter. One claim is tha this wife has been having an affair with one of his Bremen teammates prompting Miroslav to want to move to the other end of Germany.
• Bayern Munich also look set to sign Frank Ribbery for £17 million today. He would join Luca Toni.
• Bayern Munich and Chelsea are also rumored to be in talks about a deal that would involve Bouhlarouz heading to Bavaria and Claudio Pizarro going the other way to London.

Bayern Munich isn't in the CL next year. So why would players like Toni, and others join them? I've always suspected that while the CL play is important, it was code for money. If a club is in the Champions League they're likely able to shell out more for bonuses and wages. This time And there are sorts of other rumors and signings going on. All the activity at Bayern Munich has me wondering about what it means when players talk about the importance of ChamptionsRibbery, KloseBM's not there but they still have the revenues for a summer of big spending. It'll be interesting to see what happens if they don't gel as a squad and they miss out on the CL again next year.

Transfers? But It's Not Even Summer Yet

It doesn't seem to matter that the summer transfer window isn't open and that some leagues haven't finished playing yet, the press is already talking heavily about transfers. Most of them are still rumors. But a few are already done deals. I'll try building off of this list from time to time. More so, I'll make a point of keeping a list of rumored moves that were claimed to be serious but never panned out.

Tottenham Hotspur
In :
Gareth Bale - The 17 year-old decided to not spend another year with with Southampton and head to the Premiership. It's shame since as talented as he is, he still has a lot to learn about defending. The headlines say it's a £10 million move. But the details are £5 million with up to another £5 million possible depending on first team appearances, national caps, etc. Not as sexy as the reported 10m but it's a lot less risky of a move for Spurs. Saints on the other hand need the money since they were not promoted and their golden parachute from their Prem days has now ended.

Arsenal
In :
Luksz Fabianski - The terms of this one have not been announced. As a 22 year old goalkeeper, it's unlikely that Fabianski will see a lot of playing time next year despite being a member of the 2006 WC team for Poland.

Liverpool
In :
Sylvan Distin (FAILED) - Distin was rumored to be joining Liverpool but he joined Portsmouth instead.
Out : Robbie Fowler, Jerzy Dudek

Portsmouth
In :
Hermann Hreidarsson - Signed from now relegated Charlton
Sylvan Distin -
Bonaventure Kalou (Rumor)
Out : Andy Cole (Rumor) - Was on loan at Birmingham and may be signed now that they've been promoted

Manchester United -
In :
Berbatov (Rumor) - If there is any truth to the rumor Sir Alex will send Luis Saha plus his entire transfer budget, £27.5 million, for the summer to Tottenham's Ditmar Berbatov. It would be a nice bit of business for Spurs but it's hard to picture any team spending that much for Berbatov. More so that Manchester United have just spent big money to bring Owen Hargreaves in from Bayern. Owen Hargreaves - Sir Alex Ferguson has been pursuing him since last year. The deal is set to go through when the summer window opens in a couple weeks. Manchester United with be sending £17 million to Bayern. Ben Foster - Technically not a transfer but after 2 years of being on loan at Watford it feels a bit like bringing a new face into the team. Rumor has it that SAF has already decided that Foster will get the starting nod. Watford signed Arsenal's Estonian GK Mart Poom as a replacement.
Out : Saha (Rumor)

Real Madrid
In :
Christoph Metzelder - The German international will be joining Real Madrid. No word on how much Dortmund got for the 26 year-old center back. No word on who's going to be heading out

Woodgate Injured Again

Sky is reporting that Woodgate won't be available for the upcoming Israel match due to a knee injury. I was curious how things were going for him in terms of injuries. He's definitely had some injury problems. His loan with Middlesbrough's brought some better luck on that front with 23 appearances so far this year. But previous to that in his 2 years at Real Madrid he only got in 9 league appearances. Before that his year and half he spent at Newcastle he got in 28 games. It doesn't look like it's time to start calling him Sick Note II.... at least not yet.

Metzelder : Leaving Germany?

As recently mentioned, German Christoph Metzelder is available on a free transfer. It didn't take long for him to be linked with Real Madrid. Didn't Real learn their lesson after bringing in injury-cursed Jonathan Woodgate?