By Shaun Orange

It was not that long ago (this off-season) that Rafael Benitez was lamenting their prospects of capturing their first Premiership title since 1990. Given that the Spaniard had missed out signing his compatriot David Villa from Valencia, one could say it was understandably difficult to take for the crafty coach.

But now with the transfer of Robbie Keane from Tottenham confirmed in a deal worth £20 million, there should really be no more moaning from the Anfield boss.

Keane, a fiery striker who wears his heart on his sleeve and has the knack of getting into the right place and at the right time, looks to be a wonderful buy by the Merseysiders, even if it does seem a bit premature to say so.

Too often in the season just gone by, the Reds were exposed for relying too heavily on the contributions of skipper Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, himself a £20 million-odd swoop this time last year.

However, Liverpool at least showed that they had a squad which could mix it with the best, albeit not consistently. And now with the arrival of Keane – not quite in the same bracket as Villa, Liverpool appear to have an even better balanced side to launch a much anticipated challenge for the league championship title.

Keane is roundly being touted as the player whom Liverpool could turn to when Gerrard and Torres, among the most exciting combinations in the Premier league, and indeed Euorpe, last season, are not in full stride.

The 28-year-old forward certainly has the experience of featuring in the top flight of English football and that alone will count for him going some way to making an impression at Anfield. But more that Keane is a proven striker and is also Ireland’s captain. For his national team he has scored 33 times in 81 appearances, and for Tottenham he got 107 goals in 254 matches. That is not a poor return by any standards for any striker, although nothing short of an outstanding first season will be considered successfully – not with so much cash being splashed out.

Also, with the player hardly having even arrived in Liverpool, there are those who are questioning whether he will be anywhere near as good in the European Champions League. In this tournament, the best club football competition there is to be found anywhere, consistency is the key factor; greater than any other. And therein lies the concern about Keane.

The other thing is whether Keane’s presence will encroach on that of Gerrard. The captain role’s in the Anfield side is a huge one and when he gets licence to roam and play more freely in teh hole just behind the cenret-forward (Torres) like he did last season, he really comes through as their talisman.

However, with Keane coming in, that might change somewhat, and could well lead to an unsettling of the England international, something that could work against them quite badly.

Nonetheless, Keane’s switch to Merseyside can only be viewed as a positive one for the Reds, and one which might yet help them land the coveted league title; something that Benitez craves the most.

By Shaun Orange

In Kuala Lumpur for the pre-season fixture against a Malaysian XI on Tuesday, Luiz Felipe Scolari spoke with the sort of confidence that will not have gone unnoticed by his main adversaries for honours in the English game and in Europe.

The Brazilian, who took his national team to the cosmopolitan Malaysia capital en route to the World Cup triumph of 2002, said boldly, and also categorically, that he envisaged battling it out on four fronts in the coming season - and doing well.

It was hardly a statement of complacency, but rather that of an honest man; one who knows and understands what is expected of him from a club that has invested almost unendingly in some of the best players in the world.

That Scolari openly admits that he has “the team and players” to put up a sustained challenged in their bid to win the English League Cup, the FA Cup, the Premiership title and the European Champions League trophy is what excites the purists of this game.

This fellow is no Grant Avram, and that is said with absolutely no disrespect to the Israeli coach, who himself reached the League Cup final, which they lost to Tottenham; and then finished runners-up to Manchester United in both the Premier League and Champions League.

With a wee-bit more know-how in handling the media and certainly loads more experience in motivating top-tier players, Scolari, one has to concede, does look the part; the man for the job at Stamford Bridge.

And maybe more than anything else, he definitely looks like he got it in him to stand up to Alex Ferguson. And I say this because on paper their two teams are as strong as they could possibly be. Thus, it leaves only the issue of the manager being able to bring out the best from his players, all the while keeping one eye trained on the opposition – in this instance, Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge, depending on which corner you are in.

It should have become common knowledge by now that Scolari will not sit back and let Ferguson throw his weight about, not without launching a few salvos of his own. Grant missed his opportunity and ultimately paid the price.

Jose Mourinho, before him, fared a great deal better, but all the while came across as the younger man, one shooting his mouth off a little too often, and when the heat was turned up he too buckled.

Scolari will no doubt have noted this, so be sure that he will be prepared to react in the manner that he sees best, and that is by getting the desired results on the pitch. He proved that amid all the acrimony leading up to the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and was duly hailed the hero after it.

A similar situation awaits him in the Premiership and this time too he has at his disposal what he wants the most. He said as much in Kala Lumpur when he observed: “Chelsea have given me everything I have wanted.”

I believe he will give them what they want – trophies (maybe four of them).

By Shaun Orange

At the start of each season in there is invariably a list of players ruled out through injury. In some cases they are high-profile names and do lead to some anxiety within the clubs they play for. An example of this is Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, sidelined by ankle surgery.

But the Portuguese winger is not the only player knocked back by an ankle problem. Aston Villa’s Dutch international Wilfred Bouma sustained a dislocated ankle in their Intertoto Cup victory over Odense over the weekend and will now miss the start of the new campaign and several weeks (if not months) into it.

Villa would not immediately indicate how long the 30-year-old left-back would be out of action, but it is expected to be relatively lengthy given the nature of the injury. This made sense as a complete evaluation of the injury still needed to be carried out.

O’Neill said they were at least happy that there was “no tear in the skin” but Bouma’s foot was skewed in the incident with Baye Djiby and immediately brought flashbacks to those horrific injuries to Alan Smith (when with Manchester United) and more recently Arsenal’s Eduardo.

That aside, Villa won the two-leg tie (1-0 on the day, and 3-2 on aggregate) that served as a qualifier for the UEFA Cup draw next month. Thus, O’Neill will have been pleased their progress. He will also have welcomed the return to competitive action of Gareth Barry, his want-away skipper.

The England midfielder, who has publicly said that he was keen on joining Liverpool (to play in the European Champions League) and fell out of favour with O’Neill, received a warm reception from the Villa fans when coming on for Bouma and in the least knows he could yet play a huge role in the club’s plans of an assault on the Premier League’s top-four; O’Neill’s ultimate goal of this campaign.

The Irish manager was also buoyant after securing the services of one of his main targets in this off-season - Brad Friedel. Confirmation was received that Villa had done a deal to take the American goalkeeper from Blackburn to Villa Park. And although there were official numbers on how much they coughed up for the 38-year-old international, some reports said that the Midlands club paid £2.5 million.

The Bouma injury is indeed a huge blow for O’Neill as he continues the building of a side that he wants to take on the top-four. And although a mammoth task by any standards, it is indeed a positive move by him to at least openly state that that is his aim this season.

Of course, if he has Barry in his line-up it would help considerably. And as Liverpool continue to drag their feet over making a decisive move for the player whom Rafael Benitez said was his main target, the influential linkman could well end up staying at Villa Park.

Such an outcome would aid O’Neill’s cause immeasurably; no doubt about it. Obuma will of course be missed, but over the long-run Barry’s presence could have a greater impact.

By Shaun Orange

Blackburn Rovers have confirmed the signing of Paul Robinson and now the England goalkeeper, who has experienced the two extremes of the game with Tottenham last season, can look forward to a new lease of life in the game.

Paul Ince, who took over Blackburn from Mark Hughes a couple of weeks ago, has given Aston Villa permission to talk to the American goalkeeper with a view to him moving to Villa Park.

That makes a lot of sense now that he has made Robinson his first signing as boss of Ewood Park.

But more importantly for Robinson, it gives the 28-year-old the chance to resurrect his career after falling out of favour with both club and country.

Several blunders in both teams saw Robinson plummet from being England’s number one to slotting in as the second string choice at White Hart Lane in the last campaign. He did bounce back somewhat and played in the League Cup, which they won – thanks in no small measure to a few blinding saves that thwarted Chelsea’s bid.

Robinson will now surely realise that with his move to Ewood Park, paving the way for a fresh start, he can get going again; and this time keep his mind focused on the job at hand.

All goalkeepers make mistakes, even the great ones. But when too many blunders are attributed to the last line of defence in quick succession they do cause alarm, and in today’s where so much is at stake because of the big money involved, they sometimes bring about almost instant changes in the line-up.

Back in the days when the players at the top of the game – ’keepers like Bruce Grobbelaar or even the legendary Peter Shilton, made a few costly errors, the managers often kept faith in them and they would go on to make amends. But those days are long gone now, and things are radically different. Thus, Robinson (I hope) will have realised this by now and start a new chapter in his career at Blackburn with greater conviction.

He is still an able goalkeeper, a top-class shot-stopper with maybe eight or so still in him, maybe more. But he has got to eliminate to a bare minimum the number of errors he makes in next season, particularly in the first half of the campaign if he is to win back the confidence of those whom he wants to play for – Blackburn and England.

For his part, Friedel is more than likely to go to Villa, where Martin O’Neill is building a side that he wants to make good enough to break the stranglehold of the top-four: Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

It is a huge ask for the Midlands club but O’Neill has the ambition and acumen to do it. All he needs is a squad strong enough to perform consistently in the league. With Friedel there, an experienced international, his presence could prove vitally important to just how far they actually go in their bid to finish in the Champions League places.

My guess is they will be knocking on the door to break into the top-four next May, but maybe they won’t in fact pull it off; not this coming season anyway.

Robinson, though, I think can do himself justice and regain his ranking as among the best in the Premiership and maybe play for England again.

By Shaun Orange

The English Premier League stands to lose two of its most interesting characters, if Barcelona get their way.

Reports from Spain suggest that Josep Guardiola, the Barca boss who took from Frank Rijkaard at the end of last season, is keen on taking Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and his Arsenal counterpart Emmanuel Adebayor to the Nou Camp. When pressed to come clean on the matter, Guardiola sidestepped the issue, saying that he was “not here to about them (the players)”.

However, it is common knowledge that Guardiola will want to strengthen his side ahead of an assault on La Liga, following two seasons that saw their great rivals Real Madrid win on both occasions.

If anything the two forwards are unsettled at their present clubs and one gets the feeling that they would jump at the chance of turning out for a side like Barcelona.

For Adebayor, it would mean a reunion with former Gunners striker Thierry Henry, a player whom the Togo international has publicly said he looked up to. And why not? If anything that could well work in Barca’s favour, assuming they do go in for the lanky, quick-feet striker.

If Drogba were to team up with Henry that could also prove a lethal combination – a blend of experience and great talent all rolled into one.

Barcelona have allowed Samuel Eto’, a super Cameroon forward himself, but one who fell out of favour at the Nou Camp last term. So for the men in suits, either one, or both, of these Premiership strikers would be a fine catch.

But any such move would be the loss of the Premier League. And while both players are not hero worshipped like some other lesser stars, they are top athletes of their profession. Drogba in particular is not well-liked in England, but I think that is only because of the team whom he plays for and who brought him to the Premier League.

Jose Mourinho, for all media antics, was never the most popular manager in the championship. And that he had so much to spend on assembling one of the strongest teams of all, he was not taken to hearty by the fans – in general. Neither were any of his big-money buys.

Drogba falls into that category, but one should point out that if he had joined Manchester United and scored the goals he has at Stamford Bridge, then make no mistake would have been voted Player of the Year by now, and almost surely moiré than once.

But that be as it may, Adebayor has also proved himself and done so in eth absence of Henry, to whom he served as an understudy, before high-tailing it to Barcelona a year ago.

The lad is only 24 and has the world at his feet. Moving to a club as big as Barca would probably better suit his career than staying with Arsenal, and maybe his advisers have told him so.

But whether or not either moves, is another call although. One just never knows what’s going to happen with the way the transfers are played out. But if they do go, then England will be poorer for it. That is for sure.

By Shaun Orange

The Cristiano Ronaldo saga continues, even as the player recovers from surgery on an ankle injury, with speculation still rife that he could yet end up at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu Stadium next season.

Manchester United boss went some way to reassure their fans that the Portuguese winger was going nowhere when he said just that while on their trip to South Africa.

But now Ferguson finds himself embroiled in another transfer issue, only this time the shoe (or boot, if you want) is on the other foot. Ferguson is engaged in a heated row with Tottenham chairman David Levy, whom he has threatened to take legal action against.

Levy, is seeing red over Ferguson’s attempt to lure Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov to Old Trafford and branded the Manchester United manager as “unbelievably hypocritical” and added that it was a case of “sheer arrogance” on the part of Ferguson.

This came after The Sun (London) reported that Ferguson had said he was “confident of signing Berbatov”.

But Levy hit back in some real strong terms and said he saw it as “interference” and that it was “probably one of the worst offences by any manager in the Premier League to date”.

In a counter move, Ferguson said they (the Manchester United legal staff and him) were considering the matter as a legal one.

Man United are reportedly keen on taking Berbatov to  Old Trafford in a £20 million transfer, although the London club rate the highly-sought after striker at more than £30 million.

Spanish giants Barcelona are said to have weighed in with a £24 million bid of their own, and only exacerbated the situation for the Manchester side.

But the ire of Tottenham is in what they see as Ferguson playing double standards, given the Red Devils’ anger at Real Madrid’s unrelenting pursuit of Ronaldo, who the La Liga champions are said to be willing to pay some £75 million for.

However, having said that, there is a widening consensus that Levy’s outburst might just have worked in Ferguson’s favour, because of the threat of legal action, which Ferguson could maybe use as leverage in their negotiations, if the Tottenham chief decides he wants the legal matter to go away.

Still, Ferguson’s efforts to sign Berbatov and the upheavals that have come with it clearly show how business is conducted by some of the top football clubs in Europe these days.

Money is sometimes seen as not being an issue, but the manner in which some of the world’s biggest football transfers are done, is anything but straight-forward.

That Tottenham have reported Manchester Unite to the League is confirmation of that. Sadly。

By Shaun Orange

With the Ronaldinho switch from Barcelona to AC Milan all done and the Serie A giants giving themselves a pat on the back, they now have to face a situation that could turnout to be a real major development.

The personal assistant Diogo Kotschoof of their other Brazilian ace, Kaka, has been quoted as saying that the player is poised to transfer to English Premier League side Chelsea.

Kotschoof said that it was “the first time that they felt that a deal would definitely happen”.

He cited Real Madrid making an offer of (£71 million last year, but was turned down because the circumstances were different to how they stand today. The reference was obviously being made Milan competing in the UEFA Cup, having missed out of the European Champions League when they finished fifth the Serie A.

Kotschoof was attributed with having said that “the deal would be good for all parties involved (Milan included) and that it would “represent a significant increase in Kaka's salary, on top of the 10% transfer fee that goes straight to the player anyway - some £7 million”.

Earlier in the year Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani confirmed that the London club had made a bid for Kaka and they had turned it down. Following in the wake of Kotschoof’s take on the latest situation, Milan scornfully dismissed the notion that Kaka would be leaving, pointing out that he had a contract at the San Siro 2013 and that he was just not for sale.

There are two things which need to be taken into account here, and that is it may well be that player’s agent, who is supposed to have his client’s interests at the forefront of what ever he does or says with regards to football, might be calling Milan’s bluff in bid a get a better package.

However, this scenario does not seem right given that Kaka has been offered a pretty good deal himself and that he has given back just as much to the club (as clearly illustrated in leading them to Champions League glory last year and being crowned World Football of Year in the process).

And that is why the second issue appears to carry more weight right – there indeed might be fire from where this smoke is coming.

Chelsea certainly have the financial muscle (backed by Roman Abramovich’s billions) to pull off a move of this magnitude. It would be a world record and almost double the present benchmark of Real Madrid when they bought Zinedine Zidane from Juventus in 2001 and paid a staggering £46 million for the Frenchman.

If Kaka does go, and some wish he would – I for one, then Chelsea would be all the better for it, and I reckon they would sweep the English game and go on better than just reaching the final of the Champions League.

By Shaun Orange

Manchester City lost out on their bid to land former FIFA Player of the Year, Ronaldinho, whose move from Barcelona to AC Milan was confirmed in the unveiling of the player at the San Siro.

It was an ambitious plan on the part of the blue half of Manchester to try and lure one of the game’s biggest names to the City Stadium of Manchester, and one – had it come off, would have almost certainly turned the Premier League on its head.

And there should be no-one out there ridiculing the Blues for attempting to do what the more established clubs of European soccer – including England’s “Big Four” do to consolidate their position and use household names for marketing purposes that make their bank managers feel more at ease.

Milan, who went in for Ronaldinho before anyone else, took the initiative a  little before Barca publicly declared that he was no longer part of their long term plans.

The Brazilian ace had prior to that fallen out with Frank Rijkaard before the Dutch coach was forced out at the end of last season.

Still, Milan stalled in their chase for the immensely gifted forward, and then acted swiftly to make the decisive move when City’s Mark Hughes signaled his determined intention to have Ronaldinho play in the Premiership next season.

What should not be lost on those who suggest that City were punching above their weight is what Ronaldinho’s transfer to the San Siro has meant for Milan, and what might have been had he switched to the Eastlands.

For starters, the Italian giants saw a major swoop for season tickets – up by nearly a third on the total 18,000-plus that were soaked up in the close season, in the first two days after it was announced that he was a member of the Rossoneri. Such has been his impact on the 2007 European champions.

In terms of City’s stature, nowhere near as illustrious as Milan - we can only image what he would have done for the Manchester side. However, one thing is for sure, and that is, it would have been a massive injection of interest – and boodle, for the club.

To put it in perspective, Milan reported that their website clocked more than 10 times the average daily number of hits after the club said that the Ronaldinho deal had been done.

Further to that the overwhelming demand for season tickets was greeted by a glitch that left many unable to get in on the act. We cannot say for certain if the same would have happened with City had their secured Ronaldinho’s services, but we have to believe that it would have done wonders for their support and maybe on the field of play as well.

So, with this in mind I would say that they should continue to be ambitious; after all there is nothing wrong with trying to improve their lot.

By Shaun Orange

Arsenal have really upped the ante of Liverpool by making enquiries of their own about Aston Villa’s England midfielder Gareth Barry.

Anfield has being Barry’s preferred destination after the Merseyside club made it clear that they wanted him to team up with his international colleague Steven Gerrard in the Reds’ engine room. However, things have soured for Rafael Benitez, who it is appears is not prepared to cough up the £18 million Villa have valued their captain at.

Things seemed to have stalled further when Martin O’Neill, the Villa boss, is reported to have rejected Liverpool’s advances that were altered to include a player makeweight. A couple of days ago he said that they had received no new offer from Anfield and that they were awaiting an improved bid.

Assuming Benitez has given up on trying to sign one of England’s better linkmen, the Gunners stand to benefit quite nicely.

Barry’s tenure at Villa Park is dead and buried. O’Neill, who tried in vain to convince the player that he should stay with the Midlands club, took exception to the club captain’s views on the manager’s handling of the proposed transfer.

Such was O’Neill fury that he declared Barry unwelcome at Villa Park, prohibiting him from entrying the place and docked the player two week’s wages. This was probably the last straw for the England man, who had a point when he said he only wanted to join Liverpool because they offered him the opportunity to play European Champions League soccer – the desire of every top footballer.

The temptation of playing in the Champions League for Liverpool is a real sweetener. More so when one takes into account just how impressive they have been in the competition – two finals (including the famous triumph of 2005) in the last four years; as well a semi-final last season.

But the Reds are not the only ones who can give Barry the chance to compete at the highest level of club soccer. Arsenal can too, and that is where the irony of this whole saga comes into it.

The more Liverpool delay – that is assuming they still want the player (and they should after all the noises they have made), the stronger the Gunners’ hand gets. Barry, for all the world, cannot go back to Villa Park, so if Anfield cannot afford him, then Arsene Wenger, the Emirates boss, stands to slip in quietly and pinch the player .

But even if Liverpool do lose out to the Gunners, will they regret it? I think not,  if they keep Xabi Alonso. Juventus, who expressed an interest in signing the talented and experienced Spaniard look like they have got cold feet over the deal, and he may well end up staying at Anfield.

It is against this background that maybe Benitez is not as keen as he was initially about bringing Barry in. Particularly, as the £16 million-plus sale Alonso could maybe have fetched, would have been absorbed by paying for Barry.

So, while Arsenal have certainly shaken things up somewhat, and look poised to take the player, Liverpool might not be the poorer for it.

By Shaun Orange

Michael Carrick bemoaned the departure of assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, who has left Old Trafford to take up the post of national team manager of his country, Portugal.

England midfielder Carrick expressed similar sentiments as Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson who said a couple of days earlier that Queiroz was a “good man” and that he played an important role at the club; even if it did not appear so from the outside.

Carrick spoke for the millions of Man United fans when he said that they, as players, understood Queiroz’s decision to opt to lead his country, and added that they wished him well.

He stopped short of saying that as a team, they would dearly miss the Portuguese coach. Indeed, Ferguson himself, will be the one who most misses the service of Queiroz. In biding his right-hand man farewell, Ferguson said Queiroz had done an excellent job and that many of his initiatives were instituted at Old Trafford.

The English champions’ chief also said that there would be no rush to fill in the void left by Queiroz’s departure. However, the sooner the Scot gets someone to fill the post, the better. And with the start of the season still some a month or so away, he could have the issue resolved by then.

The Old Trafford faithful, still sweating on whether or not Cristiano Ronaldo will pull on the famed Red Devils No. 7 jersey next season, could draw some heart from the news that Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov might be on his way to Old Trafford.

The Tottenham player’s agent has said that Manchester United have expressed an interest in his client, but added that he was not at liberty to discuss the matter publicly. Understandable, if negotiations are about to get underway, or already underway.

Recent reports have suggested that Man United are prepared to bring in Berbatov in a move that could cost the European champions anything in the region of £20 million and an £80,000 a week salary.

If indeed Berbatov is traded to Manchester United it would be the fulfillment of one of Ferguson’s wishes. This is so because last season they did try to lure him from White Hart Lane, but their advances were rejected. Even before that, the player himself turned down Manchester United when switching from German side Bayer Leverkusen. He chose to move to London in a deal worth about £12 million in 2006.

Berbatov is a highly-rated striker, sought after by several top European clubs. His two seasons in the Premiership have won him many admirers and he was generously credited for Tottenham’s success in the League Cup last season.

Should he actually find himself transferred to Manchester United, one would not blame Carrick and company for feeling a bit better, even with Queiroz deciding to settle down in Lisbon again.

By Shaun Orange

FA Cup holders Portsmouth completed the signing of Peter Crouch the other day and now Harry Redknapp, the Fratton Park boss, says he is keen to further consolidate his squad.

Redknapp, who won Portsmouth’s first major trophy in more than half a century and will forever be remembered by their adoring fans for doing so, also leads his team into Europe. Their qualification for the UEFA Cup came on the back of their triumph in the world’s oldest and most popular club competition.

And for those who know the wily 61-year-old English coach, he may not spend lavishly but he will spend wisely. His coughing up of £11 million to lure Crouch from Liverpool is mainly due to his ambition to do even better than last season.

And with their victory over Cardiff City in the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium last May, it was the least Redknapp deserved. Looked at in another light, it was also the third time that Crouch signed for the Portsmouth manager. Previously he did so at Southampton and on an earlier stint with Pompey.

Portsmouth finished eighth in the Premiership standings last term and Redknapp will be the first to concede that they might have done as good as sixth. Another three points picked up somewhere along the line would have seen to that.

However, the distraction of an FA Cup final looming took its toll and Pompey sacrificed a few points along the way. Nonetheless, it was a fruitful campaign for Redknapp, during which time he was offered the job at Newcastle and was also in reckoning for the England post.

A dearly loved servant of Pompey, Redknapp will obviously be bent on improving their position in the Premiership, but he will equally want to have a good run in the UEFA Cup.

With Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool tipped to fill the four top spots that come with entry into the European Champions League, the lesser slots are what everyone else plays for (even if Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham beg to differ).

So, a decent showing in Europe will bade well for a club of this size – not big at all, and with nowhere near as much cash to splash as come of the others.

Notwithstanding this, Redknapp has an eye on Tottenham’s £6 million rated French central defender Younes Kaboul and 27-year-old Londoner Nicky Shorey of Reading.

The 22-year-old Kaboul is being lined-up as a long-term buy to bolster Portsmouth’s backline that has three over-30 players: Sylvain Distin (30) of France, and England-born Sol Campbell (33) and Linvoy Primus (34).

Shorey (27), for his part, can fill-in quite nicely at left back and would be a huge boost for Pompey, who already have a decent midfield and frontline. The £4 million rated England international is being touted as support for Hermann Hreidarsson on the left side of the defence.

With the financial backing of Icelandic businessman Alexandra Gaydamak, Redknapp can look forward to bringing in his targets (and maybe more), and indeed field a team strong enough to advance the strides they made in the league last season and put up a resolute showing in their first adventure in Europe.

That is all that Redknapp really needs right now – just to strengthen his side a bit more.

By Shaun Orange

Peter Crouch has formally signed for Portsmouth and Ronaldo could yet be on his way to Real Madrid. Emmanuel Adebayor may soon get his wish to start for AC Milan next season, while Ronaldinho is being offloaded by Barcelona and may line-up alongside the Togo international.

But if the latest discussions related to Chelsea ring true, then the Stamford Bridge club are set to steal the thunder of the off-season's wheeling and dealing.

The Blues are reportedly chasing Brazilian ace Robinho and Spain superstar David Villa. Unsurprisingly, the numbers being tossed about are not small, yet this does not appear to have diminished the ambitions of the team bankrolled by Russian billionaire Roman Ambramovich.

Real Madrid apparently will reluctantly let Robinho go if the buyers can up with a cool £30 million. Villa, the top scorer at the 2008 European Championships and an integral part of both his club Valencia and national team, could cost in the region of £36 million.

In both instances, Chelsea have the liquidity (via Abramovich) to seal the transaction, although it is not clear whether new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will pull it off, just settle one of the two or end up with neither.

However, if the new Chelsea coach is granted his transfer targets, then Chelsea, already with an awesome line-up of stars, would be even more potent. In the event that the super pair do make their way to the west London side, Scolari might feel it necessary to sell a few staff of his own.

If this were the case, one would be inclined to think that Frank Lampard might join his former boss Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan after all. The England midfielder has expressed a desire to stay with the Premiership[ club, but could be heading for the exit if he does not agreed a new, improve d contract with Chelsea. His present deal has a got a year to run still.

Nonetheless, with or without Lampard in the middle of the park, Chelsea would be a lot stronger with Robinho and Villa added to the squad. These are two players who are among the main attractions in Spain’s La Liga. And they would add a new dimension to the Blues’ front six.

Having finished runners-up in the League Cup, the Premiership and the Champions League, Chelsea have brought in Scolari to make the team play a more attacking brand of soccer, while also winning silverware.

And in the Brazilian coach, Chelsea do have a coach with a winning mentality. After considerable success in South America, Scloari led his national team to World Cop glory in 2002. He definitely made an impact as Portuguese national team boss, with semifinal berths in both the 2004 European Championships and the 2006 World Cup.

A fiery character by nature, Scolari’s crossover to the English Premier League has stirred the imagination of many, and now it just remains to be seen if he can deliver the goods for Abramovich. Not doubt, with Robinho and Villa in his side, and Ronaldo departed from Old Trafford. Chelsea could supersede Manchester United as the team to beat when the new season gets underway in the middle of August.

By Shaun Orange

Alex Ferguson is a hard-headed Scot who has enjoyed unprecedented success in the Premier League only because of Manchester United’s financial clout. We all know that, but if he doesn’t get the message sent out by the latest comments of his star player Cristiano Ronaldo, then he should indeed quit game now, rather than later (as he has suggested).

The Ronald saga has been the focal point of almost all the real newsworthy material that has been flung around in the transfer market this off-season, and it looks like continuing, unless of course, the issue is resolved once and for all.

But knowing Ferguson, he won’t budge and maybe that stubbornness will come back to cause him even more distress.

If Ronaldo can come out, as he did when he spoke to a Portuguese television station, and say that he fully agreed with FIFA boss, Sepp Blatter’s stand on the ‘modern  (day) slavery’ in football, then Ferguson should at least realise that the boy wants to play for Real Madrid. It is as simple as that.

There is nothing else one can glean from a player who says (even indirectly) that he wants to move on and is merely being held back by his club against his wishes.

No doubt, Old Trafford will argue that he is ”legally” a Manchester United player and that Real Madrid have no grounds to take him to the Bernabeu Stadium, unless of course, the player himself wants to go there. And that is exactly what Ronaldo has now openly and quite bluntly told Ferguson.

For Ronaldo to tell the world that "we have to wait for the next few days to see” and that he does not know where he will begin next season is nothing short of advising his employers that he is keen on a transfer to Madrid.

Ferguson’s role in the matter is understandable if we believe that he really wants to keep the player so as to not “cause a disruption” in the make-up of the Red Devils. But then we will have to ask ourselves, how many “disruptions” has he caused over the years at clubs across England and all over the Europe and South America? The answer would be a definitive: “too many”.

Does Ferguson remember luring one Eric Cantona from Leeds United (even if Howard Wilkinson was really fond of the player) in a summer that followed the Lily Whites winning the last of the old First League titles. There were several similar instances before and a whole lot more after.

Nonetheless, Ferguson will know deep that he might well have seen the last time that Ronaldo played for Manchester United. The Old Trafford chief has threatened to walk away from the club if they indeed do sell Ronaldo to Real.

I just wonder how strong the Scot would be if this thing does go through and Madrid supreme Ramon Calderon does gets his way. Will Ferguson leave the Theatre of Dreams for someone else to take over without giving much notice – I doubt that.

Ferguson does drive a hard bargain, but I think that even by his standards the Ronaldo lot is beyond him. And it would prove so if the Portuguese winger himself says he wants to go to the Bernabeu.

That he agrees with Blatter’s take on the predicament that some of the top stars find themselves in, is one thing. But for him to declare that it is he who wants a move, could really pierce Ferguson’s armour – hard-head or not; that’s for sure.

By Shaun Orange

There has never been a club that dominated both domestic and European soccer as Liverpool did. Real Madrid might argue that they have a case to make here, but it reality they do not have.

The Reds were the team that showed the world what club soccer is all about in the 1970s and ’80s, and helped spawn the Premier League unlike any other component in English football.

Manchester United, for their part, might contend that they are the heavyweights with THE pedigree in the Premiership. And they would be right, but the idea of the Premier League was mooted long before Alex Ferguson really put together a squad that would make the rest of the world sit up and take notice.

In the days when, first Bill Shankly, and then Bob Paisley, led an English club to unprecedented success in the league and European Cup, there were only a handful of rivals that weighed in with a challenge; and always not long enough to even threaten the Reds.

But those days are gone – long gone. Now Liverpool live off lapping up the scraps of Man United and Chelsea - but mostly Man United.

Rafael Benitez, the Spanish coach who arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2004 and then so famously won the European Champions League in May 2005, is widely seen by many fans as the one man who can win the league title again.

Not since Kenny Dalglish won the old First Division in 1990 have Liverpool being league champions. And, despite what their faithful following might believe, it will be like that for some considerable time yet.

Benitez obviously dreams about clinching the league, which would surely make him untouchable on Merseyside. But with his present stock of players there is nothing to suggest that he can change anything from the fourth place of last season, the third spots of the year before and the 2005/06 season, and the fifth place of his first campaign in charge.

Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard were the outstanding players of last term and they look to be the main drawcards for Liverpool again this time around. But unless Benitez can devise a plan to bring in Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry and add some steeliness to their defence, they will almost certainly find themselves battling to hold down fourth place again – and this time they might not make it.

The boardroom squabbles have been on the backburner recently, but they will hit the front pages soon enough, that is, if they are not resolved by the middle of next month. And indeed, if Liverpool ever are to win the league title again, they will do well to steer clear of the in-house fighting and get the two American tycoons – Tom Hicks and George Gillette, to sort out their differences.

Benitez, who has in the past been caught up in the crossfire of their wrangle, has his hands full trying to bring back the glory days, never mind still worrying about these two selfish Yankees.

The Spaniard won’t get anywhere near succeeding like Shankly and Paisley did, but he could go a long way appeasing the fans with the league title (not the Champions League).

By Shaun Orange

The Cristiano Ronaldo saga, revolving around a potential move to Real Madrid has captivated the world of soccer since the end of European Champions and this weekend hit overdrive with more sustained claims and counter-claims.

The Spanish giants, who won their second successive La Liga title last season, are reportedly preparing to table a £70 million offer for the Portuguese winger at a meeting between the hierarchy of the nine-time European Cup winners and David Gill, the Manchester United Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

That would make Ronaldo the world-record signing and by some way too. In 2001 Real coughed up a cool £46 million for Zinedine Zidane when he moved from Juventus for a record that still stands today.

Manchester United are strongly opposed to the player signing for Real and manager Alex Ferguson has even hinted that he could leave if his ace player is sold to the champions of Spain.

And with talk of his second-in-charge Carlos Queiroz being offered the job as Portuguese national team coach, the departure of both could seriously harm the standing of Man United, to such an extent that it might even take years for them to recover. That would be a shame for a club that won the English Premiership for a tenth time under the guidance of Ferguson and the Champions League last term.

Manchester United are besides themselves over the hype that Ronaldo’s proposed move to Real has stirred, and which was actually started by the player himself who said towards the end of last season that he “dreamed of playing for Real Madrid”.

In the wake of the latest reports, Old Trafford was said to have “laughed off” the suggestions that talks between the two clubs were imminent, and reiterated that he was not for sale.

As if to make matters worse for the Red Devils, Ronaldo is now not expected to be fit for start the new season as he is due to “undergo surgery” for an ankle problem. Unsurprisingly, some quarters have viewed this as a means for the saga to continue without the player getting tied down at Old Trafford. There does seem to be substance in that theory.

The 23-year-old reneged on a promise to publicly comment on the saga after Euro 2008, so what makes Man United believe him when he says that he stills wants to play for them; and that, when he is not even in Manchester?

Prior to the European Championships his mother said that there would be a big statement made by her son – supposedly about his transfer to Real Madrid. This weekend his sister Elma Aveiro, told The Sun (in London) that he wants to stay at Old Trafford.

The latter may well be right, but it is hard to understand why Ronaldo doesn’t just come out and say so himself and put an end the torment that Ferguson, the Old Trafford suits and all the Red Devils’ fans are being subjected to with all this uncertainly. More so if there isn’t any truth to him heading for Spain?

Worst still, Ronaldo took the liberty to endorse his countryman Queiroz as the best man for the job of national team boss. This will have hurt Ferguson - badly, just as much as all that the player has done to refrain from rejecting Real outright and pledging his future to the team that have taken him to the pinnacle of his sport.

But if there is one thing that Ronaldo will have got right, if he indeed does move to Real Madrid, is that he would rather do it now than wait, because come this time next year - he will almost surely not be worth the £70 million that Real Madrid are prepared to pay for him.

So, if I were to give him a piece of advice, I’d say to the lad: “Pack your bags and head for Spain, my boy”.

By Shaun Orange

For a long time now Martin O’Neill as one of the better coaches in the game. He has certainly established a huge reputation for himself as a shrewd tactician who does a marvelous job of getting the most of his players.

And his touch-line theatrics, which have him kicking at an imaginary ball or jumping as if to head the ball himself, have gone some way to help winning over the hearts of those who see him in full battle cry at Villa Park and elsewhere.

O’Neill distinguished himself as winner with Brian Clough’s famous side of the late 1970s and early ’80s, during which time he picked up an English league championship title and two European Cups. He has no doubt benefited enormously from the traits of one of England’s best managers yet.

Those wily moves to spur his players on to greater things than they are actually expected to achieve is something that O’Neill learnt from the great man with extraordinary accomplishment. That was clearly evident in his four-and-a-half years at Leicester City of all places, where he quite brilliantly won the League Cup, not once but twice. Add to that promotion to the Premier League and you should get the picture.

His four years at Glasgow Celtic yielded three league titles, three Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup. That is some success for any manager, more so one who operates on limited resources.

At Aston Villa, where O’Neill has been since August 2006, he steadily groomed the squad and has taken them from 16^th in the Premiership to 11^th and then sixth last season. And now, as he plots his bid to break into the top-four (the Big Four) he has encountered a big problem with trying to keep his inspirational captain Gareth Barry at Villa Park.

The England midfielder has openly declared his desire to move to Liverpool, if only because they offer him the chance to play in the European Champions League. And while it was always going to be difficult to deal with Barry’s lot, it has really taken on an acrimonious twist in recent days, with the player fined and banned from the club.

O’Neill, who handed down the penalty while the negotiations are still continuing, tried to justify his deeds by saying that Barry was out of order in telling a UK paper that the handling of the proposed transfer was bungled by his Midlands club (who have now turned down five offers).

All the while, O’Neill has maintained that he did not want Barry to leave, but would allow it if Liverpool paid the right price (£18 million - the top offer was reportedly around £15m). However, where O’Neill really got it wrong and failed himself was to exact what can only be viewed as a measure of spitefulness by ostracising the player.

That it hurts, and hurts bad, when one’s best player is prized from your midst is as tough as it gets in this game. But that is part of the game and it should not be allowed to eat away at one’s values and end up ruining what was otherwise a rare gentlemanly figure in today’s sometimes slipshod football world.

O’Neill should have been bigger this and I hope he can somehow right the wrong, because I have for a long time considered him the genuine thing.

By Shaun Orange

The transfer market that embraces European soccer, including England, is awash with all sorts of speculation – some of it mouthwatering (if you are neutral). And not only have the signings of players and conjecture being splashed across the pages of the UK pages and postings from all over on the Internet, but it;s been coaches as well.

The most high profile of these over the past week and a bit has been that of Manchester United number two, Carlos Queiroz, who it is understood, is being courted by the Portuguese Football Association.

There have been several calls from leading administrators for the 55-year-old to take over from Brazilian Luis Felipe Scolari, who quit the national team after the European Championships and joined Chelsea.

Some reports have it that the former coach of South African and Real Madrid had discussions with the Portuguese FA, although nothing tangible materialised from these. Some believe that this is because Queiroz has plans of his own to assume the mantle of Alex Ferguson who has said he will step down from the Old Trafford boss by 2012.

Still, there remains a likelihood (and a string one at that) that the Portugal native will not get the biggest job in club football, and he might just be tempted to take up the post of national team manager.

But even this has been sighed upon by some who feel that Queiroz is not his own man and raise his disastrous one-season stint with the Real Madrid in 2003/04 as a case in point. Further still, his detractors add that without Ferguson, he really is not capable of much.

Whether or not this is indeed a reasonable argument, Queiroz remains in the shadow of his countryman Cristiano Ronaldo. Sought after by the ambitious Spanish champions Real Madrid, Ronaldo’s future at Old Trafford is still the subject of intense speculation.

This has gone to such an extent that some reports have suggested that the ace Portuguese winger faces no alternative but to have surgery on a problem ankle. Meanwhile, the European champions said in a statement that medical consultations are still underway regarding the player’s injury and that no decision had yet been taken.

But while the big-wigs at Old Trafford continue to talk of unresolved issues, the hearsay continues to gather momentum. There have been a couple of instances whereby the club attempted to play down the matter while portraying a picture of things returning to normal so far as Ronaldo is concerned.

However, none of these have been totally convincing, and with Real Madrid still an imposing figure in the background, Ronaldo’s tenure at Manchester United continues to hang in the balance.

Even then, Old Trafford is not alone in their struggles to keep hold of their key players or offload a few on the transfer market. Among the real biggies mentioned is Brazil’s former World Player of the Year, Ronaldinho who is been chased by AC Milan and both Manchester City and Chelsea. Scolari had Ronaldinho in his World Cup winning side s2002.

But will Ronaldo sign for Real, or will Ronaldinho move to England? Who really knows with so much still in the air.