Essien Suffers Knee Injury

Knee injury for Blues ace Essien - Football365.com

Chelsea have confirmed midfielder Michael Essien has suffered a knee injury during pre-season training with the Blues this week.

The 28-year-old Ghana midfielder, who missed much of the 2008/2009 campaign after sustaining anterior cruciate ligament damage while on international duty, will be assessed by the club's medical staff before any further prognosis.

A statement on the club's website read: "Michael Essien suffered an injury to his right knee during training this week.

"He will undergo tests over the next few days to determine the extent of that injury. Until we have the full results of those tests we will not be commenting further."

Awful news for Michael Essien if this turns out to be as serious as it sounds. Four seasons ago he was the most effective (and ignoring Spurs players, my favourite) midfielder in the Premier League, but his career has been repeatedly hampered by knee injuries since.

Clearly he was nowhere near his best last year but there were signs he was slowly coming back to form towards the end of Chelsea's campaign and I sensed a full pre-season could see him ready to make big impact in 2011/12. Sadly there are already rumours that this could be further damage to his cruciate ligament - and that's a season ender before the season even begins.

Fingers crossed it's not as bad as first feared.

Cheers,
AM

Modric Staying...For Now

BBC Sport - Luka Modric 'will not submit Spurs transfer request'

Luka Modric has no plans to hand in a transfer request at Tottenham, according to his agent Nikky Vuksan.

The Croatia international, 25, hinted he would like to join Chelsea but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is adamant the midfielder cannot leave the club.

Vuksan told BBC Sport: "I don't think he'll hand in a transfer request. He will honour his contract.

"He wants to play Champions League and win trophies. The only way we can resolve this is to sit down and talk."

He added: "Luka will report today for training and will do his best, as always."

Earlier in the summer, Modric was the subject of a £22m bid from Chelsea, which was rejected by Spurs.

Modric met Levy on Wednesday and Spurs' chairman revealed he had made it clear that the player would not be allowed to leave the club.

"That's the end of it," Levy said. "As I said a few weeks ago there's no further discussion. He was on holiday so we've now had the conversation and he understands our position."

Vuksan insisted he wanted to avoid any acrimony with Tottenham though.

"I have never been in a situation before where a player has had to fight a club and it's not something we want to do," he said. "The only official offer so far is from Chelsea and we haven't talked to any clubs.

"It's no surprise that there is interest in Luka though, because he is a top, top player."

I suppose this should be good news, but reading between the lines, I very much doubt we've heard the last of the saga.

"I don't think he'll hand in a transfer request" is hardly a statement of Modric's intent to stay from Vuksan. He follows it up with "He wants to play Champions League and win trophies. The only way we can resolve this is to sit down and talk.".

Unfortunately sitting down and talking to Levy/Redknapp will not put Tottenham back in to the Champions League for the coming season, so this would suggest both player and agent still intend to push for a move to Chelsea/City/United.

I'm expecting another bid of £30m+ from one of those clubs before the end of the transfer window which could be the tipping point, and sadly I don't believe Modric will be a Spurs player when the clock reaches 00:00 on 1st September 2011. Feel free to prove me wrong Luka.

Cheers,
AM

Liverpool In For Adam Again...

...and this time it appears they've got him.

BBC Sport - Liverpool agree deal to buy Blackpool's Charlie Adam

Liverpool have reached agreement with Blackpool for the transfer of Scottish midfielder Charlie Adam.

Adam, 25, travelled to Merseyside on Wednesday for a medical and to discuss personal terms.

Another central midfielder to add to the Anfield pile, but will he be able to start in the same team as Gerrard? I have my doubts about that as they both thrive in a similar position and like to be at the fulcrum of everything their team does.

It'll certainly be interesting to see how it plays out, but one things for sure; expect it to be detrimental to both players from a fantasy perspective, with them sharing corners, free kicks & possibly even penalty duty.

Cheers,
AM

Clichy Close To Man City Move

A number of UK media outlets are reporting Gael Clichy is set to leave Arsenal in the next few days, with the left-back close to sealing a move to Manchester City. It is understood that the French defender will complete a move to Eastlands once he passes a medical and agrees personal terms.

This would be a fine signing for City. Three seasons ago Clichy was considered one of the best left backs in the Premier League, so if he can recapture that form (and at just 25 years old he has every chance) then they could be grabbing themselves a bargain. £7m is the price, reduced significantly due to the one year remaining on his contract.

Any deal will surely see 2010/11 fantasy favourite Aleksandar Kolarov moving on along with Wayne "yeah I'm still here" Bridge and leave Arsenal with options regarding a replacement. Do they give young Kieron Gibbs his chance or do they actually spend some money? A big decision in a summer of even bigger decisions for Arsene Wenger & Co.

Update: City are reportedly in for Nasri too according to Sky Sports this evening...

Cheers,
AM

2011/12 Fixtures Released

Premier League 2011/12 Fixtures have been released... 

...and the opening weekend matches are as follows:

Saturday, 13 August 2011
Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland, 15:00
Man City v Swansea, 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal, 15:00
QPR v Bolton, 15:00
Stoke v Chelsea, 15:00
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00
West Brom v Man Utd, 15:00
Wigan v Norwich, 15:00

Just 56 days to go! 

Cheers,
AM

Who Next For Liverpool?

I had planned to write a piece on the increased transfer activity from the past 48 hours which has seen two English youngsters on the verge of big money moves (Henderson to Liverpool, Jones to Man Utd) and a pile of rubbish about to be dumped on Sunderland (Gibson, Brown & O'Shea) but Jeremy and Neal had already covered the subject over on Fantasy EPL.

Instead I'll turn my attention to Liverpool's next move/s in the transfer market. Dalglish is aware he still has a number of areas of the squad to strengthen and it's clear the new owners mean business, so we can expect to see some more cash-splashing over the next 6 weeks.

Read more »

If You Had To Choose One...

I know the majority of transfer stories at this time of the year are utter nonsense, but this is more a general question to Arsenal fans regarding the future of their team.

We all know the Cesc Fabregas to Barca rumours have been boring the hell out of us for a few years now but the latest story doing the rounds is regarding Samir Nasri's new contract. If you missed it, here are the quotes from the BBC:

Read more »

Spurs Sign Friedel

Friedel To Spurs - tottenhamhotspur.com

We are delighted to announce that Brad Friedel has agreed to join the Club on a two-year deal. The former Liverpool and Galatasaray goalkeeper has established himself as one of the Premier League's leading players in his position.

Manager Harry Redknapp said: "Brad is a top goalkeeper of real quality who has great experience. It is good to have three such experienced top goalkeepers at the Club in Gomes, Carlo and now Brad and it means we have competition for places particularly with the number of games we will hopefully face next year both domestically and in Europe as well."

An interesting signing. There's little doubt that 40-year old Friedel is coming to the end of his career but he is still one of the most consistent keepers in the league. It appears he's been given assurances over the No.1 shirt so with Cudicini signing a year extension last month this will surely mean Gomes is on his way out of White Hart Lane this summer. Despite what Redknapp says about "competition for places" he doesn't need all 3 of them.

I'm aware Spurs can't afford or attract a top European keeper without Champions League football, so I'm reasonably happy with this move. What are your thoughts?

Cheers,
AM