Kaka is possibly the best counterattacking player in the world, which would be excellent for Madrid's style of play. That said, Ozil and Ronaldo aren't exactly shabby on the counter either...
Fit Kaka would be a dream player for counter attacking side and he would fit perfectly for Madrid against Barca. I think he has lost a bit of acceleration and pace which was his lethal weapon, still a quality player. If he is completely free from his recurring injury then we will see what he is capable next season..
Sahin- Lass-Alonso
Ozil - Ronaldo- Kaka
Jeez, Its so hard to fit in all players, Higuain, Benzema, Khedira are missing from that team..
Madrid have such a good attack, shame their defence isn't the best. Still, they need Sahin, he's the missing link between defence and midfield which Khedira and Lass aren't.
Alonso - Sahin looks a little lightweight for a double pivot imo. Excellent passing range, but no true destroyer.
Joss, you forgot about Carvalho.
Arsenal are prepared to sell Andrey Arshavin in the summer to fund the building of a new squad. Arsène Wenger has begun to cast the net for new signings and is understood to have indicated that Arshavin is surplus to requirements at the Emirates Stadium.
The club would want to recoup the £15m that they paid to Zenit St Petersburg in January 2009 and could reason that now is the time to do so, as Arshavin has two years to run on his contract and there has been little desire on either side to open negotiations over fresh terms. The difficulty, though, would be to find a club willing to match his £85,000-a-week wage.
It may come as a surprise to realise that Arshavin is comfortably Arsenal's appearance leader this season, with 51 in all competitions of which 15 have come as a substitute. He has contributed 10 goals, and the Arsenal manager has expressed the view that the forward's "numbers" have been acceptable.
Yet some of his performances have not met the standards expected of him and, for the first time in his Arsenal career, the Russia international has found himself on the outside looking in when Wenger names his strongest XI in the Premier League. Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri have established themselves ahead of Arshavin on the flanks, which has been the source of no little frustration and bemusement to him.
Arshavin has faced questions about his attitude, with a section of the Emirates crowd criticising him for a perceived lack of effort. His laid-back body language does not help in this regard but there has also been a feeling inside the dressing room that Wenger has indulged the player, who turns 30 on Sunday week, absolving him of the responsibility to track back. Arshavin has infuriated some of his team-mates in training with his lack of work ethic.
Wenger has felt that Arshavin's mercurial genius can compensate for the negatives but his patience has worn thin. Arshavin, who is known for his self-confident and outspoken nature, did not help himself last season when, on more than one occasion, he went public over his "dream" of joining Barcelona; even Wenger had to tell him to quieten down.
It is unclear precisely how much money Wenger will have to spend this summer. Supporters, who have been asked to pay an extra 6.5% on their tickets for next season, hope it is a considerable amount though many of them wonder what became of the £39m that Wenger raised through the sales of Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City in 2009, which did not appear to be reinvested in the squad. Wenger, however, is aware of the need to wheel and deal and Arshavin has been identified as a saleable asset.
The manager, as usual, is channelling most of his efforts into the French and African markets and he is not expected to splash out on expensive, big-name additions. He has said that his priority is to keep his existing key players, chiefly the captain, Cesc Fàbregas, who is a perennial target for his former club Barcelona, and Nasri, who is yet to sign a new contract and is poised to enter the final 12 months of his deal. Gaël Clichy also has 12 months to run but Wenger is confident of Kieran Gibbs's ability to step up, if required.
Not looking to rubbish anybody else's information, but as far I know, Arsenal haven't made any approach for Barça's Héctor Bellerin.
Concerned by the paucity of tearful, preening, pouting, Portuguese goal-getters strutting around Eastlands, Manchester City will attempt to "smash the world transfer record" by bringing Cristiano Ronaldo back to England, according to an "exclusive" running in today's Mirror. As a Real Madrid player, Ronaldo has scored 38 La Liga goals in 37 games so far this season, three more than Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko, Jo, Adam Johnson, David Silva and Carlos Tevez have mustered between them in the English top flight. But it was in the Champions League, specifically against Barcelona, that he was heard to voice his understandable frustration at being marooned alone up front by his manager José Mourinho. Quite how he'd feel about being played as an extra goalkeeper in the kind of defensive line-up adopted for big games by Roberto Mancini, is open to question.
If City are to lure Ronaldo back to Manchester from the Santiago Bernabéu, they'll have to buy him out of a £100m contract on which there's four years left to run. Considering the persistence of murmurs linking Udinese's Chilean winger Alexis Sanchez (£30m) and Tottenham's Welsh winger Gareth Bale (£40m) with the world's richest club, it's probably fair to say that for little Shaun Wright-Phillips, the City jig is almost certainly up.
The traffic out of Eastlands may not be one way, according to today's Metro, with Juventus rumoured to be considering moves for Carlos Tevez and Edin Dzeko, not to mention scampering Arsenal touchline-hugger Theo Walcott, who might prefer to go and win nothing in a slightly warmer climate, for a change. In dire need of some width in their struggling side, the Turin outfit are also reported to be interested in Dutch international Royston Drenthe, the Real Madrid winger who's just spent an eventful season labouring on loan at recently relegated Spanish side Hércules. Elsewhere in Spain, Kaka insists he's not leaving Real Madrid for England or Italy, while Valencia are keeping tabs on Barcelona striker Bojan Krkic, who it seems harsh to continually criticise for not quite cutting the mustard at Nou Camp, considering he's still just a whelp of 20 years of age.
In a welcome story that has nothing to do with Manchester City, the Mirror reports that Liverpool "have made a formal approach" for Ligue 1 leaders Lille's 20-year-old winger, Eden Hazard. With Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid also reported to be interested in the £20m-rated Belgian attacking midfielder whose mum and dad both played football at a decent level, Kenny Dalglish will have his work cut out to lure him to a club currently unable to compete with their rivals in terms of offering silly money or Champions League football.
Despite being the hot tip to replace Edwin van der Sar at Old Trafford when the imposing Dutch goalkeeper retires this summer, imposing Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg has told reporters that he has thus far received no offer from Manchester United, but has had a "fantastic" one from his current club Ajax. "There has been nothing else, zero, maybe because I've been injured," he told reporters, before issuing United with a decidedly subtle come-and-get-me-plea: "Anybody who does not want to play for Manchester United would be insane," he declared.
Bolton centre-half Gary Cahill is confident of forsaking the Reebok Stadium to take up residency in the heart of Arsenal's porous defence next season, subject to Arsène Wenger dusting off his cheque book and handing over £15m. Manchester United have also been sniffing around the sought-after Trotter. Meanwhile at the San Siro, Milan are prepared to offer Tottenham former Arsenal favourite Mathieu Flamini and a big bag of money in exchange for White Hart Lane dressing room japester and midfield enforcer Sandro. We're telling you now, that one won't happen.
Not content with having one disappointingly inconsistent African striker on their books in Ghana's finest Asamoah Gyan, Sunderland will add another by rescuing Senegalese forward Demba Ba from West Ham, in a bid to fill the Danny Welbeck-shaped hole set to appear in their squad once the Manchester United loanee returns to Old Trafford. In even more underwhelming transfer news, Fulham are prepared to end Paul Konchesky's Liverpool pain, possibly because his replacement at Fulham, Carlos Salcido wishes to go home to play for the "Rayados": reigning Mexican and South American Champions League title holders Monterrey.
not to mention scampering Arsenal touchline-hugger Theo Walcott, who might prefer to go and win nothing in a slightly warmer climate, for a change.
According to Marca, Mourinho asked the board to sign Agüero and sell Benzema for 40m because he won't feature in his plans.
According to Marca, Mourinho asked the board to sign Agüero and sell Benzema for 40m because he won't feature in his plans.