It’s all a bit transfery today in the world of Arsenal with Emmanuel Adebayor, Alexander Hleb and Barcelona’s Yaya Toure dominating the headlines.
First up is Togolese striker Adebayor who has again been linked with a move to AC Milan. Adebayor is odds-on to leave the Emirates stadium, and betting men can utilise the Bet365 bonus codes to wager on the striker eventually leaving this summer.
According to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper in Italy rumours are growing that the Togolese striker wants to leave Arsenal for Milan. And while there are no quotes from the player himself there the following statement was made by Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti about his desire to bring Adebayor to Italy.
“I want a top striker and so does the club. Drogba? Adebayor? Either or, we have to see which one of them is ready to come to Milan.”
Forgive me for not getting riled up about this situation but to me the deal is pretty simple. Indeed, it’s clear that Milan and Ancelotti want to sign Adebayor but what is nowhere near as clear is that Adebayor wants to join Milan.
I can’t say 100% that Adebayor will stay at Arsenal (you just can’t in this day and age) it is worth pointing out that no statement has ever been made by the player or his agent and the only statements that he has made have related to his desire to stay at Arsenal. So while I admit it’s certainly not case closed, I also feel there’s no need for any Arsenal fans to get too worried about these rumours.
In other transfer news the word on the street is that Arsenal are negotiating to bring Yaya Toure to the club as part of a swap deal with Alex Hleb. Now, much as I think Toure would be the perfect signing to cover the loss of Mathieu Flamini the unfortunate reality is that – much like the Adebayor rumours – there are no quotes to back up this rumour and as a result, it should be taken with a pinch of salt.
Bilic the new Mourinho?
Anyway, moving on to Euro 2008 matters now. Did anyone watch Croatia’s marvellous 2-1 win over Germany last night? It was scintillating stuff and gave the Holland-Italy match a good run for it’s money as the best game of the tournament so far.
I have to say that I have a bit of a man crush on Slaven Bilic at the moment. Very rarely do young managers do their job as well as he did against Germany and it was brilliant watching him live and breathe every moment of it from the bench. His tactics were perfect against the Germans and it will be interesting to see how far he can push his side in this tournament. Is he the new Jose Mourinho? Quite possibly.
Tonight sees arguably the most interesting game of the second round of fixtures as Robin van Persie’s Holland takes on France. I’ll be getting up at 4.45am Brisbane-time to watch the game at home with my younger brother and it should be riveting stuff. Looking forward to it.
That’s all for today, have yourselves a good one.
What do you think?
Have your say on Adebayor, Toure, Bilic or Euro 2008 by leaving a comment.
What? Adebayor not going to Milan? too bad,we could use the money to buy Villa..lol
I hope Holland win tonight. I want a fresh Nasri/Gallas more than I want a fresh RVP. RVP should not be totally knackered out by a tournament after a season in which he hardly played. So strange as it sounds I wouldn’t mind France exiting the competition at the group stage. Italy need to beat Romania. Either that or the Romans need to qualify (which could happen).
the Adebayor and Yaya stories are not much to talk about. they are hardly even rumours. the Hleb story has more to it. He is quoted as saying he might stay now. Oh thats nice Hlebby mate. Whats to say we still want you, you ungrateful piece of flesh. Great player but nobody uses Arsenal and gets away with it.
Hope Bilic is the manager of Arsenal one day…. hes great. I’ve never seen a manager so passionate.
I love Slaven Bilic but I like him so much I would go as far as to say he is the new Wenger, not the new Mourinho. I was dicussing Bilic with a mate of mine last week and we both agreed that we would be happy for someone like him to take over from Arsene – not yet obviously but when Arsene decides he has had enough. Him and Bilic get on very well so I could see him coming in the future to be groomed.. any thoughts anyone?
I’m glad to see I’m not the only Arsenal fan who’s a fan of Bilic. He’s definitely not the new Mourinho, though: He’s a like-able character!
Just to clarify, my mention of Bilic being like Mourinho is more down to his age and the way he’s just popped up onto the scene than him being likeable. He could become hot property, the way he goes about his job, in the same way that Mourinho was at Porto.
It’s worth adding that I would love to have him at Arsenal down the track if he can continue proving himself as a top quality manager.
Yep. SF, I have to agree with the rest that Morinho was a poor comparison, although I understand what you meant. The special-needs one is a believer in win-at-all-cost anti-football; Bilic’s Croatia play brilliant football: technically sound, fast, and physical as well.
I just finished watching Romania-Italy. What a fantastic game of football. The Italians will feel robbed. They were. But that feeling that there is some grand conspiracy against them is almost as satisfying to them as winning. I don’t even have to hear Buffon speak to know what he will say.
Croatia vs Germany was awesome. Croatia did a great job playing aggressive football without compromising at the back. The tournament is actually really producing quality games lately. Portugal-Czech Republic was also wide open end to end stuff. As vlcgooner said Italy vs Romania was also a very good game. What a save by Buffon on that pk! That man is not human I tell you. It’s a good thing he saved that too or Italy would have been robbed more than they already were/are.
As for Bilic I like him alot too. His emotions are quite refreshing. I also had a laugh as one of my mates said he looks like the Bruce Wayne (Batman) from the comic books.
Brilliant football by the Dutch.
Although I couldn’t help but think France looked a wee bit like a certain English club team the way they conceded so quickly after scoring.
I can’t believe Robben tucked that in.
wow the dutch are definitely on fire… I love how vanPersie puts it in with his first touch of the ball =] but man… kudos to that team
poor gallas =P
What an amazing game. Sneijder’s goal to wrap it up was just brilliant. You have to say that Romania are looking the goods to get through at Italy and France’s expense…
The Dutch are simply irrestible. 3-0 against the world champions and 4-1 against the world cup runners up. Glad Van Persie scored but did anyone see the trick by Van Nistelrooy to set Robben off to cross for RVP. Super! Robben and Sneijder both scored beauties and no-body fancied Holland or Romania to qualify and look! Holland have topped the table no matter what and Romania sit second, Hopefully Spain can do well against Sweden. C’mon Cesc!