Valencia CF

It was only a few months ago that Valencia were a laughing subject in La Liga. Early last season, with the team sitting fourth from the top of the standings, club president Juan Soler fired coach Quique Sanchez Flores.

The results weren't satisfactory, and the events that followed only brought more depression. Under new manager Ronald Koeman, Valencia were battling to keep away from regulation for much of the season.

Financial issues arised as well, and David Villa, David Silva, and Joaquin were all believed to be on their way out. New club president Vincente Soriano managed to hang on to these key players.

It still brought up a massive challenge for new coach Unai Emery entering this season with Los Che.

The 46-year-old led Almeria to an eighth-place finish last season, and has thrived once again in his new home.

David Villa continues to pounce on every opportunity up front, whether it be for club or country. Juan Mata has been a pleasant surprise with six goals of his own, only trailing Villa.

Self-confidence which was hard to spot in the previous campaign, seems to have returned to the Spanish club.

Emery is being proclaimed the new Rafa Benitez having tactics and methods which resemble that of the Liverpool coach. Benitez led Valenica to two league titles and the UEFA Cup during a three-year stint.

Expectations of similar success could be necessary, and Emery should be up to the challenge. The Spanish club has a date with Dynamo Kiev in the first knockout phase of the UEFA Cup.

Currently sitting in fourth place in La Liga (coincidentally), there appear to be no motions for a coaching change in Valencia for the time being.

Why would there be?

On 5 May 2002, Rafael Benitez led his Valencia team out at La Rosaleda.

The team had been locked away in the days prior to the game, meeting no one and conducting no interviews.

In the minds of every Valencia fan, young or old, waiting to see their team emerge from the Malaga tunnel, were the ghostly images of Di Stefano's team clutching the league trophy in '71, the last time the Che had been champions.

It had been a strange campaign throughout 2001 and 2002. The traditional favourites for the title, Real Madrid and Barcelona, both suffered problems with inconsistency, despite being tipped as certs to fight for first and second.

Valencia themselves had hardly performed with distinction, struggling to break down teams they were predicted to beat, and encountering a disappointing 0-0 home draw against Tenerife along the way. All in all, Valencia had drawn no less than five home matches, and eight away games.

But, partly due to the failure of any one side to put a run together, after thirty-six rounds, La Liga was poised.

Roberto Ayala scored early against Malaga, taking the pressure off Valencia. Fabio Aurelio scored near half-time to guarantee the win, and Valencia went far enough ahead to be crowned champions.

It had been a slog, and Valencia had fought, often without impressing. Benitez had been criticised by the Spanish press, and some sections of the Mestalla, for defensive displays and a lack of imagination in front of goal, while others justified the manager by pointing to the gulf in finances between Valencia and their rivals, particularly Real Madrid.

In 2008, Rafael Benitez has a team sat at the summit of English football, suffering negativity in the press and from fans for defensive tactics, and struggling to defeat lesser teams at home. At the same time, however, Liverpool's title rivals are also inconsistent, with Chelsea and Manchester United, both with superior funds and squad values, failing to tighten the gap on the Reds.

Could history be repeating itself?

I wonder.

At work, in between actually working, I tend to check the sports pages for the latest stories. When I did that today, on the Sky Sports website, I read about Rafael Benitez apparently dismissing Liverpool's title hopes by saying the other title sides must "mess up" for his team to be crowned champions.

He compares Liverpool to Valencia, who, arguably, profited from some major slip ups from real Madrid and Barcelona to win their first title in 31 years.

Now as most people who know me are aware, I'm a bit of a cynical man. I see programmes like Pop Idol and Big Brother as the scurvy of TV channels, and today's mass-produced Christmas as a jumped up Coca-Cola advert. I'm just naturally a Scrooge, questioning anything.

So I found it hard to believe that a professional who is usually so cagey would come out and make comments such as these right in the middle of a critical period for his team, and it isn't hard to read between the lines and notice a similar reservation in the way the experienced Sky Sports team wrote it up.

So I delved a little further. The story has appeared in most of the major British papers, but began its life in...

The Sun.

The original article failed to cite any sources or times, simply repeating the phrase "Benitez said..."

Anyone who listens to Benitez's press and media interactions knows his style of speech, to the extent of it being lampooned on Youtube by a Scouse amateur impressionist. He's careful, measured, very cagey and reserved. He always avoids difficult or compromising questions, and will even bend the truth rather than say something that would damage his team or players.

So the quotes in the article simply do not add up. I mean, knowing how the man talks, does any of this sound Rafa?

"For us to win the league we need Chelsea, Man United and Arsenal to mess up their season.

"It is very rare that three teams all mess up.

“So there’s no point waiting for our direct adversaries to slip up because it won’t happen."

For me, that is not Rafa. Most articles, even badly sourced ones, always cite a mythical "unnamed source" as its origin. This one doesn't even bother to do that.

So to my mind, the writer, Steve Brenner, a seasoned Sun hack, is either proving himself a really terrible and amateurish journalist, or lying directly.

Given as it is The Sun, neither would surprise me.

Edit:

Less than a few hours after writing this article, Rafael Benitez did as expected and moved to attack the report, which was apparently a complete misquotation in an interview given to a French journalist, which was then printed by The Sun in a very lazy and amateurish way, without checking or naming sources before going to print.

Of course, not all Sun readers will see the latest statement from Benitez, and many will doubt it as a retraction. Thus the tabloids make a story out of nothing again, and a man is forced to justify something he didn't say. Freedom of the press? I wonder.

La Liga is indeed a strange place, there would be no shortage of stories in this great footballing arena. At the end of last week the entire media was concentrating on the immediate signing of Huntelaar by Real Madrid.

Now it's Valencia's turn to be in the headlines. After a rather disastrous last season, it appeared that Valencia has finally turned things around with the team in contention for the title; or simply put Valencia got back to where they belong to.

Now it looks like the happiness of turning around the performance would be over-shadowed by another bigger crisis they have to face. Valencia is reported to be in a midst of a financial meltdown and there are huge rumours about the club going bankrupt. The report also suggest that they might be struggling to pay their player's wages and have to pay back a huge 50 million Euros by the year end.

At this time there looks like some hopes are left for Valencia with their President assuring that a back up strategy is in place.

Valencia is the third most famous La Liga club after Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. That makes the club too important to fail. In the summer there were rumours about the financial difficulties and everyone expected them to off load at least two of their start players.

Now if they fail to avert this crisis they would have to sell these stars for a much lesser price. This is where FC Barcelona would come to benefit from it. FC Barcelona have made it known about their intention to sign David Silva last summer.

Now this presents an ideal opportunity for them to go for the player. In a survey conducted by Mundo Deportivo, a whooping 83% of people voted in favour of Barcelona taking steps to benefit from this financial crisis by signing Silva.

But in terms of La Liga's future the failing of such a club would be disastrous; nor does the weakening of Valencia ahead of January transfer market. They are a real title contender this season and this crisis comes at the most disturbing time with Valencia taking on FC Barcelona at Camp Nou this weekend.

One can only pray that they are able to come out of this crisis properly. Already there is a situation developing with David Villa—it seems Manchester City, Chelsea, and Madrid all are interested.

Towards the end of last season, if you’d have said that by October, Valencia would be heading the La Liga table, I’m sure most people would have either shaken their head in disbelief or laughed rather loudly at you.

Here was a team that was officially the laughingstock of La Liga, fighting with each other and languishing in a disastrous 15th place.

Yet now that is precisely what new man in charge Unai Emery’s team are doing, thanks in no small part to the man himself, and making a mockery of last year’s disastrous campaign for Los Ches.

Perhaps outside of Spain, Emery seemed a surprise appointment for Valencia. Very little was known about him. He had little profile outside of Spain and seemed perhaps too green for the Valencia job. Yet in fact, the 36-year-old from the Basque country was perhaps the perfect appointment for Valencia.

After the all too public trials and tribulations of the Ronald Koeman era last season, where the dispute with club captain David Albelda, and club legends Miguel Angulo and Santiago Canizares threatened to completely destroy the club's season and drag the team into a relegation battle, Emery’s appointment has very much calmed the water and allowed the team to achieve their full potential and deservedly lead the table in Spain.

But perhaps that should be expected, for Emery is very much in the mould of two of the more successful men to take over at Valencia in recent times: Rafael Benitez and Quique Sanchez Flores.

Like Benitez and Sanchez Flores, Emery is taking over at a young age, 36 (Benitez was 41, Sanchez Flores was 40). Also like Benitez and Flores, he has achieved much at a smaller club before joining Valencia: He helped Almeria achieve their highest ever finish in La Liga, while Benitez led Tenerife to promotion and Flores led Getafe to a respectable 13th in La Liga.

Finally, like Benitez and Flores, Emery is very much a surprise and unheralded appointment, meaning that not only does he come with a low profile, but he can also be allowed to manage in his own unique way without the extra pressure to succeed that can accompany the appointment of big name managers.

So how has Emery taken Valencia to the top? Firstly, he managed to keep David Villa and David Silva, who are both vital elements to his game plan. Following their summer exploits with Spain, these two were both much coveted by some of the big clubs around Europe over the summer.

Managing to keep them was a considerable coup for Emery, because if they had left then Valencia would have struggled on two fronts. Firstly, fans would have been disappointed and indeed perhaps angry that two of Valencia’s top players, and indeed fans' favourites, would have been allowed to leave. Secondly, their departure would have left Emery missing two of the best players in La Liga and needing to replace them.

As it is, however, Emery has been able to base much of Valencia’s attacking game around these two, with Villa playing as the lone front man and Silva dovetailing neatly in support. This has provided Valencia with a quality attacking threat and a cutting edge upfront, and Villa in particular has responded to the faith shown in him by Emery by scoring six goals in six games.

Secondly, Emery has very much united a squad that was at times resembled a squabbling, disorganised rabble last year. He has welcomed David Albelda and Miguel Angulo back into the squad and has made them vital parts of his team, a move which further appeased fans, as these were two of Valencia’s better and longest-serving players.

Their return to the fold, combined with a relative lack of signings over the summer (Renan, the goalkeeper was the only main arrival), plus the removal of some of the more disruptive members of the squad—Ever Banega and Marco Caneira, for instance—has made the squad a much more united group, and in turn has seen an improvement in performance.

This has meant that Emery has been able to get regular consistent performances from a squad, which though it struggled last season, highlighted its quality by winning the Copa Del Rey.

Thirdly, Emery has benefited undoubtedly from the poor start of the "big two" in Spain. Up until their 6-1 victory against Atletico Madrid, Barcelona still resembled a side who were a work in progress and need to show they can perform consistently week in week out. Champions Real Madrid have made an even poorer start, drawing with Espanyol over the weekend and struggling to beat Betis the week before.

On the playing side, the team are missing that star quality which Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival was supposed to provide. Allied with the unpopularity of chairman Calderon and uncertainty over Schuster’s future, this has meant that the champion’s title defence has started off shakily, thus allowing the likes of Valencia and Villarreal to take the lead in Spain.

Even so, this should take nothing away from Emery and his Valencia team. He has broken the record for the best ever start by a Valencia manager and deservedly leads the way in La Liga.

For Valencia fans, while there is a long way left to go in the rest of the season, they must hope that this achievement is a sign of things to come under "miracle man" Unai Emery.

Valencia are the third most popular team in Spain, and a constant thorn in the sides of the top two, Real Madrid and Barcelona.

They also, as they love reminding anyone who will listen, deserve recognition as one of the "big boys" in La Liga, with six league titles and seven Copa Del Reys.

Their team boasts some of the best talents in Spain; Villa, Silva, Vicente, and Joaquin are just some of the impressive names Los Ches are lucky to have in their line-up which, at least on paper, is strong enough to compete for the league title this season.

Clearly this paints a rosy picture of the club's current state, but is it really all sunshine in the Mestalla?

Sadly, no.

Valencia have constantly whined about the amount of attention Real Madrid and Barcelona receive, but they can finally rejoice as the spotlight will be on them this season, albeit for all the wrong reasons.

Goodbye Benitez [2004-2005]

Like any team, Valencia needs men in suits to operate the club. But, unfortunately for Los Ches, in 2004 those men were as useless and inept as management can possibly be.

Valencia’s management has been invoking the wrath of the fans and the ridicule of spectators for as long as I can remember; but the most recent fiasco gained prominence with Juan Soler’s arrival on 2004, which coincided with the departure of Rafa Benitez.

Benitez’s famous quote, “I asked for a sofa and they gave me a lamp”, pointed the blame toward the men in suits, and it is where the blame should rightly be placed.

Soler, who bought the majority of the club's shares and became the president, tried to amend the mistakes of the previous managment and convince Benitez to stay. But the coach decided that enough was enough, and insisted on leaving while he still retained his mental health.

Claudio Ranieri was the unlucky successor in charge of creating a winning team out of a talent-studded yet dysfunctional dressing room, and with a pesky managerial nose peering over his shoulder.

After one season and a seventh place finish, Ranieri was sacked, and the next victim, Quique Flores, was brought into the slaughter house.

Flores to The Rescue [2005-2007]

Flores proved he was the man for the job, finishing in third place after a very impressive first campaign. He even managed to finish fourth the following season, despite numerous internal conflicts and spats.

Flores was hailed as the man who could handle the lunacy of Valencia, and returned the club to the right path. In the fans' eyes, he was the new Benitez.

But in 2007, after some disappointing results and endless conflicts with the management, the "new Benitez’" was sacked, after both the club and the fans turned against him.

Soler can rightly argue that he couldn’t avoid the departure of Benitez as the mess was created before he arrived, but he repeated the same mistake as the previous management—by sacking the only coach to achieve any form of success.

Common sense states that not many quality coaches have the stomach to handle the mad house that is Valencia, so when you find someone who does then, by all means, you hold on to him as if he was dear life itself.

Sadly, common sense is not so common after all (least not at the Mestalla), and Valencia hired their third coach in four years, Ronald Koeman.

Koeman? Oh My! [2007-2008]

A widely accepted consensus is that Koeman was happy to be the management’s puppet in the hope that he could keep his job long enough to move onto better things—possibly even to slip into the vacancy left by Rijkaard’s imminent departure at Barcelona.

However, six months later, Valencia were too close to the wrong end of the table and in real risk of relegation.

While he dragged down Valencia, Koeman also managed the great feat of ousting Albelda, Angolo, and Cañizares , the most loyal players on the team.

The sight of Albelda crying in a press conference, coupled with the team's disastrous performances, turned Koeman and Soler into hated figures in and out of Valencia.

On October 2008, Koeman was unceremoniously dismissed from the job, and the three outcasts were allowed to return to the club. Valencia finished the season in 10th place under caretaker Salvador Marco, or Voro.

Change was imminent for the blighted club.

Ding Dong, The Witch Is Gone [summer of 2008]

If this short summery makes you think Valencia had turned into a circus, then you have seen nothing yet as the drama, backstabbings, resignations, and mayhem in the boardroom itself are enough to produce a soap opera that would make Mexican television look like a lighthearted sitcom.

In a desperate final attempt, Soler hired a financial consultant, the shady Juan Villalonga, only to fire him two weeks later. After four years of disasters and an impressive display of single-handed destruction, Soler finally started getting sick of his toy and decided to sell his shares in the club on the summer of 2008; but not before announcing that the club is “a dying patient.”

Valencia are in serious debt; the original debt was 439 ME, and 350 ME for the new stadium—making the total a staggering 789 ME (about £642m).

Valencia must pay 150 ME (around £122m) by the end of this year to avoid going bankrupt.

As Stubborn As a Bat

In comes Soriano, the new president of Valencia and major shareholder.

Villalonga suggested in the media that the club must sell some of its star players in order to survive, and everyone expected a major clearout, with the team setting free some of their most expensive bats.

But Soriano had another plan—sell all the players returning from loans, keep your best players (David Villa alone could’ve brought in more than 50 ME), and give them new contracts you can’t possibly afford.

In a mind boggling move, Soriano rejected ludicrous offers for European champions Villa and Silva, one of them coming from the new Chelsea, Manchester City.

One can only wonder whether Soriano actually has an alternative plan, or if Valencia will have to endure the same fate as Fiorentina.

The New Guy in Town

Valencia’s latest coach is the young Unai Emery. At only 36, Emery is hailed as one of the most promising managers in Spain after he achieved wonders with Almeria, leading them out of the second division and into an eighth place finish in the first Division—all in just two years at helm.

Whether he can manage to keep his head from falling remains to be seen, but he is off to a good start in La Liga with a convincing 3-0 win against Mallorca. Things are relatively quiet in Valencia, and will stay that way as long as the team is winning.

But Los Ches can’t contain the storm for long, and this season will be decisive for Valencia. Will they be able to pay the debt and recover their status as one of the titans in Spain?

Or are the fans and the players doomed to pay for the mistakes of the men in suits?

The season can be said to have officially kicked off with yesterday evening's first leg of the Spanish Supercup at Valencia. And evening it was, with a kick-off at 10:00 p.m. local time, which must mean that everyone in Spain must be on holiday, or that Spaniards need less sleep than the mere mortals who watch other leagues.

Whatever the case, there was a certain sleepiness about Real Madrid, especially in the middle of the pitch and the makeshift defence, belied by the fact that they went ahead through Van Nistelrooy. The Dutchman showed that he has lost none of his killer instincts, latching onto a De la Red pass to slot coolly past Hildebrand.

Together with Casillas, who had by this time already made a couple of trademark reflex saves—one from Villa and a deflection by Salgado—they were Real's best players on the night (plus ça change...). Van der Vaart did look bright at times, which is a relief, given that Sneijder won't be back for a while yet.

By contrast, Schuster identified the trio of Salgado, Raúl, and Robinho as the game's worst performers by substituting them part-way through the second half. Salgado, as has been the case for some years now, just does not have either the speed, nor the positioning to merit a spot on the starting eleven (if only he'd gone off to QPR...).

Raúl just seemed to be suffering particularly badly from the generalised somnolence displayed by most of his teammates and Robinho, despite loud assurances from all quarters, did look to have his mind elsewhere (South London perhaps?).

Valencia turned the game around with two goals in three minutes shortly after the break. The first, to Real's chagrin, was scored by Juan Manuel Mata, a product of Real's youth policy who was sold to Valencia last year. The second came from a header by Villa after an inch-perfect cross from that man, Mata.

Schuster brought Robben on, with almost immediate effect. A thundering run down the left flank, followed by a cross into the heart of the Valencia six-yard box saw his countryman Van Nistelrooy volley it past Hildebrand and draw the scores level once more.

But it was not to be. Ten minutes from time, Vicente, in a struggle with Ramos and Heinze in the Real area, got his foot to the ball first and ensured Valencia travel to the Bernabéu next Sunday with a one-goal advantage.

View the original article at the All In White blog.

In the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa, Real Madrid fell to Valencia 3-2. The defending La Liga champions saw an early lead evaporate as their defense could not hold against the dynamic Valencia front line.

Despite Valencia controlling much of the play for the first half, los Blancos jumped on the board first when Ruud van Nistelrooy put away a shot at a tight angle completely against the run of play.

While "Van Gol" would go on to add another goal in the second half, it was not enough to counteract Valencia's 12 shots on goal and skill of David Villa.

The Golden Boot winner from the European Championships earlier this summer ran wild all over the field and while he was caught offside at least three times he caused utter havoc in the Madrid back line.

If Madrid has any aspirations of repeating as La Liga champions they will need to solve their defensive issues.

Here is a rundown of my ratings of each player for Real:

Iker Casillas, 4. He made some great saves in the first half of the game but was caught out in the second half and should have done much better on all three of the goals.

Michel Salgado, 4. Had little effect on the game in a positive sense going forward and looked completely overmatched on defense.

Javi Garcia, 3. Looked stuck in no-mans land in the center of the back line constantly throughout the game. He is a young player with a lot of potential but against Villa he was completely overmatched.

Gabriel Heinze, 4. Did not much better than Garcia. He made a few saving tackles but overall looked very rusty and a step slow.

Miguel Torres, 3. Was caught with too much space between himself and the center backs, which gave the attacking players for Valencia way too much space.

Mahamadou Diarra, 4. Gave the ball away far too easily in the first half. He got better as the game progressed and even looked dangerous going forward on a few occasions. Should have done better dropping back in defense.

Ruben de la Red, 5. Showed a few bright signs of what his future could hold but was invisible for long stretches of this game. His pass to Van Nisterooy lead to the first goal of the match but did little else the rest of the game.

Rafael van der Vaart, 6. His free kicks were a highlight of the game, causing problems with their superb pace and great placement. He needs to be more assertive controlling the game and possessing the ball.

Robinho, 4. Did not look menacing once on the wing. He was almost a non-factor and for a player of his skill, that is unacceptable.

Raul, 5. Seemed to come on as the game progressed. In the first half he made almost zero touches but as the game went on he got more chances and almost slotted home a goal that the Valencia keeper just beat him to.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, 7. The only reason Madrid got on the board. Van Nistelrooy made a fantastic move to score the first goal of the game and while most of the second goal should be credited to Robben, Van Nistelrooy was in the right place and the right time to pound it home.

Subs:

Sergio Ramos, 5. Immediately brought a calming influence to the game and looked great controlling the ball going forward. Was lax on defense where he seemed out of tune with the others at the back. Looked more interested in controlling the game than doing his job on defense.

Arjen Robben, 7. He looked menacing running down the left side of the field and it makes you wonder why he was not in the game longer. The Dutchman made a fantastic run past three defenders to set up the second goal.

Guti, N/A. Was not in the game long enough to get a good reading on the Spanish playmaker. That being said, he did not look as comfortable on the ball as usual, giving it away a few times on easy passes.

Atletico Madrid are looking at signing Barcelona’s Mexico captain Rafael Marquez, so the defensive player can join compatriot Javier Aguire and fellow defensive recruitments Johny Heitinga and Thomas Ujfalusi. (Sky Sports News)

The Spanish club have also abandoned plans to sign a host of players, such as Porto’s Lucho Gonzalez, Hamburg’s Rafael Van Der Vaart, Werder Bremen’s Diego and Juventus’ Thiago. This is because the players’ signings would disrupt the wage structure at the Vicente Calderon. (Sky Sports News)

Bristol City have had a bid for Nottingham Forrest striker Nathan Tyson turned down. The offer was believed to be around three quarters of a million. The former Reading player has one year remaining on his current deal, but he has been offered a two-year extension. Forest have also completed the signing of Wales striker Robert Earnshaw from Derby County for two and a half million. (Sky Sports News)

Tottenham are set to sign Crystal Palace’s 16-year-old first team player John Bostock subject to a tribunal agreeing a fee for the England youth International. (The Times)

Finland striker Mikael Forssell has left Birmingham and signed for German Bundesliga side Hannover 96 on a free transfer. (The Times)

Wolves and old firm duo Rangers and Celtic are battling it out for the four million pound signing of Burnley’s Northern Ireland International Kyle Lafferty after the player announced his intention to leave Turf Moor this summer.  

Derby County have completed a double raid on championship rivals Watford, by signing striker Nathan Ellington for one million and full back Jordan Stewart on a free transfer. (Sky Sports News)

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres will get a four million pound pay raise to his current contract to stop interest in the Spain International from Chelsea. (The Sun)

Everton will bid eight million for Manchester City’s England International Michael Johnson this summer. (The Sun)

Wolsburg and Monaco are keen to take Manchester City’s Italian striker Rolando Bianchi away from Eastlands this summer. (The Sun)

Another striker on the brink of leaving Eastlands is Belgium International Emile Mpenza, who is being chased by Bolton, Leicester, Reading and Ipswich. (The Sun)

West Ham could be on the verge of signing Reading’s England left back Nicky Shorey, after five million was quoted by the royals. (The Times)

Sunderland hope to pip rivals Portsmouth and Aston Villa to the signing of Reading’s Ireland winger Stephen Hunt for five million pounds.  This is despite fact that the former Brentford is currently on his honeymoon, and negotiations not expected to be completed until mid-June. (The Times)

West Ham are willing to listen to offers of around five million for centre half Anton Ferdinand. Tottenham are rumoured to be readying a bid. (Daily Mirror)

Crystal Palace will make a third bid for Sheffield United striker Danny Webber, after having two bids for the former Manchester United and Watford striker turned down in January. (Daily Mirror)

Former Scotland cap Kevin Kyle could be set to sign for Southend United to try to resurrect his fledging career. (Daily Mirror)

The old firm are both interested in Middlesbrough’s captain and Dutch International George Boateng. (Daily Mirror)

Aston Villa and Tottenham will go head to head with eight million pound bids for Manchester City’s England keeper Joe Hart. (Daily Star)

Juventus have signed Brazilian striker Amauri from Palermo for around 18 million, with Italian midfielder Antonio Nocerino going the other way. (The Guardian)

Wigan will sign Zamalek attacking midfielder Amr Zaki on loan if the Egyptian club can find a replacement. (The Guardian)

Southampton will try and resign Chris Baird from Fulham. The Northern Ireland right back would be available for a knock down price. (The Guardian)

Barcelona may seek out Inter Milan with a trade; The Catalans want to exchange their player Samuel Eto’o for Inter striker Zlatan Ibramovich in a straight swap. (Various)

Although apparently Barcelona are lining up a move for Thierry Henry’s International strike partner David Trezequet from Juventus. (L’Equipe)

Rangers want to sign Juventus’ Italian winger Raffaele Palladino for five million. (Daily Star)

Manchester United will allow reserve keeper Tom Heaton to join Cardiff City on loan in the hope of stealing a march on their rivals in the race to sign teenage prospect Aaron Ramsey. (Daily Mail)

Espanyol have turned down a 9.5 million pound bid from Liverpool for their former Manchester City and Spain winger Albert Riera. (Various)

Werder Bremen, Villarreal, Valencia and Bayern Munich are all interested in signing out-of-favour Peru striker Claudio Pizarro from Chelsea. (Bild)

Tottenham could sign both Giovanni Dos Santos and Richard Dunne in a 17 million pound deal, five million for Dunne and 12 million pounds for Dos Santos. (Various)

• Celtic is interested in Croatian International Ognjen Vukojevic. The Hoops are preparing a four million pound bid for the Dinamo Zagreb player. (Sky Sports News)

• Gretna keeper Craig Fleming is set to snub Crewe Alexandria and sign for Oldham Athletic instead. (Sky Sports News)

• Aston Villa will come back in for Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, after the Villains were priced out of a move for England captain Scott Carson. (The Sun)

• Lewes manager Steven King was sacked after getting the team promoted to the Blue Square Premier. (The Guardian)  

• Tottenham has registered an interest in Valencia striker David Villa and Real Zaragoza Striker Diego Milito, although moves for the players depend on whether the club sells Dimitar Berbartov. (The Guardian)

• Barcelona wants Sevilla players Seydou Keita, Christian Poulsen and Daniel Alves for next season, and are prepared to spend big to get them. (ATP)

• Thierry Henry may be ready to leave Barcelona for the MLS and sign for the Seattle Sounders. The Frenchman would be entitled to a $5.2 million per year salary. (Various)

• Newcastle is close to signing Turkish winger Arda Turan from Galasteray, right under the nose of arch-rival Middlesbrough. But any deal for the winger could result in the departure of Damien Duff from St. James’ Park. (Sunday Star)

• Arsene Wenger is keen on replacing Mathieu Flamini with any of his fellow countrymen; high on the list are Marseille’s Samir Nasri, Lille’s Jean Makoun and St. Etienne right-back Mahamadou Dabo. (Sunday Telegraph)

• Liverpool’s John Arne Riise will snub a move to Newcastle for Champions League football with Schalke 04 next season. (News of the World)

• Everton are tempted to bid 11 million pounds for Spanish winger Joaquin Sanchez, after news of Valencia’s financial problems hit the continent. (News of the World)

• Tottenham will declare their interest in West Ham striker Dean Ashton or Newcastle Striker Michael Owen if their bid for Barcelona’s Cameroon International Samuel Eto’o fails. (The People and the News of the World)

• Spurs boss Juande Ramos is close to tying up an eight million pound deal for one of his former charges at Sevilla, defender Adriano Correira. (News of the World)

• Liverpool will turn to Middlesbrough’s English winger Stewart Downing, if Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry doesn’t sign. While the reds are also preparing the finishing touches to a combined thirteen million pound deal for Espanyol winger Albert Riera and Udinese full-back Andrea Dossena. (The Liverpool Echo)

• Celtic, Portsmouth, and Sunderland are all interested in signing Birmingham’s Scottish striker James McFadden, despite his insistence that he’ll stay at St. Andrews and help with promotion back to the Premier League. (Sunday Express)

• Aston Villa are back in the hunt for Arsenal defender Justin Hoyte, after a 4.5 million pound bid was rejected by the full-back last summer. The Villains are also keen on wrapping up a seven million pound deal for Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell. (News of the World)

• Roy Keane will try and take advantage of the unrest at the City of Manchester Stadium with an eight million pound bid for Ireland native Steven Ireland. (News of the World)

• Chelsea has already had enough of former Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka and are prepared to cut their losses with the Frenchman this summer. Anelka just signed with the Reebok in January for 15 million. (Sunday Mirror)

• Inter Milan Coach Roberto Mancini is desperate to become the new Chelsea manager this summer. (Various)

• Manchester City could perform a U-turn and ask Sven Goran Erikkson to stay at Eastlands. But the former England manager has already started talking to Benfica and Mexico about their managerial vacancies. (Sunday Express)