Transfer round up - part 1

The January transfer window is seen as a burden by many clubs, but to some it is a window of opportunity. QPR, Newcastle and Reading, suffering towards the bottom of the Premier League have already strengthened ahead of the relegation battle, Chelsea and Liverpool have both added to their squads with exciting new additions to spice up their season, while the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal are yet to make a move in the window.

ARSENAL

The Gunners are notorious in the January market for being reluctant to splash out, and that looks the case so far in 2013. They are yet to make any official bids for players, their attention and money should be focused on retaining their influential winger-turned-striker Theo Walcott.

Names mentioned so far include Crystal Palace playmaker Wilfried Zaha although his future looks as though it will be at either Manchester United or his current club. A striker could be on Arsene Wenger’s wish list as they have looked a little light in their attack. Having lost goal-scoring machine Robin Van Persie in the summer, they replaced him with Lukas Podolski, who has mostly played on the left, and Olivier Giroud who has failed to find real form, inconsistent displays have left Arsenal fans wondering. Schalke’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar claims that he has been the subject of enquiries from English clubs; Arsenal could be one of those clubs, while Edinson Cavani of Napoli is another rumour circulating. Yann M’Vila has been linked with a move to London but Arsenal is probably not the destination in which he is heading. Big-spenders Queens Park Rangers have already had a bid accepted according to some reports.

Departing from Arsenal in this window are Marouane Chamakh and Johan Djourou on a temporary basis. The former has joined London rivals West Ham while the latter has flown to Bundesliga side Hannover 96, both on loan until the end of the season.

ASTON VILLA

Paul Lambert’s Aston Villa have struggled this season, having played the majority of their games with a young team, 23-year-old Barry Bannan often having been the most experienced outfield player in the team.

Villa were busy in the summer, signing 8 new players in an effort to build on a poor season until Alex McLeish. New captain Ron Vlaar was signed for around the £3million mark, impressive youngsters Ashley Westwood and Joe Bennett were signed for around £2million, while their most expensive signing has proved to be their most effective, in Christian Benteke from Genk for nearly £7.5million.

So far, the only real story to report is that they look to rival Fulham for 29-year-old Dnipro midfielder Derek Boateng. The Ghanaian international has already held talks with Fulham after they agreed terms and attended a successful work permit hearing. He is free to leave his current club in Ukraine so he could join either team for a cheap price. It would be quite a coup for the Midlands club if they could steal this experienced player from a Premier League rival so late in the game.

CHELSEA

It wouldn’t be Chelsea if they didn’t have a turbulent season. The Champions League holders had a busy transfer window where they spend over £70million strengthening ahead of the race for the Premier League and Champions League. Things have not exactly gone to plan for the Blues, having been knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage, fallen behind in the title race, and the surprise sacking of Roberto Di Matteo has not helped matters massively. The appointment of former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has not exactly done any favours where the fans are concerned, they continue to air their views about the Spaniard during the majority of matches.

Chelsea beat off competition from both Manchester City and United to sign Eden Hazard and he has proved quite a signing. He has scored 8 goals and bagged 12 assists for Chelsea in all competitions, making up a substantial part of his £35million transfer fee. Oscar and Victor Moses were both expensive signings for Chelsea and probably weren’t expecting as much game time as they’ve been getting, surprising to the fans who expected Moses to play a bit-part role in the squad. That hasn’t been the case and both players are regulars in the team. Cesar Azpilicueta joined from Marseille and played his part well enough, a good squad player, a luxury that a lot of teams cannot afford to have. Roman Abramovich is to be admired for spending as much money as he does to get the players he needs and thinks will make a big impact to the team.

Rafael Benitez made his first signing early into his reign, signing young Fluminense full back Wallace for around £4million, although the Brazilian wonder-kid won’t join the Stamford Bridge club until the summer. The Blues made one of the first moves in January, activating the £7million release clause of 27-year-old Demba Ba from Newcastle. The Senegalese striker made an immediate impact on his debut, scoring 2 goals in a 5-1 FA Cup demolition of Southampton at St. Mary’s Stadium. It is unknown whether he will form a striking partnership with out-of-form Fernando Torres or if Chelsea will play just one striker, either Ba or Torres.

Chelsea allowed Daniel Sturridge to leave the club early in the window to join Liverpool, freeing up a place in the squad for Demba Ba. Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole are both out of contract in the summer, it is unknown if Cole will be retained but where Frank Lampard is concerned, it looks as though he will either be sold this month or released in the summer. This comes as a big blow to Blues fans who believe he deserves a new contract. It has been a season of records for Super Frank, he marked his 500^th Premier League appearance with a goal against Aston Villa in an 8-0 win, and he also became Chelsea’s 2^nd highest goalscorer when he tucked away a penalty against Stoke, taking his tally to 194 goals, 8 goals behind Bobby Tambling. Sam Walker, Todd Kane and Lucas Piazon have all left the club on loan, joining Colchester, Blackburn and Malaga respectively.

In my personal opinion, Lampard should be signed up for at least another season. Lampard has a good few years left in him, I find him to be better than Giggs and Scholes who look safe at Manchester United for the foreseeable. If he goes, he must be replaced; one player whom has been linked is 20-year-old Isco from Malaga. He is ‘one of the most sought after players in La Liga’ right now and a deal could be on the cards. Some reports claim that Chelsea have secured the first option to buy him in July. Nordsjaelland defender Jores Okore, Real Madrid playmaker Kaka and Everton star Marouane Fellaini have all been linked, the latter has been rumoured to have a £24million release clause in his contract.

EVERTON

The Merseyside club have had a successful season; it would be worth putting some money on them to get into Europe by May. To cement that position, they may have to spend a little bit of cash in this window. They currently lie 5^th in the league and look good to at least get Europa League football. Arsenal and West Brom are hot on their tail but both have had inconsistent runs of form and could miss out at the hands of Everton.

In the summer, they brought back Steven Pienaar to Goodison Park from Tottenham after a fairly unsuccessful spell in North London. His return on a permanent basis has given the club and fans a big boost and he has played a big part in getting the team where they are. Kevin Mirallas joined from Olympiakos and showed early promising signs but his progress has slowed due to injury. David Moyes took advantage of the downfall of Rangers, bringing in Steven Naismith from the troubled Glasgow side on a free transfer. Tim Cahill left for New York Red Bulls but Everton seem to be doing just fine without him.

Rumoured targets for Everton include Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila, however as previously mentioned, his name is also the subject of many other team’s attention; Arsenal, QPR and Newcastle are among several teams wanting the 22-year-old. Money is tight at Everton so their proposal could be a loan deal with a view to a permanent move in the summer, this probably won’t be enough, Rennes are hoping to get £10million in this window for the player. One player who looks like he could join is Etienne Capoue from Toulouse. Reports in France claim Moyes has bid £8.5million for the 24-year-old midfielder who has been linked with West Ham and Arsenal in recent weeks.

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Norwich make bid for out-of-sorts Swansea striker Danny Graham

Norwich City have lodged a bid of around £5million to tempt striker Danny Graham to Carrow Road.

Early today, another Premier League club sunderland lodged a bid in the region of £3-4million to lure him to Martin O'Neill's Black Cats revival. Danny Graham is openly a Newcastle United fan, but there has been no approach from the Tyneside club yet.

Striker Danny Graham who is unsettled at Swansea City has urged for a move back to the North East and it remains to be seen which club will be in for him and there may yet be more bids from clubs such as Reading and Newcastle United.

Tell us which club you think Danny Graham will join and tell us in the comment section below.

Written by David Robson 

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Liam Milburn's column: It's A Rich Man's World

To start with, welcome to the blog and a big thanks to David Robson, the admin of the blog for giving me this role. As you can see in the title, my name is Liam, I’m currently at college studying TV & Film Production and you can see my work at www.youtube.com/liamjmfilms. I’m from the North East so as you can imagine I adore, live and love football. I support the two best teams up here; Newcastle United and Gateshead. This is my round-up of the big headlines and little headlines that may have slipped under the radar.

I start today with the news that Loic Remy turned down the chance to join my beloved Newcastle to join lowly Queens Park Rangers. See, when I first heard that he did not fly to Newcastle Airport, instead to Heathrow Airport in London, the deal smelt strongly of a Mr Harry Redknapp. This man is a venomous snake in the transfer market, with his late deal sealing method and ‘in the know’ approach during any press conferences. While I’m sure the release clause in Demba Ba’s release clause would have been released anyway, it would have to be Dirty Harry who tapped up our former Senegalese superstar for the minimal fee of £7million. Again, Newcastle have a striker snatched from their grasp by the proclaimed ‘wheeler and dealer’.

But through all of this, I don’t blame Harry; he is merely doing the job he was hired to do, keep down-and-out QPR in the Premier League. The person I hold accountable is the player in question. He was all set for a move to one of the most passionate, football loving cities in the United Kingdom, but was side tracked by an eleventh hour, mega-money bid by the Hoops of West London. Alan Pardew today said that he wasn’t willing to pay ridiculous money for Remy, which is totally understandable as he isn’t in the greatest of form. But news today in the Evening Chronicle that Remy turned down the chance to see the stadium, training ground and the wonderful city because he wanted a lie-in.

This news only confirmed my previous thoughts, he sounds to me like a very lazy, money-orientated player. I can only assume he hasn’t heard too much about the two cities football-wise. If he knew anything about English football, it would be impossible for him to turn down a move to St. James’ Park, packed every weekend by over 50,000 hyperactive Geordies, myself included. He has instead chosen the uncomfortable, unforgiving London, playing in front of around 16,000 less enthusiastic fans in comparison. I do not intend to offend any Queens Park Rangers supporters or anyone who lives in London; I am merely airing my views. I'm not a big fan of London personally, but it's the way I've been brought up. Personally, I would find it hard as a footballer to turn down Newcastle. I can only imagine there will be a relegation release clause in his contract, a player of his standard would not want to play in the Championship.

In conclusion, I am slightly relieved that Loic isn’t a Newcastle player. The last thing we need is another player like Michael Owen, driven by the cash in his back pocket. Before the deal was scuppered, I was very enthusiastic about the thought of Remy, Cisse and Ben Arfa as our attack. The next name on the striker shortlist is Gabonese-French 23-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays for Ligue 1 side Saint Etienne in France. He has scored 8 league goals this season, as well as a hefty 16 last season, the same as Demba Ba. It sounds to me like he is a decent player with bags of goals and potential, but I personally don’t see a deal likely. Lower down on the list are Peter Odemwingie, Jeremie Aliadiere and Danny Graham, all names that do not excite me massively. The latter is the only name I would accept at Newcastle. Being a hometown lad, I think he could flourish on Tyneside but a deal to take him to Wearside looks more likely. This comes as a surprise, bearing in mind he told a journalist he would like to stay as far away from Sunderland as possible, preferring a move to non-league Gateshead than the Black Cats. As far as I see it, things don’t look great. On the field, Loic seemed ideal, despite his poor record of form. He can play on the wings, up front and as a second striker. QPR have an okay deal if he can score important goals for them, but with a large price slapped on his head, he could become a scapegoat for the fans if things go wrong.

I do wish him the best of luck at QPR, the news coming from London today is that a game of FIFA 13 with owner Tony Fernandes settled the deal, very obscure news but Fernandes sounds to me like a very good, down-to-earth businessman.

A friend brought a YouTube clip to my attention on Monday morning; the link is available here. This clip sums up what I hate about the sport. For those who are reading on a mobile or haven’t got the time to watch it, the clip shows Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh and Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri walking to the Emirates Stadium ahead of the game on Sunday. The pair are mobbed by fans and Nasri is practically assaulted. Ever since Samir left North London for Manchester in the summer of 2011, he has been the victim of hate from fans in the capital. In the clip, he is teased, shoved, called a ‘traitor’ and a ‘w*nker’. I watched this clip with a disgusted look on my face for the entire 1 minute and 33 seconds. The title alone made me feel sad enough; ‘NASRI AND CHAMAKH ABUSED BY ARSENAL FANS’.

Ask yourself, what is the point? Football is a sport and more recently, an economy and a form of entertainment. These players entertain the fans week after week; Nasri brought minor success to Arsenal for a good three years. How can a man be a traitor for simply moving clubs? I’m sure he went for the money; I’m not trying to contradict any of my arguments about Remy, please understand I do not like the idea of money being thrown around willy-nilly. Arsenal did not have to accept the bid from City, and the deal would never have happened. Arsenal had to wait a full season before they could find a real suitable replacement for Nasri, in the form of Santi Cazorla from Malaga. It may have suited Arsenal better if they were to keep him for the season, let him build on his price tag. A footballer or even an innocent human being does not deserve to be harassed and attacked in the street, simply for moving football clubs.

If you moved house because you would be getting more money in a new job there, or saving more money by being in that area, and you saw your old neighbour in the street, would you expect them to run over with a camera phone, teasing and assaulting you? I don’t think you would! Regardless of what Nasri has done, fans should draw a line under it and move on. Keep your thoughts in your head, and leave the man alone. He is just one of us, for Christ’s sake. The same applies for Marouane Chamakh, he may have had an unsuccessful spell with Arsenal but it is not your right to abuse him.

Let us know your thoughts on these matters by tweeting us @Ultimate_blogs or by leaving a comment below.

Loic Remy picture courtesy of www.thesun.co.uk

Follow me on Twitter: @LJM_96

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