Radamel Falcao scored
two goals for Atletico Madrid this weekend, while being monitored by a
Manchester United scout. Photograph: Pedro Armestre/AFP/Getty Images
Manchester United scout Jim Lawlor is believed to have gone some
way towards earning his Colombian Striker Monitoring proficiency badge
by travelling to Spain over the weekend to keep tabs on Atlético Madrid
striker Radamel Falcao, who seems certain to move on to pastures new over the summer. The lank-haired goal-getter scored twice for Los Colchoneros
in their 5-0 demolition of Andalucian La Liga strugglers Granada to
bring his tally for the season to 28 in all competitions. Lawlor's
presence at the Estadio Vicente Calderón came at the end of a weekend
which began with his colleague Sir Alex Ferguson scoffing at Spanish
media reports that he might be interested in offering Javier Hernández
in part exchange for Falcao. "Do you honestly believe that? You amaze me
you people," harrumphed an affronted Ferguson at reporters who asked
him if there was any truth to these outlandish reports that one football
club might be on the verge of trying to buy a player from another
football club.
Elsewhere in Spain, Barcelona's president, Sandro
Rosell, has let it be known that his club wish to bring Borussia
Dortmund centre half Mats Hummels to Camp Nou to help
shore up a defence that has looked a mite porous and vulnerable in
recent weeks. Although Manchester United are interested in bringing
Hummels to Old Trafford, where he is seen as a potential long-term
replacement for Rio
Ferdinand, the player has already said he'd prefer a move to Barcelona.
"My father and I would turn down about 99.9% of all the clubs in the
world if they approached us," he told German newspaper Bild. "However,
Barcelona are one out of two or three teams that could make me consider a
summer transfer."
Hummels's German international team-mate André Schürrle also
looks likely to sign up for his slice of the Premier League pie this
summer, what with last week's speculation linking him to Chelsea
refusing to go away. Today's Mirror reports that the Bayer Leverkusen
striker's "people" were at Wembley yesterday to discuss his £20m summer
move to Stamford Bridge with the club's technical director Michael
Emenalo.
While the Rumour Mill doesn't like sticking its neb into the personal business of other folk, yesterday's news that Frank Lampard
and Christine Bleakley have postponed the wedding they had planned for
June because of uncertainty over his football future would suggest that
talk of him moving Stateside to join the MLS might not be wide of the
mark. According to NBC broadcaster Arlo White, formerly of BBC 5 Live,
LA Galaxy gaffer Bruce Arena has let it be known that he's on the verge
of completing a third Designated Player signing who could be unveiled as
early as next month. The signing in question was expected to be either
Lampard or Real Madrid striker Kaká, but the postponement of Lampard's wedding would suggest the smart money ought to go on him moving across the Atlantic.
Indeed,
White himself is blazing quite a trail in the USA, having moved over
there to become the TV and radio voice of the Seattle Sounders FC in
2010, the Leicester native subsequently made the step up to NBC and is
about to be announced as the main commentator on their Premier League
coverage, which will be anchored by the delightful Rebecca Lowe, with the help of pundits Robbie Earle and Robbie Mustoe.
Out of the studio and back on the pitch, Big Sam wants to spring Jordan Rhodes from the Blackburn Rovers madhouse and offer him sanctuary in the comparatively serene surroundings of West Ham's Boleyn Ground. Since signing from Huddersfield for £8m last summer, the 23-year-old has bagged himself 24 goals for Rovers – no mean feat when you consider it's approximately one for each manager he's played under at Ewood Park.
by Barry Glendenning
source : guardian.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment