Archive » 2009 » July » 31

Mark Viduka is ready to agree a one-year deal with Portsmouth after they failed to lure Croatia striker Nikola Kalinic to Fratton Park. Viduka, 33, has turned down a similar offer at Hull to link up with Pompey boss Paul Hart and postpone his retirement until next summer. The Australia striker is free agent after being released from Newcastle at the end of last season in the wake of the club’s relegation from the Premier League.

Source: Daily Mail

Arsene Wenger is poised to break into the £40million he has received from Manchester City by tying up a deal for long-term target Blaise Matuidi. And it looks increasingly likely the youngster will be mentored by Patrick Vieira, who could be on his way back to Arsenal. Fans concerned by the lack of transfer activity will be cheered by the news that Wenger is ready to splash cash from the sales of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure to City on St Etienne’s £5m-rated defensive midfielder Matuidi, a France Under-21 international.

Source: Daily Mail

Arsene Wenger’s preferred midfield target this summer is the Roma and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi, and despite the Italian club’s reluctance to sell Arsenal have not given up hope that Roma’s perilous financial position could force a sale. Like Liverpool’s pursuit of De Rossi’s Roma team-mate Alberto Aquilani, the player’s future is bound up with the financial problems of the club and the long-term plans of the Sensi family who own it. De Rossi, 26, is regarded as the most important player at the club behind Francisco Totti and is valued at around £30m, which is far in excess of any transfer fee paid by Arsenal in the past. While De Rossi’s reputation in England is not distinguished because of some of Roma’s less than impressive Champions League performances in recent years, he is regarded in Italy as one of the country’s finest players.

Source: The Independent

Manchester United are set to launch a £35million bid for Franck Ribery. But the Premier League champions will wait two weeks before weighing in so that a clause in Ribery’s Bayern Munich contract is active. The French winger is due a loyalty bonus on August 14, after which he is expected to request a transfer. Bayern have fended off interest from Real Madrid whose arrogance and lack of respect infuriated the German giants. But Ribery has indicated he would be willing to move to Old Trafford and wants to quit Germany.

Source: The Sun