On an unrelated note... any word in Germany about Mertesecker signing with The Arsenal in the January transfer window?
Arsenal told that they will have to compete with Manchester United and Chelsea to land £20m Per Mertesacker from goal.com so take it for what it is worth...
I just do not see Wenger paying that much. 20 mil quid is massively inflated..... Man City will happily write that check though!
Mertesacker is nearly too slow for the Bundesliga these days. He'd get eaten alive in the Premiership.
Great Valdez goal today [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuGFjrNt9ls&feature=player_embedded"]YouTube - Hercules CF vs Atletico Madrid [ 4-1 ] Nelson Valdez nice goal ( 10.01.11)[/ame]
Yeah, Serie A would fit him better. La Liga and EPL, he would probably get torn apart. Anyways I have no idea why United of all teams would be after Mertesacker when they have along with Inter the best back 4 in the planet and have Evans behind the 2 world class center backs...
That's nice for Valdez. Again, I did say long ago that Valdez leaving Dortmund would be great for him and for Borussia Dortmund.
United isn't after him EQ. The reasons you stated are the best ones if you need a footballing reason. I have to say I find it hilarious that Man U. is linked with every player out there this transfer period. I could have sworn SAF made it clear weeks ago that Man U. would not be active in this transfer period. But this is something clubs like Man U., Arsenal, LFC, Chelsea, Man Shitty and Bayern have in common. Linking a player with those clubs gets hits and sells papers.
even if any of those clubs wanted him man shitty would just out bid em anyway and pay him a lot to warm the bench on a regular basis once they snap up another cb becasue someone else wanted him ,,, have ingolstadt got audi money and essentially fc audi or are they jsut sponsors with minimal backing? they seem to be linked with a lot of people lately and seem active in transfer market with a lot of "old pros" on big money i mean its wichiarek but why for footballin rasons would he go to fc audi over bl 1 and koln? or did koln reject him
That's BS. Man Shitty isn't going to put in bids on a clunker like Mertesacker just because someone else might want him. I don't like Man Shitty myself, but I'm not going to sit here and accuse them of silly shit. ,,, Audi will do what they can to keep FCI in the 2. Liga. Is FCI "FC Audi?" No. That would be FC Bayern München and will probably be that way for years to come. Audi is one of Bayern's biggest sponors. But Audi has poured a lot of money into the new Audi Sportpark in Ingolstadt and they will want to keep 2. Liga football going there. I don't think they will do any more than that. I don't think Audi will "bankroll" FCI to do more than do decently in the 2. Liga. FCI doing any better than that would represent a big conflict of interest for Audi. What "old pros on "big money?" Who exactly are you talking about? Adu?? He's on his last legs outside the USA. He can't command any big money. Buddle? He might get a bit of money, but again, he's a cheap partial solution for their striker issues. He's seen as the long term answer to that problem. But, if Buddle does very well in this half of the season, they will sell to the highest bidder in the summer. You can bet on that. Wichniarek?? If this is what you mean, come on....... Wichniarek is a free transfer. He's only signed through the end of the season, so you can bet he's not on a big salary. As far as your Köln comment, looking back, I doubt very much 1. FC Köln was ever in for Wichniarek. I'm betting Wichniarek's agent put in a call to Koln to try to better their bargaining position with Ingolstadt. 1. FC Köln has Podolski, Novakovic, and Freis on their roster for the striker position. They've also got 21 year old Romanian striker Alexandru Ionita and their "problem child" Adel Chihi, has made it known he wants to make amends and stay at the club. With those guys on the roster, why in the holy hell would 1. FC Köln want a has-been like Wichniarek?? Another reason Wichniarek might have chosen FCI is that his old Bielefeld coach, Benno Möhlmann is in charge at FCI. I think Wichniarek actually made a good move in going to FCI. The 2. Liga is about his speed these days and he's at a club where he's valued and will immediately step in as a team leader. If he does well there, others will notice and he will be able to write his own ticket (within Germany and within reason anyhow) for his next move.
saying the first thoughts that come into my mind dont always translate as rational sometimes im wrong on adu last time i heard abt him he was the next big hting in us football i assumed hed wandered along that chosen path
I thought it was a case of assuming. Adu was always over-hyped. I called that one when he was still a kid. First time I saw him play in the USA, I knew it. People called me crazy, told me I didn't know what I was talking about, but I hit the nail on the head with him.