SoccerZero » Offical New

Martin Demichelis to join Malaga

RQ — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 10:36:32 +0000

Primera Liga club Malaga have signed Argentine defender Martin Demichelis from FC Bayern on loan.

30 year old Demichelis will initially sign on loan until the end of the season, but the deal could be made permanent if the Argentine impresses and Malaga manage to stay in the Primera Liga.

Demichelis joined Bayern in 2003 from River Plate and has been at the club for seven years making over 200 appearances for the German side.

If the deal is made permanent in the summer the fee would be around 3 million euros.

The McDonald Mariga transfer saga

RQ — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:57:07 +0000

The transfer of McDonald Mariga from Parma to Inter Milan has been an interesting ride. The The 22 year old Kenyan defensive midfielder evoked a lot of interest from Italy and England. Tottenham and Manchester City were in pole position to sign the midfielder. Under their Italian boss Roberto Mancini, City moved quickly and tabled a €10 million for the player which was accepted by Parma.

Mariga had the option of signing for Italian League leaders Inter Milan but chose to come to the lucrative Barclays Premier League with Manchester City. City agreed personal terms with the player and he passed the medical at Eastlands only to have his work-permit application rejected.

After having his dream move to City blown to smithereens, he didn’t waste any time in talking to officials at Inter Milan. The move to Inter which was secondary when City were in the fray suddenly gained huge importance with the clock ticking towards the transfer deadline. With Inter having sold Mancini to their cross town rivals AC Milan, Mariga was seen as an apt replacement. Mariga signed a four and a half year contract with Jose Mourinho’s side.

Under this backdrop, his decision to choose City over Inter could have been financially motivated. That he did not choose to wait for six months at Parma to try and join City in the summer tempts one to think if he really wanted to further his career prospects in England. But Inter nonetheless are a big club and Mariga’s star will rise if he performs consistently for the Bianconeri.

Manchester City target Mariga and Johnson

RQ — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:57:14 +0000

Manchester City have stepped up their efforts to sign Kenyan defensive midfielder McDonald Mariga from Italian giants Parma. Roberto Mancini’s side have bid €10 million for McDonald and it has been accepted by the Italian club. Manchester City are in the process of rushing the work permit application so that they player could complete the impending transfer before the January deadline.

The 22 year old who has 26 caps for Kenya against his name also generated interest from Italian champions Inter Milan. But City swooped quickly to sign him ahead of Jose Mourinho. Parma wanted the permanent signing of Valeri Bojinov as part of the Mariga deal. The Bulgarian striker is currently on loan at Parma from Manchester City. But City are reluctant to let go of Bojinov. Mariga will become Mancini’s second signing for City after Patrick Vieira.

Manchester City are also stepping up the chase for Boro winger Adam Johnson. City’s £5m offer was turned down by the Riverside club and Johnson was refused permission to speak to City. The authorities at the Championship club believe that the club would get a higher fee from the tribunal’s decision when Johnson leaves on a free at the end of the current season when his contract expires.

Kamel Ghilas and Stephen Hunt

RQ — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:36:57 +0000

Kamel Ghilas
1 of the duo signings, along with Stephen Hunt signed by Hull City, had arrived days before the new season. Hull City signed Algerian striker Kamel Ghilas from Celta de Vigo at a reported fee of £1.7m. He should be able to boost the amount of goals scored for Hull City after last season’s average of only a goal per game. He was linked to Blackburn as Santa Cruz’s replacement before eventually being hijacked by Hull.

Stephen Hunt
It cost Hull City £3 millions to sign him from Reading. After a few good seasons with Reading, returning to the English Premier League with Hull City is a refreshing change for the winger. He is known for his footwork and creative, along with his work rate as a winger to run across the field with endless stamina. He would probably be developed into a playmaker for the team.

Both of these players will likely be featured in their opening match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Can Hull City displayed a repeat of their last season with tremendous results for the first 10 matches? The pressure falls on the shoulders of both these players now.

Kasper Schmeichel

RQ — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:36:27 +0000

The son of former Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel, who had won the Treble with Manchester United in 1999, Kasper Schmeichel joined Nott County, the oldest professional club in the world, on a 1 year loan deal. He is the 2nd goalkeeper to have been loaned out by Manchester City to have earned first team experience after Joe Hart returned from Birmingham City as his loan is over. Both of the goalkeepers are currently 22, and already are top class keepers in the making.

To date, Kasper Schmeichel has made less than 10 starting appearances for Manchester City since he made his debut in Aug 07 against City’s rival Manchester Utd. During his debut, Manchester City won 1-0. Notts County will be the 6th club he plays at after being loaned out to Darlington, Bury, Falkrik, Cardiff City and Coventry City beginning from 4 season ago.

It looks like Sven-Göran Eriksson isn’t joking when he declared that he would lead Notts County to the top of the English league within 5 years. Notts County has played 2 games so far, both ending with clean sheets and having a total of 9 goals scored.

Having secured the talents of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, Notts County’s path to the English League 1 has been made much easier this season.

Michael Mancienne

RQ — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:00:51 +0000

The next big player coming out from Chelsea Youth Academy after John Terry? Last season, he saw himself feature in 2 of Chelsea matches toward the end of the season to see himself voted as “Chelsea Young Player of the Year” award. He was previously loan out to Queen Park Ranger and Wolves before. With only 3 month he spend with Wolves last season, he already feature in 10 matches for them and make some impact. That 1 of the reason why Wolves was so keen in loaning him again for their Premier League Survival season. Without much chance of playing in Chelsea, with John Terry, Alex, Carvalho being priority in the lineup before, so he took up the chance of joining Wolves to play regularly in search of chance of getting call up by England for their World Cup 2010 campaign and improving himself with regular football.

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Lee Cattermole

RQ — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:45:29 +0000

The 5th signing made by Steve Bruce in the summer following the arrival of Fraizer Campbell, Paulo Da Silva, Lorik Cana and Darren Bent to the Stadium of Light. The signing of Lee Cattermole for £6 millions added up the total spending to £24.5 millions already in this summer. The U21 England International might pertner up with another new signing Cana who take over the Captain role from the Whitehead who joined Stoke City at the central midfield during season opening match against Bolton.

Cattermole has been 1 of the regular in Wigan side last season despite the age of 21 as he has make it into starting lineup 33 time in Premier League out of total 38 matches. He has also previously hold the captain role for Middlebrough to become the youngster ever player to captain for the Boro side on 7 May 08. He is 1 of the hot prospect star for England in the future along with Lennon, Walcott, Wilshere and Huddlestone. After spending last 3 season playing regular football in Premier League, he got the experience already to begin his debut immediately.

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Alberto Aquilani

RQ — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:09:08 +0000

A gamble made by Rafael Benitez to sign Alberto Aquilani from Roma at a costs of £18m when he even know the midfielder will miss out the start of the season due to recuperating from injury? Although he was once a starlet youngster which attracted the like of Arsenal and Chelsea to be interested at him at the age of 16, and played a big role in U16, U19 and U21 for the Italy squad before. But for the past 3 season, the Italian playmaker has been plague by injury, where he only managed to make 40 starts for Roma in all competition together.

You might defend Benitez by saying that every soccer player signing is a gamble make by the manager whereby they won;’t be confirm sure about the new signing can fit into the squad well, but to sign a player with this kind of past injury record at a hugh price, its is definitely a risky decision. Perhaps is the transfer markets being spoil by the big spending club like Man City and Real Madrid made Benitez got to act fast without thinking twice. Whether this signing will be flop or not, it shall remain to be seen.

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Habib Beye

RQ — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:15:43 +0000

1 of the regular player in Newcastle squad for the past 2 season after signing from Marseille in July 2007, and was even voted as fan “player of the season” in his debut year with Newcastle. He has make a quick return back to the Premier League following Newcastle relegation last season. The transfer of Senegal International to Villa Park was believe to be in the region of £6m fee. His joining shall give Martin O’Neill more alternative to choose from in the backline as well as a replacement for Zat Knight who left for Bolton.

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Seyi Olofinjana

RQ — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:49:19 +0000

Hull City has seals the signing of Seyi Olofinjana for £3m from Stoke City after the player last minute negotiations broke down with Monaco. The Nigeria international didn’t play a big part for Stoke City last season where he only started in 13 games. A switch to Hull City might be able to find himself more regular playing time. He will still has to compete with Boateng, Barmby, Bullard(injured) and Ashbee for the starting lineup.

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