Francis 'Fox in the Box' Jeffers
In 2003 the BBC transfer gossip column was in its infancy and rumours were fewer, but when it comes to getting it right this in no way translated to less is more: there may be fewer rumours but they’re just as wild. They did at least get one right, even if the manager himself got it so badly wrong…
Real Madrid are ready to lure Patrick Vieira from Arsenal to play alongside David Beckham in midfield - when the Frenchman’s contract at Highbury runs out at the end of next season. (Daily Star)
2004 comes and goes, as does Real Madrid’s interest. In 2005 Juventus offer £13.7m, and Wenger, probably working out that he could sign 26 of the best 12 year olds in Europe with the money, decides he can do without the club captain, planning to play some young guy called Cesc Fabregas in centre midfeld instead. Wenger’s plan goes pretty well, but Vieira’s Juventus career is cut short as their dastardly plan to fix matches is uncovered and they’re stripped of the title and relegated. He goes to Inter where he wins titles but never hit the personal highs of his Arsenal days again as the years catch up with him.
Leeds boss Peter Reid wants Sylvain Wiltord and £3m from Arsenal in return for Harry Kewell. (Daily Express)
Suddenly 2003 feels and awful long time ago. Leeds get £3m and no players from Liverpool for Kewell, with £2m of the £5m fee allegedely going to Kewell’s unlicensed agent Bernie Mandic. Wiltord stays at Arsenal to play an increasingly fringe role in the ‘Invincibles’ team that went through the 2003-4 season unbeaten. He then went back to France, joining serial champions Lyon where he won 3 titles before moving to Rennes and then Marseille as his career winds down. Reid got fired in November of 2003 after a 6-1 hammering from newly promoted Portsmouth, and went on to fail miserably with Coventry before, erm, hitting thebig time again with the Thailand national team in 2008, getting the better of North Korea and Vietnam to take the T&T Cup.
Harry Kewell is ready to snub Arsenal and join Barcelona for a fee of £7m - plus wages of £70,000 a week and a £3m signing on fee. (The Sun)
The Sun cleverly called that Kewell to Arsenal was a non-starter, but blew any chance to feel rather pleased with themselves by going instead with this wayward call that he would be heading to Spain. Barcelona felt their money would be better spent on a certain Ronaldinho, capable of doing a job roaming on the left of their attack for a few years before he became disinterested having won everything.
Birmingham manager Steve Bruce is prepared to wait for Arsenal to drop their asking price of £5m for Francis Jeffers to nearer £3m. (Daily Mail)
Lies from the Daily Mail! Jeffers spent the following season on loan at Everton trying to rediscover his glory days as a ‘fox in the box’ on Merseyside before falling out with manager David Moyes and heading back to Arsenal prematurely. Moyes probably didn’t care, given Jeffers netted 2 goals in 22 games and a youngster named Wayne had busrt onto the scene. Subsequently, Jeffers priced dropped to £2.6m but Bruce, supposedly waiting for this magic moment, declined to step in as Jeffers moved to Charlton.
Leeds are preparing to move for Brazil midfielder Kleberson when the sale of Harry Kewell goes through. (Daily Mirror)
The Mirror get involved in the Kewell’s departure, and in the process get involved in getting it wrong. Having previously failed to secure Kleberson’s signing due to his unwillingness to leave Brzil without his girlfriend, who he was unable to marry until she turned 16, Kleberson opted for Manchester United, signing for a £6.5m fee in August 2003. Injury and poor form saw the Brazilian off-loaded to Besiktas for £2.5m two years later.
Manchester United have made a £3m offer to Nantes for Cameroon international midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba. (The Guardian)
The one success on this day in 2003, The Guardian got it right but Ferguson got it so, so wrong. To think that Djemba-Djemba - so good they named him twice - could eventually fill the void left by Roy Keane is laughable in hindsight (and it didn’t take very long for the hindsight to kick in), with the Cameroon midfielder failing to settle before going to Aston Villa and failing to settle (dislodging Gavin McCann form the first team shouldn’t have been an issue for somebody seen as capable of replacing Roy Keane), before spending time on loan at Burnley then heading to the (financial) big time on Qatar . Now playing for Odense Boldklub in Denmark, where he is not replacing Roy Keane.
Seville are keen to sign Manchester United’s Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan. (The Daily Telegraph)
Seville failed to land the Uruguayan striker, a relative flop at United compared to teammate Ruud van Nistlerooy but a towering success compared to United’s other signings featured on this day in 2003, Kleberson and Djemba-Djemba. A year later he went to Villareal and went about restoring his reputation, showing Seville what they missed out on by securing the Pichichi Trophy for most goals in La Liga at the first time of asking as well as sharing the European Golden Boot with Thierry Henry.
Fulham’s Japanese midfielder Junichi Inamoto is set to join Serie A newcomers Ancona after just one season in London. (The Independent)
Or, the Asian market magnet decided he actually loved being in London, spending nearly two seasonsat Fulham where he performed well before breaking his leg in a friendly against England. He then decided to travel more in the UK, heading to West Bromwich Albion and spending time on loan at Cardiff City before taking in spells in Turkey, Germany and France. His photo album must be bursting at the seams.
So, a poor day at the office for the papers, but it could have been worse. They could have employed Isaac, UK to write their rumours - his call on the 606 message boards that made it to gossip column page deserves full marks for effort:
Gary Neville is set to follow Beckham out of Old Trafford to the Bernabeu
We can only assume he meant for a stadium tour.
