Where you can chow down on the best rumours - Photo Planetina CCANCND
We live in exciting times. Highly anticipated sporting events (and horse racing) are fighting against the snow, England are fighting to save the 3rd Test in South Africa, Portsmouth are fighting for dear life, and Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are fighting a war of words. Which means they’re no longer planning to fight a war of fists, which is what everyone would rather see.
Oh, and the January transfer window is open. The papers have the rumour mills fully staffed and genuine (read uninteresting) transfers are being discussed at board level. Back page headline writers aren’t doing cartwheels over where Jamie O’Hara will spend the second half of the season on loan. Subsequently, there will be some rumours doing ther rounds that are imaginative at best and risible at worst.
It’s refreshing to hear that, in rounding up the top January transfers we can expect to see, The Sun are having none of it:
Top 10 January transfer window targets
FORGET the pie in the sky rumours like Fernando Torres to Chelsea and Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona — we’re only interested in the real deals.
That’s great! Good to see them taking a stand against those pie in the sky rumours. And just where do they come from anyway?
The Sun, 3rd July 2009: Barcing mad
BARCELONA last night risked the wrath of Arsene Wenger by publicly tapping-up Cesc Fabregas.
The Sun, 6th July 2009: We’ll sell Cesc … for £40m
ARSENAL have slapped a £40million price-tag on Cesc Fabregas as they brace themselves for a bid from Real Madrid or Barcelona.
The Sun, 9th July 2009: Eto’s sale key to Barca’s Fab bid
BARCELONA will launch a £30million bid for Arsenal star Cesc Fabregas — but only if they offload Samuel Eto’o to Manchester City.
The Sun, 10th July 2009: Barca in new bid for Febregas
BARCELONA have stepped up their pursuit of Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas.
The Catalan giants’ president Joan Laporta claimed signing £40million-rated Fabregas is high on their agenda this summer.
The Sun, 10th August 2009: Barca plan huge Cesc offer
BARCELONA are lining up a mega bid for Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas.
The Sun, 13th August 2009: Arsenal Sweat on Fabregas
ARSENAL fans face a nail-biting wait until Tuesday to see if Cesc Fabregas joins Barcelona.
The Sun, 12th October 2009: Barcelona eye Rob & Fab
BARCELONA have admitted both Robinho AND Cesc Fabregas are top of their January shopping list.
The Sun, 17th December 2009: Barca Plot £40m Cesc raid
BARCELONA president Joan Laporta will ‘fight’ to land Cesc Fabregas next summer.
And then, finally, as if to remind us that it wasn’t in the past, they hit us up with an Exclusive! in this morning’s edition:
The Sun, 8th January 2010:
Perez and his director general Jorge Valdano have held summit talks over a £43million summer bid for the midfield ace - and how they can knock deadly rivals Barcelona out of the running. Against that, Barca hope to weigh in with a straight £40m bid.
Perhaps it’s a New Year resolution that The Sun are “only interested in the real deals”, and they’re slowly moving away from these pie in the sky rumours. Then again, who keeps their resolutions more than a week anyway? Torres to Chelsea? They’ll have no piece of that particular pie. They’ll just leave it to their sister paper, News of the World, or as we like to call it, The Sun on Sunday, who ran this story on January 2nd:
TORRES WOULD COST £140M TO LEAVE ANFIELD
FERNANDO Torres will become the world’s most expensive footballer if he leaves Liverpool in the summer.
£140m? When Ronaldo went for nearly half that sum? Scoop! We’ll have to have a closer look at this one, given it has all the ingredients of pie in the sky.
Manchester City and Chelsea have made Torres their number one target but would have to splash out more than £140m in transfer fees and wages to land the Spanish superstar.
The old trick of adding transfer fees and future wages to be paid over a 4-5 year period to make a stunningly large number? Nice.
Not only has Torres’ value eclipsed the £80m Real Madrid paid for Cristiano Ronaldo, he can anticipate a salary offer of around £15m a year given the current inflated levels for the most wanted players.
Sounds a little bit like guesswork, but nevermind - get anticipating that £15m per year, Fernando.
It would require the biggest financial package in football history to secure a deal
City offered Brazilian Kaka a staggering £280k a week in their ill-fated bid a year ago, and Torres would comfortably match that.
They seem pretty convinced here, but not much evidence…
Sport of the World revealed last weekend how the striker’s ongoing commitment to the Merseyside giants is conditional on the club proving it can continue to match his ambitions.
Oh right, maybe the evidence is all in last week’s revelation.
TORRES TO QUIT IF REDS DON’T MAKE TOP FOUR
Massive scoop. He’s actually said he’ll quit? Not exactly…
FERNANDO TORRES’ long- term loyalty for Liverpool is being stretched to its limit with the club battling to keep him beyond this season.
Rafa Benitez has already turned down a £70million bid from Manchester City for his star striker.
£70m transfer fee or £70m including future wages?
Chelsea also had an approach for Torres rebuffed last summer, with the player uninterested in leaving Anfield at the time.
But both City and the Blues are preparing renewed offers.
Torres has consistently committed himself to the Liverpool cause but that is conditional on the club proving they can fulfil his ambitions.
The Spaniard has become troubled by the shambolic events on and off the pitch in recent months and is seeking assurances the club will sort themselves out before the start of next season.
Torres left his boyhood team Atletico Madrid because they could not match his Champions League and trophy- winning dreams.
Liverpool’s alarming slump is leading him to a similar situation where his heart is at his current club but he may be forced to move on.
Failure to finish in the top four and the continued presence of the current hierarchy would mean only blind faith could keep Torres at Anfield.
He recently signed a lucrative new deal but money is not his motivation.
Ok. So he’s not actually said anything. Money is not his motivation but Manchester City could be an option, though Champions League football is not exactly nailed on. The line “may be forced to move on” is a rare bit of uncertainty in an article which presents as fact that Torres will leave based on vague assumptions after casting a glance back over his last career move. Not even so much as an anonymous source from an Anfield insider/agent/member of extdended family. The statements of fact based on absolutely nothing is something this “revelation” shares with the astounding £140m package and £15m salary awaiting Torres at Man City or Chelsea.
Still, it’s comforting that The Sun aren’t interested in these Pie in the Sky rumours about Fabregas going to Barcelona or Torres going to Chelsea. Not in this decade anyway - Fabregas to Barca was so last year - and not when their Sunday team is doing such a fine job cooking up rumour pies in the oven in the sky.
