Sometimes, you just need to know when to quit while you’re on top.
For Ashley Cole, this could have been valuable advice when he was entering his last year with Chelsea before signing to Roma. After a long season of awkwardly fitting in with his new Italian club, Roma has decided to terminate Cole’s contract a year early.
Sergio Ramos is set to sign a new contract with Real Madrid, according to reports featured by ESPN, after negotiations take place on Thursday.
Ramos has been the subject of repeated rumors linking him with a move to Manchester United. In fact, the cavalcade of gossip this month has been so much that anyone not initiated with tittle-tattle of a transfer window might actually believe that a transfer to the Red Devils is closer to happening than not.
The summer transfer window in England is usually syncopated by splashy arrivals at Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and/or either of the Manchester powerhouses. But with lucrative TV deals in place, clubs a little further down the Premier League table now have the resources to woo the most talented footballers to England.
While the brain trust at The18 has long argued that Manchester United have more pressing personnel matters to deal with at the other end of the pitch, Louis van Gaal has been insistent since United’s pre-season tour of America that what he needs most is “speed and creativity” up front.
Liverpool have a very exciting year set out before them with new players, new attitudes, and a high chance of succeeding in Europe. Roberto Firmino is one of many new additions to the Liverpool squad that has excited fans to watch the link-ups between him and his Brazilian compatriot Philippe Coutinho.
West Ham have put in a bid for Manchester United striker Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez, according to The Daily Star. The Star reported that the club have already had an 8.5 million pound bid rejected, and the new bid will be somewhere in the range of 12 million pounds.
For the past seven seasons, Stoke City have showed why they deserved to be part of the Premier League.
Angel Di Maria has written an open letter to Manchester United after having completed his big money move to Paris Saint-Germain, ostensibly in order to smooth things over with a fan base that holds him in just slightly higher regard than Radamel Falcao, which is to say it doesn’t like him.
The letter is professional, and makes it clear that he is really sorry for failing to live up to expectations.
To Manchester United:
Mario Gotze has turned into one of the most disappointing players on Bayern Munich’s roster for fans. He has struggled to consistently perform and his attitude on the pitch has suffered accordingly. It’s shocking, really, to see the man that scored the game winning goal of the 2014 World Cup Final fall to such a level.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid was without a doubt one of the greatest and most drawn-out transfer sagas in football history, and it all began shortly after Manchester United rise to the top of the world as newly crowned 2008 European Champions.