A little Saturday breakfast edition of the silly season wire...
- Hannover 96 winger Sal Zizzo has seen his loan move to Fortuna Düsseldorf halted by a case of the stomach flu. Unable to pass a medical exam at the moment, the question stands: will the 2.Bundesliga side now look elsewhere or is this a mere technicality delay? I'm on it.
UPDATE: I have been informed that the loan move is merely on hold. Zizzo is feeling better and will re-do his medical early this week.
- Greek reports say Villarreal forward Jozy Altidore is set to secure a season loan to Olympiakos. This would be a nice deal for the youngster; he wouldn't be expected to be the man, but would likely see plenty of time for a domestic title favorite and Champions League qualifier. And, of course, ya know... it's Greece.
- Brian Lewis checks in with some New York Red Bulls transfer talk. Apart from his tidbit about sister club Salzburg midfielder Ernst Obster apparently about to join up, we also learn that American Maccabi Haifa defender Leo Krupnik is training with the team. While this would definitely be a nice pick up for NYRB, I honestly can't imagine why the player is interested - going from a Champions League qualifier to a team mopping up the MLS basement sounds like a terrible idea.
An update says they also still want to sign U.S. youth standout Dilly Duka, but that seems more complicated.
- Despite widespread reports that Barcelona are close to luring Valencia forward David Villa with a revealed monster bid, the supposed sellers say they haven't even received an offer. The question is... who do we believe?
- Alleged MLS target Pavel Nedved has reportedly received a 48-hour shelf life offer from Inter Milan, but other reports suggest he will actually retire this time to join Juventus management. Personally, I'd love to see him in RSL colors... what? I don't think it could happen, I'm just sayin'.
- I've just read that Barcelona has scouted Osasuna left back Nacho Monreal. No big alert, I just really wanted to post his name in boldface.
- Oft-linked with a move to MLS, Mexico forward Bofo Bautista has put that talk off for a while by signing a new deal with Jaguares.
- Fresh NK Rijeka strike catch Johann Smith got his first preseason start in a 3-0 loss at Kopar.
I'm not sure why, but midfield maestro Anas Sharbini was not in uniform - I hope he isn't finally being bought by one of the 20 big names that have scouted him. I think it would behoove the Europa League qualifiers to hang on to their star man for now.
All this transfer talk has whipped me into a Top 5 List frenzy, so I will start working on a new one right now. The topic? Top 5 Names Euro-Clubs Should Be Chasing But Aren't. I've already got three good ones in mind.
- Greg Seltzer
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3 comments:
why do you think Altidore will get a lot of playing time? They do have that Brazilian Diogo who's supposed to be really good and Englishmen Matt Derbyshire. Certainly better than his chances at Villareal.
Villareal still has a host of veteran forwards, whereas Olympiacos only has Derbyshire and Diogo.
While Diogo is definitely a stud, Derbyshire hasn't exactly lit the world on fire (which is why Blackburn let him go).
ALtidore could easily find himself starting, and at the very least will be the 3rd forward in the rotation.
Is Michael Bradley one of those names?
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