Another day, another litany of increasingly tedious, half-baked accounts of one highly paid footballer's loyalty and questionable moral fortitude. Will we ever tire of it? Will it ever end? Apparently not, for Marouane Chamakh, a Rumour Mill staple since last summer, has announced that, contrary to anything he may have said or not said last week, the week before that, or in any of the preceding months, he would rather go to Arsenal than Liverpool.
It is well documented that the Bordeaux and Morocco striker is a free agent at the end of this season and is looking for a lucrative move, but despite reports that he had already promised his services to Liverpool, Chamakh said over the weekend that: "My choice is to join a Premier League club. If I had a choice I would go to Arsenal."
Of course there's always the possibility that this preference was aired between Liverpool's win over Everton and Arsenal's mullering at the hands of Chelsea, a window in which Chamakh would have had time to reflect on the violent shoeing he could look forward to receiving on the occasion of his first Merseyside derby, before deciding that he'd rather go somewhere where such violence is frowned upon, unless you happen to be dishing it out. If that's the case, Chamakh may well have changed his mind in the wake of seeing Arsenal get humbled by Chelsea, a state of affairs that means we may not have heard the last of the Chamakh saga. Wherever he ends up, he'd better be good.
In Spain, Sport claims that Cesc Fábregas will pile the hurt on Arsenal fans by moving to Barcelona during the summer, despite his manager's craven attempts to keep him at the Emirates by writing increasingly large numbers on a piece of paper and sliding it across the table for his orchestra conductor to consider. Sport has declared that "economic issues" are not particularly high on Fábregas's list of priorities and that he'd like to move to the Camp Nou in the summer for a fee of €50m with a "minimum of fuss". That looks increasingly unlikely as this morning's edition of AS has claimed that Real Madrid are also interested in getting the player to ink a deal.
However Sport suggests the Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez is realistic over the move and knows he is unlikely to lure the Arsenal captain to the Bernabéu.
Whichever Spanish giant fails to sign Fábregas could console themselves and appease their fans by snapping up Bryan Hughes, the 33-year-old midfielder who has had his contract paid up by Hull City and is now a free agent on trial with Middlesbrough. James Vaughan also looks set to drop a division in his search for first-team football. The Everton striker, who is an England Under-21 international and the Premier League's youngest ever goalscorer, could be on his way back to Derby County, for whom he made two appearances during a month-long loan spell last year.
Comments in chronological order (Total 147 comments)
8 February 2010 9:04AM
What Chamakh actually said was: "I'd rather eat my arse than go to Liverpool."
8 February 2010 9:06AM
Me too, sadly they don't want me
8 February 2010 9:15AM
I think it more likely we'll be somewhat underwhelmed by him. If he does join Arsenal then staying fit would be progress compared to the state of our current squad
8 February 2010 9:16AM
Thats the first time I've ever seen "50 million euros" and "minimum of fuss" in the same sentence.
Reporters are scamps, aren't they?
8 February 2010 9:18AM
I wish the Prem teams got together and had an agreement where they all tell Chamakh to royally do one.
8 February 2010 9:24AM
STRIKERS!!! COME TO LIVERPOOL!! GUARANTEED GAME!!
Unless of course Torres happens to be fit, in which case you'll see out the season in the reserves, on the bench, or if you're really lucky, languishing on the left wing, wondering how it all came to this.
No wonder Chamakh would prefer to go to Arsenal. On the flip side, Arshavin probably spends most of his games at the moment wondering how on earth he's suppoesd to win anything up front against the Premiership's lumbering great centre halves
8 February 2010 9:25AM
And what about that Rafa Benitez? Eh? Eh?
He had a great season when he only almost bloody won it didn't he?
Then when he's expected to go on and actually do it, I mean even the bloody Guardian said he'd actually win the thing this time, his team go and cock-up in technicolour from August to December.
So he resets his target to finishing fourth, and tells everyone its guarenteed.
Then when he hits this "new target" - he's a bleedin' genius.
I hope Juventus want to finish fourth too.
8 February 2010 9:27AM
from the United/Portsmouth match report
Would someone tell me what year this is? Or perhaps tell the Guardian writer?
8 February 2010 9:29AM
Raycun.
Its 2010.
I think I've missed something here.
8 February 2010 9:31AM
Yeah, they are talking about one man team Man Utd.
(probably true a few weeks ago)
8 February 2010 9:35AM
@packrat
I think that Raycun's point is that in another year with an other R_ the same things were being written, and that just maybe they turned out not to be true...
8 February 2010 9:41AM
Newton Heath Athletic
Oh yes - well spotted. I wondered what that R_ stuff was all about. Silly me.
Why are fans so upset when it is alleged they support a "one man team"?
If you take a decent, well-balanced side like Manchester United, and suddenly one player hits the form of his life, they immediately start winning games they would have drawn or lost. Because that one player has hit a purple patch.
That's really good isn't it?
8 February 2010 9:44AM
So what Chamakh of these rumours then?
8 February 2010 9:45AM
Chelsea are a one man team, take Essien out an ... oh.
8 February 2010 9:46AM
It's great to have a great player. The thing that wound me up about the match report was that a few months ago, I was reading match reports that said "without Ronaldo United don't frighten anyone", and comments that United were a one-man team whose one man had just left.
And it's only a matter of time before Rooney has a bad game, and United have a bad result, and the same things will be said again. Because apparently United never had bad games or bad results in the previous three seasons - they won every game with a hat-trick from Ronaldo.
8 February 2010 9:47AM
So no plausible rumours today then...
Interesting to see that Chelsea fans' adoration for John Terry seems to have increased, presumably on the grounds that everybody else detests him. It's an interesting part of the tribal loyalty that goes along with supporting a football team. The more your player's reputation suffers amongst the public at large the more you love him.
They weren't adoring him quite as much last Summer when he was clearly open to getting his hands on some Man City wages.
Still, at least we know now why even a money grabber of Terry's stature decided he had to turn down the City offer.
8 February 2010 9:49AM
8 February 2010 9:53AM
Football's brilliant isn't it?
After the whole Terry thing we've all pretty much ignored Jozy Altidore's explosion into form over the last couple of games. He's been immense and it's just nice
8 February 2010 10:03AM
Raycun
But you did win some games because of Ronaldo - which, again, was great for you. Because you'd rather have won them, eh?
When you lost at Burnley early this season I remember wondering whether or not Ronaldo would have gone 90 minutes without scoring against a defence which (with all due respect) had never seen anything like him.
You won the league last season because you had a good team, but you wouldn't have won it without him. The pivotal game was at OT against Villa. Without Ronaldo, Villa would have been home and dry before Macheda set foot on the pitch.
This season, if you do overtake Chelsea, and hold of a late surge from Spurs, I suspect the deciding factor will be Rooney.
8 February 2010 10:08AM
Raycun,
It seems it's a no-win situation.
2 world class strikers fighting for one position in a world cup year just isn't going to happen.
Yet, the journo's continually tell us that LFC need a top-class striker because the one they have is injured. For LFC, also read Arsenal.
If Rooney got injured there would doubtless be similar things said about the quality of Utd's cover.
Mind you, Liverpool even had the luxury of being upgraded to a 2-man team for a while ;-)
The point is that if a team loses it's star players, it will inevitably suffer. That's why RVP and Torres are star quality. They make a genuine difference and improvement to the team.
To then call that side a one-man team is, however, just lazy, ill-thought out journalism.
8 February 2010 10:16AM
United aren't lacking for cover up front... i'm pretty sure i heard about three more owen goals this weekend
the lad's on fire
8 February 2010 10:17AM
packrat - yeah, of course we won some games because of Ronaldo. He's a great player. (As are a lot of United players)
But that Burnley thing is exactly what irritates me. 2007-2008 Ronaldo scored 42 goals. First game of the season was 0-0 with Reading at Old Trafford. Ronaldo played but didn't score. Later that season United lost at home to City - I think a month before they let in 8 to Boro. Ronaldo played but didn't score.
Yes he's a great player. And sure, the more great players you have, the more likely it is that one of them will win the game for you. But Ronaldo is not some magic get-out-of-jail free card. He didn't always play brilliantly, he had bad games where he hurt the team's performance, and he did not always score against teams like Burnley.
8 February 2010 10:19AM
Raycun - the same was said when RVN was in his pomp its an easy dig just as the 'Utd are fucked when Fergie goes' is. The truth of the matter is that teams like the treble winning side or the current Barca mob are so very special because of the array of outstanding players but many very good sides are filled with 10 good players and one great one.
8 February 2010 10:24AM
Come on Raycun,
Sensationalism is the only way to go these days. You've been reading these pages long enough to know that.
RVN scored too many goals, had to go. Who will score the goals?
Keane was too influencial, had to go. Who will lead?
Ronnie scored too many goals, had to go. Who will score the goals?
Rooney scored too many goals. He won't leave.
8 February 2010 10:28AM
While I wouldn't describe United as a one man team I would think that an injury to Rooney would be a fatal blow to their chances of winning the league.
If Chelsea lose a player, any player at all regardless of how good he is, they still seem to tick along just as they did before.
8 February 2010 10:29AM
To be fair (and what a hateful expression that is), Arsenal have suffered without RvP, but that's more to do with the fact that they have insufficient cover for him (i.e. no fit strikers) and their ongoing defensive frailties
or maybe it's that Arsene decided to build the team around him this year, based on van Persie's fabulous touch and vision, hence this loss hit Arsenal hard. Arshavin cannot do the same job, despite his qualities. On the other hand, Rooney plays within a 'system' at Man Utd, albeit extremely well. Replacing him within that system might not cause quite as much instability even if his replacement isn't as dynamic
Any team will miss their best player, but you have to be prepared to cope without them.
8 February 2010 10:33AM
Hibernica is right, which all makes it very interesting.
Rooney won't get crocked in the prem, because you get sent off, and miss the next three games, and it hurts your team.
But in the second round of the WC, if you lose, there is no "three more matches".
10-1 Rooney comes back from Seff Effricker on crutches.
8 February 2010 10:34AM
They lose Edwin they're jiggered
If they miss Rooney they'll just put the arguably more natural partnership of Owen/Diouf and Berbatov up front and carry on
8 February 2010 10:35AM
If a rumour forms and there's no one around to discuss it, does it actually mean anything?
8 February 2010 10:42AM
There's always someone around to discuss it. The chances of the rumour actually meaning something are very slim though.
Only 5 sleeps to go until Saints against Pompey. Hopefully they can throw a few own goals our way.
8 February 2010 10:45AM
MCMP
You're right. The recent unpleasantness involving Kuszcztzac and Foster has shown what a massive player VDS is for them.
I'd have thought that Vidic was much more important, but Evans looks like a real player. Doesn't score much though.
8 February 2010 10:46AM
Who's backup for Cech these days? Can't still be Hilario?
It will probably be tight at the top, either way. Losing Rooney might make the difference, or Drogba, or Ferdinand and Vidic not playing much, or Lampard getting injured, or ...
8 February 2010 10:52AM
If Fabregas is really going to go for ?50, wouldn't it be worth United bidding for me? I know they're not shy of midfielders (Barca aren't either though), but Fabregas must be worth a pop? Or does everyone think he's too loyal to the arse to move within the Prem?
I don't recall him saying too much in the press (another reason that'd attract him to Fergie).
8 February 2010 10:52AM
I had the weirdest dream last night. The details are a bit sketchy. From what I can remember the time was summer 2010. England were out of the World Cup. I was watching the Final on telly when the adverts came on. The first ad was for Domino's pizza. Bizarre as it seems (you know what these dreams can be like) I can recall John Terry, Wayne Bridge and Fabio Capello all sat round at Terry's house with a takeaway. The were advertising the new Dominio Family size pizza. Terry turned to Bridge and said 'it's good to share innit'. Terry and Bridge went into hysterics at this, while Capello shook his head.
I'm sure Stuart Pearce was in there somewhere as well........
Maybe I should save it as a clipping!
New logo...i was excommunicated. And, as JT says, a change is as good as a rest!
8 February 2010 10:53AM
Daydreaming again... I meant bidding for him. :-)
8 February 2010 10:55AM
Is anyone else loosing the will to live?
What not just call this section "MINDLESS CHIT CHAT"?
8 February 2010 10:55AM
A question for you. If Portsmouth went out of business and couldnt complete the fixture list what would happen to the points that had been won against them.
Would they be wiped off or would the teams yet to play them be awarded a 3 - 0 victory?
8 February 2010 10:57AM
Raycun
It doesn't matter who the back up for Cech is because I firmly believe that Cech wouldn't be as big a loss for Chelsea as Van Der Sar would be to united.
Personally i think Edwin's up there as Ferguson's best bit of business ever.
8 February 2010 11:02AM
rchrdav
the results are just wiped off. It doesn't make as big a difference as you'd think
8 February 2010 11:02AM
What about injuries to Cech, Drogba, Lampard, Rooney, VDS, and Evra. Liverpool go on some sort of mythic run get five points clear with a few games left, choke and lose it to Mancini and City. Come on, I am willing it to happen. At the moment the league looks like the mid noughts all over again, when is something really intersting going to happen, rich clubs beating on poor clubs is so last century. How about a super rich club comes in and beats all the rich clubs into submission before being sold and then relegated four divisions. At least it would be something worth watching and utterly sensational to boot, like a bomb at the world cup final or something equally as evil. Like perhaps a team being poisoned so the home side can win the world cup, a little aside that Clint Eastwood elected to leave out of 'Invictus'. God help any team that plays South Afirca in the cup, they should check their food carefully if they value their lives and their place at the tournament. ; ]
8 February 2010 11:04AM
I think Fabregas is too loyal to Barcelona to move anywhere else when he does leave Arsenal, much like marmite-head moving to his dream club. Not many players about who you can say that for but Torres, Rooney and Jason Lee are the only others that come to mind with that sort of loyalty.
8 February 2010 11:05AM
Probably should have been 'whom'.
8 February 2010 11:13AM
Former Nottingham forest and Notts County legend Jason Lee?
8 February 2010 11:14AM
@MCMP:
The very same. For he so loved Nottingham that he gave his hair for the city.
8 February 2010 11:18AM
I've said it many times but what happened to his career saddens me
There's no way a regular starting premier league forward... no matter how stupid their way of keeping their hair out of their eyes is should find their career binned because of two muppets with mics
8 February 2010 11:20AM
Rooney and Torres were so loyal that they left their boyhood clubs.
I don't see Rooney going anywhere, mainly because I don't see him leaving England. United are unlikely to sell him to Chelsea or City, the only English clubs that could afford him. (Which is not to say that he wants to move anywhere, I'm just saying)
Torres... fast forward three years, Rafa's gone and Liverpool haven't won anything. Anyone who doesn't think he'd be looking for a move?
8 February 2010 11:23AM
rchrdav
They'll probably completely fail to make up their minds.
8 February 2010 11:26AM
@Raycun:
Don't make me sing the Torres Bounce (TM) to you. He's a Liverpool fan apart from his Atleti allegiance which he's made clear on many, many occasions. He may of course be part of some elaborate 'merk' against the Liverpool fans, but he took a pay cut to join the Reds which says an awful lot. Rooney has become a Man U fan in much the same way Carragher became a Liverpool fan, hence why I feel neither will leave unless things take a drastic turn for the worse. I think your fast forward is broken by the way.
8 February 2010 11:29AM
@rchrdav
great question - and would it be worth any other club keeping them in business until the end of the season?
e.g. West Ham have taken 4 points of them this season. What if those are the points that would keep them in the premier league?
8 February 2010 11:29AM
rchrdav -
If Pompey do cease to be, I think all their results will be annulled - well in other European leagues this is what happened.
Which would be awful news for West Ham who have taken 4 points off them.