PLAYER TRANSFER THREAD

projoe · Post by **projoe** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:28 am

Report: Manchester United Face Competiton From Arsenal & Bayern Munich For Gremio's Douglas Costa

Manchester United are facing another obstacle in their bid to sign Douglas Costa, with Arsenal and Bayern Munich now entering the race.

Earlier in the week, United had asked Gremio to allow the 18-year-old Costa to undergo a trial at Old Trafford, but the request was refused. Indeed, the Brazilian club are reportedly unwilling to sell Costa unless a club coughs up his â‚¬24 million buy-out clause.

With the Red Devils unlikely to offer such a large amount of money for a teenager, they now face more troubles, as Sport.co.uk claims that both the Gunners and Bayern have now entered the picture.

The German club's interest was confirmed by Costa's agent, Cesar Bottega, who said, "There was an approach from a big German club.

"They saw him at the South American Youth Championship and liked the player. There have been talks and we will see what happens in the next week."

It is unlikely, however, that Arsenal could trump Man United in the financial stakes, perhaps leaving Bayern as the current favourites for Costa's signature.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/9/england/2 ... nal-bayern

projoe · Post by **projoe** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:58 am

OFFICIAL: Felipe Melo Extends Fiorentina Contract Until 2013

[quote]Brazilian international midfielder Felipe Melo has ended speculation surrounding his future at Fiorentina by signing an extension until June 30 2013.

His previous deal was set to expire in 2012, but the Gigliati have acted to fend off interest from top Italian, English and Spanish clubs.

â€œFiorentina director, Pantaleo Corvino, has met today in Milan with the agent of Viola midfielder Felipe Melo,â€

Post by **brazilianGOONER** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:59 am

Douglas Costa is lame, he is not even on the bench of my local team, GrÃªmio. I saw him a couple of times, he is a Nani-type wanker, a bit of flair and good dribling with nothing else really. Isn't worth more than 2 or 3 millions.

projoe · Post by **projoe** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:19 am

GUNNERS TURN SIGHTS ON CANA

[quote]ARSENAL target Felipe Melo has signed a one-year contract extension at Italian club Fiorentina tying him there until June 2013 â€“ with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger switching his focus to Spurs target Marseille skipper Lorik Cana.

Cana said: â€œThe door remains open for a departure, even with three years remaining on my contract.

â€œI will talk with my family and my representatives. It will then depend on what I want to do. Of the possible destinations in the future, England and Germany are the two leagues that attract me the most.â€

augie · Post by **augie** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:29 am

Marselle yesterday completed the signing of midfielder lucho gonzalez from porto - not sure if he is bought to play alongside cana or instead but I always feel that when a club like marseille buy a player for a price like that (17m I think) then it generally has to be funded by some sales. Of course they are under new management/ownership now so maybe that came with new funding as well

Gunnersaurus · Post by **Gunnersaurus** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:37 am

Cana has been freed to leave.

augie · Post by **augie** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:41 am

Gunnersaurus wrote:Cana has been freed to leave.

Where did you get that from ? Link please

Gunnersaurus · Post by **Gunnersaurus** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:50 am

I read it on a site where his chairman said they won't stand in his way.

A link won't speed anything along I'm afraid so take from it what you will.

Gunnersaurus · Post by **Gunnersaurus** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:53 am

...but if you wanna look for it I think I saw it linked in Goonernews.com.

Vince · Post by **Vince** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:54 am

He has 1 year left on his contrat so Marseille will let him go for a cheap price.

I've seen him play a lot of times, he's a real bully. Very aggressive, good in the air, good tackling, always yelling, etc ... he has been suspended this season because he fought during a game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENZpTmKr6BU

but he has not a great technical ability, his passing is average. He can play center back, but his best position is DM.
a compilation of what he does best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL_bZAdOKhk

Gunnersaurus · Post by **Gunnersaurus** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:59 am

He was the captain aswell so would be another leader on the pitch which is desperatly needed in this team at the moment.

I know you can't judge a player on you tube but he does look strong.

Vince · Post by **Vince** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:09 am

He's very strong, that's for sure ..
But he's not good enough technically to be honest, I would be very surprised if he signs at Arsenal.

augie · Post by **augie** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:20 am

Gunnersaurus wrote:I read it on a site where his chairman said they won't stand in his way.

A link won't speed anything along I'm afraid so take from it what you will.

I aint doubting you buddy but I just wanted to see if it was on a reputable site or something like tribal football which is shite tbh

Anyway if his technical ability is not good as vince has said then we can forget about signing him cos as much as we all know that we need "an enforcer" in midfield wenger prioritises technical ability above all else

Shame really cos we have an abundance of technical ability to play alongside him (cesc, arshavin, nasri, rosicky if fit

) but they just need a hardman in there to win the ball back and let them do their thing

Gunnersaurus · Post by **Gunnersaurus** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 8:44 am

I know mate and I wasn't being rude (just lazy)

His passing ability doesn't need to be that great, all he or anyone will need to do is win the ball and keep it simple, there would be enough ball players elsewhere.

GunnerDude · Post by **GunnerDude** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 9:17 am

Thats why Melo was our first focus because he had a very good passing range and besides tackling and closing players down at the right time, he could also take the ball and drive into the oppositions area with abit of skill.
The window is officially open so we wait and see.