Felipe Melo would be very good.
If Arsenal sign Melo and Vermaelen, I might get interested again.When I was watching Brazil-Paraguay the other night, I was keeping an eye on Brazils No5, who was anchoring midfield alongside Gilberto Silva.
Melo didn’t have a particularly good game but he’s my kind of midfielder: six foot tall, very quick to close down and tackle, a powerful boy who puts himself about.He is very strong and very mobile. At 25, he is much more mature than Anderson and much more stylish than Gilberto.
Overall, Felipe Melo is quite similar to Yaya Toure. Not so big and powerful, but quicker to the ball and with a better touch.
He has played one season for Fiorentina, who finished fourth in Serie A.
Yes, he got 17 yellow cards and three red cards but yellow cards are an occupational hazard for a midfielder. He’s there to put his foot in and win the ball and Serie A is full of cheats who fall over before you touch them. I cant comment on his three red cards because I didn’t see whether they were wild tackles or two yellows.
Melo started 29 of Fiorentina’s games in Serie A, so the games he missed were mainly due to suspension, I’d guess.
He made his debut for Brazil at the Emirates when they beat Italy 2-0 in February. His buy-out clause is 20 million euros.
Born Felipe Melo de Carvalho on August 26,1983 in Volta Redonda, an industrial city between Rio and Sao Paulo, he’s already played for a lot of clubs.
You won’t believe the list of clubs has played for since 2001: Flamengo, Cruzeiro, Gremio, Mallorca, Racing Santander, Almeria.
Fiorentina signed him from Almeria for 8 million euros last summer.
However, Goal.com reported on June 10 that Melo would extend his contract by a year and put up his buy-out clause up to 25m euros.
VERDICT : Felipe Melo, like Thomas Vermaelen, is exactly what Arsenal need. Fabregas needs an enforcer and Melo is a better all-round footballer than Flamini, who (to be fair) has valuable qualities. Arsenal also need a striker.
Where will the money come from? From the £13 million he has to spend and from the sale of Eboue, Adebayor and Senderos.
Liverpool are said to be about to sign Glen Johnson from Portsmouth for £18 million.
They’ll put him on £80,000 a week, more than Mascherano and Xabi Alonso? Blimey ! Rafa might sell Arbeloa to Real Madrid for £8 million and Portsmouth still owe him £7 million for Peter Crouch , so that £18 million isn’t as much as it seems to be.
I hope that transfer happens, as Rafa can improve Glenn Johnson for England.
Chelsea’s new coach Carlo Ancelotti could struggle a bit. Cristiano Ronaldo was worth 15 points a year to Manchester United, so I’m tipping Liverpool to win the league in 2009-2010.