It's only June, so no big players have been sold yet.
Arsenal have to sell to buy and I think Wenger wants to flog Reyes, Henry and Ljungberg. But Henry and Ljungberg don't wanna go.
As you all know, the financial arrangements that have to be made to buy or sell a big player are complicated, so deals take weeks of negotiation.
Last Sunday two goals by Jose Antonio Reyes won La Liga for Real Madrid and Beckham got the headlines.
Madrid were 1-0 at home to Mallorca at half-time and Reyes came for the crocked Beckham on 60 and scored with his first touch. Diarra, dragged back from Mali by FIFA under protest, made it 2-1 and Reyes hit another first-time shot from outside the box for 3-1 and Madrid were champions, even though Barcelona hammered Gimnastic 5-1. During the celebrations Reyes ran over to Capello, who gave him a perfunctory hug which said : you're not getting a contract here, son.
Poor old Freddie Ljungberg wants to stay at Arsenal rather than join an inferior club.
Some of us were amazed when Freddie, who is now 30, was given a four-year contract three years ago. Injuries had slowed him down so much that such a deal looked illogical. Two months ago I was watching a tape of last night's game and the recording ended and I saw another match that I'd over-recorded and it an Arsenal game from four years ago and I watched it for 10 minutes and Freddie was racing around like a wasp on amphetamines ! I could not believe how fast he was. I knew he had slowed down but I didn't realise how much. To see what Freddie could do then, compared to what he does now, was scary.
Frankly, the only transfer that excites me is Carlos Tevez.
The club that gets Tevez is signing a volcanic gladiator who can lift a crowd off their seats, galvanise a team and win matches. Tevez is an artist and a warrior : fast, brave, tricky, explosive and honest – the real deal. He's everything a great footballer can be and should be and he deserves a better club than Real Madrid, so I hope they don't get him.
Calderon is a gobby, clueless cretin who had apparently lined up Bernd Schuster in case Capello walked.Capello might even walk today or tomorrow, that club is so ignorant.
What will Fernando Torres do in the Premiership?
He has bottle and pace, so he should be a success here. But he would only score lots of goals in an attacking team like Manchester United or Arsenal. He would stutter at Liverpool, I think.
If Torres comes to England he will better than Morientes but not as good as Klinsmann. When you've said that, you've said nothing because Morientes was a wet squib and Klinsmann was electrifying.
Stuart Pearce's Under-21s lost to hosts Holland on penalties after a 1-1 draw in which Lita scored first, as expected.
The shoot-out went to 13-12 and proud patriot Pearce naturally praised his soldiers to the sky. That is where we are : four games, three draws and a 2-0 win over Serbia reserves. Serbia will paralyse Holland in the final on Saturday. This is a very, very average group of Dutch youngsters.
As a football fan, do you enjoy summer?
I know many don't. Three weeks ago Chelsea Kevin said , "I hate Saturdays without football" and last week he again said, "I hate Saturdays without football." Kev sounds like a broken record but I don't mind summer and last Saturday we went to see a friend's work at the Chelsea College of Art and Design degree show in Pimlico, next to Tate Britain. Many Japanese girls study there and one gave us saki. Fine art, sculpture, clothes, interior design – it was fun. On Sunday, Neil, Martha and Derek arrived for lunch on the patio after that I took Neil, my brother, to see Gilad Atzmon at Gladstonbury, the local music festival in a nearby park.
Summers are OK and last weekend was OK. On transfers, my position was stated on ANR long ago : Ask me on September 1st which teams will do well in 2007-2008. I might have some ideas on Arsenal, Liverpool and Sunderland.
Right now next season is a mirage hovering on a sandy horizon, two hazy palm trees, a camel, a lone figure with a walking stick in his hand….