I searched “international break” in Google images and that was what came up on the second search page. If the image looks familiar (besides being hilarious and very creepy) its because almost a year to date I posted the same image as the intro to a international break post of news. Funny how these things come full circle. It has been slow on the news front recently but we have several interesting blurbs out of the Real Madrid camp to go over today. Lets get started with some good news on national team call ups.

Four Real Players Called Up To The u-17 Team For The World Cup, Several Other Called Up For A Mini-Tournament In Preparation For Euro Qualifiers

Real was pleased to announce a whole host of players were called up for various youth teams. Here is a sampling:

La cantera del Real Madrid sigue dando muestras de su buen estado de salud. Para el próximo Mundial Sub-17 que se disputará en Nigeria han sido elegidos para representar a España cuatro canteranos del Real Madrid: Pablo Sarabia, Alejandro Fernández, Kamal y Álvaro Morata. Los tres primeros son integrantes del Juvenil A, mientras que el delantero Álvaro Morata pertenece al Juvenil B. Estos jugadores se concentraran en la Ciudad de Fútbol de Las Rozas a partir del próximo martes 13 de octubre, y partirán hacia Nigeria el día 22 de octubre.

España permanece encuadrada en el Grupo E, donde se tendrá que enfrentar a Estados Unidos, Emiratos Árabes y Malaui en la fase de grupos. Su primer rival será el conjunto norteamericano que se enfrentará a España el 26 de octubre a las 19.00 horas, el segundo encuentro será ante Emiratos Árabes el 29 de octubre también a las 19.00 horas, mientras que la Selección Española jugará el último partido de la fase de grupos ante Malaui el día uno de noviembre a las 16.00 horas. Los cuatro jugadores madridistas esperan hacer un gran torneo y ayudar al combinado nacional ha conseguir su primer Mundial en esta categoría. Hasta el momento la Sub-17 se ha quedado a las puertas del triunfo en tres ocasiones en las que fue subcampeón en los años 1991, 2003 y 2007.

Por su parte, los jugadores Alfonso Herrero, Derik Osede y Enrique Castaño participaran en el Mini Torneo de clasificación correspondiente al IX Campeonato de Europa Sub-17. El guardameta Alfonso Herrero entrena con el Juvenil C a las órdenes de Luis Miguel Ramis, mientras que Derik y Enrique Castaño pertenecen al Juvenil B. En este Mini Torneo la Selección Española se enfrentará en la fase de grupos a Islas Feroe, Lituania y Rumania. Además hay que destacar que el jugador del Real Madrid Martin Kozhuharov ha sido convocado por la Selección de Bulgaria Sub-18 para jugar un encuentro amistoso el próximo 21 de octubre ante Austria.

Sarabia and Alejandro Fernandez are names I am aware of but the other two I have never heard much of. Kamal is an immigrant child who has been called up to Spanish teams before, but I know little else about him. Good news to see we will be represented in the Spanish selection for the u-17 World Cup. Likewise for this mini-tournament Spain is participating in as a warm up for Euro qualifiers. Derik Osede, whose picture is above, is a player I have paid particular attention to. A strong and skilled central defender, he is one to keep an eye on for the future.

Pellegrini Does An Interview With UEFA.com

If you would like to watch a video interview of Manuel Pellegrini from uefa.com, click here. UEFA does a good job with these interviews and op ed pieces they put together on their site, so check it out. I liked it.

Real Drawn Against Neighbors Alcorcon

This one is 100% in Spanish. I was able to read all of it. Lets see if you can do the same. No one said I didnt have to be lazy during the international break, aka blogger vacation.

La Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón milita en el Grupo II de Segunda División B, donde también juega el Real Madrid Castilla. Llegan a los dieciseisavos de la Copa del Rey tras eliminar a Palencia y Lagun Onak. El año pasado, se clasificaron hasta el último partido del playoff de ascenso a Segunda División, donde cayeron derrotados ante el Real Unión de Irún.

El Alcorcón milita en el Grupo II de Segunda División B, el mismo en el que está encuadrado el Real Madrid Castilla. Actualmente, son séptimos. Han ganado tres partidos, empatado dos y perdido otros tantos. El balance goleador es de siete tantos a favor y cuatro en contra.

El conjunto del sur de Madrid quedó exento de la primera ronda de la Copa del Rey. En la segunda ronda eliminó en su casa al Palencia al ganarle por dos goles a cero. En la tercera ronda visitó Azpeitia para ganar por un gol a dos al CD Lagun Onak. Estas primeras eliminatorias se disputaron a partido único.

El Alcorcón no había llegado tan lejos en la Copa del Rey desde hace trece años. El pasado curso, fue el mejor en la historia del equipo amarillo. Quedó tercero en Segunda División B y se clasificó para las eliminatorias de ascenso a Segunda División. Tras eliminar a San Andreu y Alcoyano, perdió el sitio en la categoría de plata del fútbol español a manos del Real Unión.

Del equipo del año pasado quedan muy pocos jugadores. Hasta 18 nuevos jugadores han llegado al equipo amarillo. Son el segundo equipo menos goleado de su grupo (4 tantos en siete partidos, 0’57 por encuentro). Los tantos se los reparten entre Borja -tres-, Cascón -dos- y Rubén Sanz e Íñigo López con uno cada uno. Uno de sus defensas titulares, Gómez, pasó por el Juvenil A del Real Madrid.

EMPAREJAMIENTOS DE LOS DIECISEISAVOS DE FINAL DE LA COPA DEL REY:

Alcorcón – REAL MADRID
Cultural Leonesa – Barcelona
Marbella – Atlético de Madrid
Puertollano – Villareal
At. Ciudad – Sevilla
Alcoyano – Valencia
Rayo Vallecano – Athletic
Hércules – Almería
Salamanca – Racing
Celta – Tenerife
Recreativo – Sporting
Murcia – Deportivo
Xerez – Osasuna
Valladolid – Mallorca
Zaragoza – Málaga
Getafe – Espanyol

The Roberto Carlos Train Is Gaining Steam

Cringe worthy to cite goal.com I know, but it was the only place I could find the translated blurb from Guti for an interview he did with AS. Full length AS article here if you can read Spanish. If not, goal.com is here. Go at your own risk, its a land of the lost some say….

Guti:

“Roberto is a great left sided player. I’d welcome him with open arms. We would be delighted if he comes, but it’s up to the club,” Guti told AS.

I said this in an earlier post when Roberto Carlos was at the Bernabeu for a meet and greet, but I guess I will have to say it again. I do not think he can return to this team. His age is certainly permissive, but his abilities were waining when he left us, and I would assume he is still on that downward slope as his career winds down. A triumphant return for the legend would be nice, but I expect him to have a retirement game in a few years at the Bernabeu, Real vs. Inter most likely, or maybe Fener. Returning as a coach is fine to me, actually I encourage it because Real needs more positional coaches, something that French, Dutch and German teams have an abundance of and helps them produce highly specialized players, as opposed to our cantera left backs usually starting life as a center back or defensive midfielder. Lets hope we do get to see the big grin of the Brazilian on the Valdebabas pitch in the future, but not as a player unfortunately.

Castilla Players Training With The First Team

Luis Hernandez and Felipe Ramos both trained with the Real first team on Wednesday and Thursday, but on Friday we had more Castilla goodness in training, with Marcos Alonso participating in work outs. YUSSSSSSSSS! New left back time?!? Lets speculate. The need for a new left back solution is pretty apparent with the poor performance of Marcelo against top class opposition, and with Pellegrini seeming to not trust Drenthe fully. Marcos Alonso to me is a perfect solution because he presents a defensively solidity that neither of our left backs can provide. Whether that translates to the first division remains to be seen, but having watch him play for the u-20 team, I think he was excellent. Lets keep our fingers crossed though.

The other thing I want to point out is that Luis Hernandez, while maybe not ready for a first team appearance like Marcos Alonso seems to be, is being groomed for one eventually. Javi Velayos has been injured recently so Hernandez has been getting starts over Opare at right back, and this may be in response to using Arbeloa on the left and Sergio Ramos needing cover at right back. That may be reading to much in to it, but I like that Pellegrini consistently is giving training opportunities to Castilla players. Cristian, Ruben Ramos and Mateos have all trained with the first team previously, so if we do get in to an injury crisis, Pellegrini will probably look to the cantera which I think is a positive. Give the lads a chance, its the least you can do. Most will surprise you.

Pardeza Attends Real Training For Chat With Pellegrini

Some may call it the dreaded vote of confidence, but I disagree. If most clubs are in dire straits and the coach gets a thumbs up from the club president then that may be a sticky situ. But in this case, Pardeza came to training to today to chat with Pellegrini for a bit, and as MARCA put it, give him a message of tranquility and confidence in his abilities. Maybe so, but I think Pardeza and Valdano go to training pretty regularly to talk to Pellegrini about the squad and get his input so they can report back to the board and Perez. Its not really anything out of the ordinary and I wish the papers would stop the back handed hints that Pellegrini is on the chopping block. He lost one game for christs sake! No matter though, just wanted to keep everyone abreast of what was going on today and calm some us down further.

Roberto Carlos, one of Real Madrid’s greatest ever players and possibly the club’s best left back (we can debate that if you would like to), returned to the Bernabeu recently for a little tour of the ground and an interview with the official site and a few other news outlets. International breaks for ex-internationals are usually even more boring then for non-international players, because they know what they are missing. Roberto Carlos though is not one to sit idly by, so he took a trip to Madrid!

Here is a brief excerpt of his interview with the official site:

“I felt marvelous things when I stepped on the pitch again. I lived so many great moments at the Bernabeu…”

“The greatest of my achievements is the fact that fans still remember me with affection. You can’t put a price on that. I will never be able to thank them enough for it.”

“This Trophy Room has part of my heart in it.”

“I lived very happy moments with Real Madrid. I was lucky to win three European Cups. This new team is very exciting. It has some of the best players in the world and I believe it can achieve great things if it continues to improve. I watch Real Madrid’s games whenever I can. I think they are doing a great job and I’m sure they’ll do even better. They’ve only lost one league game and they’ve had a strong start in the Champions League. I think the new project is very ambitious.”

“Marcelo is a great player who is working very hard. I’m glad things are workimng out for him on the team.”

“Madrid is a marvelous city. It would be nice to help the Club in any way I can.”

It is always nice to see former players having such an affection for the city and the club. Roberto left at the right time, when his powers were waining and even though he did not go out on a high in terms of form, he won a league before he left. But, even though he wanted to continue playing first team football, and Champions League games at that, he may have left to early. More time with Marcelo may have been great for the young Brazilians game, because despite what Roberto Carlos says, Marcelo is not a great player.

There has been talk of Carlos coming back to Real to play. He says he would do it for free. Well I would play for Real for free to Roberto, it does not mean I will get the chance. I do not think it would be wise to bring him back as a player, even if would hurt the wage bill. As a coach, definitely! But even then, he say he wants to play in Brazil for a year or two still, so it will not be for awhile. If he does some day come back to Real to coach that would be great, he could teach many of our young lads how to play the position properly.

Wenger might be my favourite manager, period. His eye for talent is unrivalled, his ability to get young talent to perform is unmatched. With him at the helm, wouldn’t you expect a renaissance, a new golden age for the cantera and the first team? I sure would! Oh, BSMH!

More interestingly, the articles mention that Wenger would be given the post of “general manager” in addition to the coach’s role, akin to what North American sports franchises have, and probably most of what Pedja Mijatovic does in his role as technical director. This would be a major departure from business as usual in Spain or anywhere else on the continent, but it’s very common in England and that model is already what Wenger is used to.

I know Wenger has been approached before, but he’s likely said no because he pulls most of the strings at Arsenal. He dictates the team, he directs the transfer policy, he coaches the players. I don’t think that’s what was offered before. But now? With Arsenal’s limited pursestrings, Wenger is having to replenish his team every year as other teams poach his best players, like Hleb, Flamini and Henry, to name just the most recent ones. But with Real’s mega-millions behind him, Wenger could actually concentrate on building the best squad, and if his Arsenal teams are anything to go by (which they should be), they would be entertaining to watch too. How could he lose? He might even be able to bring Cesc with him!

Thoughts? Comments? Let’s hear it!

Also, the official Real Madrid squad numbers have been released, here is a list of them. I just ordered that super cool blue away kit with Robinho De la Red’s name on the back!

PLAYER #
Casillas 1
Salgado 2
Pepe 3
Ramos 4
Cannavaro 5
Diarra 6
Raúl 7
Gago 8
Saviola 9
Sneijder 10
Robben 11
Marcelo 12
Codina 13
Guti 14
Drenthe 15
Heinze 16
V. Nistelrooy 17
De la Red 18
Higuaín 20
Metzelder 21
Torres 22
V. der Vaart 23
Javi García 24
Dudek 25

Also, Real Madrid Castilla won their first league outing 2-0 against “the Neighborhood” Vecindario. Goals from Adam Szalai and Fran Rico ensured a strong start to Castilla’s promotion push. From what I read, it seemed they played very well, with Julen Lopetegui instilling some good footballing principles in his pupils. Juan Palanca also made his debut, while new Castilla signing Edouard Kabamba is still not fit to play with the team. The 21 year old forward was purchased from Standard Liege, who Real has a cooperative agreement with. He may be ready for Castilla’s next match, but we will see.

The lineup featured a 4-3-2-1, with Szalai the lone forward and Albero Bueno and Juan Palanca as attacking midfielders. They were then backed up by Fran Rico and Modrego as off-center midfielders and David Mateos as the DM. The defense has changed little from last year, with Chema Anton, Gary, and Javier Velayos starting along with the returning Agus. Antonio Adan as of now the starting keeper, but he has Felipe Reyes breathing down his neck.

Here is a list of some of the ins and outs in the Real academy. I thought this would be useful:

ALTAS
CASTILLA
Daniel Opare.Lateral derecho. Procede del Ashati Gold(Nigeria)
Miguel Palanca Fernandez.Delantero.Procede del Espanyol B.

REAL MADRID C
Enrique Reguero Cotrina.Portero.Procede del San Sebastian de los Reyes(vuelve cedido)

JUVENIL A
Ignacio Perez Tella.Delantero. Procede del Oliver(Zaragoza)
Edgar Mendez Ortega. Procede del Murcia Deportivo.

JUVENIL B
Jaime Navarro Simon.Mediocentro.Proced e del Adarve.

JUVENIL C
Daniel Ramirez Fernandez.Mediapunta. Procede del Leganes
Rafael Perez Cabaleiro. Delantero. Procede del Areosa(Galicia)
Sergio Aguza Santiago.Interior zurdo. Procede del UE Cornella.
Christian Faura Diaz.Centrocampista. Procede del UE Cornella

CADETE A
Ricardo Paz Manchado ” Richy”.Portero. Procede del FC Barcelona

CADETE B
Dario Hernandez Gomez.Portero.Procede del Avila.
Por confirmar para este equipo: Oscar Novo Luaces.Procede del Galicia de Caranza.
Miguel Ángel Ruiz Mata ” Miki”.Delantero.Procede del Barcelona.

BAJAS

CASTILLA
Nieto(Almeria)
Sergio(Hercules)
Jose Callejon(Espanyol)
Juanmi Callejon(Mallorca)
Gary(Danubio)
Forlin(Boca juniors)
Bueno(por confirmar destino)
Parejo(Queens Palace)
Modrego(Valladolid)

R.MADRID C
Jordi (Celta)
Giraldez (Atletico)
Samuel Sanchez (Malaga)

JUVENIL B
David Moreno(Almeria)

INFANTIL A
Saul Ñiguez (Atletico)

The academy has lost alot of players unfortunately, and even though Castilla signed some decent replacements, I worry that we are letting to many young players go. Maybe a change in the rules in Spain to allow Liga teams to sign pro-deals with young talents at 16 would be helpful. Or atleast pre-contract agreements. Have a good weekend everyone, barring any major news I will take the week off! Go Spain! And check out Dancy, the newest member of the Real Madrid staff. She will be providing us with liveblogs and the occassional post. Welcome Dancy

Anyway, as a follow up to Corey’s last post about the Robinho situation, I give you this Guardian article. Here’s a snippet:

Real Madrid were last night considering a bid which sources at the Bernabéu claim is worth €60m (£48m) for the Brazilian playmaker Robinho after the Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, called Madrid’s sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, to increase a €40m offer first tabled last Friday.
…
Chelsea’s renewed bid came in the wake of a tense meeting at the Bernabéu yesterday morning in which Robinho, flanked by his agent Wagner Ribeiro, told Mijatovic face to face of his desire to leave Madrid and play under Scolari.
…
Robinho has been irritated by Real’s attempt to use him as a makeweight in their move for the Old Trafford winger, while the club has refused to offer a contract extension.
…
“Madrid have failed to value him as he deserves,” Ribeiro said, “and I do not like the fact that they tried to include him in the Ronaldo deal. Money is not the problem for us now. What matters for Robinho is to leave the club and play for Scolari at Chelsea.”
…
Although Robinho’s absence from the club’s Portuguese get-together yesterday was attributed to his insistence on playing at the Beijing Olympics, that is an honour he would forgo to complete his move to Chelsea.

Well, that sounds like, to me, that Robinho has made up his mind to go and has told Calderon and Mijatovic about it. Something we basically wanted CRon to do but hasn’t.

So we’re potentially left with egg on our face, if CRon doesn’t press his situation and Robinho does. Of course, Calderon’s assertion that “you can’t buy what someone isn’t selling” could still hold for Robinho, but would you want to have him on the squad now?

In this situation, Man U is holding all the cards. First, they don’t want to get rid of CRon, but losing him and having Chelsea get Robinho? Hell no. Sir Alex would probably rather retire than have that happen, so chances are, if Robinho isn’t going to Man U in a deal for CRon, the Portuguese superstar isn’t coming to Madrid.

And if CRon isn’t coming to Madrid, could Robinho still go to Chelsea? It’s possible, maybe even probable at this point (though i’d hate it not least because I only got a Robinho shirt back in April). We already play a lopsided system, with Robben and Robinho both best on the left, and no real right winger (something Balboa could’ve done – wait, he’s in Portugal), and Robben would be worth starting for the half-season he’s healthy. His work with Sneijder in the Euro tournament was hypnotic.

Anyway, from where I stand (sit… at work, though in my defense, it’s lunchtime), Real is in for a world of hurt, one way or another. Their only way out now is to get CRon.

Anyway, I’m introducing this new feature, Be Still My Heart, to write about any rumours or reports about players that I absolutely love. You won’t see a BSMH on CRon – I think he’s good, but he doesn’t make me quiver at the knees (ok, so no guy does that to me, but still… you know what I mean).

My first BSMH goes to Lyon’s Karim Benzema. I’m sure we all know how kickass this kid is – he’s like a striker’s version of Cesc. Mature beyond his years, plays like a pro, and of course, he’d look amazing in white. And unlike CRon, Benzema seems to produce no matter how big or small the match, whether it’s Ligue 1, Champions League or for France.

So whilst all the rage of the press is over CRon, imagine my elation when I found out that Benzema said he wants to come to Madrid. And the best part is, it’s not from Goal.com! This is the muthafreakin’ Guardian!!! Woot woot! While they may not be sh*tting bricks just yet, OL fans can’t be happy about that.

What say you, dear readers?

So all of you out there waiting for my end of the season review and my player ratings posts, they will be coming this week, one on Wednesday and one on Friday/Saturday if all goes to plan.

Here is the match highlights, a video I found of the Cibeles celebration from a few weeks back and the trophy presentation to El Capitan:

What a year it was, another league title always sits well with me, and I am very pleased with this years team. But as is the speed of football, we must not look to next season already, and here are some of the transfer bits for the summer.

- First off, Ezeqiual Garay is said to be set to sign for Real Madrid when the transfer window opens. His strange turn from being persued since arriving in Spain by Real to signing for Barca to now looking to have come to terms with Real. A 7.5 million euro fee is sais to have been agreed, which could turn into 8 million. There is also the rumor of Garay being loaned back to Santander next season if the deal does go through, based on Reals center back situation
next year with Metz and Canna’s situations still up in the air.

First off, I dont buy the fee. I can see Garay signing for us, but the fee has been cut in half since March? It was 15 million when he was going to sign with Barca, so how is it less now? Its no secret the Barca have pretty muched dropped their interest in Garay, as Pep Guardiola wants Gerard Pique back at Barcelona. Its also no secret that Pedja has shopped around Metzelder already, as his constant injury problems have become annoying and his lack of pace may see him shipped out for a few million euros.

So is Garay really going to sign for us? I still remain skeptical, what do you think?

- The press is making alot out of Real’s chase of Cristiano Ronaldo. Now I dont work for Real so I do not know what goes on and what the strategy here is, but considering his price tag, Ferguson only selling players when he thinks they have nothing more to offer him (he does not think that of Ronaldo), and Schuster/Calderon’s sentiments that this transfer is nearly impossible at this time, I concur.

So I will not report on this, because I know it will go on all summer long, but I cant say if it will happen or not. Its the same every summer, one EPL player is in this transfer circus with some big European team, Patrick Viera, David Beckham, Ruud and Henry all ring a bell. Its going to get annoying fast, so as of now, I dont care until September 1st when the window is shut.

- The press still thinks Mamadou Diarra is for sale, as they report AC Milan will make a bid for the player. Becuas he wants to play in that crowded midfield that doesnt have the CL to play in???

- No news as of yet on Dani Aquino’s signing. Likewise nothing official from Real about the return of De la Red and Javi Garcia either. I guess the offseason has slowed down a bit more than in the past.

- Manuel Vargas is supposed to be a Real target. I was not aware, but its being reported he will choose Fiorentina over Real as he wants to stay in Italy with a title contender. HA yes, brilliant idea, stay with a title contender instead of a title winner. Im not saying that to be cocky, but for me, this guy is one of those players who plays well for small clubs but struggle at bigger clubs. I dont see him as being any better than Marcelo, and certainly not better than Heinze. So whats the reason for going after him? Pedja is getting greedy, or the press/his agent is making things up.

- Martin Caceres, Uruguayan defender of Vilarreal, has been sounded out by Pedja. Looks like he wants to come play for Real, but Vilarreal are in no need to sell as they finished in second place this year and with a few defenders either growing old or leaving, he is set to step into the first tema after a year on loan at Huelva along with Cesar Arzo who returns from Murcia.

I like the kid, he is a good player, rugged like Heinze, but I doubt Vilarreal will want to sell. They want De la Red in return, and for that I say no thank you, we can find someone else.

- Robinho insists he is staying with Real. Why would he leave?

- EDIT I forgot to throw in this video of next years kits. I love the blue one, its great, I am going to buy it as soon as it goes on sale! Enjoy:

- Here is a great website I found that keeps track of Real Madrid Castilla and other youth divisions of Real. Adios!

So it is officialy summer for me, which means I have started out a little lazy with posting as I sleep copious amounts and workout like crazy. But I will go back to every-other-day Grapevine posts, and remember everyone, my 1 year anniversary writing here is at the end of June, so be prepared! My question to you is, give me some ideas to write about. Obviously we are the champions, which we are all very pleased about, and if we beat Levante this weekend we will set a new points total for La Liga. That is if Levante’s players show up for the match, which remains to be seen as a strike is in the works.

So besides being the best team in the history of La Liga!!! What else should I write about. Obviously my Grapevine posts will deal with the transfer gossip of the summer which is always entertaining, but I would like to give everyone a weekly editorial post on something. Ideas are most welcome, I think a update on Castilla’s season, a preview of the three young Spaniards coming back to us and a season recap with player evaluations are in the works. But theres so much more to write about, I simply have been resting after a tiring semester and have gotten lazy. So hit me with your best stuff!

Phil Ball’s latest column on Soccernet – The old master writes his latest masterpiece. His take on Spanish press officers is revealing, especially when you consider that Real are the only “big” team in his top 5 – might that be due to the frequency of our appearance in his columns? Phil also reveals his opinions of Pepe and Diarra, and I can’t help but agree. Just based on recent matches I’ve seen, both players have overcome early-season difficulties to round into form. Especially Diarra, who has pulled out some moves over the last month or so which I did not expect and which seemed to go unnoticed until now.

Madrid to replace Diarra with Essien – The rest of these links are from Goal.com, so take it as just a talking piece, but I know this will definitely spur some interest amongst readers. I’m a huge fan of Essien – I think he’d be perfect for us, because he’s tenacious in the tackle, extremely versatile, and rather menacing going forward. Corey thinks he’s a central midfielder rather than a defensive midfielder, and I think the Ghanaian has the skills to do so, but on a team like Chelsea, he’s relegated to primarily defensive duties because of guys like Michael Ballack and Fat Frank Lampard. I could see Essien displacing both Gago and Diarra in a combined defensive/distributor role, but as Phil Ball mentions in the previous link, Diarra is a great player to have, especially in away matches when you need the backfield protection.

Sampdoria chasing after Higuain – I’m not surprised to see Samp thinking they can grab another striker from Madrid, but I doubt even knee-jerk reactivists like Mijatovic and Calderon would sell such a young player on the ascendancy. Maybe we can offload Saviola instead? He’s Argentinian too!

There’s a couple more links laying around, but I don’t think they’re worth my effort, so chew on that cud for a while…

- Michel Salgado, forgotten right back, but equally terrible despite his great service to the club over the years, is a target for Tottenham and Chelsea. More power to him if he wants to move on, like I said, he was a great servant to the club, but he has been poor the past two years and we have two much better right backs ahead of him. If he does leave I will pay him tribute.

- AS has a source on the Real baord who says about Ruud “Inside the dressing room, he is with Raul. Ruud is not going out in Madrid in the evening and is always available for teammates. He is an something character.” That was my translation from AS, so it sucks and I apologize, my Spanish is muy rusty. And thus, Ruud will be signing his contract extension this week, keeping him around until 2008 where he most likely will retire with us. Good news.

- Real are interested in bring in Ghana u-17 fullback Daniel Opare. Presumably for the C-team. Thena again tribalfootball is reporting this so who knows? I dont know anything about the lad, but I assume he was on the succesful Ghana team of the past year.

- Roberto Soldado is locked in talks to go to Getafe on loan, which would probably help his chances for the Euro. I think its a good move if Saviola isnt gonna leave, but since neither have scored with the limited playing time they have recieved, I dont know if either will be fresh enough to make an impact of the bench for the remainder of the season. Sell Saviola and bring in someone else if need be, just dont cast off Soldado for good.

- Phil Ball wrote a column completely on Valencia this week, check out the www.valencia.theoffside.com for excerpts. Next weeks column will be the half way report, we should all be eagerly anticipating that.

- Real will pay Lyon 35 million for Karim Benzema. And I dont believe it. Not the money, but the fact that Benzema will leave this summer. I think he will stay for another year, as will Hatem Ben Arfa. Samir Nasri, now he may want a move whether or not he is ready…

Thats all, nothing major to be honest, hopefully there will be something juicy to run with tomorrow. Adios.