I will start it off. Sunderland are closing in on strike targets Ruud van Nistelrooy and Kevin Doyle. Black Cats boss Steve Bruce is in pole position to land the Dutchman on a free transfer as his contract ends at Hamburg. But Bruce will have to fork out over £60,000 a week to entice the 34-year-old former Manchester United striker.
AJAX have refused to confirm that they have agreed a £6 million deal with Sunderland for the signature of Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Reports in Sweden claim Black Cats boss Peter Reid has turned his attention to the gifted 20-year-old as his protracted search for a striker goes on. After being snubbed by Robbie Keane, Rangers marksman Tore Andre Flo and Ibrahimovic have emerged as the main contenders as Reid desperately looks for a new striker before the August 31 deadline. Ibrahimovic arrived at the Amsterdam ArenA from Malmo with a big reputation but his undoubted talent has been shown in fits and spurts in Holland, and coach Ronald Koeman is now thought to be ready to part with the enigmatic attacker. An Ajax spokesman issued a "no comment" to planetfootball when questioned about the matter while the player's agent, Anders Carlsson, and Sunderland have been playing with a straight bat. The tall Swede refused to rule out a transfer to the Stadium of Light and may now ponder the move, although he has always maintained his happiness at Ajax. "At the moment the coach Ronald Koeman has said that it is 50-50 between me and Mido," Ibrahimovic told Expressen. "At the moment I am leaning in the direction of staying at Ajax, but you never know what will happen." The retirement of Niall Quinn last season has left Sunderland short of firepower up front and Reid wants a front-man to take some of the goalscoring burden off Kevin Phillips.
Sunderland have been linked with a £10million move for French international midfielder Claude Makelele. Black Cats boss Peter Reid told the Sunday Mirror: "All I can say at this stage is that I have made an inquiry for Makelele. He is a top-drawer player." Reid would have to smash the club's transfer record, currently the £3.75million paid for Sweden's Stefan Schwarz, to land the 27-year old Celta Vigo star, who is also reportedly a target for Spanish rivals Valencia.
This time round it had to be the Robin Van Persia rumour. I remember the Zlatan one - didn't he say we were far too small a club for him. He probably got that right in hindsight!
is widely rumored that Roy Keane is set to lure former Manchester United team mates Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt to The Stadium of Light. With Joey Barton heading to Newcastle, Butt is likely to slide down the pecking order for midfield places, and could be tempted by Keane’s offer, regardless of talk he is favorite for the captain’s armband after the departure of Scott Parker. What I don’t see, however, is Scholes leaving Manchester United. Ever. Paul Scholes is a family man. One of his reasons for not playing forEngland anymore is his young family, and desire to spend more time with them. For this reason alone I don’t see him upping sticks and heading north. Sir Alex Ferguson would be mad to let him even if he tried. With Hargreaves, Anderson and Nani joining the ranks, Scholes my find his outings limited, but his experience will be invaluable with next seasons main target in mind. The Champions League. All the signings point to an assault on club football’s biggest prize. Hargreaves to provide the ruthlessness in midfield missing since Keane’s departure. Nani to push down the left as Giggs starts to slow further. Anderson to finally provide a genuine attacking option from the bench. As with Giggs, Scholes is the sort of player you can see taking up a coaching role when he hangs up his boots, and players like Anderson can only improve under his wing. The £2million bid will get Paul Scholes thinking. Thinking about the possibility of playing every week in a possible relegation battle, or resting more and fighting for the Champions League. Not for too long tho….
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has revealed that he had tried to bring midfielder David Beckham to the Stadium of Light. According to the Daily Star,Bruce rang Beckham last year before the midfielder joined AC Milan on loan for a second time from Los Angeles Galaxy. When asked where he thinks Beckham’s next move will be, Bruce joked: “We’ll try!” “I still keep in touch with him. Will he come back to England? I can’t see it. But I tried certainly to get him here when he went back to Milan.” “Becks said, ‘Thanks, Brucie - but I’m going to Milan.’ It was Milan and Prada, or Sunderland and Primark!” he added. Beckham, who had spent the last two winters on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy at AC Milan, had earlier confirmed that his move to the Italian club would not happen again. “I won’t be going back to AC Milan this time because is not possible to go onto the roster for such a short length of time,” the 35-year-old had said. “But I will be going back somewhere as I want to keep myself fit and keep myself in with a chance of getting called up for England again. To do that, I have to be somewhere so fingers crossed I can sort something out,” he added.
