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presto
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« on: August 10, 2007, 06:50:53 PM » |
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ARSENAL
In: Eduardo da Silva (Dinamo Zagreb, undisclosed), Lukasz Fabianski (Legia Warsaw, undisclosed), Bacary Sagna (Auxerre, undisclosed), Havard Nordtveit (FK Haugesund, undisclosed).
Out: Thierry Henry (Barcelona, £16.1m), Jeremie Aliadiere (Middlesbrough, £2m), Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham, £2m), Arturo Lupoli (Fiorentina, undisclosed), Mart Poom (Watford, free), Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham, £3m), Jose Antonio Reyes (Atletico Madrid, undisclosed), Kerrea Gilbert (Southend, loan), Ryan Garry (Bournemouth, free), Johan Djourou (Birmingham, loan).
The loss of Thiery Henry will be a massive blow to Arsenals title chances IMO, also they not seemed to have strengthened there squad. with Man utd and Chelsea already having superior squads and with liverpool splashing the cash and north London rivals Spurs improving there teams i can see a tough season ahead for the gunners who will have to work hard on keeping a top 4 position, as i could possibly see Spurs overtaking them.
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ASTON VILLA
In: Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham, £8.5m), Marlon Harewood (West Ham, undisclosed), Harry Forrester (Watford, undisclosed), Eric Lichaj (unattached, free)
Out: Aaron Hughes (Fulham, £1m), Jlloyd Samuel (Bolton, free), Steven Davis (Fulham, undisclosed), Gavin McCann (Bolton, £1m), Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls, free), Stephen Henderson (Bristol City, free), Lee Hendrie (Sheffield United, free), Robert Olejnik (Falkirk, free), Chris Sutton (released).
Reo-Corker will want to make a good impression here and could be a good buy and key player for the team if he can play like he did a couple of seasons ago as opposed to his poor performances and bickering he showed last season.
This season Martin 'o' Neil wil want to improve on last seasons results, and i can see a top 10 place for villa this season.
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BIRMINGHAM
In: Olivier Kapo (Juventus, £3m), Garry O'Connor (Lokomotiv Moscow, £2.7m), Fabrice Muamba (Arsenal, £2m), Stuart Parnaby (Middlesbrough, free), Daniel de Ridder (Celta Vigo, free), Richard Kingston (Antalyaspor, free), Rafael Schmitz (Lille, season loan), Franck Queudrue (Fulham, £2.5m), Johan Djourou (Arsenal, loan).
Out: Bruno N'Gotty (Leicester, free), Julian Gray (Coventry, free), Stephen Clemence (Leicester, fee rising to £1m), DJ Campbell (Leicester, £2.1m).
Promoted sides tend to have a hard time in the premiership, and i have no doupt that Birmingham will be no excepion to this, a few good additions to the squad, however the loss of Bentner back to Arsenal after his loan spell last season i feel will be a major loss to the birmingham strikeforce, no doupt Steve #Bruce will want to get the best out of his team, but i feel that they will be in for a relegation battle this season and a bottom 4 finish.
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BLACKBURN ROVERS
In: Gunnar Nielsen (BK Frem Copenhagen, undisclosed), Maceo Rigters (NAC Breda, undisclosed), Roque Santa Cruz (Bayern Munich, undisclosed).
Out: Andy Todd (Derby, undisclosed), Michael Gray (Wolves, released), Francis Jeffers (Sheffied Wednesday, undisc)
Blackburn will be pushing for a top 6 finish this season, and will certainly finish top half, sturdy defence and capable of goals, David Bently and new boy Roque Santa Cruz will be ones to look out for this season.
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BOLTON WANDERERS
In: Gavin McCann (Aston Villa, £1m), Jlloyd Samuel (Aston Villa, free), Zoltan Harsanyi (FC Senec, undisclosed), Blerim Dzemaili (Zurich, undisclosed), Gerald Cid (Bordeaux, undisclosed), Danny Guthrie (Liverpool, season loan), Heidar Helguson (Fulham, undisclosed), Mikel Alonso (Real Sociedad, loan), Christian Wilhelmsson (Nantes, loan).
Out: Tal Ben Haim (Chelsea, free), Idan Tal (Betar Jerusalem, undisclosed), Chris Howarth (Carlisle, free), Henrik Pedersen, Quinton Fortune, David Thompson, Cesar Martin (all released).
I predict a grim season for Bolton, big Sam Allerdice was the key to Boltons success in my eyes, he always got the best out of his players, so the new man in charge will have a big task on his hands. Forget the top half finish and the UEFA cup places. I can see a tough season langushing in the bottom half, maybe even relegation battlers.
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CHELSEA
In: Florent Malouda (Lyon, £13.5m), Tal Ben Haim (Bolton, free), Steve Sidwell (Reading, free), Claudio Pizarro (Bayern Munich, free), Jacob Mellis (Sheffield United, £1.3m), Danny Philliskirk (Oldham, undisclosed).
Out: Geremi (Newcastle, free) Yves Ma-Kalambay (Hibernian, free), Nuno Morais (Apoel Nicosia, undisclosed), Khalid Boulahrouz (Sevilla, season loan), Jimmy Smith (Norwich, season loan), Michael Mancienne (QPR, season-long loan), James Russell (Stevenage).
Injuries may have been Jose Murhinio's excuse for not winning last season, however this season they have the African cup of nations that will deplete there squad by 4 for a period this season, including key man Drogba. Not sure of the impact that the new players will make this season, though at least they can't be the big money flops they brought in last season. Chelsea still have a quality squad, however i still can't see them pipping man utd to the championship, no doupt Chelsea will be battleing all the way, but i predict a 2nd place finish again.
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DERBY
In: Robert Earnshaw (Norwich, £3.5m), Tyrone Mears (West Ham, £1m), Claude Davis (£3m), Andy Todd (Blackburn, free), Ben Hinchcliffe (free agent), Andy Griffin (Portsmouth, free), Lewis Price (Ipswich, undisclosed).
Out: Seth Johnson, Morten Bisgaard, Lee Grant (all released), Ryan Smith (Millwall, £150,000), Paul Peschisolido (Luton, free), Paul Boertien (Walsall, free), Lee Camp (Derby, £300,000), Steve Cann (Rotherham, released), Richard Jackson (Luton, free).
The premierships new 'whipping boys' a squad far from premiership quality and with signing's that don't look to make the difference. a bottom place finish looks on the cards.
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EVERTON
In: Leighton Baines (Everton, undisclosed), Lukas Jutkiewicz (Swindon, undisclosed), Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United, £4m), Steven Pienaar (Borussia Dortmund, loan)
Out: Richard Wright (West Ham, free), Alessandro Pistone (released), Gary Naysmith (Sheffield United, £1m), James Beattie (Sheffield United, £4m), Scott Phelan (Bradford, free).
Jagielka looks a good buy, but there squad still seems lacking in depth, a decent side though nothing more. Will be looking for a top half finish, however a UEFA cup place looks slightly out of reach.
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FULHAM
In: Diomansy Kamara (West Brom, £6m), Aaron Hughes (Aston Villa, £1m), Steven Davis (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Chris Baird (Southampton, £3.025m), David Healy (£1.5m), Paul Konchesky (£2m), Lee Cook (QPR, undisclosed) Hameur Bouazza (Watford, undisclosed).
Out: Claus Jensen (released), Mark Pembridge (released), Tomasz Radzinski (released), Mark Crossley (released, now at Oldham), Michael Brown (Wigan, undisclosed), Franck Queudrue (Birmingham, £2.5m).
Sanchez has brought in some good buys to strengthen the squad, and players who will work hard. Should avoid a relegation struggle, and will be either a safe bottom half side, maybe mid table if they perform well.
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LIVERPOOL
In: Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid, undisclosed), Lucas Leiva (Gremio, undisclosed), Mikel San Jose (Athletic Bilbao, £270,000), Nikolay Mihaylov (Levski Sofia, undisclosed), Krisztian Nemeth (MTK Budapest, undisclosed), Andras Simon (MTK Budapest, undisclosed), Andriy Voronin (Bayer Leverkusen, free), Dani Pacheco (Barcelona, £350,000), Alex Kacaniklic (Helsingborg, undisclosed), Marvin Purie (Borussia Dortmund, undisclosed), Gary Mackay Stevens (Ross County, undisclosed), Yossi Benayoun (West Ham, £5m), Ryan Babel (Ajax, £11.5m).
Out: Djibril Cisse (Marseille, £6m), Craig Bellamy (West Ham, £7.5m), Luis Garcia (Atletico Madrid, undisclosed), Florent Sinama Pongolle (Recreativo Huelva, £2m), Danny Guthrie (Bolton, loan), Robbie Fowler (Cardiff, free), Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid, free), Boudewijn Zenden (Marseille, free), Mark Gonzalez (Real Betis, undisclosed).
Big spenders in the summer, Liverpool wil want to close the gap between them and Man utd, they were 21 points off the winners last season and will want to battle to close the gap this time, i highly doupt they are in serious contention for the top spot, though a comfortable top 4 finish in 3rd place for me.
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MANCHESTER CITY
In: Geovanni (Cruzeiro, free), Rolando Bianchi (Reggina, £8.8m), Gelson Fernandes (FC Sion, undisclosed), Martin Petrov (Atletico Madrid, £4.7m), Javier Garrido (Real Sociedad, £1.5m), Vedran Corluka (Dinamo Zagreb, undisclosed), Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk, £8m), Valeri Bojinov (Fiorentina, undisclosed).
Out: Sylvain Distin (Portsmouth, free), Trevor Sinclair (Cardiff, free), Stephen Jordan (Burnley, free), Hatem Trabelsi (released), Joey Barton (Newcastle, £5.8m), Nicky Weaver (Charlton, free).
A terrible season by all accounts last time out, however with a new manager in Sven and huge ammounts of 'dodgy' cash comming in from Thasksin Shinawatra beefing up the squad, who knows what has in store this season. A mid table finish looks on the cards.
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MANCHESTER UNITED
In: Owen Hargreaves (Bayern Munich, £17m), Anderson (Porto, undisclosed), Nani (Sporting Lisbon, undisclosed), Tomasz Kuszczak (West Brom, undisclosed), Carlos Tevez.
Out: Kieran Richardson (Sunderland, £5.5m), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal, undisclosed), Alan Smith (Newcastle, £6m).
The champions certainly havn't sat back this summer, with plenty of big name, big money transfers they have certainly improved there already great squad. The championship looks in my eyes to be UTD's for a 2nd year running.
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MIDDLESBROUGH
In: Tuncay Sanli (Fenerbahce, free), Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal, £2m), Jonathan Woodgate (Real Madrid, £7m), Luke Young (Charlton, £2.5m).
Out: Mark Viduka (Newcastle, free), Stuart Parnaby (Birmingham, free), Abel Xavier (LA Galaxy, free), Malcolm Christie (released), Danny Graham (released), Jason Kennedy (Livingston, loan), James Morrison (West Brom, £1.5m).
A lot depends on the future of striker Yakubu, he's a key player for Brough but as i type this theres transfer speculation surrounding him. I cant see Middlesbrough doing much this season and can see a bottom half finish, above relegation.
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NEWCASTLE
In: Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, free), Joey Barton (Man City, £5.8m), David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain, £2.9m), Geremi (Chelsea, free), Alan Smith (Manchester United, £6m), Claudio Cacapa (Lyon, free), Jose Enrique (Villarreal, £6.3m).
Out: Scott Parker (West Ham, £7m), Titus Bramble (Wigan, free), Antoine Sibierski (Wigan, free), Craig Moore (released), Olivier Bernard (released), Alan O'Brien (undisclosed).
Scott Parker looks a big loss to the magpies, but it will be interesting to see the changes that big Sam will make to the club. a mid table place looks fair.
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PORTSMOUTH
In: David Nugent (Preston, undisclosed), John Utaka (Rennes, undisclosed), Sylvain Distin (Manchester City, free), Hermann Hreidarsson (Charlton, free), Sulley Muntari (Udinese, undisclosed), Martin Cranie (Southampton, undisclosed), Arnold Mvuemba (Rennes, undisclosed), Callum Reynolds (Rushden & Diamonds, undisclosed).
Out: Svetoslav Todorov (Charlton, free), Daryl Fordyce (released), Andy Griffin (Derby, free), Collins Mbesuma (Bursaspor, undisclosed).
A 9th place finish last season and i can see the same this season, which will be a good position for pompey, some good transfers and will be interesting to see how Nugent steps up in the premiership.
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READING
In: Khalifa Cisse (Boavista, £650,000), Emerse Fae (Nantes, £2.5m).
Out: Steve Sidwell (Chelsea, free), Greg Halford (Sunderland, £2.5m), Curtis Ujah (Yeovil, free), Jonathan Hayes (MK Dons, loan).
Reading massively overacheived last season, and could find this season a lot tougher. The loss of Steve Sidwell as 'bench warmer' at Chelsea will hurt reading who havn't strengthened there squad enough in the transfer window thus far. A bottom half finish maybe even relegation strugglers this season.
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SUNDERLAND
In: Dickson Etuhu (Norwich, £1.5m), Kieran Richardson (Manchester United, undisclosed), Greg Halford (Reading, £2.5m), Russell Anderson (Aberdeen, £1m), Michael Chopra (Cardiff City, £5m), Paul McShane (West Brom, £2.5m), Craig Gordon (Hearts, £9m), Roy O'Donovan (Cork City, undisclosed).
Out: Kenny Cunningham (released), Tommy Miller (Ipswich, released), Stephen Elliott (Wolves, undisclosed).
Another promoted team, Roy Keen will have his work cut out for him this season. £9m was an awfull lot to pay for keeper Gordon who will have his work cut out for him this season, at the other end of the pitch Chopra will have to make the best of his chances in front of goal. I have no doupt Roy Keen will be getting the best out of his players, but will that be enough. A bottom half finish, could easily be drawn into a relegation battle.
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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
In: Gareth Bale (Southampton, £5m), Adel Taarabt (Lens, undisclosed), Yuri Berchiche (Athletic Bilbao, undisclosed), Darren Bent (Charlton £16.5m), Younes Kaboul (Auxerre, £8m), Danny Rose (Leeds, undisclosed), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Hertha Berlin, undisclosed).
Out: Emil Hallfredsson (Lyn-Oslo, undisclosed), Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria, undisclosed), Mark Yeates (Colchester, undisclosed), Charlie Daniels (Leyton Orient, loan).
I have high hopes for Spurs this season, they showed some class last season and could be challanging rivals Arsenal for the 4th spot this time out, Garath Bale looked a great player in the championship and may prove a great buy for the premiership side. Bent lookes well over priced at a whopping £16.5m to partner Berbatov up front, thats if he gets in the starting 11 with the strikers spurs have.
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WEST HAM UNITED
In: Scott Parker (Newcastle, £7m), Julien Faubert (Bordeaux, £6.1m), Richard Wright (Everton, free), Craig Bellamy (Liverpool, £7.5m), Freddie Ljungberg (West Ham, £3m).
Out: Paul Konchesky (Fulham, £3.25m), Nigel Reo-Coker (Aston Villa, £8.5m), Tyrone Mears (Derby, £1m), Yossi Benayoun (Liverpool, undisclosed), Marlon Harewood (Aston Villa, undisclosed), Teddy Sheringham (Colchester, released), Shaun Newton (Leicester, released), Roy Carroll (Rangers, free), Carlos Tevez (Man Utd).
Now Tevez (what a saga that was) has gone, an awfull lot of pressure is on Dean Ashton to score goals. Some good new faces in Parker and Ljungberg with tempramental Bellamy another addition. Also getting rid of the problamatic Reo-Corker. a bottom half finish but more towards the mid table than relegation spots.
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WIGAN ATHLETIC
In: Antoine Sibierski (Newcastle, free), Titus Bramble (Newcastle, free), Mario Melchiot (Rennes, free), Andreas Granqvist (Helsingborg, undisclosed), Carlo Nash (Preston, £300,000), Jason Koumas (West Brom, £5.3m), Michael Brown (Fulham, undisclosed).
Out: Leighton Baines (Everton, undisclosed), Lee McCulloch (Rangers, £2.25m), Matt Jackson (Watford, free), Arjan de Zeeuw (released), David Unsworth (released), Andreas Johansson (AaB Aalborg, free).
Losing manager Paul Jewel will be a big blow to Wigan, who i think will struggle badly this season, not sure about the new faces to the lineup and can see a relegation struggle for next season.
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