Chelsea’s Championship neighbours have more spending power
Just a few short years ago, Roman Abramovich could have afforded to pay Cristiano Ronaldo to clean his cars and Robinho to massage his feet all day, but the true extent of the changing balance of power in the Premier League has been revealed. According to figures released in this month’s Four Four Two, Manchester City’s Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nayan is worth more than double his Russian counterpart, while QPR part-owner and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has also overtaken him in the wealth stakes.
Abramovich has been particularly hit hard by the global crunchy credit thing (he has reportedly dropped £4.7bn and sacked all his yacht staff), and as a result has limited Chelsea January spending budget to somewhere around zero pounds.
The huge shortening in in Big Phil’s odds in the sack race this week is rumoured to be due the Brazilian’s anger with the cash flow halt, and the club’s decision that he cannot spend the Wayne Bridge transfer money.
Spoiler bonus: Can you guess which player tops the rich league?
All over the country, Premiership players are trying to out do each other when they arrive at their respective training grounds: some will have flash new cars, some an incredibly tasteless and expensive watch, and many will brag that they have joined the “done it with Danielle Lloyd” club.
Manchester Utd’s Anderson, however, clearly isn’t a fan of keeping up with the proverbial Joneses, as the 20-year-old recently turned up at Carrington in a pair of fluffy blue slippers. His reasoning? Quite simply, he prefers them to shoes.
Edwin van der Sar said: “From his head to his ankles is fine, but when you look at the slippers you think ‘wow!’”, and Owen Hargreaves agrees that his footwear is “outrageous”.
Last night, David Beckham was given his first run out in Rossoneri colours, as his new Serie A side faced Martin Jol’s Hamburg in a friendly in Dubai.
Beckham, who is not at peak fitness as he has “spent the past two months doing nothing” (Carlo Ancelotti’s words, not mine), played for the first 45 minutes and created fairly decent chances for Andriy Shevchenko and Pato.
Ronaldinho put Milan ahead from the spot in the second half, but soon after his samba celebration, Collin Benjamin equalised. The game finished deadlocked, but Milan eventually won 4-3 on penalties.
Spoiler bonus: See highlights of the penalties after the jump…
Is Arsene Wenger really about to spend £20 million?
Tottenham have been linked with Andrei Arshavin ever since Euro 2008 but Zenit St Petersburg have confirmed to Sky Sports News that they are holding transfer talks with Arsenal regarding the Russian playmaker.
A quick glance at the reaction of Spurs fans online shows that some are pretending they never wanted him in the first place and gleefully predicting he will flop in England while others are fearful that he could make as big an impact as Dennis Bergkamp did upon his arrival in 1995.
Will Arsenal really pay almost £20 million for one player and if so, who will he replace in the starting line-up? Let us know what you think with a comment.
Newcastle star mistakenly believed his pigsty home was burgled
Fearing he had become the latest Premier League burglary victim, Shola Ameobi recently phoned the police to report a break in. The concerned Newcastle striker told Northumbria Police that several items including his chequebook had been purloined from his £500,000 mansion. However, shortly after making the call, he realised that he hadn’t been burgled at all - his house was just really messy:
Police called the incident a ‘genuine misunderstanding’ and a source told the Daily Mirror: ‘We were told thieves had taken a number of things, the most important one being the chequebook.
‘Given what soccer stars earn, that was obviously a matter of great concern. Then we got a call back saying nothing was missing after all.
‘Perhaps he had had a party and the place just looked as if it had been burgled.’
It must have been an incredible party if Ameobi has absolutely no recollection of staging it…
Newcastle bonus: Ameobi isn’t the only Magpie to brush with the law. Oba Martins has been in court after being caught doing 106mph. Amazingly, he kept his licence. Actually, he’s a famous footballer, so it’s not that amazing.
Those who have been paying attention to The Spoiler may have noticed that Chilean model Maria Jose Lopez recently hit the headlines when she entangled herself in a football love triangle.
The generously-chested model was rumoured to have slept with Chilean international Mauricio Pinilla, which for some reason didn’t sit well with her husband, Inter Milan’s Luis Jimenez. The footballers crossed paths at a Santiago nightclub last week, and things got a little violent…
Ahead of United clash, captain puts faith in his troops
After serving the three match ban that resulted in a nice Christmas at home with the wife and kids, John Terry has bounced back full of confidence, declaring that the Blues can win all three of the competitions they remain in:
“Going out of the Carling Cup was a sickener and we’ve drifted three points behind Liverpool in the league - but that can be put right.
“We’re in the last 16 of the Champions League and still in the FA Cup. We need to play better but we can still win all three.
“We want more winners’ medals. We didn’t get any in 2008, we need to put that right.”
With the seventh best form in the League and a thoroughly unconvincing Champions League group stage, the Blues will have to work mighty hard to turn their season around. But can Big Phil et al repopulate the Stamford Bridge trophy cabinet? Let us know with a vote and comment below…
See if ‘Arry can undo Juande’s mess with our interactive predictor
There may be an air of positivity at White Hart Lane at present, but with just two points keeping Tottenham above the drop zone, they are by no means out of the woods. To see if Spurs be pushing for a UEFA Cup spot or Championship promotion next season, have a go at our interactive relegation predictor…
The latest gossip, rumours and fairly ridiculous lies
On the day that Carlos Tevez tried to make peace with Manchester Utd by slagging them off and touting a move to Spain in a phone call to The Sun, the transfer rumour mill is kicking out some brilliant nonsense…
John Terry to Manchester City
In their morning gossip column, The Guardian report that Manchester City are “about to sign John Terry, David Villa, Lionel Messi or Kaka”.
The Spoiler truth-o-meter: It sounds like the Arab owners have been randomly plucking names from their tombola of famous footballers again. It’s pretty unlikely that “Mr Chelsea” will quit the Bridge anytime soon.
Matthew Upson to Arsenal
Professor Wenger is said to be interested in plugging the hole in his central defence with forgotten son Matthew Upson. In order to meet The Hammers’ £16m valuation, Arsenal are willing to throw Nicklas Bendtner
