Robinho joins Zlatan Ibrahimovic who joined in from Barcelona.

Milan issued a statement saying:

“The player has signed a four-year contract.”

According to Reuters, Milan had been quiet at the start of the transfer window but some limp pre-season displays persuaded owner Silvio Berlusconi to drop his frugal spending policy and bring in former Inter Milan forward Ibrahimovic on an initial loan and sign Robinho.

Robinho said:

“I want to make history with this club. I will give so much happiness to my fans.”

Robinho joins Ibrahimovic, Brazilian team-mate Ronaldinho and Alexandre Pato for the race to play in the forward position for Milan. Milan are targeting a Serie A win, they last won it in 2004.

The season opener for Liverpool ended with disappointment. Earlier in the match Joe Cole was sent off on his debut for the Reds for a clumsy challenge on Arsenal debutant Laurent Koscielny who was himself dismissed just before the end for a second yellow card.

Liverpool were given the lead by David Ngog just after half time. Arsenal had a lot of possession but created few chances. They would have surely been thankful to Reina, his mistake helped them equalise when Chamakh headed against the post which Reina spilled into his own net with just 15 seconds of normal time remaining.

Pepe Reina reacts after fumbling the ball into his own net.

Hodgson was disappointed with the draw and commented on the match:

“It was a bit disappointing to lose two points so close to the end, but it was a remarkable performance having to play the whole of the second half with 10 men. There was no intention from Joe Cole to foul the player, he threw himself in to try and block the ball.. but when players try to block the ball, the referee often sees it as a worse foul than it was.”

On the other hand Arsene Wenger was naturally pleased to grab a point and said:

“We had a lot of possession but Liverpool defended very well and we did not create many chances,” he said. “We kept going and did not give up and in the end came back to 1-1 which is a very good result at Liverpool.”

Blackpool’s had an amazing return to the Premier League, they thrashed Wigan Athletic 4-0.

Of the 4 goals scored, 3 were notched up at half-time.

Wigan didn’t have anything going their way, even Steve Gohouri’s header was disallowed.

Blackpool have made it to the Premier League for the first time since 1971.

Martinez was unhappy with a ‘sloppy’ Wigan.

Final Scores:

Aston Villa 3-0 West Ham
Blackburn 1-0 Everton
Bolton 0-0 Fulham
Chelsea 6-0 West Brom
Sunderland 2-2 Birmingham
Tottenham 0-0 Man City
Wigan 0-4 Blackpool
Wolverhampton 2-1 Stoke

Mexico took a 12th-minute lead in the friendly through striker Javier Hernandez. Spain substitute David Silva equalized in stoppage-time to steal a draw.

Mexico played better than Spain and deserved their lead. Spain played in their trademark short pass fashion.
Casillas had to make a diving save from midfielder Rafael Marquez before ceding his place to Victor Valdes in the second half.

Spain became the latest world champions not to win their first match after lifting the FIFA trophy. Brazil in 1994 were the last team to win a match immediately after their World Cup success.

It was earlier suspected that Kaka had a meniscus damage and would probably need surgery.

Kaka had been plagued by injuries over the past year. He recovered in time to play in the World Cup, for Brazil.

New coach Jose Mourinho said:

“He’s a very popular player among his team mates and also a very good player but we want him at 100 percent so that he is happy.”

He also added:

“If we have to lose him for a while it won’t be a drama. We have other players and that’s that.”

Kaka joined Real Madrid from AC Milan last year and made 25 league appearances last season, scoring 8 goals.

He is the head of Hong Kong-based investment company QSL Sports, which, according to its website, was founded to build on China’s success in staging the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is claimed QSL has the backing of one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in the Far East while the website says the company’s aim is “to expand China’s sporting platform through enhancing professional athleticism among the youth and elevating the nation’s direct involvement in the industry at an international level.”

Liverpool photocollage at the Anfield Stadium shop
Any new owners of Liverpool will be buying in to a rich footballing history

The latest part of that mission, it now seems, is to be achieved by paying £325m to buy Liverpool Football Club.

As they awoke to the news of Huang’s interest on Monday morning, Liverpool’s long-suffering supporters may have thought that maybe, just maybe, this is the one.

But would anyone who has followed the Liverpool ownership saga closely over the last three-and-a-bit years dare predict that this is going to reach a straightforward conclusion?

It is understood Huang’s bid is one of several – perhaps five or six – which were submitted last week to Liverpool’s chairman Martin Broughton and Barclays Capital, who were appointed on 16 April to handle the sale of the club.

Although it seemed the process was drifting over the summer, Broughton and Barclays Capital are aiming to make a final decision on a preferred bidder by the end of next week – just before the start of the new Premier League season.

All of which poses the question of why Huang has gone public with his interest now. His advisers have been briefing that he is the only show in town but, while he is acknowledged as a serious candidate, the idea he is the only one in the race is strongly contradicted by representatives acting for Liverpool and Barclays Capital.

As ever, this situation is made complicated by the fact that there are so many parties involved.

There’s Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who haven’t seen eye to eye for years except in their desire to secure as big a profit as possible from the sale of the club.

Then there’s Broughton and Barclays Capital, whose primary interest is in achieving not only the best price but also the most sustainable new owner of the club.

Royal Bank of Scotland, who are owed somewhere around £250m and who have deferred their loan to Hicks and Gillett until October, are also anxious to have their money back and are driving the sale. However, they are also anxious not to do anything in the current climate that would make our state-owned banks even more unpopular.

Finally, there’s the club itself, represented by managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre. Their interest is in finding a buyer who will not only end the destabilising years of American ownership but find a way to fund a new stadium at Stanley Park and invest in a team which is out of the Champions League and in danger of losing its best players.

The biggest stumbling block to a swift deal at the moment is Hicks and Gillett. They paid £218m for the club in 2007 and, according to parties familiar with the sale process, invested a further £144m either as security on financing further loans, design and legal fees for the new stadium or on players and their salaries.

To break even on a sale the club would need to fetch a price of £362m. But given that most of the money they have invested in Liverpool has been from borrowings, it is debatable how much of that investment has come from their own funds. If Hicks and Gillett walk away with any profit, it will cause outrage among the club’s supporters and opponents of debt-financed football takeovers who argue they have seriously damaged Liverpool.

But this explains why they are holding out for a bigger price than the £325m on the table from Huang. It also explains why a Syrian businessman, Yahya Kirdi, emerged on the business pages of a Sunday newspaper yesterday as a possible buyer. He is said to be close to Gillett’s son and, while he has been confirmed as one of the five or six who lodged an interest last week, must be seen as a stalking horse to help drive up the price.

Given the series of possible investors who have been linked with buying into Liverpool in recent times – Dubai International Capital, the Rhone Group and the Al-Kharafi family from Kuwait to name just three – it would be wise to treat the latest developments with a degree of caution.

But it does seem that this affair is finally reaching the end game.

Source: BBC Sport

Cole is eager to play in center of midfield with Gerrard. Cole arrived on a free transfer from Chelsea.

Cole said:

“I hope I did play a part in making him stay. Every year the big clubs have come calling for him because he’s a fantastic player but we have got to look to the future now at this club. This year, Liverpool is about consolidating, then moving on. There are players here who would get into any team in the world. Stevie is one of them and he knows what I can do – we have played together for England for ten years.”

He also added:

“I am looking forward to playing with him for Liverpool and the relationship is going to be important. I will play anywhere, though I hope it is central with him, with one of us going forward and the other pivoting. I can’t talk about our tactics but the manager knows what I can do on the left and the right. But it will be nice to be close to Stevie. I had conversations with him and Jamie Carragher at the World Cup – more afterwards because I was concentrating on the tournament. Everything about Liverpool impressed me. I just want to be part of something. We are part of a club which can do something special. If you win a trophy here – one of the big ones – it would be immense.”

Cole signed for Liverpool looking over offers from Arsenal and Tottenham.

But what will they actually mean in practice? BBC Sport explains the key points of the new system:

- Clubs register a squad of up to 25 players, which must include at least eight ‘home-grown’ players, at the end of each transfer window.

- Home-grown players do not have to be English; home-grown players are defined as those who “irrespective of nationality or age, have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to 21st birthday”

- Clubs can supplement squad with unlimited number of players under the age of 21.

- Changes can be made only during transfer windows, although in exceptional circumstances (eg goalkeeping injury crisis) moves could be allowed.

- Players loaned to Football League clubs cannot be replaced, but can regain their spot on return to parent club.

- Rules apply only to Premier League matches, not European, FA Cup or League Cup action.

- First deadline is 1700 BST on 1 September (24 hours after end of August transfer window).

Source: BBC News

World Cup winner Fabregas was a youth player at Barca before moving to the English Premier League club in September 2003 and the player has made it clear he wants to return to the Catalan capital.
Local media reported on Monday that Barca’s new president, Sandro Rosell, would travel to London this week to try to strike a deal but Guardiola was downbeat about the chances of success.
“I think that getting Cesc will cost a lot,” Guardiola told a news conference at the club’s training ground on the outskirts of the city.
“He is an important player for Arsenal,” he added. “We want him to come but if Arsenal don’t want to negotiate he won’t.”
Barca, who have already added Spain striker David Villa and versatile Brazilian midfielder Adriano Correia to their squad, have about 40 million euros ($52 million) more to spend on players, club officials have indicated.
As well as Fabregas, who is more of a playmaker, they would probably need to buy a holding central midfielder to replace the Manchester City-bound Yaya Toure.
Asked about the possibility of Zlatan Ibrahimovic leaving, Guardiola said he wanted the Swedish striker to stay but it was up to the player to decide.
Mexico captain Rafael Marquez was in the same situation, the coach added.
Ten of Barca’s first-team squad began pre-season training on Monday, with internationals including Andres Iniesta, Villa, Xavi, Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique still on holiday.

Source: Reuters