The downward spiral was evident when West Ham owners showed interest in signing the Spanish star, on loan, during the January 2012 Transfer window. At present, in 34 Premier League appearances, he has managed a meager 3 goals. His dry spell continued in the FA cup match against Birmingham. Torres was substituted by Drogba at half-time.

Fernando Torres

Fernando Torres spoke to ESPN:

“To be honest, after one year I was expecting things would be better than they are now. It is a difficult situation because I am happy in my personal life. We really like the club and we’re very happy here to be involved with the staff and the players. On the pitch it is a difficult time for Chelsea because we are not finding the results but we’re changing things like playing a different style and still we have a young team to do it.

“Personally I have to improve. In my time at Liverpool there were games where I would not be playing well or I would be doing nothing but every time I touched the ball I scored. It’s such a strange feeling now because I am feeling better than ever physically. I am not finding the chances and, when I do find the chances, I cannot score.”

However, the striker still wants to stay at Chelsea. He said:

“My present and my future are here. I have many things to do here and I want to do it because I always did what I wanted in every club I’ve been at, so this is not going to be different.”

What do you think Fernando should do to overcome this slump? Leave your comments!

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.

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.

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

The 28-year-old England midfielder left Stamford Bridge in June after failing to agree a new contract with the Premier League champions.

He was linked to Arsenal and Tottenham but has opted for Liverpool, who failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Cole’s arrival follows winger Yossi Benayoun’s move from Anfield to Chelsea for an undisclosed fee in July.

Liverpool Manager Roy Hodgson and Joe Cole

The West Ham academy graduate becomes Liverpool’s second summer signing after Serbia forward Milan Jovanovic arrived on a three-year contract from Standard Liege.

Cole joined Chelsea from West Ham for £6.6m in 2003 and scored 40 goals in 282 appearances, winning three Premier League titles and two FA Cups.

In June he claimed unspecified “political rather than footballing reasons” had led to his departure, but he insisted manager Carlo Ancelotti was not the cause of those problems.

606: DEBATE
Cole is an inspired signing – furthermore it is a signing that Rafa could never have pulled off

Redfootball

“It is not financial and it is nothing to do with Carlo,” Cole said at the time. “I love Carlo. I think he is a top guy and a top manager.

“I loved my time at Chelsea, I love the fans but it is a story for another day and I will tell it but now is not the time.”

After recovering from 10 months out with a ruptured cruciate ligament, Cole grew frustrated at having to settle for a bit-part role in his final season at the club.

He was used mainly as a substitute and, when he did play, Ancelotti often deployed him in a wide position.

Cole, capped 56 times by his country, featured in two of England’s matches at the 2010 World Cup, though on both occasions he was introduced as a second-half substitute.

“Next season I want to have a fantastic season for England and whatever club I am at. The next contract will be a footballing decision,” he added earlier in June.

“I want to play in a more central position and I want a manager who has faith in me.”

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, who nurtured Cole’s early career at West Ham, had talked of his desire to take the midfielder to White Hart Lane.

I’ve been an admirer of Joe’s for the last few years. He is a player that excites fans and he is a player that we desperately needed

Former Reds defender Alan Kennedy

Spurs finished fourth in the Premier League last season to earn a Champions League qualifying spot while Arsenal, also admirers of Cole, would have offered guaranteed Champions League football.

But he opted for Liverpool and new Reds manager Roy Hodgson will hope to bolster his squad further with a new left-back following the departures of Fabio Aurelio and Emiliano Insua.

Hodgson is also hoping to retain the services of captain Steven Gerrard and star striker Fernando Torres, both of whom have been linked with moves away from Anfield.

And former Liverpool defender Alan Kennedy believes Cole’s arrival could go some way to persuading the duo to stay.

“I’m delighted for the club,” Kennedy told BBC Sport. “Roy Hodgson has persuaded one of the best English players in the game to come in and that will only be good news for the club and for the players the club are looking to hold on to.

“I’m sure Roy and Liverpool can get the best out of Joe again, and hopefully it will result in the club pushing back up the league and targeting silverware again.

“I’ve been an admirer of Joe’s for the last few years. He is a player that excites fans and he is a player that we desperately needed.

This shows we can still attract top name players

Former Liverpool striker Ian Rush

“We know Joe had a lot of options, especially from London, but he’s looked at Liverpool and maybe thought to himself that he is the guy who can resurrect the club after what was a terrible season last year.

“Credit for that has to go to Roy Hodgson, I believe – he is a very persuasive man and a man well respected in football, so that’s fantastic news.”

Another former Red, Ian Rush, believes the signing underlines Liverpool’s ability to still compete for the best players in the world despite not being able to offer Champions League football.

“Liverpool might not have been successful as we would have liked to have been recently but this shows we can still attract top name players, whether that’s an England international or a foreign international,” said the Welshman.

“This is the signing supporters wanted and it’s a big boost for them.

“You look at last season when we went into it not hoping but thinking we were going to win the league. This season people are thinking, ‘Are we going to finish in the top four?’

“I think this sends a sign out to Liverpool supporters that the club do mean business.”

Source: BBC Sport

According to the British media Benitez was paid around 3.0 million pounds ($4.42 million) although he had agreed on a five-year contract in March last year. The terms of that deal stated that the Spaniard was entitled to a severance package of approximately 16.0 million pounds, but with Liverpool almost facing debt, the club would have struggled to pay him off in full.

Rafael Benitez ex-Liverpool Manager

A compromise was reached and the 50-year-old can now look ahead at landing a job at Inter Milan, recently vacated by Jose Mourinho.

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton said in a statement on the club website (www.liverpoolfc.tv):

“Rafa will forever be part of Liverpool folklore after bringing home the Champions League following the epic final in Istanbul but after a disappointing season both parties felt a fresh start would be best for all concerned,”

Benitez added:

“It is very sad for me to announce that I will no longer be manager of Liverpool FC. I would like to thank all of the staff and players for their efforts.”

This parting of ways wasn’t really surprising after they finished seventh in the Premier League this season, their lowest position since 1999.

Rafa had a successful season 2004-05 and after Liverpool finished second to Manchester United in 2008-09 only four points behind, The Reds were expected to put in a tough challenge this season. However, with the departure of Xavi Alonso and a huge string of injuries, the club fell way behind.

Liverpool also failed to advance from the group stages of the Champions League and even missed qualifying for the Champions League next season.

The 19-year-old has penned a three-and-a-half-year contract.

Moses said:

“To play in the Premier League is a dream and I want to thank Wigan for giving me the chance. I’m sad to leave Palace because they’re a great club and gave me my chance in football and I want to say thanks to everyone there. But I need to prove myself now at Wigan and I’m going to focus on getting in the team and doing well for my new club.”

Victor Moses

Victor had moved to England at the age of 11 after the murder of his parents in Nigeria.

English Premiership

7th January 2010

2nd January 2010

1st January 2010

30th December 2009

28 December 2009

Spanish Premira Liga

2nd January 2010

30th December 2009

He told Atletico Madrid’s official website:

“I am aware that there are always rumours about my future, but actually I am isolated from everything.”

He said that he has always been committed to Atletico and that everybody knows it. He also added not to pay much attention to what comes out.

“I am happy to be spending my fourth year at Atletico Madrid. I realise that I have learned many things both on and off the field during my time here.”

Atletico had finished fourth in La Liga last time round are now currently in the 15th spot – just two points above the relegation zone. Aguero commented on this saying:

“We have not started the season well. The situation now is not good, but we must realise that we are practically the same players from last season except the odd change. We are the ones we have to look at the situation the team is in and pull forward, because we have no choice.”