Monday was Labor Day in the U.S., but it was Europe's clubs hard at work shuffling players and contracts before the slamming shut of the transfer window.
The biggest winner is clearly Manchester City which snared Robinho from Real Madrid, and away from Chelsea for 32.5 million pounds. This news came on the heels of an announcement that Abu Dhabi United Group will buy the club from human rights violator Thaksin Shinawatra.
The greatest irony is that Robinho's first showing in a City sweater is against Chelsea on the 13th. ESPN reports that Real did not want to sell the Brazilian to Chelsea, despite Robinho's pleas to move to Stamford Bridge. City's emergence into the deal was a welcome sight for Real, Soccernet says.
Real coach Bernd Schuster did not want to lose Robinho, and tried to head the deal off at every pass. "He's a great kid, but badly advised," Schuster said.
Robinho's is not the only saga to end Monday. Dimitar Berbatov finally joined Manchester United, for less money than Robinho (30.7 million).
Berbatov brings some much needed offense to United, which awaits Cristiano Ronaldo's return from an ankle injury. Ronaldo said this weekend he hopes to be back by the end of the month, far ahead of schedule.
United has not had the best start in defense of its title, most recently, losing the UEFA SuperCup to Zenit St. Petersburg, 2-1, on Friday.
1 comment:
two delighted transfer news before the transfer window closed.
Post a Comment