Football’s top 10 highest paid players in the world revealed

A survey came out today that publishes a list of the highest paid footballers in the world. Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool all represent the Premiership and dominate the list while AC Milan and Barcelona are the only non-English sides listed. It certainly appears the money is in England now.

The list in order:

1. Kaka (AC Milan) 6.6m pounds
2. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) 6.31m pounds
3. Frank Lampard (Chelsea) 6.04m pounds
4. John Terry (Chelsea) 6.04m pounds
5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool) 5.86m pounds
6. Andiry Shevchenko (Chelsea) 5.77m pounds
7. Michael Ballack (Chelsea) 5.77m pounds
8. Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd) 5.69m pounds
9. Theirry Henry (Barcelona) 5.69m pounds
10. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) 5.69m pounds

Is Mourinho trying to force the hand of big club?

When I read that Jose Mourinho was interested in the England manager's job, I was surprised, very surprised. I started to wonder what has caused the change of heart. Why would he take a job in which he wouldn't play in a tournament for 3 years? The former Chelsea manager has recently been linked with the Tottenham and Liverpool job, but he can't work in England until next year. Could he be trying to force the hand of Barcelona?

My feeling here is that he wants to pressure Barcelona to sign him. If Barca were aware that he might be unavailable, its reasonable to think they might move faster to replace Frank Rijkaard and swoop for Mourinho.

This would be the only explanation I can muster, Mourinho is not the type of manager to wait 3 years to achieve something and could be using the FA as a lever towards a move to Spain.

Barcelona swap rumor is rubbish

I’ve published rumors over the years generally because there is some modicum of logic to it, but the ridiculous rumor that Manchester United are negotiating a swap deal with Barcelona for Samuel Eto’o for… wait… Louis Saha is total rubbish. If only Arsenal knew they could have had Eto’o for such a song.

Apparently there is a 5m pound payment along with Saha in the offer. Somehow, Louis Saha has increased his value 10 fold while constantly injured. Alex Ferguson is increasingly sick of Saha's constant injuries so would Barca want him then??

How rumors like this get going is beyond me.

Newcastle tipped for Barcelona pair

Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce looks set to keep spending as it appears the club is prepared to sign Barcelona fullback Juliano Belletti and midfield maestro Deco.

The Belletti deal looks much closer to completion for a 2.5m pound fee and a 3 year contract, Allardyce will be travelling to Spain this week to negotiate in person and deal with any of the players concerns.

Deco has only recently been added to the potential deal with Barca following reports from within the Newcastle front office that Deco was highly valued by the club. Newcastle will have to fend off interest from Inter Milan, but that shouldn’t be too hard to do considering how loaded the club is with players and the potential lack of first team football. The rumored offer will be in the region of 8m pounds.

Deco has become a peripheral figure in Barcelona's pre-season preparations.

Newcastle United have made several high-profile signings, Deco could be the one with the highest impact yet, similar to what the signing of Jay Jay Okocha did for Bolton.

Gudjohnsen offered 80k per week

Icelandic international striker Eidur Gudjohnsen has been in talks with West Ham United after Barcelona have informed the player that his chances will be limited due to the arrival of Thierry Henry.

Barcelona are rumored to be asking a very reasonable 6.8million pounds for the player, but Gudjohnsen is demanding an unreasonable salary. West Ham have been chasing his signature for the majority of the summer as Hammers chairman Eggert Magnusson is also Icelandic and has confirmed that he’ll do what it takes to sign the player.

West Ham have offered 80,000 pounds per week but apparently Gudjohnsen is holding out for 100,000 –an outrageous sum.

Gudjohnsen should care more about first team opportunities than money. He’s really being greedy to ask a sum that very few clubs in the world can afford and are generally saved for elite players, which he is not. Come back down to Earth and get yourself back in the papers for the right reasons, Eduir.

Chelsea rejected bid won’t deter Barcelona

As we saw with the transfer of Theirry Henry, one thing about Barcelona is that they are persistent in signing a player they want. It appears their Premiership raid is not over as their new target is Frank Lampard.

Chelsea should start feeling the pressure now as the player has rejected numerous attempts at negotiating a new contract. Lampard insists his pay deal should be on par with that of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko.

The first bid has been rejected at 12m pounds. Apparently Chelsea have told Barca that Lampard is not for sale at any price. Arsenal said the same thing.It was rumored that Juventus would make a move for Lampard but the idea was rejected.

Unfortunately for Chelsea, Lampard has the means should he want to go. Barcelona could easily underwrite his contract buyout and free himself for a switch. I’m sure Lampard does not want to make the switch but I am just as sure that he won’t sign a new contract unless there is pay parody.

Another thing to consider is how attractive the idea is of playing with Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Xavi is next season.

Chelsea’s new tight strings approach could backfire in a big way if Lampard tires of the negotiation process. Chelsea officials plan a meeting with Lampard to discuss his contract situation during pre-season training next week. This means they take Barcelona’s approach seriously and are probably ready to give in.

Arsenal: if you’re squeamish, don’t look

Man, how’s this for a smiling mug? Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry was unveiled to the press today as well as a horde of supporters at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Would any other player generate that many people for 16m, a ridiculous price?

It looks so strange to see Henry in a different kit. Henry passed his medical today and signed a four-year contract.

The 29 year old won two Premiership titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal and came a hair from a Champions League medal, losing to Barcelona. In addition he was an integral part of the Gunners 49 game unbeaten run and scored a host of amazing goals.

Henry leaves Arsenal as their all time top scorer. It will be hard getting used to him in Catalan colors, so used to his Arsenal strip we have all become.

He also leaves with the club in a bit of tumult with departures and takeover talk poised to disrup the wonderful flowing football on display at The Emirates.

Tribute to Theirry Henry: his two greatest goals (video)

Today it was announced that Theirry Henry is leaving Arsenal for Barcelona, I thought it would be fitting to honor Arsenal’s all time leading scorer with his two greatest goals for the club: in 2000 vs Manchester United and in 2002 vs Tottenham.

Henry was always a showman, and he scored some spectacular goals in his 8 years playing for Arsenal.


My favorite, vs Manchester United:

What a run vs Tottenham:

See the entire greatest goals ever series

Henry signs for Barcelona

Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has signed with FC Barcelona, Spanish news reports confirm.

Barcelona will pay 17m pounds for Henry who have signed a 4-year deal. Cadena Ser radio and the newspaper El Pais have quoted Barcelona officials.

It doesn’t look like Eto’o is going the other way, Gunners. In my view, that's bad news unless Arsene Wenger has a master stroke up his sleeve or one of the strikers on the books comes good.

Henry has been with Arsenal since 1999 when he joined from Juventus and has scored a club record 226 goals in 364 appearance. He has won Premier League titles and four FA Cups in his 8 years in London.

I for one am a huge Henry fan, I think he should have been world player of the year last season and am sorry to see him leave the club.

Henry still had three years left on his contract he signed last season but speculation of his departure has reached a fever pitch in the last weeks.

I sensed along Henry wanted to leave the club from his carefully parsed comments, now its real. Henry acknowledged he was upset that David Dein, a close friend, quit as vice chairman of Arsenal. This coupled with a lack of movement in the transfer window and a perception that Arsenal are rebuilding has caused the plates to shift and bring on the transfer.

Wenger too has been linked with a possible move to Barcelona when his contract expires.

Barcelona selling former untouchable

Barcelona have put Premiership clubs Chelsea and Liverpool on alert that once untouchable midfielder Deco will be sold this summer.

The news comes as the emerging consensus within the club feel Barcelona need an overhaul as questions of the level of commitment have been raised by club president Joan Laporta. A third successive league title slipped from Barca’s hands as they led La Liga at the halfway point of the season.

Only six months ago Deco was viewed as a key member of the team and any offer would have been rejected, no longer. Laporta said certain players were staying including Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto'o, but the list notably lacked Deco. A Catalan paper said Deco was given a warning mid-season about his performances and they did not improve. An unnamed source claims Deco will be sold as a warning to the rest of the squad to reinvest their energies into the club or risk the same fate.

Sensing the shifting tide, last week Deco mentioned a desire to play in the Premiership and remains close to Jose Mourinho, his former manager at FC Porto. Chelsea and Liverpool are said to be keenly interested in signing the influential playmaker. Both Rafa Benitez and Mourinho are great admirers of the player’s talent and could get the Brazilian born, Portuguese international at a cut rate price.

Where will Eidur land?

Reports in Spain have claimed that Barcelona are considering a swap sending Eidur Gudjohnsen to Manchester United for defender Gerard Pique. West Ham United are ready to table as much as 12m pounds, well above the speculated valuation.

Gudjohnsen apparently wants to leave Barcelona because of limited first team football. He’s fallen down the choice sheet behind Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi. If this is what he wanted, I wonder what Gudjohnsen was thinking when he moved to Barca. He must have known he was not going to be first choice, if that is what he cares about, why not play somewhere where he would be. Not to knock his talent, I think he’s a classy player but you have to be realistic.

If he really wants to be the main guy, West Ham are very interested in having him. I understand he wants Champions League football, but he’ll remain a 2nd or 3rd choice option at Manchester United. Should Manchester be willing to swap for Pique, a former member of Barca’s youth team, it would probably be a better situation than he has, but not ideal.

Where the previous number bandied about was 8m pounds, West Ham would be coming in with an offer that Barcelona would take very seriously. It would take some convincing to get Gudjohnsen to share that feeling, West Ham, now with an Incelandic owner, would be an idea place as they look to revamp their squad and would likely be very effective next to Carlos Tevez should he stay (and I think he should).

Andres Iniesta

Anyone else watch the two legs of Barcelona against AC Milan and leave as impressed with Barca’s Andres Iniesta as me? Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has a tough choice to make ahead of the Champions League final against Arsenal since the 5 month injury layoff to usual starter Xavi is set to end this weekend.

Iniesta was instrumental against AC. How often can you say a player makes Ronaldinho look good? That’s just what he did, linking up effortlessly with the World Player of the Year in attack and providing needed cover in defense throughout the 180 minutes.

The 22 year old Spanish international has good skills on the ball and I don’t recall seeing him miss a pass in the second leg. I was also impressed with his field generalship and intelligence as a co-orchestrator. In an attacking team like Barca, it would be easy to become washed out with Deco, Ronaldinho and Ludovic Guily all demanding a role in midfield but he wasn’t. He popped in as needed and matched the flow. Recall that 20-something pass buildup in the first leg in which he was the central orchestrator and forced a great save from Dida when he shot low and to the right? That was impressive.

Iniesta has been a Barcelona player since age 12. Louis van Gaal was the first coach to give him a start during a 2002 Champions League game. For the next 2 seasons he played a peripheral role but managed to break thru in 2005 with 35 appearances during the season.

Iniesta has a long history as a junior international and has been on the shortlist of players for the World Cup in Germany. His impressive performances this year have probably earned him a place on the team but we’ll have to see if Xavi again proves the talented players spoiler.

Lionel Messi, Argentina win FIFA Youth World Championship

The extraordinary Lionel Messi cooley converted two penalties to give Argentina a 2-1 win over Nigeria in the FIFA Youth Cup tonight in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Argentina was truly great. Intricate, calm, professional, it was a senior level performance.

Nigeria played well, but lost composure after the second penalty and were unable to recover in a meaningful way. A third was avoided by some handy goalkeeping by Ambruse Vanzekin.

The play was open and it was close for the entire game. Argentina had the more creative of the play. Nigeria preferred to use their height advantage to play longer balls and outrun the Argentinian wings.

Promise Isaac, linked heavily with French club Auxerre, played well for the Nigerians who brought talent and more discipline to the tournament but were again let down by bad defensive mistakes giving Argentina 2 penalties in a tightly played game.

In addition, when flustered, Nigeria were shredded apart defensively and needed to rely regularly on individual talent to get a timely foot in.

Argentina were steady the entire tournament. And it was Barcelona's recently-150,000-million-euro-buyout-clause Lionel Messi which proved beyond a doubt he was the player of the tournament.

Barcelona must be ecstatic right now. He’s as exciting as Christiano Ronaldo of Manchester United or Arjen Robben of Chelsea. His end product is at that same level. He’s missing some exposure and a few more matches, but Lionel Messi is nothing but brilliant.

Lionel Messi

Argentina has a fantastic midfielder on display at the U-20 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. Lionel Messi has been a member of the Barcelona youth academy since the age of thirteen and is a really big talent.

At 18 Messi has been a substitute for the Barca senior side, but cannot break into the team when the likes of Xavi, Ronaldinho, Deco and now Mark van Bommel are all in form.

Yesterday against the USA, Messi was clearly Argentina’s best player and was unfortunate not to get his goal thru midfield. A gritty US side fought Argentina off, Messi held Argentina up.

Mark Van Bommel

PSV Eindhoven, a club know for selling the talent have Mark Van Bommel playing the best football of his career.

Van Bommel, a Dutch international, is already established as a talent. It’s been surprising that he hasn't been swooped for in recent years because his power strike and classic midfield qualities make a great combination. He has stabilized an Eindhoven midfield that, note, is in the last 8 of the Champions League. Recently linked with Barcelona, where he'd have look-a-like hair with coach Frank Rijkaard, Van Bommel may finally see the light of a bigger league.

I’d expect him to finally move this summer. Many teams like his Frank Lampard-like qualities, especially durability.