Eto'o shows how it's done

If there is one way to stop any transfer rumours, we have seen it today from Samuel Eto’o who has dismissed all links with any possible move away from the Nou Camp. Today he said this,
"The club can't get rid of me because of my contract and as we both want to continue anyway, there is nothing more to talk about. I am staying at Barcelona and I don't know where these stories saying I'm going come from."
It’s refreshing to see such a strong statement of loyalty from a top player and it’s something that a lot of players could do emulate stop silly transfer rumours, but then they would never get bigger contracts and agents wouldn’t earn any money so this will definitely turn out to be the exception rather then the rule. Thierry Henry certainly hasn’t come out with such a statement, although his agent is suing the French paper that reported he’d signed a provisional 3-year deal with Barcelona, and he’s stated,
“In my head I’m still an Arsenal player and my departure is not a current issue”
Unfortunately for us, we will never be able to get into his head and, unfortunately for him, his departure is a current issue. I’m beginning to wonder just what game he’s playing at the moment? Yesterday I believed that he wouldn’t be on his way, but such is the fickle nature of football that now I’m beginning to wonder if he might be edging towards the exit door. It also could be that he’s trying create a situation where he can cause enough unrest at the club to bring back David Dein (as explained on Arseblog), but since we can’t read his mind, we’ll just have to wait this one out. If he is sold then Arsenal do hold all the cards so expect another big transfer fee.

Also hogging the headlines is news of a couple of takeovers! First up, Thaksin Shinawatra’s bid to takeover Man City apparently about to collapse after the Thai government froze his bank accounts and started investigating his offshore assets. From the little I know about this situation, its seems that the new military government are attempting to assert their power over the man they threw out and pre-empt any future moves by Thaskin to regain a power base in Thailand, much like what the Russian government has also been doing to its rich opponents. This, of course, spells bad news for City, who need to find a new manager quickly to start building a squad for next season, but who would’ve thought that the political situation in Thailand could ever effect a Premiership club, football never ceases to amaze.

Our second takeover news is just at the rumour stage, but what a rumour. Apparently the fifth richest man in the world is eying up Birmingham City! Lakshmi Mittal, worth 19.25 Billion pounds (roughly double what Abramovich is worth) has emerged as a contender to buy Birmingham along with a mysterious Far East businessman. It is only a rumour but imagine what might happen to Birmingham if he comes along. I suspect Birmingham fans will be keeping their fingers crossed so watch this space.

Finally I leave you with news that Inter and Carlos Tevez have confirmed their interest in each other. I suspect that he might be on his way, which is a pity for the premiership since he was a star last season but I don’t think he was ever going to stay at West Ham even with the investment going on, a player of his talent wants Champions League football and Inter look like they’ll be bringing him over to Italy. Ciao.