Marseille have shown a great deal of interest in Sol Campbell. Amongst French clubs, Marseille ranks below Lyons, FC Monaco, and PSG. They have not won a major championship in over a decade. Sol will be a huge signing for them. Djibril Cisse is also expected to join on loan from Liverpool. Little Franck Ribery was the one bright spot in OM’s French contribution to the World Cup. This is not the OM we know from the decades of top notch players like Didier Deschamps, Manuel Amoros, Laurent Blanc, Jean Tigana, Jairzinho, and Rudi Voller.
Meanwhile Real is suffering from sticker shock for Ruud Van Nistelrooy and is not prepared to pay the transfer fee for him. United are believed to be demanding at leastfor the 30-year-old, who has handed in a written transfer request. However Real is stuck on a bit more than £10m, and as Sir Alex says, an increase by a couple of bob won’t cut it. Bayern’s bid of £11.6m has been similarly rejected.
I think he will be back in Man U in time for the EPL season and will see minutes off the bench. Ruud will just have to do what he did in the beginning of the last season, work his way back into the starting line up. Right now it seems awfully crowded with Saha, Rooney, Rossi, Ronaldo, Skjolsaer up front and Alan Smith ready to make his comeback.
Sven is jockeying to become Villa’s new coach. Good luck, Villa you will need it. Sven will be a nightmare.