WEEKLY TRANSFER RUMOR ROUND-UP II

By: John | June 26th, 2009

The transfer rumors seemed to be slowing down, after a few frantic weeks of wild speculation, most of it, pretty outrageous but in the last two days have come-back fullforce. Next week might see OL land their first Summer acquisition and “bigfish” of the mercato, let’s keep our fingers crossed. Aside from that, we have news- credible that is- of two out-going veterans, and also a few youngsters coming/going.

In:

Lisandro Lopez: The word is that the deal should be rapped-up pretty soon. Supposedly, JMA has come close to Porto’s 20mill valuation of Lisandro, having tabled an offer of 18mill plus performance bonuses. This negotiation might have been more nerve-racking if another club were involved, but since OL seem to be the only one’s after Perez, it looks like it might get done. However, Porto are known for slapping their asking price on players from the get-go and not budging. They are hard negotiators, but the situation looks positive to me. Hopefully we’ll be having a press conference unveiling our new striker soon- It better happen because I already wrote a “Lisandro-Signing” post weeks ago dammit!!!

Mauro Camoranesi: Ughhhhhh! Thankfully this rumor is fizziling-out in the papers lately. Originaly, rumor had it that OL and Juve were considering a straight swap for the two players, but thankfully the papers are reporting that Juve is either reconsidering/retracted the offer because Camoranesi will be part of Ranieri’s “plans” now. Whatever…I think I can say with a high degree of certainty that almost no one wants “Oldman Mauro” at Gerland. Maybe if he were a leftwinger, it wouldn’t be a totally bad idea, but no more rightwingers!!!!

André Clarindo dos Santos: Talk in the Brazilian papers of Dos Santos’ possible move abroad is mute, and Corinthians isn’t making any statements until after the Confederations Cup. Still, Lyon is said to be interested in the Brazilian International, but competion for the left back could get stiff, as rumors of AS Roma and AC Milan’s interest in Andre are floating around as well. Santos is supposedly valued at 6mill.

Richard Soumah: Guingamp’s midfielder has been quietly linked with OL for some weeks now, but today L’Equipe has stated that Lyon have tabled a bid of 2.5mill for the younster. Soumah is a left-footed, left-side midfielder. I don’t know if he plays at winger, but this pick-up makes sense since if/after Mounier leaves, we will officialy be without a true left flank offensive player. Whatever formation we use, we will need a true LWF/LMF, and since I’m sure Ederson will be our starting LW, Soumah would be a good back-up.

OUT:

Fabio Grosso: As mentioned above, Grosso is hotly rumored to move to Juve, and thankfully the Camoranesi trade rumor has appeared to have disapated. Grosso is said to be valued at 2mill. That’s it? I thought Italian internationals were worth a little more. Anyway, look for a move to happen soon, becuase if Lyon is really interested in snagging Santos, the Confederations Final is today, in which Brazil is playing, and I imagine the bidding war for him might start tomorrow , and get pretty hot if he has a good match.

Kader Keita: Romors of the 16-18mill Euro flop’s departure have heated-up, with his coming out in the papers lately and stating his desire to leave due to lack of playing time and the club having lost faith in him- wow, management is so unfair!!! Anyway, this is one departure that I’m glad to see happen, though I can’t imagine what OL will get for him financialy. AS Roma, Everton, and West Ham are all said to be interested.

John Mensah: Galatasaray are said to be hot for Mensah, although L’Equipe reports that the Turkish club are willing to offer around 4mill- half the purhase price- for the Ghanaian International. This bid is obviously a slap in the face and should go away as quickly as it appeared. IMO, the only way he moves is if someone pays the purchase price or very close to it. Other than that happening, I say let’s see if he has another injury plagued season this year, and reconsider next year.

Anthony Mounier: Talk of Mounier’s departure has cooled-off, except for some rumor that Nice is still negotiating for him. If true, management better be cooking something-up in order not to get nailed if they bring Remy back, probably after next season. Otherwise, I’d find it hard to believe that they are negotiating with Cohen.

P.S.

I had totally missed in the last post, the fact that Anderson Cléber Beraldo and Romain Beynié are back from their loan spells at Cruzeiro and A.F.C. Tubize respectively.