SirBalon

Yeah, the Karembeu saga was one of the most ridiculous ones I've ever seen where two clubs go all bitchy for one of the most overrated players I can ever remember. I don't know where this could lead to but in today's football where representatives and agents have most of the power I can't see it getting ridiculous. As for my personal thoughts on Dani Ceballos... He's no novelty at all and has been spoken about quite a bit within the press for a while. I do think he's talented but I don't have the capability to see beyond that in this case. What I mean is that I don't have the eye to see if he's good enough for either Real Madrid or Barcelona. It's very difficult with this type of player to know if he fits in and in my view I feel that both clubs have been on check through the player's agent as to serious interest. He's been part of speculation before and I think that these types of clubs like Bayern is doing in Germany with anything decent that kicks a ball, they want to gobble it up before it all becomes too mainstream. The only difference is that in Germany they only have one club that monopolises whereas in Spain there are two. I like him quite a bit but I think he should either stay there or take the next natural step up and not one so big.

Obviously You're referring to the Ballon d'Or (at least I think you are)... If this is the case, then there's the problem which you've highlighted. The problem doesn't lie in what the collective achieved (which I agree should be taken into consideration), but as an individual award it should be measured as such. Messi has been by far the best player of the year so far (still a way to go) and not what's done in the final 3 months of the season. Even during that period where Cristiano had that purple patch, Leo was still playing tremendous football. Lets not forget that before that Cristiano Ronaldo great period, the player wasn't great which lasted most of the season (6 months) Cristiano had had his worst season to date and there were all sorts of debates as to whether Real Madrid should cash in on him. As for Marco Verratti... Indeed he is the perfect addition to the team. I've said so many times before that there are only two players right now playing in midfield anywhere in the world that would sort out the issues from last season and those two players are Bayern's Thiago Alcántara (a L Masia player that was allowed to leave) and PSG's Marco Verratti. Verratti is dying to go to Barcelona and Barça really want him. But it isn't an easy deal to make at all and I'm not sure it will happen. It all depends on how much pressure Verratti puts on his current club which until now has been a lot of pressure which hasn't come to nothing due to PSG's owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi not wanting to do any sort of deal with FCB. Since Barça dropped all associations with Qatar, there's been a pretty open war... It's not the fact Barcelona have moved on from Qatar sponsorship because all clubs move on... It's the reasons as to why Barcelona dropped them. Remember that Barcelona is a fan run club and for four years the members have been totally against any association with Qatar and labelling them a terrorist organisation in all of its institutions. The background to these things is always important and that's why I've mentioned it. Then there's the purely football aspect in all of this which is Verratti was the heart and soul of PSG's positive side to last season especially that whipping they gave Barcelona in Paris. He was absolutely incredible! There are still possibilities that Verratti could still go but it isn't easy. PSG have already offered Verratti a whopping 50% rise in his wages to stay which he has refused. But remember that the Sheik is plagued with money and there's no problem in flashing the cash so as to stop this particular move from happening. We'll just have to wait and see on this one... As for the centre-back... I don't believe the stories that emanated from Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport which is very Juve biassed and who informed of a supppsed offer from Barça for Bonucci. Barcelona tried to sign him two years ago but I don't think there's anything whatsoever in that story. Barça have Piqué and Umtiti who are brilliant. Then there's Mascherano who unless he leaves is a great cover with his experience and understanding of how Barça play. Also the young Marlon who looks class and could turn into a top top centre-back. Right now there's also a pretty public war between both Barcelona and Real Madrid for the very talented Real Betis midfielder Dani Ceballos... Real made the first offer and it all looked odds on for that move to happen but in recent days Barcelona have made an offensive for the young player and it will be interesting to see what occurs there.

I know the whole world... Actually the whole galaxy has poked fun at the poor Sanogo for a while now but ona serioud note... Is he still playing professional football?

Roma is streamlining under Monchi. Living within their means and building to compete.

What's all stuff about?

Have you seen the prices of things in London since Brexit mate! Here's one from yesterday with a bit more clothes on!

Enjoying the sun in Naples

Sad to see Sassuolo lose all these players. They've had a tremendous two years, historic for their club and for Serie 'A'.

Marlon will be making the step up now without a doubt. What he showed in the few games he had last season was top quality. I wouldn't rule out Barcelona buying a centre-back though.

He has nothing whatsoever to do with Alexis Sánchez, so he isn't a replacement for him. I would expect he's a replacement for Giroud. I'm at a stage where I couldn't give a damn to be honest mate. We are bloody predictable and boring.

He is scum for insinuating that the fans support has absolutely anything to do with how last season panned out. How about he takes a far longer period into account and also tries to explain why out club charges its fans one of the highest fees to attend the games, how the 6th richest club is enshrouded in mediocrity and WHY our manager is the third highest paid in his profession anywhere in the world! You'd think we were keeping Wenger at Arsenal by supplementing with money so as to stay because we're a Bournemouth type club. Don't give me shit! I ain't falling for it.

The exact one! I completely comprehend that goals are the most expensive part of forming a winning formula in a team. But assigning to mediocrity is the biggest heartache a club fan can ever feel. Put it this way... This goes for any club in my personal opinion. If you can't afford the goals conundrum at your club, then what better thing to do than to promote home blood from the youth setups? I say this because with THAT you have the guarantee that the fans will get behind the team and especially the player.

Borini to AC Milan? If this is true, then AC Milan fans can genuinely now say they are a small time club finally. Must be rubbish this rumour.

That is a massive loss for Barça but even though things haven't been done well under this board since they took over on the La Masia kids, this poaching has been going on for years. At Arsenal went cry when they eventually go back, but we're the ones searching in other academies for talent because we don't produce our own. This kid is one of the jewels in the crown and it's terrible that his progression has now been stunted because what they learn at La Masia isn't the same as anywhere else. Lucky for Barça they've managed to tie an even younger major talent down in Xavi Simons.

What's starting to worry me is how you managed to come across that mate... But it is funny!

Real Madrid want to sign Sandro Ramírez With the more than probable departure of Álvaro Morata, Real Madrid would be light in the 9 position for next season and so they've apparently turned their head to the in fashion ex La Masia player now at Málaga, Sandro Ramírez. His future has been one of much speculation so far the summer with his first destination having been apparently Atlético Madrid where he even had a medical, then AC Milan, then Everton (ongoing) and now apparently none other than Real Madrid. The truth is that he had a fantastic season with the Andalusian club Málaga and that has confirmed what most people though which was that all he needed was confidence put on him by his coach and to play. The truth is that the present board at Barcelona have messed up quite a bite since they got into power some years back with La Masia products and wherever it is Sandro ends up, it seems like it was another disastrous move by Barça. Sandro Ramírez is currently on duty with the Spain U21 side which plays Italy in one of tonight's U21 European Championships semi-finals. ¡El Real Madrid quiere fichar a Sandro Ramírez!

Far from it mate! There are many ways to look at how the negotiations have started and you've chosen that version to believe. All I'll say on the matter is that to negotiate something important you need the person or persons negotiating to believe in what they're getting into.

I doubt that mate... The US would just do their typical of fighting from the air and bombarding from the seas until a status of safety is achieved so as to send troops in. I can't fathom in today's times any country attacking another with nuclear weapons, even a dictator as ridiculous as the leader of North Korea. The US use their nuclear capabilities in the same fashion North Korea do, only that we see the US as the lesser of two evils between the two that posses these objects of misery and mass destruction. The question we should be asking ourselves is why any nation has these things. Not WHO has them or WHO has the capability of pressing a theoretical button.

There's no way in hell anyone is going to convince me that one man can "push" that button we're on about just on a whim. One thing is negating on an agreement or making speeches that on the whole are ridiculous verging on the hilarious. But he has most of his own people against him (aside from animals... Sorry for including animals in that). On the Brexit negotiations... Are you really trying to tell me we have a single politician worthy of negotiating a good deal with the EU? Come on mate! Don't give me that!!! The very first day of negotiations was a farce and we were made to look like idiots. Even Theresa May's EU citizens in the UK permanence has been laughed at and told that it's not even close to satisfying. We have no way out if we want something from the EU! We have absolutely nothing to offer as leverage on our possible demands so as to access the free market. It's as simple as any concessions from a country that has bunked off the EU would be seen as a precedent for future moments of dissent from other members... We're not going to be offered anything whatsoever and anything we are offered will be made to look like a victory while in the EU they'll be laughing at us because they'll know they've got the better end of the whole deal. We over estimate our worth! Yeah we're powerful, but we're nowhere near as powerful as we think we are and "that lot" together make us look like shrimp in a sea of lobsters. We taste good, but we're just a starter plate in the grand scheme of things. Boris Johnson as much as anything else we have to offer on the political scale is worthless. So why not have a laugh seeing a bumbling flat footed idiot lead the country.

I get what you're saying mate, but something tells me that Mr Donald Trump (him most of all) would never be given the power to make a decision such as that one. Even if he is the president of the US.

I do know what you mean mate but that's not real. He is the commander and chief by name but he has a whole setup behind him where consensus must be met for any decision and more so on something as drastic and devastating as that. Nobody's about to let a business man decide the fate of millions with the repercussions that it would entail.

What RED BUTTON mate? That's a very 80s cliché!!! That doesn't exist and the President of the United States of America doesn't have the power to press any red button because of a whim and neither does he have a red button in the Oval Office.

Why didn't they send the birthday wishes to Messi with that statement through their UEFA account and chose their Champions League account mate? Anyway... Teso must think I'm injecting heroin by mentioning so many Real Madrid players as greats... Me being a biased rotten Culé and all!

For me Maradona is the greatest footballer of all time even compared to Messi. But the remark we're both debating is one from UEFA on their Champions League account and Maradona didn't get to play much in that competition. Exactly... Cristiano Ronaldo is judged plainly and basically on his goals. Well if we take that into account, both Cristiano and even Messi only surpassed Raúl's record two seasons ago. So under that judgement, he (Raúl) should also be recognised as one of the greats (he is anyway) in Champions League (European Cup) history.

Maradona unfortunately didn't get to do much in the European Cup although he done more than a decent job in the UEFA Cup... Remember, he played for Napoli in that period. On another note mate... I'm not old enough either for judging Di Stéfano, Eusebio, Cruyff or Puskas... But I'm not an idiot! As for your question on Raúl... I'll answer that one with a question of my own which will mean you'll have to do a bit of work yourself... Simple work! Why is Cristiano Ronaldo even recognised as one of the greatest in European Cup (Champions League) football?