Transfer Talk: Maxwell to Barca, Lucio to Inter, Bobo to Keep Playing

By: Daryl | July 16th, 2009

Barcelona stood quietly by as Real Madrid raided the bottomless piggy bank in June, but have finally made their first move in the summer transfer market. Not for a splashy big name signing, but for Inter’s Brazilian left back Maxwell, who joins for €4.5m. Much to the surprise of Inter fans.

But it’s not all bad news. Seems Aliaksandr Hleb will be headed in the opposite direction (either on loan or permanently) in a semi-related deal. And that’s not even the big Inter transfer news.
The big news is that Inter have snatched Brazil captain Lucio (Lucio) from Bayern Munich. Not literally. He went willingly and Inter paid a transfer fee (although the exact amount is top secret) but Bayern’s Uli Hoeness said they had only agreed to sell “through gritted teeth.”

Angela at Bayern Offside doesn’t seem too upset at Lucio’s departure, and I know some people feel Lucio has lost a step. But seems like a big loss to me, and an important signing for Inter. With this, plus the earlier signings of Diego Milito and Thiago Motta from Genoa, next season’s Inter will be more like the team Mourinho built, as opposed to the one he inherited.

Over in France, Lyon are flush with money from selling their Benz (sorry) and not afraid to spend it. O’L have followed up the €24m purchase of Lissadro Lopes by paying €18m to Lille for Brazilian left winger Michael Bastos while still chasing after Porto’s Aly Cissokho (maybe they have an expert dentist?), Toulouse striker Andre-Pierre Gignac and Nice winger/striker Loic Remy. Although the latter seems like bad business as Lyon only sold him to Nice in 2008. As Inara asks: Have Lyon gone batshit crazy with all this spending? Either way, it’s good to see Lyon on the bidding end of a transfer deal instead of the usual.

Stewart Downing and his broken ankle have made a daring escape from the Championship, both of them joining Aston Villa for £12m. Maybe now he’s left Middlesbrough, England fans will start thinking of Downing as a proper footballer and not just some bloke who plays wide left.

But wait, doesn’t Ashley Young play left wing for Villa? How will Martin O’Neill accommodate them both? Well, either Young will play more centrally or the Evening Standard will be proved right and Chelsea will pay &pound25m to solve Martin O’Neill’s selection problems (and get another one of their own).

Another England man possibly on the move is Peter Crouch, who could be leaving Portsmouth for a second time and joining Sunderland for £12m.

Bobo Vieri refuses to admit it’s slippers time. The 36 year old has had his trial with Blackburn extended so he can join Rovers on a pre-season tour. Conveniently enough, they’re touring Italy.

Last but not least, the great Real Madrid Dutch exodus is about to begin. Looks like Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is thisclose to joining Stuttgart, while Arjen Robben has been contacted by Spurs (despite Robben’s agent/father claiming his son would “certainly not” be doing such a thing last month ) and Rafael van der Vaart could be headed back to Hamburg. No world on where Ruud van Nistelrooy is going, but you just know he’s going somewhere.