Transfer Talk: Cocu Cuckoo over MLS, Riquelme going Home, Gooch to Marseille?

By: Bob | January 26th, 2007

The winter transfer window is mercifully starting to shut, but there is still time for more absurd rumors, minor player movements and fun before we call it a wrap. Here are some of the best and the worst rumors and moves from today.

If you are a football player over the age of 30, have any type of pedigree and are somewhere near a microphone, chances are you will be asked whether you will follow David Beckham to the promised land that is Major League Soccer. PSV Eindhoven midfielder Philip Cocu fits those requirements and he says that he is open to an MLS “adventure”. He’s also quick to point out: “As long as I can play at the top level, it would be a sin to play in MLS, Saudi Arabia or Japan.” No one likes a sinner.

It wasn’t that long ago when Juan Roman Riqueleme was the toast of the town leading Villareal to near Champions League glory. Those days are well past us with neither Riquelme nor his club are especially in love with one another. Enter the good Samaritans from Boca Juniors who say they would be more than ok with welcoming the Argentine playmaker back into their fold.

Sevilla are hoping they have better luck with Riquelme’s compatriot Federico Fazio. They have bought the 20-year-old defender from Ferro Carril Oeste. After this transfer window is over I don’t think there will be any men under the age of 23 left in Argentina.

What is the reward for being the third-string keeper on a World Cup champion team? You get an offer to play in the charming city of Moscow for Spartak. The Russian club is offering some big rubles to lure Marco Amelia away from Livorno. The Italian team’s chairman is skeptical about the move: “Too much money could disrupt Amelia’s game,” said Livorno club president Aldo Spinelli, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported. “He’s an excellent goalkeeper, but the amount of money offered by [Spartak] could make him lose his concentration, which would have an adverse effect on his game.” Somehow I think Amelia’s bank account might disagree with that statement.

We’ve been following the rumors surround Standard Liege and U.S. international defender Oguchi Onyewu pretty closely. The unofficial word today is that Marseille have won the Gooch lottery, beating out Chelsea, Fulham and Real Madrid among others. Pretty interesting development if it is true since there aren’t too many Yanks playing in France. The whole Freedom Fries incident and all that.

Bolton have made their first signings of the transfer window, snapping up Slovakian duo Lubomir Michalik and Zoltan Harsanyi from FC Senec. I’d be lying if I said I knew the least bit about either player or Slovakian football in general. Bratislava is a nice town, however. The police are quite nice when they find you passed out in a park after a night of drinking. Not that I am speaking from experience or anything.

Swedish striker Markus Rosenberg is a man of the world. He is going from Ajax in Holland to Werder Bremen in Germany. Alas, he won’t be eligible to take part with Bremen in their UEFA Cup fun.

Barcelona have joined the rest of the free world in pursuit of Giuseppe Rossi.

In equally redundant news, Manchester United are still sending out their best wishes to Owen Hargreaves who last we checked was locked in a basement at the training grounds of Bayern Munich

They must like bad boys because Fiorentina have admitted they are interested in bringing Real Madrid striker Antonio Cassano into the fold this summer. If they pay anything above nothing they will have paid too much.

Toronto FC have acquired forward Abdoulaye (Abbe) Ibrahim from the New York Red Bulls. He is still young and might some day have his image plastered on the Canadian currency. Or he could just fade into obscurity. Your guess is probably better than mine.

Ivory Coast striker Ibrahima Bakayoko has signed a two-year contract with Messina. The 30-year-old moves from Serie A rivals Livorno.

Don’t look now but French second division club Grenoble is becoming the Japan of Europe. They are set to acquire Tsukasa Umesaki on a six-month loan deal from J-League club Oita Trinita. The 19-year-old midfielder joins fellow Japanese teenager Sho Ito at the French second division club. The club is owned by a Japanese company so we might see more Japanese imports in the future.