Transfer Talk: Ronaldinho to MLS, Gerrard to Juve, Lampard to Barca

By: Bob | January 22nd, 2007

It hasn’t been the most earth shattering of transfer seasons thus far and for the most part the usually silly talk that makes things so much fun has been absent. Today the silliness gets taken to the next level. Here are some Grade A bites from the football transfer world today.

We start the madness with Ronaldinho whose brother and agent Roberto de Assis has these cryptic words to say, “We know that in the USA they want Dinho. We know their intentions but it is still too soon to speak about this.” He then goes on to add that his bro is happy as a clam at Barcelona and isn’t planning on leaving tomorrow or anytime soon. Hopefully this won’t lead to endless Ronaldinho to MLS speculation similar to the past 50 years of Beckham to MLS chatter.

Speaking of Barcelona, now that Frank Lampard is still a long way off from committing to Chelsea for the rest of his existence there is renewed speculation that Barca will sweep in and lead Lamps to the promised land. This speculation is not exactly new, but I still find it a long shot at best. Hopefully this will lead to talk of Lampard and Jose Mourinho going to Spain and Ronaldinho and Frank Rijkaard going to England because there is nothing more fun than talking about Mourinho’s future.

Nothing more fun, that is, than talking about all the players Juventus are said to be interested in. Today’s Juve transfer target of the hour is Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard. File this one in the seeing is believing category.

We haven’t heard much about Standard Liege and U.S. international defender Oguchi Onyewu since Fulham didn’t offer him the kind of dough worthy of the young stud that he is. Chelsea might be a little more to his liking and after watching their backline against Liverpool this weekend one could conclude that the Gooch might be a tonic for what ails them.

Now that Milan Baros has officially moved on from Aston Villa to French champions Lyon, it might be time for John Carew to move in the other direction. Frankly I’d rather have Carew on my club than Baros but I am a bit biased when it comes to huge Norwegian strikers, not that I can think of any others off the top of my head. I just like Carew.

For the love of God, won’t someone just buy Gareth Bale already? The Southampton back is only 17 and already I am sick of him. An unnamed club (yes, I am looking at you Manchester United) is said to be ready to make a £10m bid for the dude. That is a lot of bank for a kid who might have talent but who is not exactly proven.

Everton and Manuel Fernandes are doing the courtship dance with the Benfica midfielder signing up for a 6-month stint with the Toffees. The 20-year-old has been on loan with Portsmouth.

Ugo Ehigou has been at Middlesbrough since the dawn of time but alas it is time to move one and moving on he is. His new home will be in that cozy little village known as the Scottish Premier League where he will play for a Rangers side that is only interested in signing defenders over the age of 34.

Boro like their dong. They have signed Lee “Lion King” Dong-Gook to a contract pending work permit approval. I think opposing fans will likely come up with a better nickname or two for Mr. Dong than Lion King.

With Lucas Neill gone and already forgotten, Blackburn have enlisted the services of defender Stephen Warnock who has left Liverpool for an undisclosed feed (translation: not that much money).

A blockbuster move in Japan where midfielder Yuki Abe has joined the J-League champions Urawa Reds after being transferred from JEF United Chiba for $3 million, a record for a Japanese player in a domestic deal. That is roughly the cost of a nice meal in Tokyo.