France winger Franck Ribery appears to be close to sealing a deal to join German giants Bayern Munich after Marseille revealed Monday that talks between the two clubs were progressing smoothly.

Marseille said on their website that president Pape Diouf had met with Bayern general manager Uli Hoeness.

"Discussions are heading down the right path," said the statement.

"The mangers of both clubs decided to meet in the coming days to finalise a deal for the transfer of the player to Bayern Munich.
"If a deal is reached, Marseille will let Franck Ribery take the traditional medical exam prior to signing."

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/clubfootball/news/newsid=531240.html


This is a public forum so dont feed us with lies here do some research before tyou post

Marseille did not want to sell Ribery. Ribery forced his way out.
Madrid has not tapped up your player. We contacted you, you named your price, and we decided against it.
Your problem is with the player who seem bent on leaving, and that was same thing he did to marseille to allow him join Bayern.
So Franz should be hyocritical and criticize Ribery now, when he didnt criticize him 2yrs ago when bayern were beneficiary of same actions

Ribery move demand rocks Marseille
French World Cup star Franck Ribery said Friday that he was determined to leave Marseille, dealing a devastating blow to the club's management on the eve of the new season.
In his most forthright comments to date concerning his future, Ribery said he wanted to join a club that could give him the promise of trophies and Champions League football.
"My wish is to leave Marseille," Ribery told French broadcaster TF1.
"I want to leave because I want to win things. I want to play in the Champions League, I want to continue to develop, I want to be around big players. For me, that's important."
The 23-year-old -- a key figure in France's run to the World Cup final in Germany -- did not give any information about his future destination.
"The directors at Marseille know where I want to go, and the club that I want to sign for knows as well. Now it's up to them to reach an agreement."
Ribery's existing deal with Marseille runs until 2010 but privately the club concede there is no chance of holding the player to that agreement.
Marseille president Pape Diouf however insisted Friday that Ribery must stay at the Stade Velodrome for at least one more season.
"It's all just talk. Nothing has changed," said Diouf. "Ribery is under contract until 2010. He will respect his contract this season whether he likes it or not."
Ribery -- who has been linked to Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid and Lyon -- said there could be no going back on his desire to leave.
"My mind is made up and I'm not looking back," Ribery said. "But I'm not forgetting that Marseille is my club. I love this club, I love the fans -- they are the best in France."
"I hope people will understand my decision. I know the fans will be a bit disappointed but I'm young, and I want to do something else."
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SPORT/football/08/04/france.ribery/

And where in that article did it say Bayern tapped up Ribery.

The difference was we met with his Owners and discussed with him and Pape Diouf said if Ribery is to move he would drive him to Munich cos the way we approached him.

We dont go on newspapers and media screaming about players in contract. If yyou want Ribery pay for him or wait till 2011 when he is free.

If Ribery is Hell bent on leaving, He should pay the balance of his transfer fee that Madrid cannot come out with . At least Daniel Pranjic paid the remaining of the balance on his transfer fee to join Bayern from Herenveen.

He has a contract till 2011 and he can leave for free then just like Ballack

Nobody has tapped up your player. Madrid expressed their interest, you named your price and we declined to meet it.
Or should we then accuse you of tapping up the player, since after Marseille denied your initial enquiry in 2006, Ribery demanded a transfer to force it? A saga that continued for the rest of the season.
Your negotiations you referred to were in 2007 after he had demanded a move.
The problem is with you and your management who think Madrid is behind all of Ribery's recent antics, when the clear truth is that this is par for Ribery.
Franz is criticizing Ribery like if this is unprecedented for the guy, when Ribery terminated his contract at Glatasaray (though justly so) and forced his way out of marseille even though he was contracted till 2010. The guy is a mercenary and franz should take his medicine like a good boy

Is it asking for too much for Ribery to move to the club of his dreams after his contract?

If you are a xtian you should know the story of Jacob and laban in the bible. For now Ribery has a contract with Bayern till 2011 and he can either see it out, or add money to Madrid's sum to buy it out.

If he does it at Gala or Marseille does not count, This is Bayern he has to live with it. He should ask Ballack and hargreaves. We release players whenever we want to not when the players like

Everyone, including Beckenbauer, knew the kind of player Ribery was. Bayern did not mind his antics when those antics helped them land him, but now that he is using same antics against them, they are now crying blue murder! Simply arrant hypocrisy.
You are free to hold on to a player till his contract expires, but do not expect a player like Ribery to give his best when he is being held against his wishes (ask Marseille).
To think that his actions at Gala and Marseille do not count is being hypocritical as Gala is no less a club to Marseille, as Marseille is to Bayern and Bayern is to Madrid. Each move has been to a bigger club.
Ribery will leave Bayern next summer, if not this year. Till then, he will just be a cancer in the dressing room and Van Gaal will rather not have him around.
Ballack left Bayern at 30, Ribery will leave before he is 28, the loss is different.
Players like Ribery should be auctioned to the highest bidder and the money put to better use in reinforcing the team.
Forcefully holding on to him is just pure arrogance on the part of Bayern and they will pay the cost on the pitch.

Biina is right on this - Becks should stop the hypocrisy. Ribery did the same to Marseille and moved to Bayern, why didn't he fulfill his contract there?

It's all getting messy now and not pretty. It's doubtful Ribery will be a cancer in the dressing room though - he needs to shine to be in the World Cup so I don't think he'll do anything detrimental to his chances.

I dont think the world cup argument applies, as I don't see the player threatening his spot on the national team.

It does apply - if he decides to be a disruptive influence at Bayern, he could easily sit it out on the bench. Given the number of French players out there, it could threaten his position for the national team, at least in terms of a starting berth.

City to net £14m Kolo
ARSENAL have been warned they are in danger of slipping out of the Premier League's top four.
Centre-half Kolo Toure is the latest big name set to be leaving The Emirates this summer.
Manchester City are believed to be close to signing the Ivory Coast ace, 28, for £14million - just a week after City lured hitman Emmanuel Adebayor from the Gunners in a £25m deal.
Now an adviser of Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov reckons the club's lack of new signings could damage their hopes of making the Champions League.
Farhad Moshiri, an associate of billionaire Russian Usmanov said: "There is no question that Arsene Wenger has a talented squad but there have been limited additions and you cannot help but feel that there is still not enough depth to that squad.
"Adebayor averaged 20 goals a season so, unless we replace him with a striker of that talent, we'll be weaker going forward.
"That is the most worrying thing because Man City, with their enormous firepower, are one of the challengers for the fourth spot. I'd have felt better if he had been sold to any club other than Man City."
SunSport revealed on Saturday that City had sounded out the Gunners about Toure. Those talks gathered pace over the weekend as John Terry decided to stay at Chelsea.
City have also eyed Everton's Joleon Lescott but reckon Everton's £25m asking price is too high.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/2555869/City-set-to-sign-Kolo-Toure.html

What do you think would happen to his prospective buyers if he decides to not give his best.

The value of a player can drop hard in a season. A bad season for Ribery do you still think Barca and Madrid would be interested? He wold just end up in Villareal

Compare Sheva of 2006 to Sheva of 2007

debosky:

Biina is right on this - Becks should stop the hypocrisy. Ribery did the same to Marseille and moved to Bayern, why didn't he fulfill his contract there?

It's all getting messy now and not pretty. It's doubtful Ribery will be a cancer in the dressing room though - he needs to shine to be in the World Cup so I don't think he'll do anything detrimental to his chances.

  Are u kidding me. Only injury would stop ribery from being included in france's  first 11. Ribery has been the french team best player since zizou retired ask any french journalist and he is definitely a shoe in. If ribery either gets injured right now or he has a shyte season,come the worldcup if he is fit he would play. I'll advise u to read french football magazine. I would like to know the names of the french players u say are challenging for his spot on the team.

Barring injury Ribery would go to the world cup.

A poor season would take away his fame and marketability so he wont risk that.

If he plays poorly, he might end up in Sunderleand next season instead of Madrid

Ibrahimovic passes Barca medical
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has passed a medical with Barcelona to move a step nearer the completion of his transfer from Internazionale.
Barca pointed out the Swedish striker had fractured a bone in his left hand during Inter's recent friendly against Chelsea, and that treatment would be necessary.
Ibrahimovic is set to sign a five-year contract and to be presented in the Nou Camp on Monday evening, completing a complicated swap deal which involves Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o going in the opposite direction.
Eto'o flew to Milan earlier in the day to take his medical.
Barca are also reported to be paying fee of around 45 million euros (£38.8m) and loaning Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb to the Serie A side.

[img]http://www.elmundodeportivo.es/gif/20090727/ibracam2.jpg[/img]

biina:

Ibrahimovic passes Barca medical
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has passed a medical with Barcelona to move a step nearer the completion of his transfer from Internazionale.
Barca pointed out the Swedish striker had fractured a bone in his left hand during Inter's recent friendly against Chelsea, and that treatment would be necessary.
Ibrahimovic is set to sign a five-year contract and to be presented in the Nou Camp on Monday evening, completing a complicated swap deal which involves Cameroon forward Samuel Eto'o going in the opposite direction.
Eto'o flew to Milan earlier in the day to take his medical.
Barca are also reported to be paying fee of around 45 million euros (£38.8m) and loaning Belarus midfielder Aleksandr Hleb to the Serie A side.

The deal of the summer without a doubt and the most intriguing deal in world football so far.

Who's got the best deal. On paper it seems like it's Inter. 43.5 million plus Eto'o and Hleb on loan eventhough Barca will continue paying 70% of his wages. If you add the 35MM  Man City were bidding for Samuel earlier then it would seem Inter have really got the best deal. At least from a financial point of view.

Footballing wise, i'm not too sure how Eto'o will complement Milito. seeing that Diego Milito really flourishes as being the focal point of the attack. alone upfront.Eto'o will just have to slot in behind him some how however, Mou will want to utilize his 4-3-3 formation. Balotelli will slot in on the right. Can Eto'o really give his best cutting in from the left It remains to be seen and time will tell. Coupled with the fact that there arent many creative players at Inter that can pass the ball like Xavi, Iniesta et al.

I think Barca made the better move from a footballing point of view. I was earlier clamouring for them to get Dani Guiza to give them the height they needed in attack. But they got something way better. Somebody who is technically gifted,has aerial power, strength, tremendous vision, an eye for goal,towering presence,dribbling skills. Infact some one I regard as the best striker in the world presently.

La Liga, we present to you ZLATAN IBRACADABRA!!!!!!!


For those that have been saying Ibra this in big games, ibra that in small games, lets see what the presence of Xavi (in particular), Iniesta,Messi,Henry will contribute to his game. The first season will be too early to judge, but we'll be watching nonetheless.

From a Die Hard Ibra Fan.

Eto'o will flourish anywhere he goes. Regarding formations, looking at the way Barca's front three rotated between various positions, I am sure Eto'o will still be explosive if played wide in a 4-3-3 formation or as the focal point.

Barca has done something highly controversial and potentially stupid. Time will tell.

If you factor in the transfer fee plus player value, Ibrahimovic is definitely costlier than CR, but is he worth it??

Its clear that Inter got the best of the deal, and only a Barca fan would think otherwise.

Inter lost their one man army Ibrahimovic, in exchange for a proven world class goal scorer in eto and a good ball handler/creative player in Hleb, both in addition to 45 million euros. Even if eto and hleb were both to flop (which is quite unlikey), they have 45m euros to buy the world class AM/playmaker that they need, and can now join the pursuit of the likes of Ribery, Hamsik etc or even cheap signing like VDV.

Barca on the other hand have lost their single outright goal threat, a good rotation player in Hleb and are 45M short in the bank. What they have gotten is a talented striker who has often failed to deliver on the big stage. He could possibly turn out to be a great signing, but cannot make Barca any better than they were with eto. Add the fact that they have failed to add the needed depth in key areas:
- upfront where the injury prone Messi and Henry need quality backups (they had to play iniesta upfront when either were injured),
- in central defence where the lack of depth was evident in the CL final (Marquez is injury prone,  mIlito is coming back after a year out with ACL and Caceres is joining Juve)
- in DM where Keita and Toure will both be gone for the ACN in January february
- at RB where there is no quality sub for Dani Alves
Some of these I hope they correct before the end of the window.
They still have a world class first 11,  but they lack the quality depth expected at the top level.

@ biina
so this is where you're domiciled. If you spent half the time you spent here on the madrid thread maybe it might be attractive for Bayelsa Utd fan to post there ;P .
Who told you Barca are losing a rotation player in Hleb ? How can you lose something you never had ? ;|
And that crap about their starting 11 not being sound ;O . They looked sound enough to me when they buried Madrid a few months ago ;(
If you've don't know what Ibra'll be like in spain, ask Bayern they'll teach you some tricks aure voi. . . .

Your analysis is flawed biina - how can they need ANOTHER DM with Busquets already showing such promise?

How can they lose their only 'outright goal threat' when Thierry Henry who scored over 20 goals is still at the club? Krkic? Gudjonsen? Kerrison? Messi? Strikers are sufficient - they don't need any more.

CB? Marquez, Milito, Puyol, Pique. . .I'm sure there's someone in the academy waiting to take up one more spot if needed, how can anyone say they are not deep at CB with such players? Do you now need 10 CBs to show 'depth'?

If you watched their youth team play at the Wembley Cup you'll know they have enough talent coming through not to need any further signings.

Maybe they need something at RB, but that aside, they have more than ample supply everywhere else.

debosky:

Your analysis is flawed biina - how can they need ANOTHER DM with Busquets already showing such promise? 

So Busquets is going to be starting DM for two months? and who is the backup DM? Busquets is a card magnet who got 9 YC in 16 starts
Those two months will include games against Villareal, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid.

How can they lose their only 'outright goal threat' when Thierry Henry who scored over 20 goals is still at the club?  Krkic? Gudjonsen? Kerrison? Messi? Strikers are sufficient - they don't need any more.

who has been Barca top scorer for the past? Have you watched Barca with and without eto'o? How many games has Kirkic played? and please forget Gudjonsen who couldnt manage more than 3 goals in 30+ appearances. or Kerrison who has never played at the top level and was until a year ago in the lower division of brazil.
Yet Henry and Messi are injury risks.

CB? Marquez, Milito, Puyol, Pique. . .I'm sure there's someone in the academy waiting to take up one more spot if needed, how can anyone say they are not deep at CB with such players?  Do you now need 10 CBs to show 'depth'? 

Milito is coming off a year out with ACL and there is no guarantee he would hold up, while Marquez injury problems are well documented. They are so thin at CB that Yaya played there for the CL final.

If you watched their youth team play at the Wembley Cup you'll know they have enough talent coming through not to need any further signings.

Maybe they need something at RB, but that aside, they have more than ample supply everywhere else.

Firstly, La liga has a squad limit of 25, so there is no room for trials. Each spot should count. Do not extrapolate youth performance to first team abilities or have we all not seen the boy wonders flop on the big stage

Outside of their starting 11, Barcelona lacks quality. Take a look at their roster before you jump to conclusions

Toure is Hughes' City gent for £15m as defender quits Arsenal
Manchester City moved on from the disappointment of missing out on England captain John Terry by striking a £15million deal for Arsenal defender Kolo Toure.
The 28-year-old has agreed personal terms of around £120,000 per week — doubling his wages at Arsenal. He is expected to be unveiled later this week and could even figure in Saturday’s friendly at Barnsley.
His signing ends a nine-month pursuit by City manager Mark Hughes who first earmarked the Ivory Coast centre half back in November. Toure is one of three defenders Hughes wants to bring in as he re-assesses his targets following Terry’s decision to stay at Chelsea.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1202611/Kolo-Toure-quits-Arsenal-15million-Manchester-City-defender-capture-Mark-Hughes--EXCLUSIVE.html#ixzz0MW3ZN0FK

With the sale of Toure and Adebayor to City, are Arsenal giving up on the UCL spot?

For those that have been saying Ibra this in big games, ibra that in small games, lets see what the presence of Xavi (in particular), Iniesta,Messi,Henry will contribute to his game. The first season will be too early to judge, but we'll be watching nonetheless.

From a Die Hard Ibra Fan

What did the presence of Buffon, Canavaro, Del piero Trezeguet, Nedved and other world class star did to Ibra in Juve? 7 goals in 35 Matches right?

A taller version of Berbasulk in Nou Camp. They are the same age and Etoo is far more accomplished

The thing is Barca had always intended to get rid of Eto'o even before now and for what reasons, me just no understand. If a coach (Pep G) comes out and say that a player should leave then something must be fundamentally wrong.
Ibra is a skilled player (scores amazing goals) but his ego? damn, the guy has it in loads.
He was angry Ballotelli did not square the ball to him to score when the lad was clearly on goal, which could have cost him the highest goal scorer spot.
Will he make Barca better? well, if they go on to win 4 titles in a season and in style which to be frank is a difficult task to achieve.
Eto'o+Hleb+45 million=Ibracadabra? Inter did a sizzling business there.

if they go on to win 4 titles in a season and in style which to be frank is a difficult task to achieve.
Eto'o+Hleb+45 million=Ibracadabra? Inter did a sizzling business there

Which title would Ibra win with Barca that Etoo has not won before?

None.

Looking at it on the surface it seems like Inter got everything but keep in mind:

Etoo is currently worth very little to Barcelona. In just a year he would have left for free. His value to Barcelona is actually like €5m. Instead of waiting for his value to depreciate to zero, cash in on him now and get something you'd like.

Hleb is only on loan for a year. He played very few minutes for Barcelona and has been quite frankly a flop. Instead of paying his entire salary, you can ship him to Inter, hope he builds up on confidence and gets more playing time (something its a bit hard for him to do at Barca at the moment) and then decide what to do with him next season. If he does well and Inter wants him you can recover a good part of the money.

Most importantly, the coach doesn't want Etoo any longer. He has "bad vibes" about him and wants to make some changes. He admitted its not something he can put in words but he wants the guy OUT. I find it funny, but if a coach has won a treble in his first season he's allowed to make any call he wants.

I don't think Ibracadabra is better than Etoo, but the guy plays more spectacular soccer and there are plenty other players in Barca scoring freely at the moment. Beautiful soccer is almost more important to hard-core Barca fans than winning.

It wasn't such a bad deal.

dayokanu:

Which title would Ibra win with Barca that Etoo has not won before?

P.S
Not really important but I don't think Barca have won the World Club Cup.

biina:

With the sale of Toure and Adebayor to City, are Arsenal giving up on the UCL spot?

The sale is not confirmed - as of today Toure remains an Arsenal FC player and played for us in a pre-season game yesterday.