Who is that marquee player?

Bruce Buck said that last week. Petr Cech said the same this week. We’re still waiting for the ‘marquee’ signing. The way Chelsea has been going about this summer of transfers suits me perfectly. I was exactly thinking that we should strengthen certain areas with second choice players or good subs and then buy one matchwinner. Chelsea are doing just that. They are now looking for that matchwinner now.

Reports, rather rumours, say that Chelsea have made a bid of 70 plus Deco and Carvalho for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. My initial impression is that this is crazy money. I like Zlatan and I know he is phenomenal. He is 27 as well. To pay 70m for him and also to send Carvalho the other way is a bit too much. In the current world of exhorbitant prices, I’d say Zlatan is a 40m player. And if we are giving away Deco (2m) and Carvalho (10m), we should be paying about 28m and not 70 million. Let’s not have Jose Mourinho use Chelsea as his funding solution for this summer.

Man Utd have lost two of their most prolific players of last season – Ronaldo and Tevez. Liverpool have not really strengthened despite looking short of something somewhere. Arsenal – it doesn’t matter what they do. So, it appears that, among the big four, Chelsea are the side with the best balance and depth. I’m sure Man Utd would try to sign their own replacement of Ronaldo, not in position or role, but in stature. They are chasing Sergio Aguero who can be a great signing for them but I think he is between a Tevez and a Rooney. There would be too much congestion upfront for a 4-3-3 line up and the old man will have to do something special yet again to keep the stars happy.

Liverpool have not really added much to their squad. They have some half a dozen key players extending their contracts but that’s about it. If anything, Xabi Alonso could leave. I’ve always wondered why managers think differently and miss the obvious. I thought Xabi Alonso is a wonderful player and he is an asset in any team. I was pleasantly surprised when Benitez transfer listed Alonso last season but still Alonso was outstanding last season. And he is spanish too. Never understood why Benitez was looking to sell him. Now when he wants him to stay, Alonso is getting closer and closer to Real Madrid. If Madrid sign Alonso, it would be a transfer as significant as that of Kaka and Ronaldo, in football terms as he won’t sell as many shirts.

Man City have started seeing the reality. They went for Kaka and got Barry. They went for Villa and got Bellamy. They went for Eto and got Santa Cruz. That’s where they are. It’s impossible to lure these already-millionaire stars just with money alone. What they must concentrate on is building a good squad and try getting closer to the top four as much as possible. Whoever they sign, how long will these stars be not playing champions league? I think they need to get players like Barry, Cruz etc and build a decent squad. With the kind of talents they already have, I think they should be trying to dethrone Arsenal from the fourth place which they made their own.

Back to Chelsea. John Terry is back from his holiday. As long as he was in holiday, I was consoling myself that that’s the only reason why he could not issue a denial for the Man City story. Now, he is back. He is back at Cobham. He has met the coach. Still no news of denial. I don’t get a very comfortable feeling with the way this story is developing. We are not even a month away from the start of the new season and we are still not sure if Terry would start the season with us. That’s sickening. I have made my stance very clear. As long as Terry does not want to leave, no bid should tempt Chelsea FC. But if Terry wants to leave, I think there should be no discussions.

By the way, you guys must know that I’ve got my PES 2009 and I’ve been enjoying it thoroughly (after some global player attribute tweaks). I started a Become A Legend career last week and I’m now a Sunderland player. I’m a both sides winger who can also play as a centre forward. Having played about 6 or 7 training matches and scoring twice, I was brought on as a second half sub against goddamn Arsenal in a premier league match. In the 85th minute, it had to be me to break the deadlock and earn three crucial points for Sunderland. To score my debut goal against Arsenal was so sweet! Half season gone. Turned down all winter offers. I’m planning to stay with Sunderland for this season. More to come later