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A move by Mario Balotelli, the high-strung striker at Inter, could see a number of subsequent movements among heavyweight sides. If the 19 yr-old product of Ghanian immigrants moves to Man City, it would free up funds for Inter coach Benitez to buy his old holding midfielder Javier Mascherano, or possibly the Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko (also on City’s radar) from Wolfsburg. The Balotelli deal is waiting for Robinho to move on, and Bellamy is sure to head off as well.

And now it seems that Chelsea are in the mix too:

Chelsea’s No 1 priority remains Torres, but the Spain striker feels loyalty to the Reds and would be keen to stay if the club show signs of being competitive once more. The Blues have also previously tracked Atletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero and Alexandre Pato of AC Milan, but Ancelotti recently admitted his admiration for Balotelli. ‘It’s difficult to find a young player with this quality,’ said Ancelotti. ‘Even England struggles to find a player at this level.’

News

Sal Zizzo: Back to MLS

July 20, 2010 — by Sean

23 yr-old midfielder Sal Zizzo has impressed in US youth sides, but didn’t have a great time at Hannover 86 after getting limited play, then tearing his ACL. He’ll be thrown into the weighted lottery tomorrow, meaning his most likely destinations are Kansas City or D.C., though in either case he’ll need to get his fitness back up before making any real impact.

Hedged excitement in KC:

“…the Wizards won a similar weighted lottery with teenage prospect Luis Gil. However, Gil wanted to play within a 20 hour drive of the Pacific Ocean, so his rights were traded to Real Salt Lake. And KC missed out on the next big thing in MLS.”

News

Cole to ‘Pool, Mascherano to Inter?

July 20, 2010 — by Sean — 7

Joe Cole is headed north to Anfield in a deal that sees him making £90,000 a week for the next four years. Not a bad haul, and he’ll probably get to play some too after falling out of favor down in London town. A nice signing for Hodgson, who is currently fretting over attempts at his holding midfielder, Javier Mascherano. Seems the old gaffer wants to bring the Argentine down to Milan. Hodgson is clearly anxious, even if he says he’s keeping cool:

Hodgson has placed a call to Mascherano, but has not heard anything back.

“He doesn’t need to make contact with me,” said Hodgson. “I’ve made contact with him telling him I’m looking forward to seeing him in training when he returns from his holiday but I did make the point in the voicemail that I didn’t expect him to contact me.

“I just wanted him to know that I had been in touch and that I was thinking of him. I didn’t ask him to call me back. I don’t have a lot to say to him, to be honest, other than ‘welcome back’.”

News

Chicago Fire Sign Nery Castillo

July 18, 2010 — by Sean — 2

26 year old attacker Nery Castillo (aka “the Brow” is moving from Greece to Chicago under the DP rule. He had a run around at Man City a couple years back, but broke a shoulder, lost all his playing time, and went back to Greece and Olympiakos, where he’d played the previous 7 seasons. He did well there, too:

Castillo made his professional debut at age 16 with Greek club Olympiakos FC in 2000. Castillo tallied 30 goals and played in 105 games for Olympiakos from 2000 to 2007, winning four Greek Super League Championships and two Greek Cups.

He’s a versatile attacker who can operate on the wings or in center, though he’s not entirely fit these days. Don’t get too used to him, fans. If he can find his form and fitness again he’ll be back in Europe for certain.

News

The Capello Index

July 17, 2010 — by Sean

Capello flips the bird — My English is no good, maybe this you understand?

Better go check out this rating system (The Capello Index) that bares the England manager’s name before it’s taken down forever. It has nothing to do with Capello, and the man isn’t happy about it at all. The site only launched today, and may be gone tomorrow. And from the Guardian:

The England manager declared himself “angry” after the ratings were published in his name without his permission. “I did not authorise this and am angry the index was published,” Capello said in a statement released to Press Association Sport.

Commentary News

Cesc Will Go

July 17, 2010 — by Sean — 1

Eventually, Cescly Fabregasly will take his leave of Arsenal and head to Barca. The La Liga side are in no rush, since they don’t really need him right now anyway. From Barcelona President Sandro Rosell:

“The Cesc issue is very complicated. The reality is that Arsenal were very hurt by the Barcelona institution and do not want to listen to offers,” Rosell told Spain’s TV3. “They say he is not for sale. There was a brief discussion three or four months ago and they were offended.

“Anyway…the new board is convinced that if the Spain international doesn’t join for this season he will join for the next.”

There’s no doubt that Pique and Puyol would like to see Cesc join them for club as well as country…

News

It Begins: Mourinho at Real

July 15, 2010 — by Sean — 2

The Special One presided over the first day of training at Real Madrid on Thursday, though 2/3 of the squad were on rest after international duty and didn’t have to show. He’s already made some changes to the day-to-day, and he’s sure to keep the press happy. Check out a bit more over at The Independent

Mention Mourinho’s name to Barça fans and first there is a twitch of the nose, as if a bad smell has wafted across the room, followed by a more respectful shrug of the shoulders. The Catalan purists do not like the way his sides play football, but they know he wastes no time in finding winning ways, whichever club he manages.

News

“Mike Tyson cheers on Peterborough vs West Ham”

July 15, 2010 — by Suman — 1

Iron Mike dons Posh kit — "We're not in Brownsville any more..are we?"

We here at CultFootball HQ are still quite new to the footy blogosphere. We were poking around Twitter a couple weeks ago, looking for soccer-related feeds to follow, and came across Off The Post (on Twitter here, and also on Facebook here), and we’ve since become a big fan. Like us, they have a healthy sense of their own importance (their subhead: “The best football blog on the planet!”).

What we like is their idiosyncratic take on the sport, such as their “Top 5 [or 10] Conclusions” series.

Or news reports like this:

West Ham’s pre-season friendly at Peterborough was given some extra, erm, bite by the presence of Mike Tyson. The cash-strapped boxer was in Peterborough for a £100-a-head Evening With The Baddest Man On The Planet.

He went onto the pitch at half-time wearing a Peterborough shirt and told the crowd through a loudspeaker: “I’ve never heard of Peterborough before but as soon as I heard it was West Ham I thought, we’ve got to really give it to them.”

He obviously didn’t see much of West Ham last season!

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