The transfer dispute of 2008/2009 season

With the transfer window closing today, there has been many switches of players between clubs, league involving all kinds if nationalities for the past 2-3 months. Though there are many big names transfer that are already completed, some transfers are still in dispute or ended after months of speculating. And the most notable one are the 3 cases stated below:

Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United has shown their authority over player power as they successfully keep CR, even though CR had expressed his desire to move to Real Madrid, and even suggested that he is made a slave. This remark seriously infuriated a number of people (including me), as this remark is seriously crazy and offending. If a 100k per week bloke is a slave, then what do you call those on a few k per month? It was your decision to extend your contract with MU, and you will have to be responsible for it. If you really so desperate to leave for "the club you supported since kid", then don't extend your contract, and leave on free when your contract expire.

Dimitar Berbatov
Berbatov has been a hit with the Spurs fan, as he score goals for fun in the past few season for Spurs. But now, as he had expressed his wish to joined MU, the Spurs chairman to let him rotted in the reserve instead of selling him to MU for a lower price. In this case, no one is at fault, really.

Berbatov wants to play in Champions League, that's why he choose to leave. But when his wish is not granted due to different valuation of him by MU and Spurs, his morale and performance drop, and affected the spirit of the team.

Spurs is selling their best player to a BPL rival, so surely they will sell at a premium. Besides, they will be more than happy to keep Berbatov if MU can't match their price.

MU is unwilling to match the selling price set by Spurs, so they are unwilling to proceed.

If a deal cannot be completed before the transfer window close, hopefully Berbatov will leave the saga behind, and focus on helping Spurs to achieve greater success. Berbatov, at his best is a joy to watch, and also, prove a point to MU that he is worth every penny of the 30 million they are unwilling to pay.

Gareth Barry
Barry has shown that he is truly professional player. During the long transfer saga (which just ended with him staying put at Villa), he proved that he is not affected, and continue to perform at his best for Villa. His performance during the 1st BPL game is impressive, and if he can keep on playing at his best, his wish to move to Liverpool will still happened when they have the money and make him their 1st priority.

Why Gareth Barry should not go to Liverpool

Recently Aston Villa's coach said that he had not hear from Liverpool for the transfer of Gareth Barry for some time. It seems like Liverpool has now cool down interest of Barry, or there has been rumour that Benitez must sell to fund this transfer. Now it seems likely that Barry is staying after all, but it has always being my view that Barry should not leave Villa.

1) England captaincy: Recently, Barry has been made captain of England. Though he is not likely to win the race, but if he leave for Liverpool, he had totally no hope of getting the captaincy, as Gerrard will surely be the captain for Liverpool. If Barry stays in Villa, he may still get the chance to captain England occasionally, or when the 1st few choices of England captain unavailable.

2) Risks of being a non-starter. At Villa, Barry is definitely the 1st few names in the starting lineup. But at Liverpool, he risks being a bit part player, and jeopardize his England career just when his England career just started.

3) Liverpool unwilling to pay the amount, despite Barry confronting Villa manager and force for a move: Well, some may say the price is too high. Yes, I agree Barry is not worth 18m, but it's not Villa's fault, instead, English footballers are simply over valued. If Crouch is worth 11m (as paid by Portsmouth), then relatively Barry is worth 18m, no doubt!

4) Liverpool's handling of the transfer saga: Liverpool should not stop negotiation and waste Villa's time, while they announced new signings one after another. This shows that Liverpool is not too eager to sign him after all. If you can't afford it, then just say no to Villa. It's not as if Villa is unwilling to sell, like the case of Cristiano Ronaldo. But if you want to buy your rival's player, surely you'll have to pay more! Have you not heard of the story of Berbatov?

Barry leaving Villa?

Every Villa fans know that Gareth Barry has always been a great player, whether playing at left back or left midfield. So recently when he came to prominence in the England squad, many fans are not surprise, but instead feel that justice has finally been done.

Until now, he has been overlooked by the National team. The reasons for that, many wouldn't disagree are that, he is not playing for the top 4 club in England, and his position wouldn't allow him the to create the sensation and publicity a striker would have by scoring goals.

Now he finally come into the limelight, and created interests among the bigger clubs. The reason is that, left-footed central midfielders are a rarity, especially those with his passing range. Players of his consistency can exert a quiet influence over the vast majority of their games. Leadership and set-piece expertise both help account for Villa's progress this season.

Barry's friendship with Steven Gerrard is cited as a reason to exchange Aston Villa for Anfield. And there is no doubt that the Rafa admires gifted technicians with a sense of tactical discipline, and this is proven when Rafa made an offer for Barry. The offer involve only player exchange, with Peter Crouch (one of Villa's target), John Arne Riise and Scott Carson going to the other side.

Martin O'Neill certainly are not happy with the offer, and stressed that Villa want to challenge, not "feed" bigger club with their best stars. But Barry's will is certainly the main factor here. Barry would like to play in the prestigious Champions League and challenging for the Barclays Premier League title, which Villa don't seem able to offer in the near future.

But a move to Liverpool is not without risk. There are so many options available for Rafa that, Barry might not be able to play as much as he would like. Besides, they still don't seem to have the material to be BPL champions, lagging so far behind Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal. So a move to Liverpool doesn't guarantee success in the league. The only certainty is that Barry will be able to play some Champions League game, provided Rafa choose to play him.