Eden Hazard picks Chelsea over Manchester clubs as next destination
Let's face it this is old news by now, seeing as ESPN is even reporting it, but Lille winger and Belgian international Eden Hazard will be taking his talents to Stamford Bridge at some point this summer. This story was shockingly first reported by Everton striker (currently on loan at Tottenham) Louis Saha, who tweeted Hazards next destination Monday evening, but in a few hours, the news was official. The 21-year-old will complete his rumored 25 million Euro move sometime in the coming weeks, ending his year long transfer saga.
Hazard had the interesting ability to select his own destination this summer, having fluttered between moves to Chelsea, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Manchester United, and staying at Lille over the course of a year. By May, he had seemingly whittled his choices to two, and was ready to choose between the two Manchester clubs. However, after Chelsea defeated Bayern Munich on penalties to win the Champions League, the Blues entered the mix. Hazard also began to focus on playing time more than other factors, leading him to avoid congestied midfields in Manchester and aim for the soon-to-be-barren wings of Stamford Bridge, which has expiring contracts on wingers Flourent Malouda and Solomon Kalou, and Daniel Sturridge eyeing a move to striker in the near future.
Quite frankly, this story in the end was quite dry. I'd begun getting sick of all the Hazard talk, and picking Chelsea was about the most hum-drum decision he could have made. He will face no competition from other players to take his spot, will play every day, and will undoubtedly become a great player for Chelsea, and while that may sound like interesting news, it's really quite boring. Simply put, he's a sure thing who made a safe choice, let's end it with that.
What really interests me is how this affects everyone else. The wingers of Chelsea will undoubtedly clear out, and with Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool, and Newcastle all eyeing help on the wings, where will Kalou, Malouda, and Blackburn winger Junior Hoilett, who is expected to leave his club on a free transfer this summer, go? Does Sturridge move to striker with the wings being occupied by Juan Mata and Hazard? Will the Manchester clubs continue to peruse wingers despite not having a huge need for them? Only time will tell, and that's something to get excited about.
Arsenal Rumors: Fact and Fiction
Lots of very strange Arsenal rumors have been popping up out of nowhere in the last week, so I figured I'd take the time to tell you which moves could happen, and which are just nonsense.
Fernando Llorente (Forward, Atl. Bilbao, 28mil)
Fiction. Where this move came from is beyond me, but this thing has been lighting up Twitter since yesterday and I'm not quite sure why. Some idiot came up with a phony report saying Llorente was set to call a press conference to announce his London move on Tuesday, but Tuesday came and went, and it never happened. Personally, I can't imagine he leaves Bilbao for North London. He's too expensive for notoriously frugal Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who would likely prefer other targets even if Arsenal can't resign Robin van Persie. The 26-year-old Spaniard is with his international side for EURO 2012, so don't expect much news for a while about this.
Ganso (Central midfielder, Santos, 20mil)
Fiction. This has one report and it's from Twitter. He's too expensive, too loyal to Santos, and not in a need area after the success of Mikel Arteta, the revival of Tomas Rosicky, and the fledging careers of Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Utter nonsense.
Oliver Giroud (Forward, Montpelier HSC, 13mil)
Fact. Whether or not this happens is yet to be determined, but this makes a lot of sense. The 25-year-old French international tore up French Ligue 1 last season for new champion Monpelier, scoring 21 times. That statement definitely has all the makings of something that would make Wenger drool with glee. Arsenal also has a piece in Marouane Chamakh they could send the other way to drop the fee from Giroud's 13 million Euro buy-out clause, which some believe could take the price down to 6.4 million. This could happen regardless of what happens to van Persie because of the nature of the deal.
Yann M'Vila (Defensive midfielder, Stade Rennes, 17mil)
Fact. This is the most likely deal in the list. The 22-year-old French international said he would likely quit his current club earlier this week, with Inter Milan and Arsenal likely his only major suitors. Arsene Wenger is a long-time admirer of M'Vila and almost signed him last summer. Wenger wants to avoid making deadline deals this year, and M'Vila would allow Alex Song to become more versatile in the midfield. I would bet that this happens, but if it falls through, expect Wenger to target out-of-favor City holding midfielder Nigel de Jong as a backup option.
Junior Hoilett (Winger, Blackburn, free)
Fact. This comes down to where Hoilett wants to go, because I'd put hard money that Arsenal offers him a contract in the next month. Gervinho fell from grace late last season, Yossi Benayoon could be on his way back to Chelsea after a successful loan spell in 2011/12, so at very least, Hoilett provides depth to the Arsenal wings. The Canadian will likely sign for either Arsenal, rival Tottenham, Newcastle, or Sunderland.
Friendly Pick: USA vs Brazil
After a convincing win a piece over the weekend, with Brazil downing Denmark 3-1 behind a Hulk brace and the Americans dismantling Scotland 5-1 in a game that saw a hat-trick from Landon Donovan, this game is more intriguing than most meaningless international friendlies, so here's a prediction:
USA 1 - 2 Brazil
Dempsey / Hulk, Lucas
This isn't the Brazil squad most have come accustomed to. Very young, not a lot of big-names... yet. These are the stars of the future, and even a young Brazil squad can still knock off the Americans. While Jurgen Klinsmann's team has made huge leaps and bounds since his appointment last year, they're still not quite there yet. A good US showing isn't enough as they allow goals to Lucas and Hulk before getting a consolation from Clint Demspey.
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That's all for this time, next time out I'll preview EURO 2012, and give you my take on football news. Best wishes to all football fans out there.
Kevin Kryston
Host, Football Central with Matt and Kevin
99.5 and 98.1 FM Dayton Flyer Radio
