The Maverick Chronicles

Unconfirmed reports are emanating from the media that Villa is finally going to become a La Blaugrana player. Though loyal Barca fans like me were anticipating the move, it was not confirmed whether the Valencia marksman would come to the Nou Camp after Valencia declaring he was not for sale to the Los Merengues. But then Laporta has declared mid week that Villa is indeed coming to Nou Camp.Reports claim that the deal is valued at €40mn. This though, might see the exit of Etoo to create the liquidity for the Villa deal. Now, this really makes La Liga the undisputed centre of attraction in European Football taking the spotlight away from the Premier League which had dominated the sport since the last few years. Also the El Classico this year would be the one of the greatest ever if not the greatest. I mean, just imagine the players lining up on both sides of the pitch. I am going crazy out here. Though im a hardcore Barca fan, I still feel any neutral person would also agree that Barca...

With the ink on the Kaka transfer news barely drying out, Florentino Perez has grabbed his prize target: Crisiano Ronaldo and whisked him away from the Theatre of Dreams. Manchester United have accepted a world record bid of 80 million pounds for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid.United confirmed this morning they had accepted an £80million bid for the world player of the year, with a world-record deal expected to go through by June 30.The news had been expected given Real stated last night talks were under way and now it is only a matter of finalising the player's personal terms before he completes a dream move to the Bernabeu.Real president Florentino Perez had already vowed to do "everything possible" to sign the 24-year-old and, unlike 12 months ago, Sir Alex Ferguson did not even attempt to talk Ronaldo round, knowing the former Sporting Lisbon player had his heart set on a move. Now, I hate to say this but there was a news item in yesterday's papers, that Ronal...

As per my last post tagged under Football, I had blogged about Florentino Perez's mission to renew the era of the Galacticos at the Bernabeu. I had mentioned that as per reports in the Spanish media, amongst the many targets, Kaka would be one of them. It did seemed impossible at the moment with Kaka having declared vehemently time & again that he was a Rossoneri for life. But such is the lure of money especially when it is truckloads of Euros being offered to the beleagured Italian billionaire,that all claims of loylalty go flowing down the drain. I personally feel sad as being a hardcore Rossoneri fan and especially a Real baiter, its sad to see him go. Also as a fan of Barca, I fear the title race this year would be much closer. But Kaka wont find it easy to settle in at Real, what with huge egos in the Bernabeu dressing room especially since he wont be the last of the Galacticos that Perez wants to present to the Basques. Heres bidding Kaka a memorable farewell and gratitud...

As reported by various media sources and the Madrid based newspaper Marca, it seems Florentino Perez the presidential aspirant & hot favourite to become the Real Madrid president has his greedy eyes set on none other than Andres Iniesta. Iniesta tops the wishlist for Perez for his all new look Real Madrid. Though, Iniesta has vehemently denied the rumours and pledged his loyalty to Barca, it would be the greatest coup since Perez managed to lure Figo to Real in 2000. Though I don't think its remotely possible that Perez would be able to pull off this coup, there are other names being bandied around as potential Galacticos viz. Ronaldo (the usual suspect!), Villa (quite possible considering Valencia's financial situation), Kaka, Cesc, Ibrahimovic and Messi. There are also reports that Ribery has already signed the deal to move to Real till 2014 but the news is being kept under wraps fro him to concentrate on the Bundesliga season. Nonetheless, its going to be an interesting ...

With the news article hitting the print that MAN U having approached TATAs for a sponsorship, finally the world seems to have come a full circle. Long gone is the disdain with which Western nations & their businesses used to look down upon at the Indian businesses and on a more broader note, the Asian countries. It's a win-win situation for the TATAs and MANU. The football club is looking out for sponsors (having earlier approached SAHARA group also) as the current embattled AIG group not willing to renew their shirt sponsor deal what with the entire American population baying for their blood.The TATAs can negotiate very hard to get a worldwide presence on MANU's top stars and with the Premier League being the most braodcasted football league in the world, you can just imagine what it would do for TATA group's branding efforts. Being a fan of both these entities, I could just not control imagning the Red Devils with TATA logo on their shirts. Here is my impression of th...