AFR Transfers

The 2011 English Winter transfer window has certainly been the most intense and highest spending of all time, today over £120m was exchanged between clubs. The real shock was not Andy Carroll’s transfer but the reported £35m Liverpool paid. That elevated value has transformed the 22 year old into the most expensive English player and 9th in the world. Rio Ferdinand was the former holder of this record when he signed for Manchester United in 2002 for £30m; the England captain proved his value and now it’s time for Andy Carroll to do so in a red Liverpool shirt. High pressure and expectations? Always.

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Mourinho was finally granted his wish after several debates within the Real Madrid organization, but did “The Special One” receive the player he really desired; a striker who’s barely played and scored goals this season? Prior to this agreement, the likes of Van Nistelrooy, Tevez and Llorente were linked with a January transfer to the Bernabeu. However, football is always surrounded by excess speculation and it’s rather more practical to talk about the present. On that note, the Spanish club announced today the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor from Manchester City on a 6 month loan deal.

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Serie A leaders AC Milan have been incredibly active this transfer window re-arranging and strengthening their squad to face the challenges of the second part of the season. The problematic Ronaldinho departed for his native Brazil and American centre-back Onyewu was sent on loan to Twente to play regularly. On the other side of the door, Cassano moved to the San Siro from Sampdoria and has recently been joined by the newly-signed Mark Van Bommel and Urby Emanuelson. The two Dutch internationals signed for an injury plagued team and will probably both feature in the Coppa Italia fixture against Sampdoria tonight.

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Europa League champions Atletico Madrid announced the capture of Corinthians star Elias for a reported €7m. The 25 year old has agreed a 4 and a half year contract and should be presented to fans tomorrow after completing a medical. Elias is regarded as one of Brazil’s brightest futures and prior to the transfer, a move to Portuguese champions Benfica was imminent. 

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News has broken today that Manchester United Midfielder Anderson has put pen to paper on a new four-and-a-half year contract to stay with the Red Devils.

The news has come after a recent string of strong performances in a United shirt. Transfer speculation concerning the player was rife during the summer after the Brazilian was struggling to come back to form following a serious knee ligament injury sustained last season. However, it seems that he is back in favour with boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who said “We are delighted that he has signed a new contract”.

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Premier League super spenders Manchester City announced the capture of 19 year old Gai Assulin for an undisclosed fee. The former Barcelona player has been training with the English club since his summer release but was unable to complete the deal earlier due to injury. Despite being labelled as a free agent, the Spanish giants were legally paid compensation due to developing the winger through their elite youth ranks.

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1998 World Cup winner Robert Pires completed his surprise return to the Premier League 2 days ago and set to make his debut for Aston Villa against Blackburn tomorrow. After playing the last 4 seasons in Spain, Villarreal released the highly experienced midfielder in July who has recently been training with the Arsenal squad before completing the move. The 37 year old is delighted to have signed a 6 month contract with the Birmingham-based side and stated: “I am very happy to join Aston Villa because it’s a big club in England.” Welcome back, Robert Pires!

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