04/26/24
January 18, 2006
Diarra Keen on Premiership Switch: Chelsea and Man U are on Red Alert following confirmation Mahamadou Diarra is hoping for a move to the Premiership next season, although his "advisor" Frederic Guerra hasn't ruled out the Spanish or Italian Leagues.
posted by skydivedad to soccer at 02:31 PM - 8 comments
United are desperate for a player to fill Roy Keane's shoes. They don't have Chelsea's money but if this guy is as good as his agent says he is, he'll go to United. I'm not that familiar with the player other than knowing his name, so we'll see how it plays out. Real Madrid always gets thrown into the mix of any big player, more as a bargaining chip than anything. Does anyone know what country Diarra plays for? Has he done much at the international level?
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 02:57 PM on January 18, 2006
Here's a link to his profile and play experience. He's from Mali and plays for Lyon in the 1st Division French League.
posted by skydivedad at 03:08 PM on January 18, 2006
Shock! African player with French club seeks transfer to England, Spain or Italy. It's transfer window time. This sort of thing is par for the course, and hyped along by agents.
posted by owlhouse at 04:11 PM on January 18, 2006
Still, Diarra has been a big part of Lyon's impressive run at the top and, as has been pointed out to me here, French clubs simply don't have the cash to keep the best players. At 24 he's probably coming into his prime years as a DM and will be a tempting target for ManU and RM. Keane is gone and Graveson didn't live up to expectations, both sides need a fixer bad.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:03 PM on January 18, 2006
both sides need a fixer bad. Agreed, which probably rules Chelsea out, who already have both Essien and Makelele.
posted by owlhouse at 08:41 PM on January 18, 2006
But this might be interesting. Arsenal have just paid 12 million quid for a 16 year old.
posted by owlhouse at 09:02 PM on January 18, 2006
And in other footie news, the U.S. plays Canada this weekend in perhaps the least publicized (and non-televised) game of the last 10 years. Don't let the big write up on the National Team website overwhelm you.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 03:33 PM on January 19, 2006
Drew Rosenhouse has nothing on this guy (Guerra). He's stirring up interest and playing the, well he really wants to card, then takes it to a warning shot that Real Madrid is also in play. "Best defensive midfielder in Europe" and then slam Makelele for getting old. Brilliant. Any ideas where he is really going to end up? (Chelsea)