2008/9 English Premiership Transfers
Premier League Pre-Season Sees Numerous Changes in Playing Staff
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger has signed Marseilles’ Samir Nasri and Cardiff’s Aaron Ramsay. Gilberto, Hleb and Flamini have all left for the continent. Wenger still requires a midfielder, with Gareth Barry and Miguel Veloso topping his wish-list.
Aston Villa
Martin O’Neill has signed Brad Guzan from CD Chivas, Steve Sidwell from Chelsea and Curtis Davis from West Brom. Brad Friedel is set to sign and Liverpool is favored to sign Gareth Barry.
Blackburn
Paul Ince has Robbie Fowler on trial and Audax Italiano’s Carlos Villanueva is set to agree personal terms. Doubts remain over Roque Santa Cruz and David Bentley’s club futures. Friedel is set to join Aston Villa.
Bolton
Toulouse’s Johan Elmander and Birmingham’s Fabrice Muamba have signed, whilst Teymourian has left for Fulham.
Chelsea
Luiz Felipe Scolari has signed Barcelona’s Deco, with Porto’s Bosingwa having already signed. Sidwell has departed whilst Shaun Wright-Phillips and Didier Drogba could follow suit. Frank Lampard looks set to stay until his contract expires.
Everton
David Moyes has secured Steven Pienaar whilst Andrew Johnson is close to signing for Wigan.
Fulham
Roy Hodgson has signed West Ham’s Bobby Zamora and John Pantsil, Bolton’s Andranik Teymourian, Darlington’s David Stockdale, Middlesbrough’s Mark Schwarzer, West Brom’s Zoltan Gera and Toni Kallio from BSC Young Boys. Stefanovic has signed for Norwich with Omozusi joining him there on loan.
Hull
The new boys have signed Plymouth’s Peter Halmosi, PSG’s Bernard Mendy, Middlesbrough’s George Boateng, Man. City’s Geovanni, Derby’s Craig Fagan and Wigan’s Marlon King. Tottenham’s Anthony Gardner has joined on loan whilst Bridges has been loaned to Carlisle.
Liverpool
Rafa Benitez has signed Palmeiras’ Diego Cavalieri to replace West Brom-bound Carson. Herfolge’s Nikola Saric, Udinese’s Andrea Dossena, Dortmund’s Peter Degen and PSG’s David Ngog are new additions with Gareth Barry and Robbie Keane remaining targets. Peter Crouch has joined Portsmouth.
Man. City
Mark Hughes has secured Jo from CSKA Moscow. Samaras has moved to Celtic and Geovanni to Hull.
Man. Utd.
Manucho has returned from loan whilst a Tottenham’s Dimitar Berbatov remains a target. Cristiano Ronaldo’s future remains uncertain.
Middlesbrough
Gareth Southgate has secured Sparta Rotterdam’s Marvin Emnes and PSG’s Didier Digard. Boateng and Schwarzer have been transferred, whilst Wigan have tabled a fresh bid for Lee Cattermole.
Newcastle
Kevin Keegan has signed Liverpool’s Danny Guthrie and Mallorca’s Jonas Gutierrez.
Portsmouth
Harry Redknapp has secured Liverpool’s Peter Crouch and loaned Chelsea’s Ben Sahar from Chelsea. Celestine Babayaro is a trialist whilst Glen Little has signed from Reading. Chelsea’s Shaun Wright-Phillips is a target whilst Muntari has secured a move to Inter Milan.
Stoke
Tony Pulis has signed Reading’s Dave Kitson.
Tottenham
Juande Ramos has brought Dinamo Zagreb’s Luka Modric, PSV’s Heurelho Gomes, Barcelona’s Giovani dos Santos and Crystal Palace’s John Bostock to White Hart Lane. The Spurs futures of Keane, Berbatov, Malbranque, Kaboul, Rocha, Robinson and Chimbonda remain in the balance with Tainio having already departed. Anthony Gardner has been loaned to Hull and Tommy Forecast transferred to Southampton.
West Brom.
Liverpool’s Scott Carson, Porto’s Marek Cech, Livingston’s Graham Dorrans, Heerenveen’s Gianni Zuiverloon and Kim Do-Heon from Seongnam Ilhwa are all new signings, with Phillips, Morrison and Gera securing transfers away.
West Ham
Valon Bahrami has arrived from Lazio, whist Zamora and Pantsil have secured transfers to Fulham. Robert Green has fuelled transfer speculation by stating that he is unsettled.
Wigan
Steve Bruce has signed Birmingham’s Olivier Kapo and Daniel de Ridder with Zamalek’s Amir Zaky arriving on loan. King is moving to Hull, whilst David Cotterill looks likely to join Sheffield Utd. Bruce is confident of bringing Everton’s Andrew Johnson and Middlesbrough’s Lee Cattermole to the club.
