The Hindu : Sport / Football : Clubs have chequebooks ready

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 06, 2006

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Sport - Football

Clubs have chequebooks ready

FRANKFURT: How much would you pay to sign a World Cup winner? Probably a lot more than for someone who was ousted in the first round.

Although football's biggest jamboree shuts down with Sunday's final in Berlin, the transfer market stays open. Almost any player with a winner's medal in his hand will find his value soaring.

Sporting Lisbon may find it tough to hold on to penalty-saving goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira, while winger Cristiano Ronaldo is trying to talk himself into a move to Real Madrid.

Manchester United has been linked with Owen Hargreaves and Argentine playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme but has so far kept silent.

Arsenal snapped up Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky before the World Cup but, with manager Arsene Wenger following the championship for the benefit of French TV, there may be more players who have caught his eye. Right back Willy Sagnol has been consistently excellent for Les Bleus but he's unlikely to be leaving his club.

He plays for Bayern Munich, which has the financial stability to hold onto its best players and — despite the departure of Ballack — is only interested in buying. That probably means Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm aren't going anywhere either. — AP

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