EPL News June 17th

[dmmd98]

Real Madrid are leading the race to sign Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery, who is also being targeted by Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United. The Sun

Chelsea are actually the favourites to sign Ribery as Real are not happy with the price tag put on the French international.
Guardian

And Manchester United may ditch a move for Ribery as they do not want to sign players aged 26 or over for large transfer fees.
Guardian

Too bad Manchester United learned this lesson a year too if true regarding large transfer fees. Carlos Tevez would still be happy in Manchester and Berbatov would still be moody in Tottenham.

Liverpool winger Ryan Babel could be offered a route out of the club with new galatasaray manager Frank Rijkaard interested in signing his Dutch compatriot. Daily Mail

It still baffles me that Frank Rijkaard couldn’t do better than Galatasaray after his Barcelona run ended.

Manchester City playmaker Robinho is also a target of Champions League winners Barcelona and the are ready to bid £35m for the Brazilian. Full story: Daily Mirror

Barcelona must been watching the Robinho who plays for Brazil instead of the Manchester City version this past year. Despite Barcelona’s interest Manchester City and Robinho are tied to each other for the time being, both would look foolish if the player left after one year.

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy may help Real Madrid recoup some of their extravagant summer spending by thrashing out a £37m deal to sign winger Arjen Robben, striker Klass-Jan Huntelaar and defender Gabriel Heinze. Daily Mirror

Robben and Huntelaar would never sign on to play for Tottenham even if Real Madrid told each to leave.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger will step up his attempts to sign Fiorentina midfielder Felipe Melo with a £15m bid. Daily Mail

Wenger is not to type to buy a player when his price tag has never been higher. Melo has increased his profile 100 fold since joining Fiorentina from Spanish side Almería in 2008.

Arsenal right-back or right-sided midfielder Emmanuel Eboue wants to move abroad if he is not going to get more first-team football. Daily Express

Somehow doubt the loss of Eboue would hit home with Arsenal fans like it did when Mathieu Flamini leave for A.C Milan last year.

Manchester City are close to capturing striker Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn in a deal worth £15m, plus more depending on the success of the Paraguyan. The Sun

Just get it done since I’m tired hearing about Manchester City battling with themselves trying to sign Santa Cruz.

Fulham are keen on some Brazilian flair as they want to bring Manchester City striker Jo to Craven Cottage for £8m. (The Sun)

You are telling me Fulham valued an injured Andrew Johnson at 12 million last year but Jo who is not only younger but has way more upside is only valued at 8 million?

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has questioned whether Newcastle striker Michael Owen has “the bottle” to cut it in the Premier League. Daily Star

Poor Michael Owen. Part of me believes if Owen is to revive his career he’ll have to do so far away from the EPL.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba will find out on Wednesday whether he will be banned for his behaviour following his side’s Champions League semi-final exit to Barcelona last season. Full story: Times

The question shouldn’t be will he, the question should be how long will he be banned.

[rjordan1979]

Eboue makes me sick, and I think the Arsenal fans are sick of him, too. I think they were booing him by the end of the year.

Spurs are a mess. LOL at the thought of that deal.

Can Michael Owen be "done" at 25? Really?