is he good though ?

There is no way that Rafinha will leave Schalke, main reason is Magath coes when he sign contract with Schalke they didn't gave him the money for transfers (7Mil € count as nothing) but they promise him that they will keap the curent squad for at least 2-3 years + next year he get money for transfer.
I think we will go on Zaccardo which is really bad player, Srna would be good option and he is not too expencive eather (10 - 15 Mil €).

I watch the game yesterday West Ham - Tottenham, what i saw is that he is powerfull RB with good pace, he manage to mark Modric and Defoe ( he fight with him all the game). Altought didn't see too much from him in attack.

oh ok thank you

Strange according to Fantasy Premier League Faubert is Midfielder LOL !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuiuLxkEC7c...feature=related

hehe Fail!

what the heck do they mean is Oddo okay with the transfer...Milan has the say in his future...if they don't want him again they should sell him...now Lorenzo De silvertri has gone to FIORENTINA..They will definitely be stronger because this lad is good...fast and can defend well....I was even think that maybe we got Silvertri we'll be able to play 4-3-3 b/c he'll be able to track back..but all that's in the toilet now...**** GALLIANI

Thing is, kenny, players can refuse transfers (or not agree to personal terms) even if there is an agreement between clubs. We've seen that happen twice this window with regard to the cugini: Hleb refused the transfer there and now it looks as if Sneijder is doing the same thing. Oddo has, according to reports over the summer, also refused offers to various places.

I hope Oddo refuses to go to WHU, screw Faubert

Agreed, I'd rather we keep Oddo then signing either Faubert or Zaccardo

You guys want us to keep Oddo? Is Faubert really THAT bad?? Amazing!

he actually isn't so bad, its just a case of trying to sign a player that doesn't really improve ur squad so much...

Ah. So we're at the Oliveira stage again? Whee.

yep, gila-borriello

faubert is a lot better than oddo. if you want to judge a player based on their performance at real madrid then suit yourself, but it simply is not the club to go to unless you are a player of the stature of ronaldo or kaka. faubert is useful, was injured when he was signed for madrid, and was played on 54 minutes. To write him off is tantamount to the people who said gourcuff sucked after seeing him play so little for us.

faubert is highly rated within the scouting community for some reason. Granted, he didn't settle there (neither did huntelaar), but madrid is a big team, juande ramos does have an eye for talent, and obviously faubert has something to offer.

i have seen faubert play on several occassions for west ham and in france, prior to his move to madrid (where he was invisible) and thought him as quite an exciting RB talent - speed, power, good shot, good touch, good cross, strong when marking. the slower more tactical build up play in italy could suit him. Oddo is just too slow thinking/moving, and he's a known commodity - he flopped in the BUNDESLIGA.

lets not get too carried away: fauber>oddo. and it would be an improvement in the squad.

Slightly OT but I wouldn't bash the bundesliga when it comes to quality. There are a lot of quite good teams there.

certainly right, and i'm not meaning to bash the bundesliga but rather express my opinion that I would much rather have a RB with talent, who is SIX years younger than oddo, who will be extra eager to express himself at a big club (considering his history) than Oddo who is 3 years past his best, won everything, now for all practical purposes is simply along for the ride. and i can say rather uncontroversially that he has not put in a good performance now for 2 seasons.

considering the amount of time left in the window, our penny pinching approach to the market, and the fact that de silvestri is no longer an option/rafinha is too expensive, an oddo for faubert straight swap would be a good solution.

I agree with what vnata says... spot on, man

But clubs can terminate players' contracts, can't they?

But our beloved Zio Fester wants his cake and to eat it too. He doesn't want to realease him from his contract because they would have to pay him the remaining wages upfront, and also the fact that he wants to use Oddo as a bargaining chip for any RB he's interested in

Yep but they have to buy them out if they do, zeddie. ie, if you've got 3 years left on a 2mln/year contract, they could pay you 6mln and terminate the contract. It can be really expensive to do it that way.

Milan defender Massimo Oddo is putting his family ahead of his own personal and professional interests as he ponders his future in this final week of transfer market.

The Rossoneri's coach, Leonardo, has already told the player that he is not part of his tactical plans.

But even though Oddo wants to move to a club that can guarantee him regular football, he has no intention of going abroad as was the case last year with Bayern Munich.

This is mainly due to the fact that he has two children to take care of and he believes that they would be impacted negatively with another cultural change at such a young age.

"I must also take care about my family's interest," explained the former Lazio player to Sky Sport.

"Going on loan abroad with small children to face a new culture is not the ideal situation. I have already gone through this with Bayern Munich."

The 33-year-old full-back played a total of 35 Serie A games since joining Milan from Lazio in 2007.

goal.com

I saw this on goal.com. They don't usually bluff direct quotes. This might be a worry. Loaning him to another club would still mean we pay part of his wages. We certainly can't chop him off. But I don't see why we must get rid of him, if we're only going to get Zaccardo.

Though then again, maybe there's something about Zaccardo I've missed.

Yeah, he's cheap

If Zaccardo is really the one they're thinking of buying I'd rather we stay as we are then bring someone that's even worse then Oddo

Two notes on Tuttomercatoweb:

* They're saying there might be a meeting with Milan folks and Schalke about Rafinha (which I personally still doubt as Rafinha is not going to be cheap)
* They're saying that Milan might be looking at Vahlon Behrami instead of Faubert from West Ham.

Source :
http://www.transfermarketweb.com/index.php...amp;idsel=28366





Source : http://www.transfermarketweb.com/index.php...amp;idsel=42490

I THINK WE ARE LOOKING TO SNAP HIM FOR FREE AND REASON WHY HIS PRICE IS SO LOW IS THAT HE DON'T WNAT TO EXTEND HIS CONTRACT SO HE COULD GO AS A FREE PLAYER....

There's another bit on milannews.it about Rafinha (meetings being held, etc). Looks like we might be serious, or soemone thinks we are. Would much prefer him to Zaccardo.

I've seen him play a couple of times, he looks good. I'd be very happy if he arrived. don't know whether he's better than De S but he's certainly better than Zac and Odd.

I don't think he's as good defensively as De S, but he's very good going forward.

Which imo is something we need as Zambro is stronger in defence and doesn't venture forward as much

According to L'Equipe, Ac Milan are observing not only Julien Faubert (26), but also another player of West Ham: Valon Behrami (24).




Former Milan ace and current Real Madrid galactico Kaka will be rooting for the Rossoneri during Saturday night's super showdown Milan derby.

The Brazilian, who left for the Bernabeu during the summer, still holds a place in his heart for Milan. Kaka will be tuning in to see the action, and he has made a prediction. As expected, his old team-mates are his pick.

"I hope Milan win the derby, but these games are always difficult," Kaka told Sky Sport Italia.

"They played really well against Siena and I am happy for Leonardo. I really hope everything goes well for them."

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani is not as confident, however, claiming that his side are the underdogs, perhaps in an attempt to play mind games with Jose Mourinho.

"Judgements change based on results. We were not dead before this game, but we are not the favourites," added the club dignitary.


TMW

Any further news on Rafinha?

I really want to avoid seeing us get an EPL defender

I think he'd be the best option of the names from the last couple of days but also think he's the least likely because Schalke will want $$$ for him.

Just checked and according to the Italian sources (tuttomercatoweb, milannews, mediaset, etc) there's supposedly going to be a meeting (already mentioned) and the Gobbi folks think he's more likely to go to Milan than to Juve (who are said by the same sources to be after Fabio Grosso). That's the latest I've seen.

how good is rafinha? worth our precious 1 non-EU spot (or 1 Brazil spot hehe)

Yeah basically he has become our first choice and faubert and zaccardo are the back ups. There are a few problems though,

1) Oddo is still here and his wage is huge, 4m/season. If he doesn't leave we will be in a bit of trouble.
2) Rafinha's price tag is not going to come cheap...I think his valuation is somewhere near 18m but i'm not sure. But getting him for under 10m sounds unrealistic to me.


So let me tell you guys a little about him though:




Full name: Márcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza (Rafinha)
Date of birth: September 07, 1985 (23)
Birthplace: Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
Nationality: Brazilian
EU passport: No
Height: 172 cms (5 ft 7.5 in)
Weight: 68 kgs


Club: Schalke 04
Position: Right Back, Wing Back, Midfielder, Winger [R]
Squad Number: 18
Previous Transfer: Coritiba---> Schalke 04 (€5m)


-----

Anyways his qualities are:

1) Pace- He is fast, very fast.
2) Skills- He can dribble, maneuver, he's brazilian. He'll do the fancy footwork.
3) crossing- Quite an ability in putting the balll into the area.
4) Free kicks- Like Daniel Alves, hes really good at FKs
5) Penalty kicks- Another Brazilian expert at Pks
6) Attacking- This guy loves to push up and attack. He doesn't leave too much behind defensively either because he is so fast that he can track back in seconds.

He is solid for Shalke and many clubs have been interested in him.

He is by far our best option of Wing backs we've been linked with in the summer. Hes a lot better than faubert/De S/oddo.

He is also better than anything we've got.

So we are approaching the end of the month and all rumors of us getting a fullback is still up in the air. Whatever happened to Hernanes? Are we still going for him?

Doesn't look like it...

I think at the end of the day we'll end up without signing anyone else aside from Huntelaar and Onyewu

This is the season were we sold Kaka and Paolo retired...

I just hope we don't get another Oliveira-type panic buy.

One other thing about Rafinha -- he was one of the guys that the CAS said clubs could withhold from participation in the Olympics last summer (remember, because it wasn't on the Fifa calendar, there was a big hooha about clubs releasing players). But Rafinha went anyway, if memory serves, and there was a good deal of tension at Schalke when he returned because of it.

Can i take a moment to reflect how ridiculous the Cissoko ordeal was.

Rejecting a player because of his teeth? Why then did Ronaldinho make it? we cant all have beautiful pearly white teeth like Maldini and Beckham

The more likely reason we rejected him is because we are a cheap skate club who refuse to play more than £0 for a player, or maybe we are completely broke and are unable to pay more than £0 for a player

Teeth, really?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

We all know that the teeth excuse was a way to either force Porto into lowering their price or get out of the deal all together.

I suspect that Galliani went ahead and bought him thinking he had the money to spend after selling Kaka and then was showered in ice once Silvio yanked his leash back and told him there wasn't any money to spend.

http://transfermarketweb.com/?action=read&idsel=42481


you know, sometimes I think that some of us, in this forum, have a better eye for talent than the hierarchy of our club. Or at least the way they operate leads me to believe that. Shortly after our preseason Eusabio Cup loss to Benfica, I remember definitely discussing with several board members the quality of Benfica's left back David Luiz, a 22 year old LB with WC quality on the cusp of a bigger (than Benfica) team. He owned Zambro that ENTIRE game. Now Carletto has his eyes on him, and thanks to his new management, he may actually get some of the players he's interested in..

if chelsea gets this guy for less than 10 mil, i say we're officially retarded.

DP

il Milan ha rispolverato un super Nesta, un delizioso Ronaldinho e un fantastico Pato, quel Pato che qualcuno aveva osato mettere in discussione dopo qualche svirgolata durante il pre-campionato. Pato è un fenomeno vero, un predestinato, uno dei primi tre al mondo nello spazio di dieci mesi, da Pallone d'Oro entro il 2011. Domanda: ma il Milan non era allo sbando? Una partita non fa primavera, ma se tengono tutte le suddette componenti (aggiungendo l'eccellente Thiago Silva, grande acquisto) le sorprese possono essere dietro l'angolo. A me non è piaciuta la scarsa trasparenza in certe situazioni di mercato, ma non mi sono mai sognato (contrariamente ad altri opinionisti che rispetto, il pronostico è libero) di escludere il Milan dalle prime tre. Mi sembra importante una cosa, che poi è una priorità: l'esterno di fascia. Rafinha sarebbe il massimo, molto più di Faubert o Zaccardo (con tutto il rispetto). Con un esterno fresco e di gamba il Milan tamponerebbe più di qualcosa, confidando nella tenuta di Dinho e nel fantastico Nesta di questo periodo. Immaginate la scena, non da fantacalcio: il Milan batte l'Inter e va a "più cinque" sugli odiati cugini. Dovremmo scrivere diecimila righe al giorno: i mal di testa di Moratti, le acrobazie verbali di Mourinho, la soddisfazione di Leonardo. Il calcio è questo: non ci sono cliché e pronostici a tavolino che tengano.

anyone care to translate please i found this on TMW it looked like its important

Just to make the teeth issue perfectly clear (not that I agree with it).
For what I once read - there was a wisdom tooth problem.
Not just as some reports supposedly reported a half way story making it sound like we have a problem with 'just teeth'. Not because they were bucked or discoloured or what ever as the media made the situation out to be even 'more' ridiculous than it already (presumably) was.

milannello (if thats how you spell it) is very high-teck when beckham was going through his medical they noticed that he had a back problem by just looking at his teeth and they told him to fix his teeth and there will no longer be any problems and it was true
i doubt that there was something going on between B&G

yeah when he went back, shalke were pissed and fined him a whopping 700k.

Looks like it's part of an editorial, nuh, or an opinion piece. I haven't checked tuttomercatoweb in the last few hours.

[Milan has rediscovered a super Nesta, a delicioius Ronaldinho an da fantastic Pato, the Pato that some dared put in discussion after some missteps during the preseason. Pato is a real phenomenon, predestined, on eof the top three in the world in the space of 10 months, capable of the Golden Ball by 2011. A question: wasn't Milan a mess? One game doesn't make it springtime, but putting together all the components (including the excellent Thiago Silva, a great buy) the surprises could be around the corner. I didn't like the lack of transparency in certain market situations, but I never dreamed (as opposed to other commentators who are welcome to their own opinions) of excluding Milan from the top three. To me, one thing is important as a priority: a wingback. Rafinha woudl be the best, much more so than Faubert or Zaccardo (with all due respect). With a wingback with fresh legs, Milan would have something extra, on top of Dinho and the fantastic Nesta. Imagine the scene, not just fantasy football: Milan beats Inter and goes +5 over the hated cugini. We'd be writing about it for days: Moratti's headaches, Mourinho's verbal acrobatics, Leonardo's satisfaction. This is football: there aren't cliches and predictions on the table that hold.]

thank you