The Footy Mumble: £1,000,000,000 deal for Manchester United?

Manchester United to get £1,000,000,000 sponsorship deal?

The Daily Mail says Manchester United are lining up an astounding £1,000,000,000 deal with Nike to replace the existing one, which expires in 2015.

The current deal, running over 13 years, is worth a total of £303 million, with an additional profit-sharing clause.

The paper says the club will use the recent deal with Chevrolet, worth a massive $559 million in itself, to drive a hard bargain with Nike.

The Mail concludes that if Nike were to sign up for a long-term deal similar to the present one, the company would be looking at a £1,000,000,000 sponsorship deal, an obvious record for any sporting brand in the world.

Arsenal, meanwhile, are set to sign a £25 million a year deal with Adidas, after its current deal with Nike ends in 2014.

Fourth place like a trophy for Wenger

Arsene Wenger has claimed, in the Annual General Meeting of the club, that fouth place and qualification to the Champions League was like winning a trophy.

“For me there are five trophies every season: Premier League, Champions League, the third is to qualify for the Champions League,” Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said.

So there you go folks. Scratch out all your ‘Arsenal-have-not-won-in-7-years’ jokes! They have won 7 in fact!

West Ham want Rio, Terry for Valencia, Rooney for Anzhi???

In today’s transfer updates, West Ham manager Sam Allardyce has said the club would be interested in a bid for Man United defender Rio Ferdinand, if he fails to extend his contract with the Reds.

Ferdinand, like Giggs and Scholes, is on a rolling one year deal with the club, and with his injury problems and the recent controversy with Kick It Out and the Terry racism row, many have linked him with an exit.

However, considering Sir Alex Ferguson high regard for the player, this move seems very unlikely.

And John Terry has been linked with Valencia, with FIFA accredited agent Francois Gallardo claiming talks were on regarding a switch next summer, when his contract expires.

Chelsea have however rubbished the rumors, with a club spokesman terming it as ‘rubbish’.

And in another piece of rubbish the British media reported, Anzhi Makhachkala have been linked with a move for Man United striker Wayne Rooney.

All because the press themselves asked if the Russians would like to buy a player like Rooney, and Roberto Carlos responded positively to it.

Serbia U-21 players banned for England brawl!

The Serbian F.A has banned two U-21 players for a year for their involvement in a brawl with English players during a U-21 Euros qualifier in Krusevac.

The players in question are Nikola Ninkovic and Ognjen Mudrinski, while two staff members, Srdjan Maksimovic and Andreja Milutinovic have been suspended for two years.

The F.A said the decisions were taken after reviewing television footage, with “all four having violated the FSS ethics and fair-play code”.

Revolt in Man City?

British media are also abuzz with reports of a revolt in the Manchester City dressing room after the loss to Ajax.

Micah Richard had earlier questioned Mancini’s tactics after they were asked to a three-man defense in the middle of the match, which only lead to an additional goal. Richards also indicated the team preferred a four man defense.

And now the Mirror claims Mancini summoned all the players to the training ground early in the morning, despite their late night arrival at 1 a.m the same morning.

And so the Mirror claims the players have become disillusioned with the Italian, as the club are on the verge of being eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage for a second year running.