Bogarde - A rare Chelsea Appearance

Name: Winston Bogarde
English Team: Chelsea
Previous: SVV, Sparta Rotterdam, Ajax, AC Milan, Barcelona
After: Retired

Winston Bogarde is arguably the prime example of the greed and everything wrong with the money culture in the Premier League in the early 2000′s.

Before his arrival in London Bogarde had enjoyed an illustrious career overseas. Hailing from Rotterdam in Holland he played for local sides SVV and Sparta Rotterdam before making the step up to giants Ajax in the year 1994, It was during this time that Bogarde received the first of his 20 international caps that allowed him to play in Euro 96 and the World CUp in France 98. Following a brief spell in Milan in 1997 he moved onto European world beaters Barcelona playing 41 games between 1998 and the year 2000.

Bogarde’s arrival came as somewhat of a surprise to then coach Gianluca Vialli. He was signed by a then Football Director on the advice of Chelsea player and compatriot Mario Melchiot who felt that Bogarde still had something to offer. Within weeks of his arrival Vialli had been replaced by Claudio Ranieri who wanted Bogarde of the books as soon as possible. However Bogarde was going nowhere. He had signed a four year deal worth £40,000 a week and he felt that he was entitled to the money and terms that been agreed by the club only a few months  previous.

“Why should I throw fifteen million Euro away when it is already mine? At the moment I signed it was in fact my money, my contract.”

He found himself frozen out and training with the reserves for the next for years. His stance never wavered and he happily picked up his forty grand a week without the slightest bit of embarrassment. To be fair, he was right and he was entitled to that money however these days players want to play, but in the case of Bogarde he was more than happy to sit in his London hotel room for the next four years twiddling his thumbs.

In the end Bogarde saw out the rest of his contract, playing the grand total of 9 games in that time. It is estimated he picked up roughly eight million Euros over the course of his time at Chelsea. Once his time expired, he happily retired and moved back to Holland with his family to live off his savings.

The Croatian playmaker was the subject of a number of substantial bids from Chelsea throughout the window and Spurs boss Harry Redknapp revealed that the club turned down a bid of £40 million for the player the day before the window shut.

Forgetting about the money for a second, I, like many others, thought it was quite nice to see a club chairman, Daniel Levy, stick to his word and reject all offers for one of his best players. All summer long, Levy insisted that Modric would not be sold, regardless of the offers that came in and with the window now shut, Levy comes out with a lot of credit.

However, I personally believe Spurs may regret rejecting such a massive offer for Modric. They signed the 25-year old back in 2008 from Dinamo Zagreb for a fee of £16.5 million. Since then, Modric has gone on to make 120 appearances for the White Hart Lane club, netting on 12 occasions and assisting quite a number of goals. There is no denying Modric’s quality and what he adds to the Spurs squad and of course they would miss him if he were to leave.

But, if you are asking me is he worth more than Cesc Fabregas, who joined Barcelona for a reported £34 million towards the start of August, then my answer would be an emphatic no. Modric is not worth £40 million. In fact, he is barely worth £30 million and I have a feeling Levy and co. may regret not accepting Chelsea’s over the top offer of £40 million. It’s fair to say they will never receive a bid as big as that ever again for Modric.

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Curious to hear what you have to say on this one. Comments below please.

Chelsea pulled off one of the most surprise moves of the whole window as they snapped up Liverpool midfielder Raul Meireles late in the day for a fee of around £12 million. The Portuguese international handed in a written transfer request at Anfield on deadline day and got his wish for a move away from the club, but it wasn’t until just after the 11pm deadline that the deal was confirmed.

Liverpool also said goodbye, for now at least, to another midfielder. Joe Cole departed for a season-long loan with French Champions Lille. The former West Ham man made the switch to Ligue 1 despite late interest from Premier League side Aston Villa.

Staying with Liverpool and Kenny Dalglish secured the signing of Craig Bellamy late on Wednesday night following a day of intense speculation regarding the player’s future. The now ex-Manchester City striker had been tipped to make the move to Premier League new-boys QPR earlier in the day. However, once Liverpool declared their interest, it seemed their was only one destination for Bellamy and that was Merseyside. Bellamy, 32, has of coursed already played in the red of Liverpool and fans will no doubt welcome him back with open arms (well, the majority of them anyway).

Arsenal also got in on the act on deadline day. They signed Chelsea’s Yossi Benayoun on a season-long loan deal, whilst they also completed the signing of Everton’s Mikel Arteta for a fee of £10 million. Arteta’s move seemed dead in the water with just a few hours to go before the window shut. However, all parties involved eventually came to an agreement and Arteta will now be wearing the red and white of Arsenal this season and not the blue of Everton.

Two clubs who were very busy throughout Wednesday were both Stoke City and indeed QPR who both made signifcant additions to their squads. Stoke boss Tony Pulis can now select these three in his starting eleven; Wilson Palacios, Cameron Jerome and Peter Crouch after a busy day of spending at the Britannia. Meanwhile, QPR manager Neil Warnock managed to add the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jason Puncheon and Anton Ferdinand after a hectic 24 hours at Loftus Road.

And finally, Fulham completed the £10 million signing of FC Twente striker Bryan Ruiz, despite some very late interest from Newcastle United.

It really was an eventful day with plenty of money been splashed on different players throughout the Premier League (Speaking of splashing the cash, check out www.freebets.org today where you can avail of many different offers from leading bookmakers).

Anyway, two rumours I wanted to bring to your attention in our latest article.

The first one is – Liverpool are closing on the loan signing of Chelsea’s England under-21 striker Daniel Sturridge. The 21-year old, he will turn 22 tomorrow, is likely to find himself on the bench if he stays at Stamford Bridge, with a number of strikers ahead of him in the pecking order.

As a result, he has been strongly linked with a move away, with a number of Premier League clubs said to monitoring his situation. With time running out in this transfer window, Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has decided to make a late move for the former Manchester City striker after the Merseyside club accepted a bid from Bolton for David Ngog. Stay tuned to Football Corner for all the latest developments with regards Sturridge.

Franck Ribery always seems to be linked with a move to the Premier League whenever the transfer window is open, and it is perhaps a surprise that it has taken this long for his name to be mentioned. The French international is being linked with a late move to Chelsea, who are desperate to add another midfielder to their ranks, after they missed out on Tottenham’s Luka Modric.

Bayern Munich are unlikely to be too keen to sell one of their most prized assets, but with Chelsea prepared to cough up £30 million, a deal may yet go ahead. Chelsea may not need to avail of Online Payday Loans, but perhaps you may want to. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I have always wanted to see Ribery perform in England and I believe he would fit right into Andre Villas-Boas’ side.

Feel free to leave your comments below.

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Arsenal are close to securing the services of Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker after ending their interest in Bolton’s Gary Cahill. Mertesacker, 26, is almost as tall at Tottenham’s Peter Crouch, with the German standing at a massive 6ft 6in and good news for Guners fans, he’s quite good. The player is set to undergo a medical today ahead of a £10 million move.

Elsewhere, Liverpool have turned down a bid by Premier League rivals Chelsea for their midfielder Raul Meireles. The Stamford Bridge club had offered £8 million plus former-Reds midfielder Yossi Benayoun. However, the men that matter at Anfield have turned it down and it remains to be seen if another bid will be made.

Meanwhile, Tottenham are expected to make a late move for long-term Arsenal target and England international Gary Cahill. The Bolton defender has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates. However, as was mentioned earlier in this piece, Arsenal have ended their interest in the player, leaving the door open for Harry Redknapp to move. It is believed Bolton are looking for somewhere near the £14 million mark for Cahill.

And finally for now, former Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves is on the verge of joining bitter rivals Manchester City. The former England international has struggled, to say the least, with injury over the last few years. However, Roberto Mancini has decided to take a punt on a player who many rated very highly during his early days at Old Trafford. The medical is currently taking place and Hargreaves is expected to pen a pay-as-you-play deal later tonight, early tomorrow morning.

What do you think will happen with these proposed deals? Comments below please.

Also, please go to our Facebook page right now. Plenty of gossip etc; and also, a new competition is starting in the next hour or so over there, so you can win yourself a great prize by simply liking our page and liking one of our next status updates. Cheers.

Villas-Boas has already declared to his new team that he intends to begin the season by playing a 4-3-3 formation, where it would appear that he will find a place for at least one of either, Didier Drogba or Nicholas Anelka. The way he has used Anelka in pre-season would suggest that he prefers the Frenchman and it would come as no surprise to see Anelka play in a front three alongside £50m man, Fernando Torres, who scored the second goal against Aston Villa in last Sunday’s final in Hong Kong and Daniel Sturridge who has done nothing but impress his new boss in the pre-season.

Should that be the case then Drogba could be the man that sits on the bench.

The squad that Villas-Boas has inherited is undoubtedly loaded with  talent and the 33 year old has not had to make many signings. Frank Lampard will no doubt be the linchpin of the Blues midfield and the England international once again proved last year that there is no better goal scoring midfield player anywhere in the Premier League and Yossi Benayoun, who should start the season fully fit will likely accompany him in the centre of the park with Michael Essien out for six months through injury. Brazilian international, Ramires, John Obi Mikel as well as Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda will all be in contention too.

Defensively, Chelsea will be as strong as ever, with captain John Terry leading the back four that should is likely to be made up of David Luiz, Ashley Cole and Jose Bosingwa with Peter Cech in goal.

The only changes from last season will be the new approach to management and style of play being brought to the club by Villas-Boas. The only transfers made during the Summer have been goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois from Genk and defensive midfielder, Oriol Romeu, from Barcelona.

A good start to the season will be essential for Chelsea if they are to win back the title they last won in 2010. They had several problems last year, not least of which was the inability of Torres to score goals following his signing from Liverpool in January. A clean slate for the Spanish striker is maybe what he needs and it would be no surprise to see him be amongst the leading scorers in the Premier League Golden boot betting.

However, it is the Champions League that has long eluded Chelsea and owner, Roman Abramovich, is makes no attempt to hide the fact that this competition is his number one priority, something that has cost the managers before Vilas-Boas their jobs. The Blues are as big as 9/1 in the Champions League odds and will have their work cut out to overcome the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United but as Vilas-Boas proved at Porto last season, he has a real flair and energy about him and the way his teams play the game and it would be no surprise to see them end their nine year wait for European glory.

This article was not written by Football Corner and therefore these do not necessarily represent the views of our writers.

To start this week’s bits & pieces, we bring you the news that Samuel Eto’o is on the brink of making the move from Serie A giants Internazionale to Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala, who, to put it mildly, have a lot of money. The club was only founded in 1991, but with billionaire Suleyman Kerimov now the owner of the Russian Premier League side, they are now (or should say I, will now be) a force to be reckoned with.

They recently signed Yuri Zhirkov from Chelsea and also have former Brazil left-back Roberto Carlos on their books. It would appear that Eto’o will also be wearing an Anzhi jersey in the near future and if reports are to believed, the Cameroon frontman will receive an astonishing £338,000 a week from his new employers. Expect an announcement to be made in the next 24/48 hours.

Elsewhere, with rioting continuing in the streets of several major cities in the UK, the Premier League have said they will decide on Thursday whether or not this weekend’s opening round of fixtures can go ahead. I don’t need to explain what’s going on, but with it looking as though the rioting has calmed down somewhat over the last 24 hours, I reckon the games will go ahead.

A few rumours to keep you entertained: Manchester United are set to complete the signing of Inter playmaker Wesley Sneijder for a fee of around £32 million. Chelsea are willing to offer Yossi Benayoun as part of a deal to bring Tottenham’s Luka Modric to Stamford Bridge (NOT GOING TO HAPPEN). Arsenal are preparing to make an £8 million bid to sign Birmingham City defender Scott Dann, who has also been attracting interest from Liverpool (his boyhood club). And finally, Bolton are closing on the signing of former Middlesbrough and Stoke City man Tuncay who has struggled to make an impact at German side Wolfsburg.

To wrap up this week’s ‘Bits & Pieces’, I just wanted to mention that today, the 10th of August, is the anniversary of former Yeovil Town, Hereford United and Exeter City frontman Adam Stansfield. He died at the age of just 31 last year after a battle with cancer. Condolences go out to his family and friends on a day which is bound to be very tough for them.

Anyway, make sure to check out FC’s Bits & Pieces each and every Wednesday. Comments are always welcome.

Almost forgot, don’t forget to join the Football Corner League over on premierleague.com. If you would like to enter the fantasy league, simply use the code: 1209951-306274 and you could win yourself a prize.

Hope you enjoyed. ‘Til next time.

Apologies for the lack of articles of late. Hope everyone is having a nice summer wherever you are and while I’m at it, why not make your summer better by winning a jersey of your choice. Just go to the Football Corner Facebook page and post the name of the 2011 Champions League final winners. It will only take you a few seconds.

Anyway, as you are probably aware, there have been plenty of rumours in recent days with regards possible transfers during this summer’s window. One name who continues to be linked with a move is Tottenham’s Luka Modric, who is understood to be keen on a switch to Chelsea.

Chelsea had a £22 million bid for the Croatian rejected by Spurs last month. However, the Stamford Bridge club are likely to improve on that offer, which Harry Redknapp described as “farcical” and with Modric himself now pushing for a move, many believe it is only a matter of time before he makes the switch.

Should Modric, 25, leave White Hart Lane in the coming weeks, Spurs will need to replace a player who is regarded as one of the most talented players in the Premier League. One player who Redknapp has always had a soft spot for is Liverpool’s Joe Cole, whom he managed during his time at West Ham.

Tottenham attempted to sign the 29-year old last summer, but the player opted to make the move to Merseyside. It’s fair to say that things haven’t really worked out for Cole at Anfield and with Spurs possibly in the market for an attacking midfielder, a move to north London seems to make perfect sense.

The next few days are bound to answer a number of questions with regards Modric’s possible move to Chelsea. Tottenham fans will obviously want him to stay at the club, but for me, it looks inevitable that he will move. I’m keen to hear if you think Cole would be a suitable replacement for Modric should he leave the club. Feel free to leave your comments below.