蘇金堡簽約樸茨茅夫2年
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp is confident of following up the high-profile capture of Sol Campbell with more fresh faces before the start of the new season.
Campbell today completed his move to Fratton Park, signing a two-year contract after recently being released by Arsenal, where he made 197 appearances following his controversial switch from Spurs five years ago.
The 31-year-old England international centre-back trained with his new team-mates earlier in the day before putting pen to paper, to the delight of Redknapp.
Despite his much-publicised problems at Highbury last season, Redknapp believes Campbell is ready for the task ahead of him on the south coast.
'I told him Portsmouth are a club going places, a good club to come to,' said Redknapp on SkySports News.
'It's a very ambitious club now. We are going to keep moving forward and he can be part of something very exciting. So I think he was up for that.
'I think he'll give the place a real lift just coming in. He's a top, top player, a big character and I think he's a great signing for us.
'He's very strong. I think he's fine and looking forward to the challenge.'
Redknapp is eager to strengthen his squad further, with goalkeeper David James poised to follow Campbell through the doors at Pompey within the next 48 hours.
Redknapp is in the market for another goalkeeper after number two Jamie Ashdown was recently ruled out for six weeks with a broken thumb.
The 36-year-old James is the number one target, with a three-year contract understood to be on the table once a fee can be agreed with Manchester City, likely to be in the region of £2million.
Sources in Manchester claim City have virtually given up hope of holding on to James, believing he will snap up the chance of a long-term deal with Portsmouth as he has only a year remaining on his present deal.
Redknapp has so far struggled in the transfer market, with Campbell only his third signing after the capture of Glen Johnson on a season-long loan from Chelsea, and David Thompson after he was released by Wigan.
Big-money bids for Tottenham's Jermain Defoe, Gareth Barry of Aston Villa, Celtic's Stilian Petrov and West Brom's Curtis Davies have fallen by the wayside, despite money available courtesy of owner Sasha Gaydamak.
Redknapp is still chasing Blackburn centre-back Ryan Nelsen, despite Rovers manager Mark Hughes' `hands-off' warning following a reported £4million-plus bid, while Nwankwo Kanu is another target following his release by West Brom.
When asked about more new signings, Redknapp replied: 'I'm not sure yet. I've a few options.
'We're looking around at a few different players and want to get one or two in before next week and we hope we can do that.
'We're close to a few signings, not because of a lack of effort. The owners have been fantastic and have given us great support.
'It has just been hard to find the right targets, but hopefully we can come up with them now.
'You've got to make sure you sign the right players. That's the difficult part. We are still looking
Charlton boss Iain Dowie completed a £4million double swoop for Djimi Traore and Amdy Faye - and insisted his spending was not yet over.
Versatile defender Traore has joined from Liverpool and Faye arrives from Newcastle, each player costing Charlton £2million and each signing three-year contracts.
According to Charlton, Traore was also a target for Newcastle and Everton.
'We're delighted to have made two quality signings, and they will both improve our first-team squad,' said Dowie on the Charlton website.
'We're also working very hard on several other signings and we hope to be able to make further announcements soon.'
Charlton are finalising their preparations for the first season under Dowie, who replaced Alan Curbishley this summer.
The new boss has stated his intention to make either three or four new signings before Friday's friendly against Utrecht, suggesting one or two deals remain in the pipeline.
Traore will add strength predominantly on the left side of Charlton's defence, following the departure of veteran Chris Powell, however the 26-year-old is capable of playing in the centre too.
He spent seven seasons at Anfield, having joined in a £500,000 deal from Laval, and despite being often criticised as a weak link, Traore was a member of Liverpool's Champions League winning team in 2005.
Tough-tackling midfielder Faye spent 19 months at Newcastle, whom he joined from Portsmouth, but he was set to be squeezed out of manager Glenn Roeder's plans for the coming season due to the number of midfielders at St James' Park.
Roeder was content to see the 29-year-old leave, even if it meant him joining a rival Premiership club.
'He hasn't given me any problems whatsoever, but I just felt that with the midfielders we have at the club, it was best not to stand in his way with him being offered the chance of more regular football,' Roeder told club website.
'He was at our game with Villarreal at the weekend, and before he went down to London I wished him all the best for when the transfer went through.
'I hope he enjoys a good career at Charlton, though obviously not in the two games against us in the new season!'
Late on Monday evening the final details of the transfers of Per Mertesacker and Frank Fahrenhorst were finalised.
The 21 year old central defender from Hanover 96, who finished the World Cup in third place with the German team, will sign a four year deal with Werder Bremen. General manager Klaus Allofs commented after the transfer: "We are very happy that Per has committed himself to a move to Werder Bremen and we that we were able to meet an agreement with Hanover 96. Per has made a rapid development over the last couple of years and we are sure that he possess the exact qualities to develop even further."
Thomas Schaaf is of a similar opinion: "Per made himself a real hero for the fans during the World Cup with the style in which he plays. When someone who is so young can play such a strong World Cup is without doubt an improvement for our squad. He has massive potential."
In three years of bundesliga football per Mertesacker has played 74 games and scored seven goals. The 21 year old German international has played 29 times for his country and scored one goal. He made his international debut on 09.10.2004 during Germany's 2:0 friendly win against Iran. His greatest sporting successes so far have been coming in third place in both the FIFA World Cup 2006 and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2005. Werder Bremen is the second professional club for the 1,98m tall defender who started his playing career at TSV Pattensen before making the move to Hanover 96.
The defender, who had an operation on his heel during the World Cup on 06.07.2006has been working in a rehabilitaion programme in Donaustaf will not be fit in time to start the new season at the weekend.
Fahrenhorst follow's his ex-trainer to Hanover
At the same time as the Mertesacker deal, Werder Bremen, Hanover 96 and Frank fahrenhorst agreed on the defenders move to the Lower Saxon metropolis. The 28 year old will receive a three year contract, keeping him in Hanover until 30.06.2006.
No details of the transfers have been officially released by either side.
Klaus Allofs commented after the transfer announcement: "Despite our wish to sign Per Mertesacker, it was never in our interest to lose Frank Fahrenhorst. Hanover 96 were very determined to acquire his services and we must begrudgingly allow him to leave."
Head coach Thomas Shaaf said: "Frank Fahrenhorst has shown very stabile performances of late and made a good development - it's a pity that he's leaving us. I'm sure he will quickly fit in in Hanover and we wish him lots of sporting success."
Frank Fahrenhorst, who follows his ex-trainer to Hanover, played for two seasons in the Green-White, playing 39 of his 145 Bundesliga games for Bremen. His only goal in a Werder shirt was scored on the 18th match day of last season ast Werder beat Armenia Bielefeld 1:0. The 28 year old was involved in nine Champions League ties. His greatest sporting success' have been coming runner-up in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen in 2006 and winning the League Cup in the same year.
Manchester City defender Sun Jihai has revealed he would like to finish his playing career in his homeland.
The China international, who became the first Chinese player to score a Premiership goal, recently penned a two-year extension with City.
Jihai is now tied to the Eastlands outfit until the summer of 2008, although he has no plans to hang up his playing boots in the near future.
The 28-year-old is keen to maximise his time in England before returning home and rejoining former club Dalian Shide.
"I want to play in the Chinese league again, but I want to play as long as I can in England because the league is much better than in China," explained Jihai.
"The tempo of football in Europe is very quick so when I finish my career in England I should still be fit enough for the league here, so I can play one or two seasons in China..
"Dalian is where my family is. I was born there, I grew up there and I love there so hopefully I can join them when I come back."
[ Last edited by 瑞比 on 2006-8-9 at 09:19 PM ]作者: 自由神 時間: 2006-8-10 09:09 AM
老孫係咪玩野呀！有得踢唔踢作者: iknow 時間: 2006-8-10 05:37 PM
祝查爾頓好運~入到查奧爾~你希望佢唔好整返幾個施丹轉身俾你歎~~作者: MaxFigo 時間: 2006-8-11 12:02 AM
Originally posted by 自由神 at 2006-8-10 09:09 AM:
老孫係咪玩野呀！有得踢唔踢
