BREAKING TRANSFER NEWS and Team News/Updates

By: Anthony | January 15th, 2009

So over the past few weeks there have been some transfer rumours floating around Nervión about a few players possibly leaving The Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán and even a couple linked in joining us in Andalucía.

It’s actually been relatively quiet, at least more so than previous seasons when many of our big name players were being linked with some of Europe’s giants (Alves to Barça, Fabiano to ManU, etc..). This year however besides the rumours in Italy about Kanouté and Fabiano being linked to Inter Milan (which was obviously all false) not many things have been said.

BREAKING NEWS:

Tom de Mul has obviously had some difficulties settling into Sevilla, not because of the city, or the language, or any personal problem, its merely because he’s not playing as much as he’d like to. Personally, I really like this kid, he plays his heart out when he gets the chance but when you have Navas on the team, it’s not exactly an easy thing to get ahead of him in the starting XI. This season Navas has been the most consistent performer and this hasn’t helped De Mul’s cause at all. Because of this there’s been rumours about loaning De Mul back to his old club, Ajax Amsterdam, but since these rumours have been put to rest. However, today it was announced that Racing Genk of the Belgium Jupiler League has signed De Mul on 6 month loan keeping him until the end of the season. Tom recently in an interview said that he doesn’t want to leave El Capital but rather fight for his place show his qualities. I’d like to see him stay in Nervión but I understand he’s not getting first team football and a player of his potential should be able to in a lower league. Now that he is loaned out to Racing Genk, hopefully he’ll come back with a bit more confidence and be a solid backup to Navas.

RUMOURS – OUT:

A couple weeks ago Mosquera was involved with a serious bust up with a reporter that saw the Colombian get violent during a press conference. Ever since this incident, Mosquera hasn’t played or even been in the squad, he’s apologized but apparently to no avail. Personally I never liked Mosquera, he’s clumsy, slow, and not even a solid defender to solve our right-back problems. Over the past week he’s been linked to River Plate of Argentina. It would be a loan deal because apparently the Argentinean club are suffering of huge financial problems. This would also be beneficial to us at Sevilla because like De Mul, maybe a lack of playing time is hurting Mosquera’s confidence and we’re not really seeing his best form. The River Plate management has acknowledged the deal is possible, but said he’s waiting to hear from Jiménez and Monchi for updates on the Colombian’s situation. Earlier this week too, reports in France have suggested that Paris Saint Germain better known as PSG are interested in securing Mosquera’s services, but in an interview, Del Nido rejected these claims and said the only club they’re in contact with is River Plate.

RUMOURS – IN:

José María del Nido has asked Jiménez and Monchi to bolster the strike force this month after apparently not being happy about our lack of goals scored in the first half of the season thus far. Senegalese striker Papa Waigo who currently plays for Fiorentina is looking for a change of scenery due to his lack of playing time. His agent Lorenzo Marchesi has acknowledged that Sevilla have contacted Fiorentina about him and said “We are looking for a solution that would be both beneficial to the player and the club. Sevilla would be a good option because they are a great team”. To be honest I don’t know much about this player but I’ve contacted the writer of the Fiorentina Offside to drop by here and give us a bit of background info so we’ll know what we’re potentially getting involved with. Either way it is obvious that we need an extra striker up front even despite the fact that Chevantón is back. Acosta and Koné are still out injured and with Cheva’s history of being prone to injuries he’s never a guarantee. We have the least goals for in the top half of the table, and even though our defense is second best in the league, if we want to beat the stronger teams in the league and even finish the smaller teams off we’ll need to start scoring more.

Moroccan defender Michael Chrétien who currently plays for French Ligue 1 side Nancy and although I haven’t heard anything about this rumour for a couple weeks it is definitely a possibility. Our right side of defense has been weak this year with Crespo and Mosquera being less than reliable and Konko injury prone.

Monchi also handed in an official transfer shortlist to President Del Nido at the beginning of January claiming he needs three players to perfect the Sevilla squad. Karim Ziani who currently plays for French side Marseille plays on the right flank and is said to be available for €11 million but the rumours say that Chevantón will go the other way on loan until the end of the season. The second target is Ozer Hurmaci who currently plays his club football for Ankaraspor in Turkey. The Turkish International has two solid feet making him an extremely versatile player. Although he is just 22 years of age, he has represented his country many times at the u-21 level and is apparently valued at €4 million. He’ll be an asset to our team, but since I don’t know much about him he could provide some cover for Navas as well as in the middle of the park. Last but not least Monchi is said to want the ever prolific Swiss International Alexander Frei who plays his club football in the German Bundesliga for Borussia Dortmund. This particular rumour excites me, I’ve watched Frei play for several years now and think he’s a hell of a player. Strong figure up front and lethal when on the ball, he’ll definitely give us strength in numbers up front. There were no figured thrown around that valued him but I’d guess anywhere between €8 – €15 million.

Over the past couple days reports in England, Spain and Italy have linked us with being interested in Liverpool forward Jermaine Pennant. There were a couple rumours saying we’d swap Fernando Navarro for him which I’m pretty sure is false considering he’s been our rock at left back this year so far. Jermaine however would be a great asset to our team as he can play either on the left wing or up top behind a striker. He’s young, quick, and would add to the speed of our team. Just think, Capel, Navas, Luis Fabiano, and Pennant, thats some pretty intense speed right there. I’m still skeptical because apparently he’s had attitude problems in the past and the last thing I want to happen is our team chemistry to get messed up or for a distraction to come onto the team and us lose focus of our goals this year.

It’s obvious that we need some additional fire power up front but which out of these players would you like to see in Nervión? They all have a keen eye for goal and while Frei provides the experience and a strong target man, Papa Waigo is strong, young, and apparently Monchi is on good terms with his agent who set up the De Sanctis and Konko deals in the past. Finally, Pennant would provide versatility because he can play anywhere up top or on either flank. If he can keep the right frame of mine and stay positive he will be a valuable addition to Sevilla Fútbol Club.

Copa del Rey Latest News:
Yesterday’s victory against Deportivo la Coruña meant we will now play in the quarter finals of the tournament against league rivals Valencia. This could prove to be a pretty tough match as the east coast club is on amazing form of late. They defeated Racing Santander yesterday at the Mastalla and although it took extra time to do, they dominated the game from start to finish. Villa, Silva and Mata are always lethal offensive threats and if we can contain them I’m confident we can win.

Palop’s red card yesterday means he will miss the next two matches against Numancia in the league and the first match away in Valencia for the Copa. Luckily Palop will be back for when we play Valencia in the Copa at home. This could be a blessing in disguise as Javi Varas showed his potential in pre-season when he was in stunning form. He was solid in the Russian Railways Tournament in which we came out on top defeating the likes of AC Milan and Lokomotiv Moscow.

Team News:
Lautaro Acosta is back to full training and it thought to start or feature partially this weekend when we play Numancia at home. Javi Varas will also get the start for the suspended Palop.

Konko was said to be training normally and almost back to full fitness but yesterday re-injured his knee and will be out for another three weeks. Once again leaving us bare in the right-back slot.

Thats all for today Sevillistas, will be back tomorrow with some good news. Here’s the highlights from yesterday in case you didn’t see the game or are just interested.