EPL Transfer talk

Spurs snap up Barca starlet Dos Santos

Barcelona forward Giovani Dos Santos has signed for Tottenham, the Spanish club have announced.



The 19-year-old Mexico international, who joined Barca in 2002, has signed a five-year contract for a £4.7million fee, rising to £8.6million depending on appearances.


Barcelona have retained 20% of any sell-on fee should he move in the first two years of his contract and will take 10% of any transfer if he moves after that.


A statement on Barcelona's website, fcbarcelona.com, read: 'FC Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur have come to an agreement for the transfer of Giovani Dos Santos to the English club.


'The Mexican will sign for the club managed by Juande Ramos until June 30 2013 for a fee of six million euros (£4.7million) plus another five million (£3.9million) depending on the player's appearances for the London club during his five-year contract.


'FC Barcelona also maintain 20% of the financial rights to any possible transfer of the player during his first two years of contract and 10% on any transfer from his new club.'

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm the signing of Deco from FC Barcelona.

The Portuguese midfielder becomes our first signing under Luiz Felipe Scolari since the Brazilian's appointment as manager.

Deco, who won the Champions League and UEFA Cup with FC Porto, spoke to Chelsea TV after officially signing and said: 'It is good for me to be here and first of all I am very happy to be here.'

The former Barcelona player has further Champions League success as one of his main ambitions with Chelsea and, after playing in Euro 2008 alongside a strong Chelsea contingent, now feels the time was right to join his former national coach in west London.

'I am sure I have come at the right time to do great things and be able to help Chelsea go back to the way it was and come back to being the first one, not only in England but also to win the Champions League that has been their dream for so long,' said Deco.

'The Premier Lea

Chelsea have stepped up their interest in Real Madrid forward Robinho after sporting director Frank Arnesen met with the player's agent.


New coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who began his Chelsea job today, has already signed Portugal international Deco from Barcelona and there are increasing signs that Robinho could be the next arrival.


Robinho's representative Vagner Ribeiro is determined to get the best move for the Real Madrid winger and claims he is better than Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who has been targeted by the Spanish champions.

'It's true that Chelsea are interested in signing Robinho,' Ribeiro told Spanish sports daily AS.

'They have been after him for a while and there has been much more contact since Scolari became the new Chelsea coach.

'I met with (Frank) Arnesen in London and he confirmed to me that Chelsea wanted my player for next season.'

The Spanish league champions are reportedly keen to offload the player to free up some cash to buy Ronaldo, but Ribeiro insists his client is as good as, if not better than, the Portugal international.

'Neither Robinho nor I like the fact that Real Madrid can use him as part exchange in their bid to sign Cristiano Ronaldo,' he continued.

'We don't like this attitude and we want Madrid to start valuing Robinho because at the moment they're not.

'Robinho is as good a player as Cristiano Ronaldo or better. The difference is that Cristiano Ronaldo reached the Champions League final and Robinho didn't.

'But if Robinho had won such a title he would be at the same level as Cristiano.'

Robinho played an important role in Madrid's league success last season - scoring 11 goals in 32 games - and enjoyed his best campaign since joining the club in 2005.

Ribeiro claims the 24-year-old is not keen to leave the Bernabeu but that he would seriously consider doing so if Madrid continue to ignore his talents.

'Robinho's priority is to continue at Real Madrid,' he added. 'But he cannot stay in a place in which they don't recognise his talent and at the moment Real Madrid are not doing that and I'm not talking about money.

'I'm referring to the fact that they are undervaluing him in comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo.'

Meanwhile, Scolari has been given a major boost in his bid to keep England midfielder Frank Lampard at the club after Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho admitted the player would not be joining him until the 2009-10 season.

Lampard's future has come under further scrutiny since the arrival of Deco, who joined the club on a two-year deal yesterday.

The England ace, currently on holiday in Sicily, has one year to run on his current contract and is due to resume talks about an extension when he returns for pre-season training next Monday.

Lampard, 30, wants Chelsea to match the kind of money that Inter Milan can offer him and desires a four-year deal.

But Lampard has the option of letting his deal expire in order to quit Stamford Bridge as a free agent next summer.

MANCHESTER UNITED tabled an official £20million bid for Tottenham strike star Dimitar Berbatov last night.

And Alex Ferguson expects to wrap up the deal within the next week after making his opening offer.


How Berba may look in United shirt

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1413705.ece