2011 Summer Transfer Window Thread

[Lineker]

Turns out the story about his son having cancer was a hoax.

[Matt]

Oh. >_<

Well, that's good news... I think.

[Lineker]

On 3 August 2011 it was announced Malbranque had signed with French side AS Saint-Étienne on a two-year contract,[8] thus ending a 10 year stay in English football. A month after joining, rumours circulated that Malbranque had asked to be released from his contract due his son being ill with cancer. Malbranque eventually released a statement issued by London-based solicitors Thomas Cooper denying this :

"Steed has read with concern the recent stories currently circulating about him and his family, He would like to reassure all of his friends in England and throughout world football that these stories are wholly without foundation. Steed does not have a son and his immediate family are all in good health. Steed does not know the origin of these stories but would like to stress that they are without merit. He trusts that they will now cease immediately."

The following day, Saint-Étienne announced they and Malbranque had agreed to a mutual termination of his contract.

[Adam]

And Thursday's Steed Story of the Week is already hot off the presses in the Daily Mirror!

Steed Malbranque is eyeing a return to the Premier League as a free agent following the termination of his ­two-year contract with St Etienne after just three weeks.

The former Fulham and Spurs midfielder went back to France from Sunderland in the summer. But after playing a matter of only 26 minutes for his new club in the first game of the season, the 31-year-old declared that he was retiring for personal reasons.

St Etienne have now rejected his offer to return after signing Max Gradel from Leeds United and cancelling his contract.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Fucking hell, that's confusing.

I could understand it being falsely reported that he'd terminated his contract following the 'hoax' but for him to have his contract terminated straight afterwards seems...strange. Especially if St Etienne actually paid a transfer fee for him in the first place.

Why sign for a club only to then retire... and then try and angle a move to another club? I'd assume St Etienne would still have his registration (code/number/whatever) even if he did retire to prevent him immediately moving on a free transfer. Plus, isn't there a limit on how many clubs you can play for in a year? I'd assume that considering he played for Sunderland earlier this year and 22 minutes for St Etienne he can't actually play for another club until January.

[Lineker]

Mikael Forssell has joined Leeds until the end of the season.

[The Future]

It still feels weird not having John O'Shea around the team, how have he and Brown done at Sunderland so far?

[Hobo]

They have constructed a fort

[Twist]

Not a very good one if we managed to break through it.

[DavidMarrio]

O'Sheas been injured hasn't he? And with Brown I can only comment on the game against Liverpool in which he played really well, just bossed the back and picked up MOTM. Dunno about how he's done in the other two games like.

[Starvinho]

O'Shea played the last game and played really well, Brown has been solid in all his games so far. I never wanted to get rid of O'Shea

[Lineker]

Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has joined UAE side Al-Ain on a season long loan with a view to buy. So now they've lost last season's three top scorers in Bent, Welbeck, and Gyan.

Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan has signed for United Arab Emirates side Al-Ain on loan.

The Ghanaian joined Sunderland from French club Rennes in August 2010 for £13m.

But on Friday, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce claimed "parasites" turned Gyan's head after his goal in the 1-1 draw with England at Wembley in March.

And on Saturday it was announced that the striker, 25, was on his way to the UAE.

Bruce said: "Anyone who has seen Asamoah play will know that he hasn't been himself in recent months. This option suits all parties at the present time and the club is well-protected in the deal.

"Asamoah has three years remaining on his contract and of course my wish would be that he finds his spark again and we see him in red and white stripes next season in the form that first attracted us to him."

Throughout the transfer window, Gyan was linked with a move to a big European club.

On Friday Bruce blamed agents for turning Gyan's head.

"Since that game at Wembley, all the parasites, as I call them, hover around," said Bruce.

"People are in his ear constantly trying to engineer a deal for him. Certainly since the England game, when he played at Wembley so well on the night, something has been troubling him.

"It's very difficult, the constant speculation, no matter what you try to quash or quell, and the people around him, the people who want to make a fast buck, and it affects him in the end.

"He was going from Real Madrid to Bayern Munich to Valencia to Atletico Madrid."

Bruce added on Friday that he had challenged the striker to rediscover his form.

"I had a conversation with him two days ago to say: 'Look, the window as now closed, Asa," Bruce said. "Right, we need to see you back playing again and back the way you know you can play'."

Gyan - who has yet to score this season - was due to miss Saturday's Premier League match with Chelsea because of a hamstring problem picked up on international duty with Ghana.

Oh dear.

[Berober]

But they have the might of Bendtner!

[Starvinho]

Is Fraizer Campbell due back from injury anytime soon, he seems to be a forgotten man at Sunderland.

[Matt]

Fuck me, Sunderland are fucked if they're relying on Fraizer Campbell to score their goals.

[Lineker]

I believe that he isn't due back until 2012 earliest.

[Starvinho]

Looks like Bendtner and the mighty Connor Wickham is pretty much all they have then, hopefully Campbell will finally get back to fitness after two very serious knee injuries.

[Lineker]

Don't forget Ji.

[King Ellis]

Heh, I'm pretty sure I saw Bruce say the other day something along the lines of 'The transfer window has passed now, we never had an offer on him and he's going nowhere. He just needs to concentrate on playing football now.' That worked out well.

[Starvinho]

Don't forget Ji.

How could I forget

Edited September 10, 2011 by Starvinho