No doubt we’ve all heard the quotes from Real Madrid presidential candidate Lorenzo Sanz who says that he has secured the agreement for the signature of Michael Carrick from Tottenham Hotspur for a reputed ?20m if he wins the upcoming election. Sanz isn’t the frontrunner though and with his competitor for the president post, Villa Mir, claiming that he’ll bring Arsene Wenger to the Bernabeu if he wins, I’m not sure which I’d prefer.

?20m for Michael Carrick seems a bit excessive for me but then I’m not one of the starry eyed lovers who worship the ground he walks on. Maybe I’m missing something but Carrick never strikes me as having the same fire in his belly that a truly great player like Steven Gerrard has. ?20m for Gerrard I could accept, the fact that Manchester United are now upping their offer to ?20m to compete with Madrid makes me go all cross eyed. Either ?20m or ?12m plus Park Ji Sung (which I’d prefer) if yesterday’s whispers are to be believed but either way, a fine return on a ?2.75m investment two summers ago.

I do like Michael Carrick as a player, he’s very classy, very stylish, makes room for himself and has made Spurs tick this last season but I doubt whether he has the credentials to ultimately replace Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid. Even typing that out makes it seem even more ridiculous than I already thought it. For now I think the best Spurs can do is take a firm offer for the highest amount we can and move on to other targets.

Didier Zokora looks to have completed his medical and if he can put in similar performances in the Premiership as he did at the World Cup we may find ourselves saying “Michael Who?” this time next year. Real Madrid? Not quite yet if you ask me.

While each quarterfinal of the World Cup certainly has a favorite, a not so far-fetched and even convincing case can be made in each match for the underdog to pull an upset.

ARGENTINA v GERMANY

Its commonly believed that the class of the tournament so far has been Argentina. Their movement and creativity has been a revelation when compared with the negative tactics and bullying by teams like Italy. But a closer look shows that outside of their 6-0 defeat of Serbia & Montenegro, they have not overwhelmed teams. In the first match of the tournament, against Ivory Coast, they played well but just survived a late, tense onslaught by the Africans. And in their Round of 16 match, only a lack of creativity on the part of the Mexicans in the final third throughout the 120 minutes spared the Argentines blushes.

On Friday, they will be coming up against a German team who may be the most consistent of the tournament. They have impressed in each of their 4 matches steadily improving. They could defeat the South Americans as they will go into the match without fear, meaning they will constantly attack and with a greater width and more promising strikers than any team the Argentines have met. The Germans may be slow at times in defense, but if Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings continue their magnificent play in midfield, it may not matter.

Do not be surprised to see the Germans win it late or on penalties.

ITALY v UKRAINE

Italy have only really impressed during their first match against Ghana. Since then, they have been on the fortunate side of several referee calls and poor finishing by their opponents. They could have easily lost to the US and Australia and defeated a depleted Czech Republic team. They have been running on luck throughout the tournament and could fall to the first quality team they face.

Ukraine are probably not that team though they have proved to be resilient after a slow start. They were fortunate to survive Switzerland in the last round, but display an energy that most teams do not have. And the Italians have yet to play against a striker with the quality of Andriy Shevchenko.

Look for the Italians again to get a questionable penalty in injury time.

ENGLAND v PORTUGAL

England are hoping to continue that time honored tradition (think Brazil ‘94 or West Germany ‘90) of teams not playing well, but eventually winning the World Cup. They have yet to look fluid, confident or organized. But with Wayne Rooney finally getting some games under his belt, they may flourish against a Portugese team depleted by the flurry of red and yellow cards received in their match against Holland.

But Portugal will be the first team England will face in the tournament (outside of maybe Sweden) with true world class players at nearly every position, even with the suspensions of Deco and Costinha. They have the creativity, guile, and offensive threat to keep the England midfield from coming forward, cutting off the delivery to Rooney who will be playing as a lone striker.

Based on the evidence so far, if England do not get their act together quickly, Portugal could win by 2 goals.

BRAZIL V FRANCE

Brazil are another team that have improved as the tournament has gone on, but against Ghana in their last match, the Africans definitely had enough shots to score a few goals and the 3-0 score flattered. There were many holes in the Brazilian defense and only poor finishing by the Ghanaians kept the Brazilians in the tournament.

France do have the potential and experience to capitalize on these opportunities. Theirry Henry and Frank Ribery both have a goalscorer’s mentality and can take advantage of the Brazilians ageing and slow defense.

If Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Viera have the games against Brazil that they had against Spain, France could be headed to the semifinals.

In my last article I commented that the transfer rumour mill was in full swing, and sure enough this morning there?s already another big rumour. This time it seems Cristiano Ronaldo could be heading out of the exit door, on his way to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

The transfer is by no means a certainty though, mainly because it would hinge on the results of the upcoming presidential elections at Madrid on Sunday. It seems Ronaldo has become the main target of 74-year-old presidential hopeful Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who said at a recent press conference:

?Manchester United know that we are talking with him. We have gone in ‘through the front door??.

Certainly this was news to a lot of people, seeing as there have been no other reports of a formal bid from Real, and nor can there be until Sunday, since Mr. Villar Mir holds no power at the club currently. Naturally, United were quick to try and quash such rumours, releasing a statement which read:

?Manchester United are astonished with Juan Miguel Villar Mir’s comments. There has been no contact between Manchester United and his election team or Real Madrid, and any suggestion there has been is incorrect. Unfortunately these tactics seem to be a common occurrence in elections of this nature.?

The Real Madrid-favouring Spanish newspaper Marca has added fuel to the fire, reporting that Ronaldo told them:

?I have told my agent that I would like to leave. I want to do so in the best way possible. I want to play for Madrid and I dream about it. Villar Mir has promised me he will talk to the club and all we have done is talk through an agent. They have explained to me their plans and the next step is they will talk to Manchester United to open negotiations. Villar Mir’s project is serious and follows correct procedures.?

Personally, I always treat Marca?s reports with a pinch of salt, they?ve been wrong about things like this before, but this feels like one of those ?there?s no smoke without fire? sort of stories and it wouldn?t surprise me if United receive a formal offer from Madrid come Monday, provided Villar Mar wins the election the previous day. Even if he doesn?t there is still a chance Ronaldo could go, his attacking flair would certainly fit in with the philosophy at Real and he has age on his side, which is important as the club look the revamp it?s ageing squad.

The question is, would Fergie let him go? It would seem unlikely as he always mentions Ronaldo (along with Rooney, Rossi and, erm…Fletcher) when he talks of the players who will be the future of this club and as the winger is under contract for another four years he?ll be under no pressure to sell. Yet there remains a lingering feeling that Fergie could be tempted, particularly if the club receive an offer of substantially more than the ?12m they originally paid Sporting Lisbon to procure the youngsters services.

For all Ronaldo?s undoubted potential he is yet to achieve the consistency that marks out a truly great player from a merely decent one and he continues to infuriate fans and team-mates alike with his often needless tricks and the erratic quality of his shooting and crossing. Added to this are question marks over his temperament, and with all these problems Fergie could be forgiven for being tempted by a big-money offer, particularly when it seems as though Ronaldo himself has his heart set on Real.

However I think it would be a great shame if Ronaldo were to leave, as he seems to be improving with every season and has the potential to be one of the best players in the world. Despite his inconsistency and his deficiencies he?s still one of the best players we have at the club. Catching Chelsea won?t be an easy task and certainly won?t be helped if we sell our top players. Still, it seems like this saga will run and run and I?m sure I won?t be the only one keeping an eye on Real?s presidential elections this coming Sunday.

News reports from Turin are saying that Juventus’ sports director, former Juve and Italy star Gianluca Pessotto, has fallen from a window at the club’s HQ and is in a serious, thought to be life threatening, condition in hospital.

ROME (Reuters) - Former Juventus player Gianluca Pessotto was in a serious condition after falling from a window at the club’s headquarters, the Juventus press office said on Tuesday.

Pessotto, who took up the post of Juventus’s sports director at the end of last season after 11 years with the team, was taken to hospital in Turin.

The defender, who made 22 appearances for Italy, was a regular starter during one of the most successful periods in Juventus’s history, winning six Serie A titles and the 1996 Champions League.

Italy captain and Juventus defender Fabio Cannavaro walked out of a news conference at the Azzurri’s World Cup training camp when he heard the news of Pessotto’s fall.

I understand that the whole Italian World Cup squad are now demanding to be returned to Italy to visit Pessotto and to find out exactly what the circumstances are regarding this tragedy.

With the continued threat of relegation and heavy punishment hanging over Juventus for their part in the match fixing scandal, the real reasons for Pessotto’s fall seem unclear although there are sure to be many conspiracy theories launched by fans until the actual details emerge.

The big question is: just how badly do some people at Juventus want to distance themselves from punishment for their part in the match fixing scandal?

The knockout rounds of the World Cup are featuring just one team from Africa and one team from the CONCACAF region, which is basically North and Latin America.

While this is not totally unexpected, it holds completely different meanings for each region.

With their best teams in the deepest groups, it was not out of the realm of possibility that none of the African teams would go through. But Ghana escaped what became the Group of Death and Tunisia, Angola still had chances on the last day advance. And most observers believe the Ivory Coast would have survived any group that didn’t include Argentina and Holland.

What these strong showings mean for Africa is that their future Nations Cup and subsequent World Cup qualifiers will be filled with 8 to 10 countries that can not only survive, but make a mark on the world stage. The competition for spots in international tournaments will only make the current world Cup attendees and the traditional powers like Cameroon, Senegal, and Nigeria even stronger.

On the flip side is the CONCACAF region where only Mexico survived the group stages. The Mexican and American’s high FIFA rankings always flattered and were never taken seriously, but both teams, the supposed class of the region, disappointed (this was written before the brilliant Argentina match) in this tournament, which does not bode well them or the other teams in the region.

Mexico had brief periods where they looked like they belonged in the World Cup but overall they did not perform like a team making their 5th straight finals. They were fortunate against Iran and were absent against Angola (again this was written before the brilliant match against Argentina). The USA only showed up for one of their matches and for much of the tournament did not look like they knew what they were doing on the field.

Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica also represent CONCACAF and were never expected to make much noise and didn’t, although the Trinidadians did have an outside chance of surviving their group.

The problem with this region is that the teams are amongst the most lightweight in the world outside of the Oceanic Zone (which Australia has decided to leave). Three of the four teams from the region that made it this year are likely to make it to South Africa in 2010 but will never gain the world experience needed while their only competition are countries like Aruba, Panama, and Haiti. All of the countries in the region need to find a way to develop more world class talent and play more world class competition on a regular basis.

With the World Cup edging towards its latter stages the transfer rumour mill appears to be in full swing. As usual, we?re being linked with practically every defensive midfielder in Europe ? Petit, Carrick, Duscher, Mascherano, Diarra, Senna and Muntari, to name a few ? but with the likely exit of Ruud van Nistelrooy, rumours abound that a top-class striker could soon be arriving. Werder Bremen?s Miroslav Klose has recently been linked, but there is one name that?s been linked with us for a while now and the rumours refuse to go away. That name is Fernando Torres.

According to the BBC Sport website, Manchester United are very close to tying up a ?20m deal for the Atletico Madrid frontman. Undoubtedly, this signing, should it go through (and it must be stressed that the deal is far from sealed) would go some way to easing the pain of the prolific van Nistelrooy?s almost-inevitable exit, but I must confess that I?m still to be convinced that Torres is a ?20m player. In Spain he is a player who divides opinion ? for some his is Spain?s best striker, quick, strong and a great finisher, but for others he is over-hyped and inconsistent. His tally of 13 league goals for perennial underachievers Atletico last year is a respectable amount, and at 22 there is still plenty time for him to improve as a player, but more worrying is the stat that he was guilty of giving the ball away 396 times in the season just gone, more than any other player in La Liga.

Obviously a forward?s job, first and foremost, is to score goals but it is worrying to imagine move after move breaking down at Torres? feet. Still, despite my reservations I?ve been impressed with Torres in the World Cup so far and if we do lose van Nistelrooy then Torres would certainly be an adequate replacement and would add more pace and directness to our forward line, which can only be a good thing. Still, we?ll have to wait and see what develops but this particular rumour appears to have more than a ring of truth to it compared to some that I?ve heard lately. All I hope is that our spending doesn?t end with Torres and that we can begin to improve the midfield, because right now that?s the area in which we are truly lacking.

Ashley Cole has accepted an out of court damages settlement and received a public apology from both the News of the World and The Sun newspapers after they printed pictures and stories about a gay sex romp which readers assumed involved Cole and his friend DJ Masterstepz, Choice FM DJ Ian Thompson.

Ashley Cole always denied being involved in the alleged rendezvous with another prominent Premiership footballer and the music industry figure mentioned in the story and despite being engaged to Girls Aloud popstar Cheryl tweedy was widely believed to the player involved.

Both newspapers issued apologies to both men after they had filed claims for damages over the libel, harassment and breach of privacy caused by the story:

“We are happy to make clear that Mr Cole and Masterstepz were not involved in any such activities.

“We apologise to them for any distress caused and we will be paying them each a sum by way of damages.”

With Didier Zokora telling the News of the World newspaper that his club St. Etienne have agreed a deal with Spurs to bring him to White Hart Lane and that he already feels like a Tottenham player I’m able to get over some of the paranoia I felt last week and look to the new season with a renewed appetite for the game.

The Zokora signing, which isn’t one of those classic “signed after watching him on TV in the World Cup” style Spurs signings, means two things to me: 1) Damien Commolli has been quietly doing his job in the background and is now making the moves to prepare us for next season. 2) Michael Carrick’s proposed move to Manchester United will be announced after England’s participation in the World Cup ends.

The first makes me a little happier and since I’ve had time to consider the second I just want the ?15m for Carrick ASAP so we can go out and buy some quality reinforcements for the areas we looked underdeveloped in last season (the traditional left wing problem and full back areas).

The rumours of Damien Duff keep coming back but I can’t honestly see it and don’t know whether I’d welcome an injury prone player like Duff who blows hot and cold at such an inflated fee and wage price as he’d command. A cheeky request for Ryan Giggs on a free as aprt of the Carrick deal was turned down as well and would have been interesting for a year or two anyway.

I think it shows how entertaining the World Cup has been in many respects that we’re already totally engrossed in our clubs’ spending habits before the tournament has even really got started. The World Cup is ok but you can’t beat the real thing.

Some of us can only imagine what it feel likes to be one of the most famous footballers on the planet, earning record amounts measured in millions of pounds and playing for one of the world’s biggest clubs while captaining your country at the World Cup finals. David Beckham doesn’t have to imagine it, this is the way his life has turned out thanks to a combination of an impressive right foot, a face that isn’t out of place on magazine covers and a publicity hungry wife who used to pout in a girl “band”.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? What happens though when the reason you first got noticed at all starts to wane and the murmurs of discontent start to grow to a steady rumble? Age catches up with us all and especially for those who find themselves in the relentless spotlight of the media, day in and day out. David Beckham is about to enter the most critical stage of his career since he first signed professional forms for Manchester United and I really don’t know how much of a say he’ll have in where his career is headed after this World CUp finishes.

Real Madrid are in a state of flux. The “Galactico” regime is crumbling, the players they spent their vast fees on are old and ready to retire or be replaced. Zidane, Figo, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Beckham - the names that used to strike fear into opposition sides can now be looked at with eager anticipation by a young, fast and skilful side who can use their natural pace to exploit the tired legs. Figo’s departure to Inter last summer was the start of the breakup and this year will see many more casualties, starting with Zidane’s retirement.

Madrid have made noises about David Beckham finishing his career with the club but will the continued income stream from his merchandise range really make up for keeping an ageing, off the pace midfielder in a prominent team position and if not, will Beckham accept being a bench warmer, willing to accept an occasional cameo appearance to please the sponsors? I think not. If a new coach comes in, maybe Arsene Wenger or Fabio Capello, will they want the ego of Beckham botching up their plans for a new generation of Madrid stars just so the club shop can sell a few jerseys? I know Wenger wouldn’t for a start so if Beckham is going, where would he go?

Manchester United won’t want him back, his problems with Sir Alex Ferguson haven’t went away despite the few years break they’ve had. Wenger, if he stays at Arsenal, won’t want him as ageing primadonnas with no pace don’t exactly fit into the Arsenal setup he’s created. Chelsea, while going down a neo-galactico route this summer themselves might just see the England captain as too much of a burden on the pitch to carry, being honest, Becks is no match for Michael Ballack or Andriy Shevchenko even at a similar age to these guys.

So where’s left? Liverpool doesn’t seem likely, again he wouldn’t fit their system. the polciy oif buying young English players at Spurs would rule him out from joining his grandfather’s favourite club and the continued success of Aaron Lennon means there would be no sense in playing him anyway.

In my opinion, the only place fo him to come back and be accepted into would be that great purveyor of overpriced players, Newcastle United. With Michael Owen’s injury ruling him out until 2007 and Alan Shearer’s retirement, the board need a big name signing to placate their season ticket holders and they don’t come much bigger than David Beckham. Is it so ridiculous to imagine the England captain in the black and white next season? I don’t think so and the main reason is that there is really no other takers that he would accept going to, a feeling Michael Owen must be very familiar with after his own departure from Real Madrid last summer.

You all know that we don’t go in for conspiracy theories here at State of the Game, we know they rarely turn out to be true and when they go tits up they usually leave the theorist looking like a plank and completely devoid of any credibility.

Frankly we don’t care for idle chitchat and tittle tattle on most subjects but a good old Arsenal, Real Madrid, FA stitch up really gets our interest so here goes with the latest one that’s reaching us from Espana’s sunny shores.

It’s no secret that Real Madrid presidential candidate Juan Miguel Villar Mir has his eye on Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger but what’s been rumoured today is that instead of just trying to woo Mr Wenger, Villar has actually used his considerable clout and position as favourite to be elected as Real Madrid’s president to convince Arsene to agree to take over as Real Madrid coach if he wins the election on 2nd July.

David Dein has apparently not stood in Wenger’s way as he knows that he really wants to go and has already lined up his successor. Think about where we are going with this one folks: David Dein, FA, potential manager who was released from his very lucrative contract with nowhere to go in surprising circumstances. Put that all together and it spells (not literally) Sven Goran Eriksson as the new Arsenal manager.

Maybe that puts a whole new spin on why Sven took Theo Walcott to Germany with England even though he had absolutely no intention of playing the young lad under virtually any circumstances. I’d go so far as to say that if Sammy Lee has brought his boots with him then he’d stand a better chance of making the pitch for England in this World Cup. Why they did this is anyone’s guess and to be honest I still can’t fathom it on any level other than a brown envelope financial one. Answers on a postcard.

Is it so far fetched as to be unbelievable though? Real Madrid always get what they want. Always. If a presidential candidate says he will be signing a player or coach for definite once they win the election then they DO it. Anything else makes their position completely untenable. As for Sven to Arsenal, why not? He needs a new job, Arsenal would need a new big name coach as they move into Ashburton Grove and David Dein obviously appreciates Sven’s fine way with the ladies and is willing to fund his forays.

The more I think about this the more it sounds perfectly reasonable. Now I just need a bookie to take my money on it. Hello, is that Paddy Power?