The lovestruck Frenchman is patently a hopeless case as, clearly distracted by matters of the boudoir, he suggested during his address to parliament that his country’s ‘entente formidable’ with England was ‘not a one-night stand’ and he still felt they could still ‘go to breakfast as well’. Was he really lying back and thinking about England, or was Petit Nicolas day-dreaming about the fair Carla? The Mill certainly was. As was just about every other newspaper editor who has plastered pictures of the new Jackie O from cover to cover. He just about stopped short of saying: “This isn’t a celebrity marriage, I’m not too short for her and she has changed her views on monogamy.” Le Pauvre …The protective glances Sarkozy was firing in the direction of Gordon Brown as he chatted up his Missus at Windsor Castle, are nothing, though, compared to the hand-grenades of hostility Mark Hughes has been unpinning and hurling towards Anfield this morning. Hughes, who not so long ago found himself jilted by Craig Bellamy in favour of a move to Liverpool, is clearly concerned that lightning might strike twice with David Bentley becoming the latest muse to fall under Rafa Ben韙ez’s spell.”We have contract protection and we don’t have to sell anybody,” fumed Sparky, before U-turning wholly unconvincingly. “We only sell our assets when we’re forced to.” This has not been a good week for Sparky, who might also have to go without star striker Roque Santa Cruz, injured on international duty in midweek by none other than his Blackburn team-mate Aaron Makoena. The defender is known in his homeland as ‘the Axe’ for his tackling prowess; Hughes is calling him the Axe for very different reasons.Hughes’s old team Chelsea are having no such relationship problems, of course, unless you count John Terry’s scrap with Henk Ten Cate or Didier Drogba’s imminent - according to Il Corriere dello Sport - move to Inter next season, where he will team up with his first love Jose Mourinho. To soften that blow, though, Avram Grant intends to pip Barcelona for the services of %26#163;12m-rated Croatia playmaker Luka Modric. “He wanted to go in January but Dinamo [Zagreb] wouldn’t let him leave,” explained international team-mate, Portsmouth agent provocateur Niko Kranjcar. “Now if the money is right he will go.”Another agent doing overtime at the moment is the one and only Pini Zahavi, who met with Barcelona director Txiki Begiristain to discuss his desire to buy a new yacht and the not unconnected matter of Ronaldinho’s future. The Baré° star has been linked with a move for Chelsea but it seems that Tottenham would not be averse to giving the goofy-toothed one a run out or two at the Lane. “Ronaldino would fit into Spurs in every aspect. The truly great players fit into any team, including Tottenham,” said Juande Ramos, who almost said “even Tottenham.”And another Spanish-based player so desperate for first-team football he might actually end up booting a ball in freezing-cold Blighty is none other than Jos?Antonio Reyes. Yes, that’s right, the forward who despised life in England so much that by the end of his stay his only friends were his garden gnomes, could be on his way back to the Premier League, having convinced Kevin Keegan he is the man to solve Newcastle’s goalscoring problems. The fact that Reyes has not scored for Atlé– ico Madrid all season has not dimmed Special K’s enthusiasm.Newcastle meanwhile, have loaned Shola Ameobi to Stoke City in a deal that could become, and you’ll like this, a permanent %26#163;3m move. And after moving on loan to Charlton for first-team experience, Scott Sinclair has not persuaded Alan Pardew that he is any better than Chris Iwelumo. So he’s done one to Crystal Palace.
Tags:
avram grant,
cate,
chelsea,
david bentley,
henk,
john terry,
mark hughes,
premier league,
roque santa cruz,
rumours,
ten cate,
zahavi
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