Phrases for Sandro in preparation for life at THFC

Sandro is apparently learning to speak English in preparation for any potential arrival to the EPL. Although it would equally came in handy for the Brazilian midfielder to have a basic grasp of our esteemed universal lingo if he happens to join a club on the continent and any country that doesn't understand his native tongue. Because everyone speaks English, innit. Especially the officials in those CL games that we get to watch on tv.

So, thought I'd help him out with some all-important must-know phrases he would no doubt have to use if he decided Spurs would be his new European home. See you in the summer Sandy baby.


"You cannot be serious?"

(to any Howard Webb decision made)


"Do you know who I am?"

(for entry into any Essex or West End night club)


"Of course one day I would like to play for Real Madrid"

(for those exclusive interviews with tabloid journalists when making sure nothing is lost in translation)


"Gaffer, why am I on the bench again?"

(when dropped to make way for Jermaine Jenas)


"Michael, you have your penis on display"

(any random live game on Sky Sports)


"Hey Tommy, pass me the mayo"

(at the canteen in the Lodge, on the coach to away games, in the dressing room at half-time, in the showers post-match etc)


"I am the walrus, Goo goo g' joob"

(to Roman Pavlyuchenko, who will simply smile and wave back at you)

Sandro to Madrid?

Sandro to Real Madrid? €15 million bid. Pre-contract signed. Internacional haven't (apparently) accepted the bid officially yet but legal documents have been drafted and placed into motion.

I'm not ITK.

I just have nothing much to post at 23:43pm and noticed someone left some gossip on the blog about this potential transfer which I've only just noticed. Would be quite funny (ironic) if the above happened, considering the alleged effort to sign the lad and our supposed 'relationship' with the Brazilian club.

Not all is lost. No doubt Zokora has a buy-back option in his contract if we fail to find another available defensive midfielder this coming summer window.

If anyone spots anything that either confirms or contradicts this (Sandro, not Zokora) then feel free to share.

Jan transfer window shenanigans

Day 19 of the month of January and we've had plenty of nothingness thus far. The Sandro 'deal' appears to be nothing more than an amalgamation of possibilities, twisted and scrunched up presenting to us a story that is neither here or there. He's close to signing one minute, no chance the next. Other hack inspired stories tells us that we are after an experienced right-back...because, you know, because we're always short of this rare breed of a footballer.

Victor Moses is likely to sign for Arsenal rather than us where he will no doubt develop a God complex within the first three months of wearing their colours. Have we been linked to anyone else that we could perhaps pencil in as a serious target (rather than fantasy birthed from the Imaginarium of Doctor Murdoch)?

Ben Foster. We bid for him. Utd rejected the bid. We then denied any knowledge of any bid being made in the first place.

My oh my the excitement is almost at epic bed-wetting proportions. I'm positively glowing.

Pav is STILL at the club. He is, honestly, I read it in the papers. Apparently Zenit are no longer interested. But Roman should be content regardless. His wife is hot. Cue countless well at least he's scoring in bed jokes.

And on the subject of strikers, RVN has been re-linked. Again. Apparently we are 'in talks' with the great man. This is perhaps one whisper that I wouldn't shrug about if we managed to pull it off. So no doubt, it won't be happening. Right?

/scratches head

Odds on us signing zilch? I'd say pretty good at the minute. We are nearing nail biting territory. Last minute panic buy blatantly on the cards. Welcome back Raziak!

Unless we can draft Comolli back in for some last minute transfer shenanigans I think Harry might be content with the squad we have. I just hope we are strong enough to last the distance.

I also hope I'm proved wrong, and we do sign someone. Just make sure it ain't a bleeding right-back please Mr Levy.

Richards. Veloso. Moses. Sandro. Parker. Lewis. Keane.

Hype. Sometimes talking something up is far more exiting and interesting than the reality of how it turns out in the end. Take for example the weather. London was meant to be hit hard last night, instead we got a curve ball of snow that seem to travel from Buckinghamshire down and around towards the Gatwick area and then further around and then up towards Colchester, catching most areas - some worse than others - leaving the rest shrugging and asking 'Was that it?' Where I am (outside the M25) there was snow, nothing disruptive. Just enough to hear it crunch under my feet when walking to the station this morning. Sure, the tube journey into London was slow and the line has since been part suspended. Still low key stuff. Nothing as dramatic as having the line completely suspended and working from home. Anti-climax when you hear stories about Liverpool running out of grit and their roads icing over, with public travel and schools out of bounds.

Seems things closer to home are proving to be nothing out of the ordinary. Which brings me onto the not so exciting and not so interesting transfer gossip currently doing the rounds. It's not quite picked up yet. You'll have no doubt seen the Micah Richards stories, most stating that the lad has commented on how Tottenham would be his preferred choice, even though there are no direct quotes (understandably). Micah is a right-back that plays centre-back, but doesn't seem to do so with much acclaimed conviction. At least not when I've seen him play. I do like him though. Has potential if he's developed properly, but see no point of signing him if he's going to be used at right-back. Unless the plan is to sell Hutton to Sunderland and then have two right-backs in Corluka and Richards who can both (attempt to) play at CB too for cover. Not sure where that particular scenario would leave the likes of Naughton (he's a right back, right? Or is that Walker? I forget, considering one is out on loan and the other nowhere near the first team).

Veloso is once more linked. And various ITK forum dwellers are informing us that we're looking at this very closely. Might happen. Blah blah blah. Apparently the Sandro deal is proving to be too complex so we're looking elsewhere for a DM. I'll take a calculated risk here and say this one (Veloso) is a non-starter. Old story, resurfacing due to lack of creativity from both message boards and tabloid hacks. Personally, Veloso strikes me as a player in love with himself. He's the anti-Wilson. Rather look elsewhere. The young lad at Pompey, O'Hara, looks a bit tasty.

Nah, just pulling your plonker. Seriously wondering if Harry is even going to bother to plug the hole in midfield. Last transfer window he told the press we lacked numbers there. But we've all learnt to take Harry with a pinch of salt.

Moses has been tagged with a £5M price by desperate Palace. If we get rid of Pav (to Fulham on loan perhaps - according to a Spurs Odyssey ITK) then we have room for a young and hungry forward who won't complain too much about sitting on the bench. Although that might well stagnate his progress. Perhaps we can sign him and leave him at Palace (something we could have done with Bostock perhaps). Is he any good? He's showing promise. Big strapping lad, physical, bit of skill. Palace fan at work can't stop banging on about him. But then he would considering that the only thing they have going for them are their young players. But this type of hype is reminiscent to the type we endured with Giles Barnes and one or two others who were proclaimed 'the next big thing'. It's not going to be a signing for the present if it does happen.

As mentioned earlier, no movement on the Sandro deal. But then nobody really knows what is happening if anything is actually happening. Once more I refer you back to the near legendary Diego saga. Remember the badly translated Brazilian news articles covering Pleats exploits out in South America, talking to both Santos and Diego's father (who owned a percentage of his image rights)? Biggest regret is that we failed to sign 'The Sock'. But it's not for the want of trying. With Sandro, a lot of it is based on comments made by his current club. Harry's comments suggest that we might be interested and range from not knowing what's going on to claiming the chairman is looking into it. Don't be shocked if this runs into next summer.

And the less said about Scott Parker the better. Injury prone and has twice allegedly rejected us already. He makes no hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The next DM to be signed by us should be understudy material. Not West Ham trash on his last legs. Yes yes, he impresses every now and again - but that's the problem with Parker. It's every now and again.

There's also the Joe Lewis phenomenon. He's the decent Posh keeper that impressed in our FA Cup win last weekend, enough to have some Spurs fans, tongue firmly in cheek, singing his name. We do love a flirt. Much like Moses, would be one for the future. Barry Fry also with tongue in cheek sharing a joke with Harry over the kids availability (we can have first option).

And that's it. There's one or two examples of formulaic guess work going on where people claiming to have inside info create very subtle and ambiguous statements that don't hold up as anything more than a safety net for their ego. My personal favourite concerns how Robbie Keane has asked permission to be allowed to find a new club. Not a transfer request, just a gentleman's agreement. It's textbook. Everyone knows Keane is half the player he was, disinterested and generally struggling. So you've got a 50/50 chance if you say 'he's staying' or 'he's going' but in order to retain some form of credibility, you simply make the suggestion that he might be going. And if it happens, you can refer back to it. Genius.

The search for a definitive breakthrough story, before it actual breaks through continues.

Feel free to share the wealth if you have any. My guess is, you don't. Because the walls built around Daniel Levy's office are completely and utterly sound-proof.

And so it begins...

Morning all. Thought I'd drop a blog while I munch my way through my coco-pops (hot milk just like the advert). It's the first of January which is you know what time. Yep, the gates of tabloid hell are open and one thousand demented monkeys are let loose on type-writers, churning out an infinite amount of possibilities in the way of transfer stories, each one delivered by carrier pigeon to every entity of the Murdoch Empire and re-used every few days with different pictures to give us the illusion of development.

It's the January transfer window, and its about to vomit its chunky unsightly sick all over us.

I'm already giddy with excitement thanks to the first new year 'stories'. Bite size carrot chunks already been gagged on. The first one concerns Harry's 'comeback' on Pav's outburst. Roman telling everyone that our gaffer has been mocking him and although it seems that Harry is still citing the Russian as being a good player/footballer, it's a bit of mis-direction leading to how he's now willing to listen to any offers (as long as the offer is of the right kind).

Let's not let this one drag out.

We've also got the Sandro story, which has plodded along for 6 months now. He's close to / has agreed terms. The story suggests he has agreed personal terms but both clubs are trying to work out the transfer. If there are plans afoot to sign him, I'm sure it hasn't been such a long tedious process. As we have a 'relationship' with Internacional and if we've agreed something, its probably already been done and dusted. Then again, considering what we went through with that other Brazilian club (Santos) when we almost/should have signed Diego (sigh) perhaps this is the only way to sign South American players.

The other news item that has me smiling is the one from the Guardian that states:

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who has signed 19 players in the last five January transfer windows, says the mid-season transfer window is "a nightmare" and claims the chances of him bringing anybody to Spurs this month are "very, very, very, very slim" - Read it here.

So, that's what? Four verys which makes it very x 4 slim of us signing anyone, but it's not 5 verys or God forbid 6 so I'm reading between the lines here and I'm gonna hazard another one of those guesses and assume (ass, you and me) that Harry is playing down our chances of bringing in some new recruits.

I'll end this afternoons blog (yes, I'm having coco-pops for brunch) by reposting some stats I read over at THFCLatest 2 this morning (copied from elsewhere, so forgive me for not knowing the original source but these types of stats are probably all over the place at the moment):

Tottenham have exactly the same points total from 20 games (37) as the 2005-06 season when they lost out on fourth on the final day.

Only Cesc Fabregas and Ryan Giggs have created more goals than Aaron Lennon in the top flight.

Jermain Defoe has already has his most successful scoring season ever in the Premier League with 14 goals.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We need to consolidate. We need to add something extra to the squad and avoid the potential to fade away.

Be positive. Attack.

What I'm waiting for is for those other more cultured monkeys to get their typewriters out. Not the hacks, the message board ITK sub-communities. Is it just me or have we had a very prolonged quiet time from them recently? Have Spurs chopped down all the trees surrounding the Lodge?

Have a good one today.

Sandro, done and dusted, so say the Brazilians...

Okay, brace yourselves for yet another tabloid explosion. I've seen the News of the World have already picked up on this, and had I not read Cule-Spur's post over at GG I'd have thought the hacks over at the red tops were ITK and not just looking across the Atlantic towards South America where apparently the Brazilian press have been running with the story since yesterday. Globo Sport broke it and have been running Sky Sports News style it all day and are also discussing the possible replacement once Sandro makes his way to sunny N17.

Sandro is on his way. I know. Who'd have thought it.

I guess there's money in the kitty to splash out with, post-car boot sale.

Then again, perhaps this is just an example of Brazilian tabloid guess-work. Keep panties on for now.

Sandro the destructive to Spurs?

Sandro. The missing piece of the jigsaw. Although if I'm completely honest, I'm basing that on what I think is the missing piece rather than the type of player Sandro actually is. I can't really offer anything in the way of personal 'I swear on my life' insight into what type of player the young Brazilian is. Sure, I can quote you from a tabloid transfer article or perhaps what a regular on the Glory Glory forum thinks, but I've never actually seen the bloke play. Youtube/online streaming video footage doesn't count, mainly because it has a habit of mis-interpretation.

I remember salivating at ridiculous 30 yard goals from impossible angles (Rebrov) and tricky instinctive box work (Postiga) only to be left crying despondently with regret later. My only 'experience' of Sandro is from signing him for Spurs side in my current FM2010 save game and using him as back-up for Wilson Palacios - sometimes even partnering him in the middle for a difficult away game. Based on a computer game, Sandro is strong and although defensive, has plenty of attacking qualities and an eye for scoring from distance (although this may be thanks to an in-game mis-representaiton/bug where far too many goals are scored from long range).

So, who is Sandro exactly? Can he hit the ground running if he turns out in Lilywhite come January, or will he require a season or so of 'bedding in' to settle into the tempo of the EPL? Or perhaps he is confident and adaptable and wont struggle as long as he joins a side that's in form. If we are performing, it will be far easier for him to get to grips with midfield tussles.

All I have to go on is a gut feeling at the moment. Which is risky. So I can only think our scouts have seen enough of this lad to warrant him a worthy acquisition. Rather than a superfluous (there's that word again) one. The last time we signed a DM, it was Wilson. And although Wilson appears to have suffered a little with form in recent months - there's no doubt he will recapture the type of discipline he possessed at the back end of last season. So bringing in a young understudy has to be the answer. Jamie O'Hara obviously is not. Bostock is possibly a couple of seasons away from breaking into the first team (and he's a little more offensive). Jenas is Jenas, bless his little cotton socks.

Sandro, still the missing piece of the jigsaw? What does he do exactly? Based on what others say:

He's comfortable on the ball
He works hard
Has box to box qualities
Aggressive in the tackle
Has leadership qualities
Not overly creative (could improve)
Decent in a holding role

Doesn't sound shabby.  There's a Willie Gannon article on Sandro that includes such statements as:

'dynamic midfielder'
'holding midfielder - his primary role for Inter where he has been destructive'
'initiates his team’s many attacks with his penetrating runs through midfield'
'simplistic style /rarely gives the ball away'

Again, doesn't sound too shabby at all. But once more, these are opinions which you may or may not trust as they are words of others rather than something you've witnessed with your own eyes. But leaps of faith is what we take with imported players. And Sandro, Brazilian U20 captain (I think), does appear to have some substance to the hype.

As far as the centre of the park is concerned, he appears to offer more dimensions to his play than our other current options. The key quality being leadership. I might look him up on Youtube. After being burnt by the Rebrov and Postiga collections the last time I dared venture was to see clips of a certain Bulgarian. So perhaps the internet doesn't always lie.

I do like his attitude in print. To quote the man: "I don't want to speak too much about this but I am ready to move to Europe. I am convinced my style will suit a team that favours an attacking approach."

He seems confident of his abilities. And the Internacional fans also seem to like him where it matters most, on the pitch and on the terraces:

"Sandro scores the goals, Sandro scores the goals, Sandro scores the goals, so we will give him a cow, and he will milk it" 

We might need to re-work that for the Park Lane. Don't ask me about the cow. I haven't got a clue.

So for now, we wait. The press are making various assumptions about price (ranging from £6M to the original/traditional £16M figure). There's the issue rights/ownership, which if you remember ruined our chances of signing Diego several years ago. His club claim he's not leaving, then we read about how the deal is progressing. Sit back, and hold onto your hats.

You pulling my Johnson?

I'm conflicted. When there are moments of nothingness between Spurs games I'd prefer not to write up something contrived just for the sake of it and rant on about what the tabloids consider to be news worthy adding unwarranted weight to something that is nothing more than a dirty feather.

If I go ahead and do so, I feel guilty for jumping onto the bandwagon. Other bloggers, might not have a crisis of the soul, and not think twice about commenting and so it snowballs and then everyone is discussing it, making it almost tangible. But then like a cancer - it spreads, relentless and unforgiving. Even though most know there is nothing there. A phantom. Its no cancer. Its not even a common cold. Its nothing more than hot air. But acknowledging its existence is easier than simply ignoring it. It's an instinctive reaction, and one that annoys me.

 

Johnson, 2 years ago v Sunderland

And here I am. About to contradict myself and do the exact thing I keep promising not to. Irony only has to pull her skirt slowly upwards ever so slightly to reveal a little bit more of that delicious thigh and I'm once more seduced.

I've not been paying attention and I can't claim to know what order the following skipped into the public domain in, but in the past week we've had:

- Jamie O'Hara may or may not stay at Pompey (direct Harry quote)
- Sandro has been re-linked (looks like the same story from the last transfer window)
- Spurs lack midfield depth ('We've only got Wilson, JJ and Huddlestone' confirms Harry)

And using the tabloid formula of conclusion, this equates to us being in the market for a new addition. So naturally, the next Spurs transfer story has to be related to a centre midfielder. No shock there.

But I guess I shouldn't frown too much about selling out and talking about it. The damage has already been done. It's multiplying itself across News Now as we speak like demented Gremlins birthed from a wet sorry mogwai.

Michael Johnson is apparently a £6M target for Tottenham which will aid us in our quest for central midfield depth. You remember Michael Johnson, right? He's this weeks nomination for a move to White Hart Lane (I'm surprised nobody has suggested Davids yet).

Johnson has returned from a long period on the sidelines. Very long period. Apparently suffering from an 'abdominal injury' which he comforted by growing fat. You'll note most photos being used in the sports related articles are of a baby-faced Johnson from around two seasons ago. Which is nice of them.

Two years on the sidelines and this could be you

It’s been so long since I last saw Johnson play that I can't even remember what type of player he is. I'm going to go with 'midfielder with a bit of eveything'. If a City fan is reading this, please go ahead and correct me.

I do remember he was useful but other than being cited as the next big thing I don't recall much more. Other than people telling me he was useful. What I do know is that at Man City there are several players ahead of him fighting for first team action. And this is a fact that isn't lost on the journos either because it allows them to include a hook in their story. A possibility for interest because the lad is 'arguably' available based on him requiring games to regain fitness and will struggle to get into the team at Eastlands. If he was more than decent two years ago and if he gets fit and has no more 'abdominal' problems most wouldn't say not to him signing. For £2M - £3M. But abdominal problems are a curious type. So knock off another £1M and then Harry might take a geniune look.

Another fact is that he's only played one minute of Prem football since his 'return'. That must have been some minute for us to be pencilling in a £6M move. I know what. Forget the discounted suggestion above, and let's wait until he completes two minutes and bid £12M and then round it off to £15M to guarantee nobody gazumps us.

Regardless of the reason(s) for his time away (I don't need to paint a picture) if the lad has talent it might re-emerge. It might not. One thing is for certain, we won't be paying £6M to find out.

And as for the regurgitated Sandro transfer stories, according to press reports we are back in for him and should be signing him cometh the Jan window. And the source? Other press reports. Yes. We have a press report that repeats information from another press report that is then copied for another press report. Let's get it done before Barca or Real swoop in to steal him away from our Brazilian partners, Internacional.

I'll stop there before I start posting pictures of a monged out Crouch and Woodgate looking like extras from a zombie movie with the title 'caption competition' or a damning editorial about the misbehaving dos Santos out with his family. The heathen.

And there we go. I just couldn't ignore the headlines and just had to waste my time and yours with contrived commentary that lacked insight. I'm once more part of the system. A fully fledged disciple of disdain. Please accept my unequivocal apology for my moment of weakness and rejoice with me that we are now closer to the weekend and the visit of Stoke.

Transfer deadline headache

The clock is ticking and 5pm Tuesday (transfer deadline) is a breath away. Prior to Luka Modric’s injury, top of our list was a central midfielder to cover any potential loss (suspension or injury) to Wilson Palacios. Jamie O’Hara is out on loan and God forbid we lost our Honduran panther because we’d be left with a powder-puff centre, softer than a Will Young chorus. Jenas and Huddlestone can share (battle for) the spot beside Palacios. Gio can cover the left and Bentley the right. But there’s no one else.

You’d think this would have been a priority at the start of the transfer window. And with a day and a bit left to go before it shuts, we don’t have Wilson protection insurance. So what are the chances we have someone lined up? Only hope is that Levy has been busy working away on targets for a while now, and just waiting on the green light.

Sissoko? Sandro? Muntari?

Sissoko has been outpriced by his club.

Sandro would need to adapt to England. But is big, physical and can play a bit. And we’re now best buddies with his club, so a deal is not impossible to fathom.

Muntari might work, and is no stranger to Harry. But is he simply a more accomplished version of Zokora?

Adding to the transfer conundrum is what we do about covering Luka’s absence. Fracture to his fibula, no surgery just an aircast protective boot to fix him up. This equates to 4-6 weeks out, although we might need to add on another couple of weeks on top for match fitness (unless the magic of the aircast is accounted for within the 6 week prediction). So worst case scenario he’ll miss the Man Utd, Chelsea, Preston, Burnley and Bolton. Five games. Six if you add Stoke. Maybe that’s drunk optimism, but it doesn’t look that bad now, does it? Sure, not having him fit to unlock the Utd and Chelsea defence is a massive blow.  But if we – the ones with Top 6 aspirations – cannot turn it on without one key player missing then let’s just settle for 8^th spot and make do without the wonderfully nervous anticipation that comes with competing.

Yesterday, I posed questions about how to compensate for the loss of Luka. The tabloids and message boards are crying out for Petrov and the insane for van der Vaart. Problem with signing someone, anyone, is that when Moddle is back, we’ll have quite a few players in the mix of it and even more unrest with those sitting on the bench. Harry knows if Gio can do a job on the left or whether playing Lennon there and Bentley on the right will genuinely prove to be productive. If Spurs signed a player of van der Vaart’s quality (unlikely this close to the end of the transfer window) then when Luka is back, the whole balance of the midfield would have to evolve to accommodate the two of them. Does that sound like a logical solution in reply to a six week layoff?

Would signing Petrov (cheap, experienced and probably won’t mind a bit of squad rotation) or Kranjcar as additions to the squad rather than a stop-gap break up squad harmony or work well in the long run, making sure cover and depth is always available? But then cover is there already.

Players like Bentley, Gio and the soon to return Jenas have to be given the chance to step up and aid the team. So if we want to cover the left, then we should do so with what we’ve got. Otherwise, it’s a waste of resource and money.

Between now and Tuesday 5pm, the priority should simply be another central midfielder.

As for the Luka conundrum, Harry knows best. He might not fancy Gio fullstop, regardless of our calls to give him a chance. Bentley is still subject to transfer whorage that he’ll be on his way. If that’s the case, then a cheap option of Petrov (for example) would be ok (if he avoids injury). Someone has to leave IMO for someone to come in. Maybe the work has been done already and all that’s needed is for Levy to get the go-ahead from Harry to push ahead with whatever it is they’ve agreed with in principle.

Has to be decisive and has to work when everyone’s fully fit.

Brace yourselves either way.

Boys from Brazil to Tottenham High Road

The Prince is dead, long live the Prince. He's not actually dead, he's been transferred to Pompey for £4M, which is arguably a fate worse. Goodbye Kevin-Prince Boateng and the fallacy of German young player of the year. I sort of expected him to play a bit-part this season as he's impressed in training and has shown the odd glimpse or two of that creative spark that he does possess. His attitude in the past was awful, but he appears to have grown up. So either he doesn't stand a chance of ever breaking into our first team based on who we have at the moment (Palacios, Jenas, Huddlestone, O'Hara) or we are hopeful of bringing in one of our central midfield targets (Anin, Sandro, Sissoko). With Adel Taarabt out on loan at QPR, I thought the Prince would be our Carling Cup wildcard for the season. Might be that honour has been bestowed on the almost forgotten Gio do Santos, who did well in midweek.

However, there's more. Rumours are suggesting that Jamie O'Hara will also go to Pompey - on loan. Although this is a slight knee-jerk at the time of writing, as it's Pompey asking for Jamie. And what if it happened? Would mean our midfield loses a little depth in cover. Doubt very much Harry would let him go regardless, but to let him go without a certain replacement lined-up? So back to our midfield targets. Anin (the big French bloke ex-boxer) is on trial. No word yet on how well he's done. Sissoko has gone very (very) quiet. No suggestion that a middle ground can be agreed on re: transfer fee.

As for Sandro (he's the Brazilian at Internacional), it's taken a sudden unexpected twist. It would appear the real reason Levy was out in South America was to seal a strategic partnership. The purpose of the deal is to develop players for both club and other European leagues. We loan them ours they loan us there's. So we get the next Pato and we give them the new Johnnie Jackson.

No actual idea how this is meant to work for them other than their loaned players make a name for themselves at Spurs and then they sell them to a Spanish or French club for loads of dosh. For us, from the sounds of it, we take their kids and climatise them to English/European football. Whether we get first refusal is possibly something Levy has (attempted) pencilled in.

Bad news is (possibly) is the Sandro story may well be just a deflection - mis-information to distract everyone away from the real reason Levy was out there. We'll have to wait and see.

If the emphasis is truly on helping the development of the boys from Brazil, then perhaps the Sandro deal will happen. But not as a full transfer.

Gio to Internacional on loan, Sandro to N17?