Franck Ribery

[riks12 3]

Chelsea told: If you want Ribery, he'll cost you £31m

Roman Abramovich has been told he will have to pay a British record transfer fee to prise Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has already made contact with Bayern about the

midfielder's proposed move to Stamford Bridge but a decision will not be made until the end of Euro 2008.

Ribery has emerged as one of Chelsea's top three transfer targets this summer - AC

Milan midfielder Kaka and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres are the others - but

Chelsea will have to pay in excess of £31million to sign the France midfielder.

On the managerial front, Luiz Felipe Scolari is now their first choice, and even though negotiations with Portugal's coach have not been concluded the club are still ready to sign more big names.Chelsea and Portugal defender Paulo Ferreira claimed Scolari would be a great success. Ferreira said: "He has the experience. He has been an international manager for six or seven years but before that he was at a lot of clubs, so we know he can do it. I would like him."

Bayern Munich's new coach Jurgen Klinsmann clearly wants to keep Ribery, voted

German football's Player of the Year, at the Bundesliga champions but the midfielder is well aware of Chelsea's interest.

Despite Bayern's initial resistance, Chelsea are prepared to pay more than the £30.8m they spent on Andriy Shevchenko two years ago.

Ribery, who scored in France's 1-0 victory over England in a friendly in March, plays for his country against Romania tonight in their first group game of the tournament.

He moved to Bayern for £16m last summer on the back of a successful season with

Marseille - he was voted Player of the Year in France in 2007 - and he arrives at Euro

2008 in top form.

Kenyon is also in negotiations with Milan about former world player of the year Kaka, and Chelsea have been encouraged by Liverpool not rejecting out of hand their initial

approach for Torres.

Although Kaka signed a contract at the San Siro earlier this year and claimed that he

wanted to be 'immortalised' in the same way as Paolo Maldini, Milan's failure to qualify for the Champions League has altered his position.

Milan are ready to sign Didier Drogba, and the Kaka deal could be linked to that.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said: "Chelsea have authorised us to begin

negotiations with Drogba. Unfortunately, Chelsea will not sell Shevchenko."

The absence of injured talisman Drogba was felt by the Ivory Coast yesterday when

they were surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw in a World Cup qualifier in Madagascar.

The Chelsea striker missed a second successive match for his country as a depleted

Ivorian side, also missing Drogba's clubmate Salomon Kalou, could only pick up a

point against the Indian Ocean island, whom they were expected to beat convincingly.

Source: Daily Mail

Ribery is a great player, I defo wanna see either Quaresma or Ribery sign for us.

Edited January 1, 2009 by Elliott

[Jon 18]

Yes Ribery is a great player. But that £31m could go to a better place.

[Aesthetic Relic 301]

Yes Ribery is a great player. But that £31m could go to a better place.

I'll send my bank details

[Elliott 7]

Yes Ribery is a great player. But that £31m could go to a better place.

Apart from Tri-Blue's bank account (), where?

[pablo814 1]

I'll send my bank details

mine too...

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Ribery for £31 million... maybe £x million and Malouda in the other direction?

[Milan 17,853]

Bayern slap £50m tag on Ribery

Manchester United and Chelsea have been warned they will have to come up with more than £50million if they want to sign France star Franck Ribery.

The Bayern Munich winger revealed earlier this week that it would be a dream to play at Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford, but his club are determined to hold on to the 25-year-old.

Bayern hope their high valuation will also put off interest from Real Madrid, who were eyeing Ribery as a cheaper alternative to trying to sign Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United.

Madrid are determined to land a wide player, with Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Jermaine Pennant (Liverpool), Luis Antonio Valencia (Wigan) and Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) all being considered.

The Spanish champions are also set to battle with Barcelona for the signature of Atletico Madrid star Sergio Aguero, though are resigned to waiting till next summer for the Argentina striker and Ribery.

Bayern are under no financial pressure to sell and Ribery is happy for now in Germany with his £80,000 a week contract.

But the former Marseille star admits he wants to play for a top club in England or Spain at some point in his career.

'Bayern are obviously one of the biggest and best clubs in the world,' he told Germany's Kicker magazine.' Obviously there are other clubs who would be a dream: Real Madrid and Barcelona, Chelsea and Manchester United.

'I certainly love Real Madrid because of their great tradition, but I feel happy here at Bayern. We will have to wait and see what the future holds.'

source - DailyMail

[RX8 40]

FRANCK RIBERY has admitted receiving offers to join Chelsea and Manchester City this summer. The Bayern Munich winger is refusing to commit his future to the German giants beyond the end of the season and has hinted he could be ready to quit the Bundesliga.

French international Ribery, 25, has fuelled speculation he could leave Bayern by revealing some of Europe's biggest teams are courting him.

He said: "I have received offers from Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester City.

"I would just like to point out that at no point have I tried to force a move."

Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer has admitted there would be little the German champions could do to keep Ribery if a substantial bid arrived.

But boss Jurgen Klinsmann is determined to hang on to his prized asset.

He said: ''The enquiries we have received, whether it be the one from Real Madrid or whoever, prove his worth.

''He is happy here and the club situation in Spain is exactly the opposite to FC Bayern.

"He knows that what he has got here with FC Bayern is great.

"We are quite sure he will stay with us for a long time.''

Edited February 11, 2009 by RX8

[chrismada9 1,948]

£31 million is Manchester City money, not ours

plus a fact, I don't think we would need Ribery if we could get Quaresma permantly. I can see him and Joe Cole in the same midfield..... next season.

[Badboy 1,526]

£31 million is Manchester City money, not ours

plus a fact, I don't think we would need Ribery if we could get Quaresma permantly. I can see him and Joe Cole in the same midfield..... next season.

I cant cj they are too slow to play together we need 2 young wingers with pace ala robben duff.

[warnie_666 1,081]

Joe Cole, Ribery, Quaresma can be our wingers whereas Stoch and Kalou can play as impact players.

We need players fresh if we are to fight on 4 fronts.

Plus Ribery can play as Midfielder apart from Winger.

Edited February 14, 2009 by warnie_666

[bombayblue™ 55]

Joe Cole, Ribery, Quaresma can be our wingers whereas Stoch and Kalou can play as impact players.

We need players fresh if we are to fight on 4 fronts.

Plus Ribery can play as Midfielder apart from Winger.

You simply can't have 3 top notch wingers in one team, it brews discontent and unrest in the dressing room when all are fit, thats why duff left remember cos he was sick and tired of playing either 60 mins or 30mins every game...

Also it would vastly hamper stoch's progress.. as kalou if not playing as striker would still be ahead of stoch in the rotation list..

[BlueLion. 21,491]

If you ask me, we need to stop playing Kalou as a winger, and brew him into a centre forward. He could be very much like Anelka or Trezeguet in the future if we allow him to play up top.

[warnie_666 1,081]

You simply can't have 3 top notch wingers in one team, it brews discontent and unrest in the dressing room when all are fit, thats why duff left remember cos he was sick and tired of playing either 60 mins or 30mins every game...

Also it would vastly hamper stoch's progress.. as kalou if not playing as striker would still be ahead of stoch in the rotation list..

But Ribery can be a midfielder tooo.We have Lampard , Mikel and Essien as the midfielders. We need another attacking midfielder and I would have Ribery there. Who could play on the wings as well as on inside.

Cech,JT, Riccy, A. Cole, Boswinga,<----------Defense

Essien<-------Defensive midfield

Lampard/Ribery<---------Attacking Midfield with Ballack used more sparingly.

Quaresma/Cole<-----------Wingers

Benzema<------ Strike Force

Ribery can be played on wings too, if we have injuries or below par performances by our winges.

[the wes 7,212]

arcelona will not be making a summer move for Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery according to club president Joan Laporta. Press reports in both Spain and Germany have he repeatedly linked the Catalan giants with a move for the French international with certain quartes speculating that negotiations had already taken place. The news will come as a boost to interested parties in England with both Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all previously linked with the 25-year-old.

Speaking to Catalunya Radio, Laporta clarified, “He is a very important player for his team and I understand Rummenigge has said that he will not be leaving Bayern.

“We would never negotiate with Ribery behind Bayern's back.”

Speaking last month Karl-Heinz Rummenigge outlined Bayern’s stance on Ribery.

“My friend Joan Laporta has immediately been in touch with me and Bayern as a club to make sure that there is no truth in stories linking Franck Ribery with Barcelona," he told Rheinische Post.

“Neither the player, nor his agent, nor anyone else has been contacted by Barcelona over a transfer.”

Barcelona and Bayern Munich will play each other in the quarter-finals of the Champions League next month where Ribery will have the chance to strut his stuff in the Nou Camp.

[the wes 7,212]

Barcelona look set to sign Franck Ribery after reports in Spain claimed the Catalan giants have reached an agreement with Bayern Munich.

France winger Ribery has been a long-term target for Barca and El Mundo Deportivo claim the two clubs have thrashed out a cash-plus-player deal worth £30million.

The Spanish newspaper revealed representatives of the two clubs met with Ribery's agent, Alain Migliaccio, in Ibiza and Bayern are believed to have accepted a fee of £22.3m plus the choice of either former Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb or ex-Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Ribery has two years left on his contract and it thought Bayern have offered a four-year deal.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid have also been linked with Ribery, who moved to the Bundesliga from Marseille in 2007.

Bastards

[the wes 7,212]

<h2 class="padding-bottom-7" style="font-size: 1.05em; line-height: 1.05em;">

</h2>

<h2 style="font-size: 1.05em; line-height: 1.05em;" class="padding-bottom-7">Chelsea are locked in talks to sign Bayern Munich ace Franck Ribery for £43million. </h2> The two clubs are believed to have agreed the fee and Blues are now thrashing out terms with the 26-year-old French international midfielder. Ribery is holding out for a bumper £125,000-a-week salary AFTER tax but Chelsea are reluctant to offer more than £90,000 a week.

If the Londoners do close the deal it will be a bitter blow to Premier League rivals Manchester United, who have long wanted the Frenchman as a potential replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo.

Full-back Patrice Evra revealed in The Sun that he was hoping to persuade Ribery to join United.

[Zohaib 0]

We neeeeed to get this guy! We need pace, and this guy can provide it for us.