Cash Rules

An article on the Channel 4 Italian football site accuses us of hypocrisy today:

Rossi's story took a detour in 2004 when he was poached by Manchester United, that same summer the Gialloblu lost Arturo Lupoli to Arsenal. Both teenagers could join the English clubs due to rules that prevent Italian sides giving players under 16 a professional contract.

This summer we have seen Reggina's Vincenzo Camilleri join Chelsea while Atalanta's Fabio Zamblera headed to Newcastle United, and then there is Davide Petrucci. The 16-year-old had been hailed as Roma's new Francesco Totti but was bought by Manchester United for just £200,000. As part of the deal they promised to find his father a job as a gardener, although with Davide earning £95,000 a year at Old Trafford will he really need to get mud under his finger nails?

Let us not forget this is the same Manchester United who have bleated all summer about a bigger club circling Cristiano Ronaldo. The same Manchester United who have gone crying to FIFA with a letter of complaint because Real Madrid has been openly offering sweeteners to him via the media. The same Manchester United who see fit to target a smaller club crippled by its association rules and take advantage of the situation to net a valuable Italian gem on the cheap. Got Hypocrisy?

While not knowing about the whole situation to comment too much on it, I'm not sure where the accusation of hypocrisy comes in. First off, the article mentions some other English clubs before singling us out for criticism. And the situation seems to be completely different to the Ronaldo situation. Wasn't our complaint about Real based on illegal approaches for a player under contract? Isn't the complaint here that English clubs can poach talent from Italy precisely because of the rules? "Both teenagers could join the English clubs due to rules that prevent Italian sides giving players under 16 a professional contract." So where is the comparison? Change the rules.

The only other news about today is on Berbatov, from The Guardian:

The stand-off has been fuelled by United's reluctance to be seen to be acting aggressively in pursuit of a player who could form a mouthwatering partnership with Wayne Rooney. United have raged since the end of last season at Real Madrid's very public courting of Cristiano Ronaldo and, having reported the Spanish champions to Fifa, they intend to do everything by the book regarding Berbatov.

United also feel time is on their side and against Tottenham. The London club are close to the £15m capture of the midfielder David Bentley from Blackburn Rovers. Should they sign him they will take their spending for this and the previous two transfer windows to more than £100m. The manager, Juande Ramos, still has other areas in his squad that he would like to strengthen but will have to sell to generate funds.

The Telegraph report it in typically bizarre fashion:

United see Berbatov as the perfect replacement should Cristiano Ronaldo leave for Real Madrid, but they would need to substantially increase their initial offer, believed to be £20 million, for Spurs' leading scorer.

Berbatov is a very similar to Ronaldo isn't he? So pacey...