Yes, it most certainly wasn't the best of weekends for England's most two famous sides - Manchester United and Liverpool.
First up was Man Utd. When the Devils first announced they were selling Ronaldo for a staggering GBP80 million, there was much hope among United fans that the money would be invested in acquiring new quality footballers like David Villa and would also be spent on retaining the services of Carlos Tevez.
Alas, none of the above have happened. Villa has been taken off the market by Valencia and Tevez has rejected a new and improved deal by Man Utd. So United, by all accounts, despite being extremely cash rich, have lost two key players in just a month.
And should Fergie fail to bring in adequate replacements soon, the loss of these two players will bear a heavy consequence on United title challenge next season. Nonetheless, there's still plenty of time left before the new season kicks off.
As for Liverpool, things haven't been any better. First, Tevez ruled out a move to Anfield, citing his "emotional" tie with Man U fans. I wonder how they're feeling right now after he rejected the club's latest offer which, according to some reports, would have made him one of the highest players in the club. Similarly, I wonder if Man U fans will feel better if Tevez goes to Man City or Chelsea.
Besides Tevez, the other blow to the Anfield club came in the form of a counter-offer for Glen Johnson from Chelsea. Yes, it turns out Chelsea too have gone mad and are ready to splash GBP17 million on a defender deemed surplus to requirements two seasons ago. And the GBP17 million price tag they're willing to pay is twice the amount the sold for. Way to go, Chelsea!
Speaking of Chelsea, reports from the Daily Mail claim the Blues are ready to swoop in to bring Xabi Alonso to Stamford Bridge. Now, it's no big secret that Carlo Ancelotti has been a fan of Alonso for quite sometime. But I somehow can't see Alonso working well at Chelsea alongside Frank Lampard. If you recall, Lamps got sent off for a very debatable tackle on Alonso last season.
Either way, I wonder what the Blues would do with yet another midfielder now that they already have Lampard, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel. It doesn't really make much sense but then again the Daily Mail rarely does.
Even if the Alonso rumours turn out to be false, Liverpool fans can't be too pleased in knowing that their only confirmed acquisition for the summer -the one and only Glen Johnson- is now in limbo.
Still, there's a bit of good news for Liverpool fans. George Gillette is apparently selling of his ice hockey franchise in the NHL for some US$500 million which could be used to shore up Liverpool's finances. The only question is how much bigger of a budget will Benitez be given and when?
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