Pardew insisted that he will analyze who is the backbone for his new look team. He also thinks that Saturday will provide some problems because the crowd will be expecting something.

According to Pardew, many players will battle for the Magpies at the weekend. Yohan Cabaye and Gabriel Obertan are the new players who are yet to face any sort of adversity and the manager is confident about them.

Pardew also felt that Cabaye is very strong and he will make sure that the players have a definite character that will prove to be very beneficial for the team.

The current deal of Van Persie is valid till 2013 and Arsenal is very desperate to avoid a re-run of the situation, as they experienced this summer with Samir Nasri reaching the final in 12 months of his existing contract.

Clubs are also interested to renegotiate before the final years of contracts but Robin is the only player out of the four key players who have a less than two years left on their deals. Others are Theo Walcott, Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Song.

This 29 year old soccer player is considered to be the most important asset of Arsenal and they don’t want to lose him at any cost. Playing since the age of 21, Robin has sharpened his soccer skills beyond limits. 

Jose Mourinho, the boss of Real Madrid has decided to play an attacking line-up in Sundays game and it seems that it will be a wise deicision. Jose is going to challenge Barcelona and will have to attack the European Champions. In the recent seasons, Read Madrid was regarded as an inferior team as compared to their Catalan rivals. But, this time, it seems they are concentrating on their strengths and not worrying about Barca’s strengths.

The fear that is posing in front of Real Madrid is that Barcelona’s players attack very dangerously and give them less chance to show their adventurous side. Real Madrid really needs to win this match in order to get strong in soccer psychologically.

Rumour is that even though French playmaker Franck Ribery has a contract with the club Bayern Munich, but he is still linked with many major European clubs. The frontrunner among all other clubs is the Real Madrid which is willing to take the player at any cost. Bayern Munich’s president is quite annoyed with the rumours arising one after another and says that there are only two solutions to all these reports. First one being the release of player by the club and second one is that Franck Ribery extends the contract so that there are no chances of transfer. Point to be noted here is that his contract is valid till 2011.

Florentino Perez, president of Real Madrid club, who has been elected shortly, expressed his willingness to sign Ribery again in an interview to L’Equip. “It would be a huge satisfaction to have Ribery with us as soon as next season,” Perez said. However he said that he will first talk to his club before any deal. He wanted to tell them that Ribery is their target and wanted to discuss the possibilities of him being transferred to Real Madrid.

Beckenbauer, well known columnist for a newspaper said that Franck Ribery shares the same rating as world’s best players Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He is in favour of renewing the contract of the player with the same club. However the entire decision depends upon the player. If he wants to leave his current club, it will be very difficult for the club members to hold on to him.

• Roma has an apparent interest in Chelsea’s Malouda. I have previously stated that the Blue’s midfield is rather stocked to say the least, especially with the addition of Deco.
• Cesc Fabregas is interested in a Real Madrid move but not at the moment. So, it is safe to say that one day he will be donned in a Madrid jersey. But right now, he is staying with the Gunners.
• Michael Ballack has announced his retirement plan that details his intentions to stay at Stamford Bridge for the rest of his career. This is good news for the Blues as there have been many rumors flying around. Some saying that he would be moving, others saying that he might stay, and finally some saying that he prefers a return to Germany.
• Ballack’s teammate, Didier Drogba will make a decision on whether he will stay with Chelsea or move on.
• Tottenham striker Berbatov is in the same boat as Drogba. Is he going to stay or is he going to go? Time will tell.
• Everton has interest in Sporting Lisbon‘s Joao Mountinho, and it is reported to be mutual. However, Sporting recently rejected Everton’s bid. Perhaps Joao is in their future plans or the bid was too low. I personally think a move to the premiership would be good for Joao.

• Brad Guzan and Aston Villa have agreed to the fee that it will take to send him from the States to England. Guzan is a good keeper and I think he will thrive in a more competitive environment. English Soccer could possibly shape the 23 year old into America’s next number 1.
• Although Barca failed at landing Arshavin, he apparently has his eyes set on Arsenal.
• Frank Lampard‘s potential move to play for the Inter side is all up to him now and it is completely his decision.
• With the completion of the Nasri signing, the Gunners are looking to complete the deal with Barca to move the unsettled Hleb.
• Former Barcelona player, Deco, has moved on to Chelsea to join former Portugal manager Luis Scolari. He moves into a rather deep midfield as they already have the likes of Joe Cole, John Obi Mikel, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Claude Makelele, and Frank Lampard.

Corrections

• After Brazil confirmed that Ronaldinho would be joining a very young Brazilian Olympic team in the Beijing Games, the FIFA has denied him. While it would have been fun to watch an Olympics with Ronaldinho on the field, Brazil has enough young players to take his place. He would have only over-shadowed somebody else’s opportunity to shine.
• Although the source from AC Milan believes that they can acquire Ronaldinho if a move is to occur. The key phrase there is: if he moves. Amidst all the speculations and rumors, Barca may decide to keep ‘dinho after all.

Ronaldo Situation: The Cristiano Ronaldo situation has gotten very interesting.  It has gone from Man U threatening to take Real Madrid to the FIFA to file a complaint, to them giving Real a one-sided list of players that they were demanding in return, and their final demands of a rather-large sum of money.  Here is a list of their demands and other actions.

1. Real has reported interest in Ronaldo, Man U threatens to file a complaint with the FIFA unless Real stops enticing Ronaldo with a Madrid offer. 
2. It is rumored that Man U demands Mahamadou Diarra, Sergio Ramos, and money.  This would have been a very one sided deal.  One player alone would not be enough to acquire Ronaldo however an argument could be made that Ramos will become one of the best Spanish defenders.  Maybe even on par with Carlos Puyol of Barcelona.
3. Man U demands 100 million euro in exchange for Ronaldo.

Very one sided and interesting.  Watch the Semi-Finals tomorrow!

Future: Tomorrow Italy plays Spain to decide who will play Russia. Now this will be the game of the quarters. I liked watching Germany and Portugal but I will enjoy watching Spain and Italy do battle. Maybe it is because two of my favorite teams-Barcelona and AC Milan-are Spanish and Italian teams, respectively.

Two Quick Hits: 

1. Barcelona and AC Milan are both vying for the services’ of the Arsenal striker, Adebayor.  An AC Milan scout believes his team has a 50% chance of acquiring the striker.
2. Former Sunderland keeper Tim Carter has been found dead in a park with a rope tied around his neck.  Authorities do not believe that there is any foul play involved and his death is unfortunately classified as a suicide.