Beckham’s Successor Signs Deal
After its overtures for Brazilian forward Ronaldinho fell flat, Manchester United went to Cameroon, via France, to find its replacement for the Real Madrid-departed David Beckham, signing defensive midfielder Eric Djemba-Djemba from Nantes for $5.8 million Thursday.
“He is the kind of athletic footballer we are looking for,” United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson told Bloomberg News. “He has shown his development on a very good Cameroon team, and he looks like a Manchester United player in every sense.”
Djemba, 22, agreed to a five-year contract with incentives, depending upon games played, and joins Roy Keane, Juan Sebastian Veron, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs in the United midfield.
He is the second Man U acquisition since the club clinched a record eighth English Premiership title. French forward David Bellion moved from Sunderland on Tuesday.
“Mr. Ferguson made a big impression on me,” Djemba said.
“He told me I am going to have a ball.”
Djemba, who turned pro with Nantes in 2000 and helped it win the French title as a rookie, made his debut with Cameroon’s national team last year, when it won the 2002 African Nations Cup.
Ronaldinho Falls Through
Ronaldinho, who seemed destined to join Man U, was kept by his club, Paris Saint-German, when PSG President Francis Graille rejected the English champions’ bid.
“The offer was inferior to that of Barcelona and Real Madrid,” Graille said without giving the exact amount. “We are not going to sell Ronaldinho just to make Manchester United happy, or to make Ronaldinho happy.”
According to the French sports daily L’Equipe, United offered PSG $28.5 million for the 23-year-old Ronaldinho, who helped Brazil win the World Cup last summer.
But Ronaldinho’s contract with PSG reportedly runs through June 2006 -- he has spent two years with the club -- though his agent and brother, Roberto Assis, said that Ronaldinho was promised by former PSG President Laurent Perpere that he could leave after two years.
Losing Their Shirts
Excessive celebrations at the Confederations Cup got FIFA President Sepp Blatter thinking.
And as such, the sport’s world governing body will begin emphasizing a seven-year old rule that mandates players keep their shirts on during games and bans players from celebratory stripping after goals.
“One player needed five minutes to put his jersey back on because his vest was sewn into it,” Blatter told the Swiss newspaper Blick.
But while players not observing the rule risk being hit with a yellow card, Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid was not all that impressed with the rule’s apparent comeback.
“One of the beauties of the sport of soccer is that it’s got such great emotional intensity to it at that moment of scoring,” Schmid said. “The scoring of a goal is such a euphoric moment....
“Obviously there’s things that are appropriate and inappropriate, but I think most of the guys are fit [and in shape] so taking off their shirt isn’t exactly inappropriate.
“But if I took off my shirt ... “
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
