Hamburg set for Brazilian swoop

Hamburg have confirmed they are on the verge of signing Brazil international Alex Silva.

The Bundesliga club have sold Rafael van der Vaart and Vincent Kompany this summer and Martin Jol has funds available to spend on new players.

He has identified Silva as somebody who could add stability to his defensive line and hopes to sign him from Sao Paulo.Hamburg’s supervisory board agreed to the proposed 7million euros move on Sunday and the deal

could be completed in the coming days.

“There are still a few details to be sorted. Nothing has been signed yet,” board chairman Horst Becker told Kicker.

23-year-old Silva was a member of the Brazilian Olympic squad which won bronze at the Beijing Games.

Robinho To Chelsea Within Hours?

Spanish daily Marca have speculated that the Brazilian winger could be on his way out of the Spanish capital headed for the English capital in a matter of hours.

According to the reports from the Madrid-based newspaper, Robinho last week rejected club president Ramón Calderón’s latest contract offer, which is believed to be roughly the same amount as what Chelsea were prepared to offer him. This has convinced Calderón to concede that no amount of money will be able to tempt the 24 year old to remain at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Despite coach Bernd Schuster’s optimism that the playmaker will stay on with the blancos squad, his exit has been made all the more imminent after events at the weekend.

Firstly, Robinho was heckled and jeered by a group of fans before the squad left for the game against Valencia. And just before the start of the match, he was whistled at when his name was read out on the stadium’s PA system. The most obvious sign, ofcourse, was his muted celebrations with the rest of the team in the background, away from the spotlight when Madrid eventually beat Los Ché for the Supercopa.

The question of how he will leave and for how much is a different matter altogether.

Cléber Relishing Mallorca Challenge

The 27-year-old Brazilian jumped at the chance to make a loan switch to the Balearic outfit for the new season and believes that he will be able to finally prove himself in the Spanish League.

During his year with Atlético, Santana made just 16 appearances and was rarely given a regular run in Javier Aguirre’s side, but now he hopes that will change at Mallorca.

Coach Gregorio Manzano has already stated the wants the former Santos playmaker to play further forward and the player believes that he will revel in the role.

“I know that I have the quality to play there and I just need time in the team to prove that,” he explained.

Mallorca president, Vicente Grande, revealed that he told Santana to be prepared to work hard and that the club had tried to buy the player in previous seasons.

“I have already told him that there is a lot of competition for places and that he needs to be at his best,” he told reporters.

“Mallorca have been following him for some time now and wanted to sign him before he went to Atlético de Madrid.