The Daily-Or-So News Dispatch (07.08.31) Transfer Special!

By: Sam | August 31st, 2007

Hear that creak? That’s the sound of the window closing. Forever. aka a few months. Boy-oh-boy did everyone’s favourite league produce some fresh comings and goings today! Let’s get straight down to them.

+ Man, Le Mans are fast. Bad news first: Backheel-master Grafite has signed with Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg! For a cool eight million euros, thanks very much. The final tally for the Brazilian in Ligue 1 is 17 goals in 51 matches.

+ No sweat, however. Hours after that deal was done, MUC 72 greeted Anthony Le Tallec, youth international who’ll be joining them on a loan deal from Liverpool. After playing with Sunderland, Sochaux, Saint-Étienne and Le Havre, he’ll try to fill Graffy’s boots. Tall order!

+ France 98 nostalgia trip! Remember Patrick Kluivert? No, he’s not dead, he’s alive and well and donning a Lille shirt this season! After spending one season in Eindhoven, the 31-year old will join LOSC for two years.

+ Adriano? Adriano? No Inter, no Portsmouth, no nothing but Monaco, that’s what’s up. Of course, it’s too good to be true, it’s not that Adriano, but rather a right-back who struggled with Palermo and Atalanta. Monetary terms have not been disclosed yet.

+ So, you like the UEFA Cup? If you like Ligue 1, you probably do. Good news for the five clubs participating in this year’s edition: Easy-ass draws! For the most part, that is. Bordeaux have drawn Tampere of Finland, Sochaux are pitted against Panonios of Greece, Rennes and Toulouse will both travel to Sofia, to play Lokomotiv and CSKA respectively, whereas Lens have it trickier with a date with Kobenvahn of Denmark.

+ In other knockout-format news, the Round of 32 for the Coupe de la Ligue (equivalent of the Carling Cup) have been set. Among the big matches, there’s a complimentary Derby du Nord with Lens playing host to Lille, another helping of the snowballing rivalry between Lorient and PSG, and two CdL-savvy sides in Saint-Étienne and Auxerre.