Transfer flops: Bosko Balaban

Yugoslavian striker Bosko Balaban arrived in England in 2001 amid a wave of expectation, with Aston Villa paying near £6m to bring him to Villa Park.

After five year with local side HNK Rijeka, Dinamo Zagreb had been persuaded enough to bring him to Croatia.

After ending as top scorer in the league, and finishing with 38 goals in 55 games, Balaban made the big move to the Premier League in 2001.

With a fee of £5,8m and £20,000 a week wages, you would be forgiven for thinking his two and a half years in England were quite fruitful.

However in that extended period of time he made only nine appearances, seven as a substitute, and failed to find the back of the net.

A loan back to Dinamo Zagreb ensued in the 2002/03 season where he once again found his goal scoring boots, but upon returning still failed.

He ended his unhappy English experience in 2004, moving to Club Brugge.

After 47 goals in 83 games in Belgium, during which he endeared himself to the fans, he returned to Croatia for his third spell at Dinamo Zagreb.

Two seasons and more goals flowed, before another switch came about.

This time to Greek side Panionios, where he is still playing at the moment.

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Manchester City's mistake in demanding Tevez stay!

Over the last few days and weeks more and more has been written about the feud between Carlos Tevez and his manager Roberto Mancini.

From offers and a bumper new contract and a multi million pound one off incentive payment if he signs, money is clearly no issue, as it never has been during Sheikh Mansour's rein at Manchester City.

But the Argentine international is adamant that he is not interested in cash, and that he moving for family reasons, which have always been an issue.

This added to the fact relations with executives have broken beyond repair, executives believed to be Garry Cook and Brian Marwood.

Tevez insists he wanted to leave in the summer, but was dissuaded by former agent and owner Kia Joorabchian.

The blues have made the decision not to sell following meetings with the owner, with the City captain also having three and a half years still to run on his contract.

If he is forced to stay though, the 26-year-old has made it clear he will simply retire.

An outcome that could force City to take action against Joorabchian.

It is no doubt a very complicated situation, but one which could have a very simple outcome.

In modern football it is next to impossible to keep a player who wants to leave, we have seen this numerous times over the last few seasons alone, think Cristiano Ronaldo and Javier Mascherano.
Deep down City no they have to sell after their last ditch attempt at throwing bags of money at the striker failed.

An offer they must have thought no one would ever be able to refuse.

Although this is the first sign of a crack in the Eastlands hierarchy. there are still many top class players who would join the club.

Despite Tevez's importance to the club, losing him wouldn't be the worst possible outcome.

Not with the money they have and a month in which to do business.

Keeping the player would only have consequences behind the scenes, but squad morale would begin to dwindle if players bore witness to the constant feuding on a daily basis.

If Manchester City want success this season, it could be in their best interest to cut their losses and splash out on a new superstar.

Future Stars - Ioannis Fetfatzidis

After easing in to this new feature with Liverpool defender Martin Kelly, we have now spread our wings further afield to Greece.

Olympiacos' attacking midfielder, who can also operate on the wing, is causing a lot of people to sit up and take note in his native country.

Fetfatzidis joined the Olympiacos academy at 12, rejecting overtures from other Greek giants AEK Athens and Panathinaikos.

He made his debut against Atromitos a little over a year ago, and went on to make his Champions League bow a few days later as a substitute at Standard Liege.

The Greece national team was the next calling, making his under-21 and senior debut's both this year.

This season has seen the youngster feature more for his club, with Olympiacos finally realising his huge potential and rewarding him with a new contract.

Europe's top team swill now have to pay in excess of £10m, Fetfatzidis also seen his wages rise significantly in a contract which now runs until 2015.

His main attributes is his dribbling ability, along with a great technique for someone so young.

If he can continue to improve in this way, Fetfatzidis could be a huge name for Greek football for many a year.

Transfer flops: Juan Sebastian Veron

In the first of our 'transfer flops' section, we have started big with Manchester United's near £30m, then record signing, of the Argentina midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron.

It may seem a tad over the top, for someone who was selected by Pele in his list of 125 greatest living footballer back in 2004.

But for anyone who can remember his torrid time in England will have no doubts about his inclusion in this one.

During his time at Lazio, Veron was part of a midfielder full of flair and where he was covered by defensive midfielders to allow him to stick to going forward.

However he had a big shock when Sir Alex Ferguson splashed out to take him to Old Trafford.

The Premier League didn't allow the same time on the ball of Serie A, plus Veron himself was also expected to put in a tackle or two himself.

Injuries and poor performances took their toll, with just seven goals in 51 games over two seasons.

And despite Fergie's insistence that he was a great player it was clear his time the North West of England would soon be at an end.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Veron saga, was the fact Chelsea paid £15m to take him to Stamford Bridge to start the Roman Abramovich spending spree.

Claudio Ranieri is understood to have been key in securing a player who wanted to stay and prove a point with the Red Devils.

Despite getting off to a terrific start at Chelsea, scoring on his debut at Anfield, his time in London was less fruitful than in Manchester.

After just one season where he only managed that one goal in 14 appearances, he was promptly loaned out to Inter Milan and then Estudiantes.

Upon returning to Argentina Veron has shown the form which made the world sit up and take note before his time in England.

He has since been voted best player in the league and in South America, and also holds the captaincy.

Despite this though, on these shores and in many areas worldwide Veron will always be remembered as one of the most expensive transfer flops.

Future stars - Martin Kelly

To kick start the new future stars feature, we start on our shores with a young English defender that is really starting to make a name for himself.

20-year-old Liverpool youngster Martin Kelly is predominantly a centre back, but mostly finds himself deputising on the right side on defence.

A position where he is gaining huge plaudits, with some positive that in a few years he will not only be number one at his club but for the England national side too.

Sundays 2-0 home victory over Chelsea saw Kelly once again deployed in the right-back berth, after Glen Johnson suffered another injury set back, and together with the rest of the back four he performed admirably.

While the clubs number one Johnson often gets criticised for defensive lapses, this isn't a problem for one of the most promising players to come through the Liverpool academy in years.

His defensive abilities are getting better each performance, whilst he is also getting more confident going forward.

Emphasised with a wicked strike on Sunday that was just deflected round the post by the Chelsea defence.

Previous manager Rafael Benitez often seemed unwilling to bleed to many youngsters into the squad, but the fact he brought through Kelly speaks volumes.

His senior debut came in the Champions League during the 2008/09 season, when he came on as a substitute away to PSV Eindhoven.

With his first start coming in the same competition a little less than a year later, when Liverpool took on Lyon at Anfield.

After returning from injury next up was a call to the England under-21 side, where he rewarded Stuart Pearce with a goal on his debut against Uzbekistan.

In a world where football is hugely evolving, and there is a crying need for versatile full-backs who are equally adept at defending as well as attacking Kelly could thrive.

If he continues to get regular game time, the calls that he will be England's number one in a few years time could not be too far off the mark.

Gareth Bale - simply superb!

It is often a difficult task in sport, to find an Englishman who is jealous of anything to do with their neighbours.

However 21-year-old flying winger Gareth Bale is proving to be an exception, and after another storming display people up and down England are declaring "if only he was English."

His Premier League form has been excellent so far this season, but it is the last two European games that have put him on the radar of Europe's elite.

In Maicon Inter Milan have one of the best right back in the business, Bale though has made him look pedestrian for 180 minutes of football.

As if a tremendous second half hat-trick in the San Siro wasn't enough, he laid on two goals last night as well as a number of other chances.

Is their anything that he can't do?

He can help out in defence, run at defenders and skin them easily, take dead balls, cross, shoot pretty much all with the same effectiveness.

However with Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter Milan all rumoured to be interested, Spurs will have to do everything they can to keep hold of the Welsh winger.

Not too far in the past Spurs were willing to get rid of Bale due to poor performances, but they have stuck by him and look at the effects.

Lets just hope he realises this and does seek pastures new on the continent.