VMC Paper Talk: Week 7 [SPECIAL EDITION]

As you may or may not have noticed, probably the latter, VMC Paper Talk is coming to you on a Wednesday as opposed to the usual Friday. No, the world hasn't gone mad, it is the end of the transfer window and as such, this is a Special Edition.

Now I've built this up, I can only disappoint, as nothing especially special (can you say that?) has actually happened. We failed to sign anyone new, and had already guessed Robinho's future lay elsewhere. So what else is there to say? Not much really.

Robinho stories have been dragging on ever since he got here. After returning from his loan spell at Santos, the 26-year-old then went about trying to engineer a move to either Italy or Spain, in the shape of Inter Milan and Barcelona respectively.

Neither team wanted him, but Turkish giants Fenerbahce and Besiktas certainly did, making similar offers of around £16m for the Brazilian, to which he bluntly stated "I`m not going there".

The petulant but talented winger then found himself in somewhat of a limbo before AC Milan managed to stump up the cash and swoop for him just before the transfer deadline on a 4-year contract, and for a fee in the region of £22m. Glad that's over.

Promising young Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo almost moved to West Ham before the board pulled the plug in favour of his former Malaga team-mate Victor Obinna who had been on loan from Inter Milan. Caicedo finally opted for a move back to Spain on another season-long loan, this time with Levante after he found himself omitted from Roberto Mancini`s 25-man squad.

Roque Santa-Cruz's transfer saga was not so straight forward. The Paraguayan was reported to be moving to Fulham to link up with former manager Mark Hughes, then suddenly he was on a plane to Lazio for a medical, and finally he was back in Manchester where he never actually left. Quite a trip.

Another City player said to be moving to Fulham was Shay Given, and like Santa-Cruz, the Irishman went nowhere, instead remaining at Eastlands. City fans will be especially pleased that the shot-stopper is staying; however it remains to be seen if the 34-year-old can oust the young England No.1 Joe Hart from the starting 11.

Finally, with the transfer window closed, it seems only Mario Balotelli has the power to make the headlines. Last week the Italian teenage sensation crashed his Audi A8 only weeks after arriving at the club, providing the press with the easiest of ammunition. Somehow I don`t think this will be the last we hear of Super Mario this season...

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