Romance in Soccer

In June 2005, a huge controversy was created when Arsenal defender Ashley Cole met with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and other top Chelsea officials in a London hotel room for a possible move to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea was accused of "tapping up" without the Gunners' knowledge, and subsequently Cole, Mourinho and the Chelsea Football Club were all fined due to such illegal poaching.

(Now, meeting someone secretly in a hotel room is something you won't normally associate with soccer transfers ...)

A month later, Cole signed a one-year extension with Arsenal, and Chelsea found its left-back in Spain's Asier del Horno. However, the saga remains very much alive. Shortly after the publishing of Cole's autobiography in which he mercilessly blasted Gunners' manager Arsene Wenger last month, and Chelsea's sale of Del Horno to Spanish side Valencia, the Blues finally opened official talks with Arsenal over transfer of Cole. However, the Gunners was asking for around 25 million pounds, a price so much beyond Chelsea's spending limit that Mourinho vowed that they were not going to pay "a single pound more".

Chelsea's interest in Cole, one of the better left-backs in the game, isn't surprising. What is surprising is their persistence in getting his signature on the contract. It's like Romeo Montague courting Juliet Capulet at all cost, despite all sorts of pressure, opposition and difficulties.

It's oh so romantic.

Meanwhile, in Old Trafford ...

Late last month, Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy finally parted company with Manchester United, after five hugely successful years with the team from 2001 to 2006, during which he scored a staggering 150 goals for the Red Devils.

But van Nistelrooy could have joined ManU a year earlier in 2000, had he not suffered a serious knee injury which cost him a full season.

Back then, ManU boss Sir Alex Ferguson was so hopelessly in love with van Nistelrooy that he won't give up on him and was willing to wait for him to recover. And when van Nistelrooy finally did, Sir Alex welcomed him with open arms.

It's like a young girl promises to her lover that she will wait for him and love him forever, despite the fact that he has just been sentenced to a year in jail.

It's oh so romantic.

Meanwhile, in Anfield ...

Liverpool have long been interested in Dutch international Dirk Kuyt of Feyenoord, hoping his arrival could strengthen their attack from both sides of the pitch. Yet after a number of bids had been turned down by the Dutch side, they decided not to waste any more time and immediately turned their attention to Craig Bellamy and Jermaine Pennant, two equally skillful wingers.

In fact, the combined price paid for these two players (12.7 million pounds) is only a fraction more than Feyenoord's asking price for Kuyt (12 million pounds) alone.

It's oh so realistic.