Chang rewards Everton

Everton's shirt sponsor Chang beer will reward the Toffees for qualifying for the UEFA Cup by improving the terms of their sponsorship deal.

"We are happy that Everton finished sixth in the past season and sealed a UEFA Cup spot,” said a senior official with Thai Beverage, the producer of Chang beer.

Terms were not disclosed, but the new deal will be more lucrative than the present £2 million a year the club receives from the Thai firm.

Bayern hope Toni is the new van Nistelrooy

The worst-kept secret in football has finally been confirmed: fallen German giants Bayern Munich will pay 11 million euros for Fiorentina's Luca Toni.

Having scored 49 goals in the last two seasons, the 30-year-old Italian targetman will be expected to fire Bayern back to the top of the Bundesliga and to the 2007/08 UEFA Cup final in Manchester, but not all watchers are convinced that Bayern have made the best buy. In this week's Kicker magazine, for example, Oliver Bierhoff questioned Bayern's rating of the player.

I too am no fan of the Italian, but looking at Bayern's activity in the transfer market thus far, it's obvious that the reason Bayern were keen to sign him is because of his presence in the air. After losing the imperious Michael Ballack last summer, Bayern did not have - aside from central defender Daniel van Buyten - a real aerial threat. The Bavarians' foward line was useless in the air. Toni's presence is meant to remedy that shortcoming, especially as the promising Marcell Jansen, who led the Bundesliga in crosses this last season, has just been brought aboard. The wise men at Bayern must be envisioning a Ruud van Nistelrooy-David Beckham-type connection to blossom between the two newcomers.

But really, if all Bayern were looking for was a tall, intimidating bloke, why pay 11 million euros for him? Cheaper options abound. Jan Koller at Monaco is coming off an injury-ridden season, but he is more than serviceable and would have cost but a fraction of Toni's sticker price, while Jan Venegoor of Hesselink, currently of Celtic, has proven himself in Holland, Scotland and the UEFA Champions League.

Getafe look for way out of UEFA Cup

On May 10, Bernd Schuster's Getafe thrashed a woeful Barcelona 4-0 in the second leg of their King's Cup semifinal, making good a 5-2 defeat in the first leg (The first leg being the scene, of course, of THAT goal by Lionel Messi.) Aside from being perhaps the shock of the European season, the victory also qualified unfashionable Getafe for the UEFA Cup as the club they will meet in the King's Cup final - Sevilla - have already qualified for the UEFA Champions League. Good news, right?

Wrong.

"It has come too soon. We need to construct a new stadium and other infrastructures [sic] in line with our plan to keep developing the club," Getafe president Angel Torres said recently.

"Now is the time to consolidate ourselves in the Primera Liga, but if we have to play in the UEFA Cup we will. But it could be dangerous as has been seen with other clubs in previous seasons, so we will have to try and make sure this doesn't happen."

Try and make sure this doesn't happen, he said. Does he mean, in other words: Thanks, UEFA, but no thanks? Will Getafe decline the invitation to enter the competition? Or might they purposely field an understrength squad and accept early elimination. This situation bears watching, especially by UEFA, for if Getafe do enter but actively seek elimination (not unlike Parma in the 2004/05 competition), then the competition will be devalued.